It's Not Just About the Wall Pieces

Mood: Strategic Panic | Post Type: Work Spotlight | Weeks Until Show: 9

Two Months to Go

As I'm approaching just two months to go until my solo show, I'm starting to realise just how much there is still to do. Even though I probably need to make another seven larger wall pieces, I'm not entirely convinced that's going to happen. Looking back, there has been very little actual making over the last three weekends, and I feel very much behind the curve.

It does remind me that making needs to be intentional. I need to set aside dedicated time to create. However, when I look at the last few weeks, it's not as though I've been sitting around doing nothing.

A Month Without Making

The first weekend was spent preparing work for the Fresh Air Sculpture Show and the Craft Festival at Bovey Tracey, followed by drop-offs on the Tuesday and Thursday. The next weekend was the festival itself.

Then the following weekend was industrial cleaning, I'm slightly ashamed to admit how long it had been since the house had a proper clean. This weekend we have guests staying, so the cleaning really couldn't be put off any longer. When I look at it like that, it's actually going to be close to a month without making any meaningful progress on those seven remaining pieces.

It's Not Just About the Wall Pieces

What I've realised is that I've spent so long focusing on the wall art that I've almost forgotten about everything else that goes into a solo show. The artwork itself might be the reason people come through the door, but it's only one part of the exhibition. I need to start turning my attention to prints and note cards, and that's opened up a whole new list of decisions.

Choosing the Print Collection

At the moment I have six fine art print designs. I may retire one or two to make room for newer work, but then comes the decision of which pieces become prints.

Realistically, they need to be works that are already completed because I still need to photograph them, order test samples and check the colours. The colours on a screen are never quite the same as they are when printed.

There are a few that I know will definitely stay. Over the Valley, Dartmoor Companions and Dartmoor Lore have all proven popular. I'll also be adding Shifting Violet, which has become the branding image for the solo show and features on the posters and flyers.

I also know I need to expand my coastal collection. At the moment I only have one coastal print compared to five Dartmoor pieces. Ideally, I'd like that balance to be a little more even.

The Question of How Many?

Then comes the question of quantity. I've been thinking about having ten print designs in total, partly because my new display setup makes that number work rather nicely. My new plate racks have five sections each and I have two of them, so ten designs feels logical.

But then I start thinking about note cards.

How many designs should I have? How many of each should I order? And how am I going to display them?

I used to have a card rack, but it now lives in a gallery. Even when I had it, it wasn't ideal because my note cards are much smaller than traditional greeting cards and tended to disappear in the display.

There is also the balance between cost and stock levels.

If I order ten of every design, is that enough? Some designs always sell better than others. Nobody wants to run out of stock during an exhibition, but equally I don't want to be left holding huge amounts of unsold inventory afterwards.

Prints, Cards and Hidden Hours

Then there's the hidden time involved. The prints don't simply arrive ready to sell. I need to order the mount board, which is pre-cut but occasionally needs replacing if the cuts aren't quite right.

I then have to assemble everything, package it, add the information labels and prepare it for display.

I've timed myself before and, once everything is ready, each print takes around seven minutes to assemble. If I had fifty prints, that's nearly six hours of work.

The note cards are quicker. At around thirty seconds each, one hundred cards would take about fifty minutes to prepare.

None of those times are huge on their own, but they're all hours that need to be found somewhere between now and opening day.

Balancing Cost and Confidence

The difficult thing is that every decision has to be made before I know how many people will actually walk through the door.

Order too few and I risk missing sales. Order too many and I risk tying up my money in stock that may take a long time to sell.

Of course, any prints and cards that don't sell can go on my website or be taken to my Christmas events later in the year. But if I'm honest, my confidence is probably fairly low. I've yet to sell a print through my website, although admittedly there are only two designs available there at the moment.

Ultimately, I'm hoping the exhibition covers its costs. It would be wonderful if sales covered the gallery hire, the framing costs and the upfront investment in prints and cards. Anything beyond that would be a bonus and would go a long way towards helping fund a new kiln.

Looking Ahead

For now, I'm finding myself caught between cost, time and optimism.

I've spent so long focusing on creating the wall pieces that all these other considerations have quietly crept up on me. With only two months to go, they're things I really need to start thinking about now.

Perhaps that's the lesson this week. Preparing for a solo exhibition isn't just about making the artwork. It's about everything that surrounds it too.

This is Episode 25 in my ‘Solo Show Diary’ series — a behind-the-scenes look at how my work develops. You can find my earlier posts here.