Well it seems that, despite being a fan of social media, I am not awfully good at regular posting. I do love a blog though so I’m going to try to write shorter, more regular posts.

This year got off to a cracking start with a number of exhibitions and the Hepworth Print Fair. Initially my application for a wall space was rejected and I was disappointed but you have to expect rejections when you work as a full-time artist. There are a lot of us chasing the same opportunities and it is important not to take it personally. I emailed the organisers to thank them for considering me and a couple days later I received a reply saying that a table stand had become available and would I like it…yes please!

I don’t do a lot of shows and when I do I have always had hanging space of some kind, even if its the bars of a sheep pen (Art in the Pen). A table stand was a challenge but with the help of my friend and colleague Janis Goodman, who sent me photos of her table stand from the previous year, I got to work planning my stall. I can thoroughly recommend Ken Bromley Art Supplies for their collapsible easels. They pack flat so are easy to store but they are really strong and light and they look unobtrusive. I decided to cover my table with heavyweight calico which was a devil to iron and I can only thank my handsome assistant Brian for his perseverance on that score.

I had also recently purchased an iZettle card reader which proved absolutely invaluable. It links to a smartphone via bluetooth and you have an app with all of your stock on it so that you can keep track of sales and take all sorts of card payments (the change purse was a gift from my mum and a joke about my childhood dislike of peas).

The event is supremely well organised but the Hepworth is tricky to get to from Horton-in-Ribblesdale and it took 2 hours to navigate safely to Wakefield and a further twenty-five minutes to find my way from the museum car park to the Calder building! I had been given a time-slot of 2-3pm to unload and that gave me plenty of time to get set-up and have a coffee and scone before the preview at 6pm. Unfortunately the lighting of my stall was a bit poor with only one spotlight pointed in my direction but it didn’t seem to put people off and I organised my work so that the prints that needed better lighting were at the appropriate end. During the day, it was much brighter than this photo!

The preview was buzzing and I sold one of my newest framed prints almost straight away. It was an auspicious start. Janis had offered me a bed for the night at her Leeds home.  This saved me a long journey home and back the next day and we celebrated our successes with wine and pasta.

The weekend proved to be really good for both of us. Not only did we sell a large amount of framed and unframed prints (more than I’d ever sold in an event before) but we met lots of wonderful printmakers, gallery owners, print co-operative members and interested visitors. The people that came to the print fair (about 4000 for the weekend) were generally well-informed about printmaking, asked lots of questions about the processes and were very encouraging and complimentary. It was completely exhausting and I barely found time to eat/drink or make the trip to the toilets but it was well worth it.

My stall in daylight:

Janis’s stand:

The general hubbub:

The people that exhibited were:

Ali Appleby / Amy Rodchester / Andy English / Ben Whittington / Beverley White / Bobshaped / Cath Brooke / Colours May Vary / Drusilla Cole / Geri Waddington / Helen Peyton / Helen Roddie / Hester Cox / Hot Bed Press / Inkylinky / Izzy Williamson / James Bywood / James Green / Jane Walker / Janis Goodman / Katie Eyre / Laine Tomkinson /Laura Slater / Lidota Studio / Little Lost Soul / Louella Moon / Nancy Haslam-Chance / Northern Printmakers / PAPER Gallery / Pica Editions / Print Wagon / Rachel Sim / Sarah Harris / Sean Mort Print Shop / Spike Island Print Studio / Staithes Studio / Stoff Studios / Studiotic / The Art House / The Lost Fox / The Modernist Society / The Owlery / Watermark Gallery / West Yorkshire Print Workshop / Wil Law / Yuck Print House / Zillah Bell Gallery

Having had such a good weekend, I treated myself to a lovely little wood engraving by fellow stallholder, Beverley White. ‘Anything Could Happen’ reminds me of my own little terrier.

Then I had to pack everything up, drive back using my iPhone satnav and unpack at the other end before collapsing exhausted in front of the fire with Brian and our dogs.