So, the summer show is over for another year. Obviously, the Church Hall does not get as much passing foot traffic as the Hillier Gardens, but it is a great venue, and the Cafe is an added attraction. It has also made a huge difference that we now can store our own exhibition stands in the room adjacent. Thank you to everyone who got involved in making these, from a single nail hammered in to a finishing coat of our special grey paint.
Thank you also to Roy and Gill not only for all the amazing work they do for the group, but also for the daily sales update. Members can access the spreadsheet to see who sold what and when, but here’s a brief taste.
The exhibition in figures
We achieved sales on every day of the exhibition. Tuesday 22nd was the lowest (and was it the wettest?) with just cards sold – about 15 in all. It’s odd, really as Monday 21st was our most successful day – we took over £700 that day, of which over £500 was for displayed artwork (which includes framed, canvases and sculptures). Browser sales also went reasonably well, with over £100 taken on the first Monday and the last Sunday.
Ruth Ann Lewis and Richard Waite each sold two artworks. Jenny Morgan, Trish Brant, Wendy Sleeman, Jocelyn Halfpenny, Patricia Dorling, Peter Maule, Tony Eaton, Chris Benning, Jane Nash, and Joan Willingham were the other successful artists.
In all we sold 254 cards. The most successful card art came from Nicola Williamson (29), closely followed by Ruth Ann Lewis (28). Totals in the teens came from (in no particular order) Angela Sweet, Colleen Cockroft, Elizabeth Saunders, Gill Brophy, Jenny Morgan, Lynette Vickery, Pradeepa David, Sue Bowery, Susie James and Veronica Bliss.
The browser sales came to fourteen in all, and several members sold more than one, including Angela Chambers, Ruth Ann Lewis, Trish Brant and Nicola Williamson. Jane Nash’s Dunstan Burgh was the last artwork sale of the show.
We didn’t keep track of the number of visitors, but there was a steady trickle most of the time, i.e. there was usually one visitor present! Roy would be interested in any of your ideas for increasing our footfall.
HOS23
The Open Studio in MR3 for HOS 23, organised by Alex Phillips, was a very enjoyable place to be. It was usually buzzing with activity, creativity, coffee, tea and biscuits. Artists reported several delightful discussions with visitors, and many sold pieces they’d been working on at the event. Lynette Vickery sold some of her jewellery, too. This operated separately from the Summer Exhibition, so we don’t have detailed sales figures.
A notable first came for Hisham Edakandathil, who joined us on Monday, took part in the HOS workshop on Wednesday, and sold a picture! May it be the first of many, Hisham.
Here’s a short (14 seconds) clip (on Youtube) of the HOS activity.
The show and HOS are both time consuming to prepare, and can’t take place without the many many helpers. However small you might feel your contribution is, it is invaluable. Thank you so much.
Watch for details of the Autumn Exhibition, scheduled for 11/12th November.
