Posts Tagged ‘Highland Council’

  • Selling the Sizzle

    Date: 2011.06.08 | Category: Artforms, Crafts, Regions | Response: 2

    On the first hot and sunny day for several weeks makers came from far and wide to listen to inspirational speakers for our summer event in Inverness.

    ‘Selling the Sizzle’ was Tina Rose’s suggestion for a title and it seemed very appropriate,and all the more so, as the day progressed and each speaker had another tale to tell about how they go about selling work. We were certainly feeling the sizzle by the end of the day!

    To get things started our keynote speakers were Professor Georgina Follet and Dr Louise Valentine who outlined the exciting plans for the V&A at Dundee and what this will mean to makers and designers. To have this amazing resource in Scotland as soon as 2015 is a huge undertaking but with support, funding and the drive of a focused team is seems it will happen – I for one can’t wait.

    Selling the Sizzle, Dr Louise Valentine and Melanie Muir

    Deirdre Neilson is a name that is familiar to many of us -as artist in resident, mentor and textile artist extraordinaire but her talk was about how she has completely embraced all the new Social Media to promote her work. If everyone was not Tweeting by the end of the day they should be!

    Then to get everyone talking we had a first – Speedcraft! The brainchild of Tina with assistance from Carol, it was a brilliant way to get people talking about their work, making new contacts and exchanging ideas.

    In the afternoon we continued our theme with four speakers each with a different approach to retailing.

    Maggie Broadly from West Kilbride and Craft Town Scotland, Steph Marsden from Edinburgh’s  Craft House Concept, Emma Blain from the Shetland group Text- Isles and finally Carrie and Clare from Made in the Shade in Glasgow.

    The day was aimed at getting makers and retailers to look at new ways of selling, to inspire and enthuse! We certainly did that and I don’t think I have seen such an animated group of makers in one place for a long time.

    Selling the Sizzle

    Our event was another of HI-Arts Crafts promotions to support the sector in developing their work and to assist them to find new markets.

    Through our Mentoring to Market programme makers have researched shows from Origin to Country Living.We took a group to London and Craft Central in May to showcase their work and then another group headed to Germany and EU-inqe trade and retail show. All have come back with similar tales of declining sales, the huge costs of exhibiting and all through no fault of the organisers or the quality of work on show. The public seem to love their work but very few are buying.

    So where do we go from here? Are the days of trade and retail shows over as makers are getting less and less keen to commit to the outlay with no guarantee of sales?

    I personally feel that the time is ripe to look at new ways of selling and to be creative with your approach.

    Use social media to promote, think local and niche events, look at new customers in areas you may not have considered, get together with like minded makers for pop up shops and party events, be as imaginative as you can. And when the economic storm has passed – as it eventually will – you will be ready to take on the world!

    Whatever you do, if your work means anything to you, you must not give up but see change as a new and exciting opportunity.

    Pamela Conacher 8th June 2011

  • Making Progress

    Date: 2010.06.11 | Category: Artforms, Crafts, Regions | Response: 0

    Eileen Gatt, beaker

    On the 4th June we had our afternoon event to Celebrate Craft and our Mentoring Project, Making Progress. It also saw the opening of our exhibitions, Made It! and Laura West’s Spotlight.

     As promised, the sun shone, tasty food, refreshing fizz and good conversation was in order!

    As part of the mentoring project makers have to curate their own spotlight exhibition and Laura was our second maker to go through this process.

    Our Spotlight makers have very rarely experienced installing an exhibition, so it can be a daunting prospect. However, the pleasure in seeing your work as a whole, having positive comment on it  from the public and breathing a sigh of relief as you realise that you really are making progress should make it all worth it!

     For the public who view exhibitions, few have any idea of the huge amount of work that goes into getting an exhibition to the Private View stage.

     From the initial idea, selecting work (and making it when you are the maker), getting it safely to the gallery, planning the layout, designing plinths and display material, making sure everything is all delivered on time and in the correct condition, labels, invites and posters designed- printed and sent out, lighting, security, Private view refreshments and finally installing it all and you then have to be in a fit condition to speak to your guests when it all opens!

    With the short changeover time in galleries, you very rarely have the luxury of days of time and more likely it is 24 frantic hours of painting plinths, unpacking and hanging work. It always gets done in time, thought sometimes floors are being brushed as the visitors arrived!

    Our exhibitions last week were no exception and we had the added stress of dealing with work from the Crafts Council Collection that had very stringent installation and handling requirements. Highland Council Exhibitions Unit have worked incredible hard to ensure that this exhibition has been given a professional and classy display that does the work justice. No easy task with limited resources and no access to the work until the last minute!

    As the work was unpacked, the excitement mounted as one of the great joys of pulling an exhibition together where the work is of this calibre is seeing it insitu and realising that it is going to look amazing!

    The Craft Council Collection work was selected by our makers and their mentors as work that has influenced them and seeing their work displayed alongside it, you can see this journey  clearly.

     For me, the greatest pleasure is seeing that our makers work sits on a level footing with the top makers work. A true indication of the quality here in the Highlands!

    If you have not already been, please go and see for yourself. And as you view the exhibitions, remember the months of preparation that has gone into making it all look so wonderful!

    Pamela Conacher

    June 2010