Affordable Art Fair Archives

Art buyers guide for beginners. My TOP 10 Tips...

Do you fancy treating yourself to some super art, but too afraid to take the plunge? Read on for my simple guide to getting the art you want without feeling bamboozled.

"Huntress"

Do you fancy treating yourself to some super art, but too afraid to take the plunge? Read on for my simple guide to getting the art you want without feeling bamboozled.

“Fields of gold”

This week’s blog is going to give you the confidence to go and buy some great art.

Remember, try to look online for artists in your area first, then visit their studio. It’s a great way to find out what you like without pressure. If you can’t find an artist you like, in your area, the next plan is to visit a small gallery (nothing too intimidating) or go to an art fair.

Once you’ve gone to the studio/artfair or gallery- follow my top ten rules to help you select art. You should really enjoy the process of buying yourself some gorgeous new art.

02. Plan your workout time.

Now that I had the headphones on my head, I was finally ready to plug and play some music. I plugged the provided cable into the jack on the headphones and then the one on my iPhone Then I called up Pandora. I tend to have a very eclectic music purview and have many stations set up for different moods. The sound quality of these headphones was remarkable. There is an amazing depth of sound and incredible highs and lows that make listening to music a truly breathtaking experience.

In order to test how voices sounded, and the overall art of sound mixing, I pulled up Netflix on my iPad Air and watched a few minutes of a movie to hear all the nuances of the film. None of them were lost. In fact, I ended up hearing sounds that I hadn’t heard before. Echoes…birds chirping…wind blowing through trees…breathing of the characters…it was very impressive what the headphones ended.

1. Do you love it?

The absolute rule number one is – Only by art if you love it! You might have to compromise with your husband/wife or you might have to think a bit carefully about how much you love it but broadly speaking if you love the art you can’t go far wrong.

2. Where is it going to go?

You might have a plan when you walk into a gallery or an art fair that you’re looking for a piece of work for the lounge. This is quite a good strategy as you can start to visualise where the work of art might go. this might help you think about what would work in the space, a big statement to complete the room piece or something more subtle. You might be renovating a room and you want the perfect finishing touch, having this in mind can really help you make up your mind.

"Nyota"

3. Size matters.

Broadly speaking it doesn’t really matter if you have a large piece or a series of small pieces to start your collection. But if you have, for instance, wall lights in your home you might find that large artwork doesn’t fit in the room in quite the same way you had planned. Having a maximum size is a good idea. If you don’t want to pay for shipping or delivery having a clear idea of the largest painting that will fit in your car is a good plan too! Very often artists will be able to arrange shipping for you if you are buying a very large piece that simply won’t fit in the car.

6. Try not to worry about investment.

You might get lucky, you might find a new emerging artist, buy their work for only a couple of hundred pounds, and then in two years time discover that their work is going for 10 times the price! It really might happen. Lots of successful artists at very least find their prices going up after only a few years into their career. However when you’re buying work for less than £1000 try not to worry about what it will be worth in a few years time. Just make sure that you’re going to love it in your own home that will be enough.

7. Quality is key

It’s that word again, quality.
Feel free to ask the artist anything about the quality of the materials they use. Find out about pigments, ask them about colourfastness. Okay so you might not be able to hang a £500 work of art in 500 years time but you certainly don’t want the colour to fade in less than 10 years. I make a point of using the best quality paints, the pigments are strong and the colour won’t fade.

8. Negotiate, but don’t be offended if you get a “no”

Some artists will not negotiate at all. Some High Street galleries will not negotiate at all. Don’t be offended if people say “The price is the price please don’t ask for a discount”. ITs fair enough. However if you buy more than one work of art you may well find that artists have a little bit of wriggle room and might give you say a 10% discount because you’re buying more than one piece. The worst they can do is say no, if they do say no please don’t be offended smile sweetly and say “It was worth a try”!

Sterling

9. Look after your art

Recently I sold a very large piece to a couple and they said “Is it true I can’t hang this over a radiator?”
Well here’s the deal; in my kitchen I have a very large oil painting of Stonehenge and it hangs directly over radiator, it’s opposite the oven, it gets steam and heat and cold and sunshine on it
in the morning. Over a decade of being in the spot and it still looks like new! However if I had a work of art that I’ve spent a lot of money on, or if I had an old work of art that might be a little more fragile I would not dream of putting it over a radiator- as a rule of thumb you have to be careful with extremes of heat. But broadly speaking new art, on sturdy canvas frames, painted in oil or acrylic, can take quite a beating in terms of conditions! I even have an oil painting in my bathroom! However watercolours are significantly more fragile and definitely not be placed in a steamy room. Also be very careful about direct sunlight. Okay in our climate we’re not exactly living in Greece, the sun really isn’t so strong and it doesn’t shine for that much of the year , but sun will fade out paint incredibly rapidly if given the chance. Just think about the fading on your curtains or fabrics in a sunny room – that could happen to your painting so do be careful. If in any doubt at all ask the artist. And if you move the artwork to a new room, still feel free to email your artist years after you’ve bought it they will be happy to help – honestly we really will.

10. Don’t be scared of being a numpty!

I think the single biggest reason people don’t buy art directly from artist is that they are frightened of looking like an idiot! You are not an idiot! It’s your money and it is your house and it’s up to you how you decorate it. Tell the artist what you’re looking for maybe even tell them what work of theirs you like and what else you might like to have. Artists will be helpful to you at art fairs. I’ve even recommended other artists to potential clients because I knew exactly what they wanted from their description and I knew where they needed to go to find it. Gallery owners will do the same, they will try to match you up with the kind of art that you want, that’s part of what you’re paying for, don’t be bullied and don’t worry- it’s your money and your house, buy what you love!

by Dougal Matthews

The secret preparations leading up to an art fair.

All the artwork is dry; there's nothing else to worry about? If only. Read on to find out what really happens the week before an art fair.

"Stag in the frosty dawn light"

This weekend sees a brand-new Art fair at Newbury racecourse.
It is in fact my fourth art fair so far this year!
So surely I have a well oiled machine that enables me to prepare for an art fair with no stress or hassle - Well, I am pretty organised these days so here's my insight into what I’m doing this week to get ready for the fair.

1. The artwork. Obviously! For me, as an oil painter I have to plan ahead as I have to allow enough time for the artwork to dry. That can be as little as a few weeks after completion and as much as a several months! Once the artwork is dry if I'm going to hang it unframed it's simply a case of adding some D signs and hanging cord to the back, if framed I have to get it to the framers allowing enough time for the work to be done and for me to collect it.
Packing the work. At art fairs you’ll see bubblewrap, felt folders, sheets, cardboard boxes, wooden crates…all manner of what-have-you can be used to packpaintings. I use silver insulated bubble wrap. You can buy these pre-made by brilliant company called Stiffy bags or you can make your own. It's not exactly environmentally friendly the first time you use it; but you can use these bags again and again and again at so there isn't much waste. In fact by using these bags I've reduced my plastic waste significantly.

Some of the luxurious mouldings at my framers.

Work packaged in silver bags ready to load up the car.

Its great when you sell its also great when your stand neighbours are lovely, funny friendly artists. What a weekend we had!

3. Tools for the job. I need a trolley, a stepladder, drill, screwdriver, screws, spirit level, tape measure. These are just the bare minimum of items that you will need to set up your stand.

4. Prints and print racks. Most art fairs only allow limited addition fine art prints. So another important job leading unto the fair is to mount and wrap the prints so that they look super shiny and are protected when folks flick through them in the browser.

5. Labels. Oh my goodness; labels are the bane of my life. They take a disproportionate amount of time. I like to mount my labels onto foam board so that they look super professional. And this takes time. Does it really make a difference? I'm not sure, but I know I like the look of them next to my work. I like putting red dots on them too!

6. Stand box. My stand box is little Aladin's cave of extra stuff, my labels, red dots, business cards, pen, spare pen, postcards, card reader, spare card reader, glasses, scissors, lucky gonk, blu-tak, Bach’s rescue remedy, mints, memo pad, guest book…you name it.

My all important stand box for all my bits and pieces

My cut out and keep stand plan!

7. Stand plan. Some folks don’t do a stand plan at all, some sketch it out, some do it on photoshop. I create mine in Mac pages, then print it out, then cut it out and stick it back to gather again! This is so that I can make adjustments and when I sell work, it's easier to plan which new piece will go on the stand. I love have a little re-arrange on Saturday morning or Sunday morning, if I’ve sold well. I use this little plan to play with with an early morning cup of coffee before heading in to the show.

8. Website and social media. I’ve been making sure all my new work is added to my website and that I’ve been posting pictures on facebook and instagram of what will be on my stand, ensuring a key hashtag or two.

9. Car jenga! You gotta fit in all in somehow. I have a big estate car which can pretty much do the job, (though for some bigger fairs I borrow my brother's van). But I have to be very strategic in how I load my paintings for maximum space with zero damage!

10. Look after your feet! Oh yeah I ought to think about what to wear. It's not too much of a hassle but broadly speaking it needs to be fairly smart, but also needs to look nice with comfy shoes! On the PV night you’ll occasionally see me in heels, but definitely not for me on Saturday and Sunday when I'm on my feet all day.

So I’m nearly good to go.
Why not come and see how I get on, I’m on stand 45. See you there.

Contemporary Art fairs Newbury. Private view, by invitation only Friday 10th May,
open all day Saturday 11th May and Sunday 12th May.

"Bran" the highland cow, will be on stand 45