Finding inspiration at Art Fair

This weekend, I got a chance to visit Iowa Art Fair. It is not the event I am typically drawn to, I am certainly not a buyer for any non-essential items. This time I went with a purpose.

I wanted to get some idea about selling your art, especially photography, at a fait like that. I wanted to see how many photographers there were (I counted at least ten), what types of work they were selling (any, with nature prevailing), and how they went about doing that. For example, how many different images and different image sizes/types they presented. And I had to admit, knowing the prices of canvas and prints, selling at the Arts Fair is an significant investment. Travel, booth, and on top of this, prints to fill up the space… No wonder nobody does one show a year, it is always a tour!

I don’t really know how successful any of them were in terms of selling. Sunday was a lazy day, everybody was getting ready to pack and go home, and there were not so many spectators due to rainy weather. But while a work of couple of exhibitors work looked at least, well, amateurish, few really stood out. They had very distinct style – the subjects were connected, the processing was same/similar, it felt like all the images belong with each other. For example, Marty Hulsebos showed only his B&W work, large canvas, mostly, a bit of smaller prints. Anther one was Jim Tunell, with his characteristic post-processing technique and burned edges of the frame of the prints.

Again, I am probably looking at it more from fine art viewer than typical buyer, this does not necessarily mean they were successful. Yet, it was great for me to get another view on creating cohesive body of work, something I think about a lot these days.

Looking at some of the nature/macro work, the visit at the art fair provided me with some great inspiration. I got some ideas on trying on new light and subjects.

While there might not be many exhibit and galleries to visit around here, art fair is something I will keep in mind to get me form in front of computer to get to see and maybe meet other creatives.