Happy New Year!
Long time no blog.... who said they had to be regular and often anyway? I'm a busy woman!
Well a lot has happened since my last blog, wait for it......... I have opened up a pop-up gallery in my neighbouring town! It's called the Flying Sausage Gallery after my love for dachshunds (not sausages!). It happened so quickly, I wasn't even intending to have a gallery but I was thinking of some sort of platform from which I could promote my work and suddenly as if by magic there it was!
This happened back in October and at the time I was so excited and completely fired up for it. The shop was an ex moped/scooter shop and it is situated right next door the the Majestic cinema in Bridgnorth town. Lots of people passing by you might think? The lease was running out so I had the chance to rent it for a few months and if all was well I could take it over in February 2018.
As the space was quite big I decided to invite other artists whose work I love that I've met along the way at fairs to join me and as a result and much to my delight I have a fantastic collection of beautiful art and crafts. I even put up an easel so I could work in there and I installed my old settee so my two furry friends could be with me every step of the way in my new venture. It needed a bit of work doing to it as the walls were covered in slats and it looked like a garage so after a trip to Ikea and a whole load of money I created a beautiful emporium!
As the location isn't wonderful I needed to let the locals know I was there so I got flyers printed, set up a Facebook and Instagram page and even got a double page spread in two of the local news papers. I thought I had covered everything, I was all set up and ready to go, so I waited for the customers to flock in .....and waited......and...
So the last few months have been the biggest learning curve of my life! Here are a few things I've learnt: that it takes years for a gallery to become established (I had 3 months), Bridgnorth is and I quote "a funny place, people live there but don't really shop there", I am a really impatient person, I'm not good at selling or communicating with potential customers, my lovely dogs scare people off with their barking and I'm not good at saying no to people. So many things have gone wrong (too many to mention) in the last few months I swear the shop is haunted... or cursed!
Don't get me wrong though it's not been a complete nightmare... more of an emotional rollercoaster, I have met some wonderful people, made great new contacts and I now have a list of places to visit with my work and I have also learnt so much more about myself and I posses a greater understanding and respect for gallery owners, I will leave this chapter behind me a better more rounded and mindful person ...... if not slightly poorer!
If you fancy visiting my gallery virtually take a look at my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/flyingsausagegallery/
