Parade Artists' Christmas Show

The following images show some of the items that will be on display during the weekends of 24-25 November and 1-2 December.

In addition there will be felted works, cards and jewellery.  Refreshments by Supper in Suburbia.  I hope you can come to see the wide variety of work.

Merchant City Festival, Glasgow

I will be participating with Parade Artist at the Merchant City Festival in Glasgow this weekend, 28 and 29 July.

This shows some of the variety of work available from painting, glass, ceramics, and textiles.  Everything is reasonably priced and portable.  And we have a credit card machine so there is no limit on your spending power.

There are lots of events going on in the Merchant City at the Festival, so if you can get to the centre of Glasgow at the weekend, come along and experience a variety of things.

Christmas Show

Parade Artists completed its (now) annual Christmas Show in the Wasps Hanson St studio building last weekend.  We used the same kind of set up as last year since it  worked well then.  

The ceramics section ready for the show

The various media - Ceramics, Glass, Painting and Textiles were each set up in a group.  There were also plinths and display sections throughout the show area where the various forms were in mixed displays.

Glass section at the end of the day

Some of the paintings displayed

We were fortunate to have sponsorship from Kopparberg and also to have Supper in the Suburbs provide a  pop-up cafe

Some of the Kopparberg and some of the baking from Supper in the Suburbs

Some visitors enjoying the drink and baking

Although the weather was bad on some days, people still came to the show.  The numbers of visitors and exhibitors were down on last year, but we were not down hearted as can be seen from the faces of these three artists.

You can follow Parade Artists on Facebook through out the year.  Plans for other shows will be announced there.

West End Festival

This year I participated in the West End Festival rather than just attending some of the events. I participated with the Parade Artists in a craft and arts show in Lansdowne Church last weekend.

It was a strenuous show as the props and stock had to be taken through the church and up to the first floor. Then decanted to the ground floor on Friday night before setting up again on Saturday. These photos show the latter stages of setting up for the Saturday show

Emilka the organiser (standing) and Emma Jo (sitting as she has already set every thing of hers up).

Some of the ceramics, textiles, and painting set up. Waiting for paintings for the easels

Glass (with Dorte in front), Textiles, Ceramics and the Sales Desk

Vicky rushing to the next task past some of the texties and ceramics

This proved to be one of the easiest and cheerful of recent shows as everyone participated in getting the show arranged, set up and stocked. It was of course very physical and I felt it on Sunday.

The sales were moderate, but we received a lot of comment on the quality of materials, and some members have said they would be interested in doing it again next year.

We’ve Made it Through Our First Show!

Among other things, I am a member of a group called Parade Artists. And I am using that as an excuse to tell you all about our background and experiences at our first big retail show a fortnight ago. Parade Artists took a stand at Homes and Interiors 2010 to find new audiences and test the ability of a local collective of artists to show alongside commercial organisations.

Parade Artists is a collection of artists working in the Hanson Street, Glasgow WASPS building, and which was formed in 2007 as a development of some uncoordinated efforts in two previous years. It has a fluctuating number of members of about 15 - 20 people, but with a consistent core of 10. The members - unusually for creative collectives - work in a diversity of media which include painting, textiles, ceramics, glass, photography and mixed media.

The objective of Parade Artists is to find new avenues of marketing and selling that work for the group and the individuals within it. It is now directed by a steering group to keep continuity in decision making, after it was found that a completely democratic organisation took too long to come to consensus and frequently changed its collective mind depending on who was at the meeting. All members are entitled to attend the meetings and the minutes are public to the members.

The original objective was to hold two shows a year within the building. Parade Artists has achieved annual Christmas shows, some Spring and Summer shows which involve the community, although not every year. Experience of these shows led toward events on selling and marketing for the members, both in a self-help fashion and in formal sessions presented by outsiders. We have had help from East End Enterprise and Cultural Enterprise too. Less obvious achievements have been to bring a diverse group of artists – both in media and personality – together. It gives the ability to work to the strengths of individuals, so making the direct selling effect better for the less market oriented people, and for the less detail oriented to get help with organisation. The shows have changed from a market stall arrangement to exhibition oriented ones.

All this brought us to the decision to try presenting ourselves to a wider public - it is said that the Homes and Interiors has around 20,000 visitors over the three days of the show. This was the biggest investment decision for group ever - £1100 as a single speculative venture for a small non-profit organisation was difficult but the collective enthusiasm carried us forward. The participation fee was set at £100 and to every one's surprise eleven people signed up!

Having made this decision, we needed to make sure it worked. A number of things were set in place:

• Developing clear areas of responsibility
• Covering for absences
• Developing a professional presentation - buying rather than making display
• Keeping to budget – as predicted we spent as much on display and marketing materials as on the stand.
• Setting deadlines and keeping to them – which we achieved.
• Obtaining a mobile point of sale credit card machine especially for the Homes and Interiors show. One third of the sales were through credit and debit cards.

Among the decisions on areas of responsibility one was that the selection and setting up of the objects was to be done by only three people. Although this was not completely satisfactory to everyone, it was important to presenting the most work in a coherent manner and it proved to be an attraction to visitors rather than a jumble sale. Clear selling instructions with back ups were important to sorting the financial affairs, although there were still problems with recording the information. The best days for sales and contacts were Friday and Saturday. The decision to have two main sellers and another person floating about to help in busy times worked well. The collection of contact details was generally easy. We had two means of beginning the conversations – a card advertising the WASPS open studios (which ran out too quickly) and talking about the collective and the range of work on display and offering to keep people in contact with the activity of the individuals and of Parade Artists.

Set-up almost complete

Our experience at a big retail show left us with some lessons and other things to consider. Some of the elements to consider are:

• Simple inventory lists and reference numbers with multiples having the same reference number.
• Someone to concentrate on taking money and wrapping procedures both to relieve pressure on the sales people and to ensure consistency in recording sales.
• Concentrate the people with greatest sales ability on the most productive days (not Sunday).
• More awareness of the public should be engendered among all of us.
• More training on selling from the front of rather than behind the stand is required as it really is different.
• More careful consideration of the amount of stock taken to the show requires more focused decision-making at the selection stage.
• A more seamless method of getting contact details is required
• Affordable publicity material for all our activities needs to be developed and funded.
• A higher profile for our website on the stand and in publicity materials is required.

Still Friends at the End of the Show

Our ambitions are to:

• Continue to be presenting work directly to the buying public
• Work toward a permanent shop
• Begin representing artists other than members
• Have an annual presence at a major trade show
• Develop a robust business structure, e.g., a cooperative such as described by Creative Cooperatives - http://www.creatives.uk.coop/

The experiences at Homes and Interiors are a major step forward for Parade Artists. Although we have a way to go to match the display equipment standards of the commercial exhibitors, our stand attracted as much interest as the larger organisations. We need to build on the things learned and begin to pay attention to the nuts and bolts of organisational structure to continue to develop and grow.

Christmas Shows

Parade Artists are holding Christmas Shows on the last weekend of November and the 1st weekend of December. I will be participating in this again, but changing things a little. As my studio is just off the main gallery area of the building, I am going to have an open studio, with work displayed among the working elements of the studio.

I do have to show you the post card that has been developed, as one of my pieces is on the front. You are allowed to guess!

The Show will be held on Saturday 28th from 11 to 5 and on Sunday 29th from 12 to 4. I know! artists just can't get up on Sunday morinings! The show will be open for the same hours on Saturday December 5th and Sunday 6th.

As you can see from the card there is a variety of things on display. There will be even more people exhibiting this year. If you can, come and enjoy a little tipple.

Christmas Shows Time Again!

Halloween and Guy Faulk's Night are over, so it must be Christmas show time! Everybody is doing some shows, fairs, or sales. Everybody is determined to get in on this gift-fest. And I am no different.

The collaborative group in our building called, Parade Artists, is holding Shows over two weekends. They are 29 & 30 November and 6 & 7 December in the WASPS Hanson Street studio building. If you are in the area, it would be good to see you.

I will be selling glass of course, and the 2009 craftscotland calendar.

In some ways, the best part of these weekends are the studio parties after the close of the last day. The relief and a few drinks help you get to know your fellow artists much better.

Studio Sale

It has been a busy few weeks, so I haven't met my schedule for writing. I have been on three visits/conferences (more later) , done one sale, completed first part of a large installation and got things ready for the Scottish Glass Society exhibition.

First things first. The Parade Artists show was held on the second weekend of May. About 25 artists participated in this first co-operative show. We have learned a number of lessons about marketing and making the show and event that people enjoy and want to come back to. We are committed to about 4 shows a year and are beginning to do the marketing work for the next one.

As you can guess from this, the show was not really well attended, but we all had a number of interesting conversations with various visitors which may lead on to other things. In my case, I got into a discussion about providing in service training for art teacher in a neighbouring local authority. This could lead to a continuing relationship with the schools that are outfitted for glass work of various kinds. I also talked to a few people about workshops. In one case, there is the possibility of one orgnised specially for a small group of people.

Although the show was not a great financial success for me, I did get good comments on a range of daffodil coasters (100mm square). These were made by using glass powders and firing a number of times to build up the colours and shading. I made them in a variety of shades as you can see from the photos below.

Of course, I spent more money that I took in by being so attracted to a painting by Lin Lee that I bought it.

May studio exhibition

I am participating in a Spring exhibition organised by the Parade Artists Cooperative at the WASPS' Hanson Street studios. The photo of the post card invitation is below. And the press notice that explains all the things you cannot see on the post card follows that. This is the first of the shows that are being organised by the participating artists. If you are near, come by and see what is on offer.

PRESS RELEASE- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Parade Artists
W.A.S.P.S Studios 77 Hanson Street Glasgow G31 2HFT: 07796312613
E: paradeartists@yahoo.com
PARADE ARTISTS SPRINGING ABOUT

10th May – 11th May 2008
Opening: - Sat 10th May 2008 from 10am – 5pm
The newly- formed collective, Parade Artists is proud to present and host “Spring Show” at the W.A.S.P.S Factory Glasgow on the 10th and 11th May. The event will showcase a selection of new works for sell ranging in paintings, ceramics, textiles, jewelry and glass. Deirdre Murphy, Kathryn Pender and Zoe Gadsby are some of the many participating artists, all of whom have strong connections with Scotland and its Art Colleges.

Deirdre Murphy, 31, is winning an enviable reputation as a contemporary textile accessories designer for fashion interiors. Murphy’s’s style is attributed to her mother who used a sturdy singer sewing machine to make dresses for her six daughters. Murphy uses the same tool to create vibrant, luxurious, yet hard wearing, handbags, purses, cushions and throws. Her experience in the industry includes studio assistant with London ’s fashion designer, Arabella Pollen and dispatch assistant at Baird McNutt’s Linen factory, Ireland . She is now director of her own textile company Tenterhooks Ltd. Murphy completed her BA (Hons) degree in Woven Textile Design at the Scottish College of Textiles, Galashiels in 1998.

Kathryn Pender, 27, continues to explore themes of social constructs, personal interactions and the human form through multiply layers and abstraction in her paintings. Through the use of various materials combined with texture, Pender is demonstrates her own dialogues in her work. A BA (Hons) Fine Art Graduate from Gray’s School of Art , Pender has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. Her work has featured in several galleries including the Aberdeen Art Gallery , Aberdeen (2001); the Compass Gallery, Glasgow (2002) DAAD Zentrum, Germany (2005) and Lloyd Jerome Gallery , Glasgow (2006).

Zoe Gadsby, 34, is continuing to go from strength to strength as a glass artist after graduating from Glasgow School of Art in 1995. She has established a growing national reputation for her vibrant fused and leaded glass. Gadsby explores and manipulates glass’s transformational qualities using vivid, luminous colour that powerfully engages the senses and abstraction through geometric form. Simple geometric symbols and complex geometric patterning reflect naturally occurring chaotic forms fused with high-tech. circuitry, microscopic photography of viruses, cells and even atoms.

Frank To, a member of the Parade Artists Collective says, “It’s quite rare to have a large number of artists working together to showcase an event of this scale. ‘Spring Show’ is the perfect opportunity to show the scale of Parade Artists as a collective as well as talented individuals who are participating.”

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“Spring Show” opens Saturday 10th May 2008
W.A.S.P.S Factory 77 Hanson Street Glasgow G31 2HF