Six Artists, One Exhibition, at Thaxted Guildhall

I was part of an art exhibition at Thaxted Guildhall, put on by the Monday group at the Shedio.  Participants were Lynne Harris, Cherry Vernon, Liz Ward, Margaret Johnson, Norah Stocker, and me.  It was a really useful learning exercise - the main conclusion of which is that I appreciate, even more, the efforts of exhibition organisers, and understand why they have entry fees for juried shows.  There is a LOT of work in organising a show, and the team I worked with here, did most of the leg work before the event. (I was busy at uni over the summer, and hope I pulled my weight by staging, doing 2 full days of stewarding, and striking the show).

Staging the show took a full day.  Each of us agreed which section of the room we would like.  We used colour to move people through the show - Cherry had a bright quilt that pulled people through the first room, then Lynn's watercolour flowers pulled people through to the end of the second room.  Other positions had exhibiting difficulties, but we chose work that could cope with the problems.  Liz's glazed assemblages faced the windows, so had some reflection, but her work is bold and clearly formed, so coped with it.  Margaret's was in the shadow of the window, but her Scotland prints (exquisite) were clear because there was no glare.  Cherry's quilts were bold enough to cope with the shadows, but also formed a good backdrop for my samplers which were hanging against the open wall made from wooden pillars.

Liz carefully labelling her work.

Lynn and Margaret hanging heavy, framed artworks

I find hanging really stressful, but with the help and confidence of the more experienced exhibitors (Cherry and Lynne) it looked hot.

As a pop-up show, I did not expect us to sell any pieces.  But we did!  Cherry sold a quilt, Lynn sold a painting and a folio piece.  Plus lots of cards.  I think we had a couple of hundred visitors over the 3 days, and each of us had invited friends and family to attend.

First sold piece!

We worked well together, and I was knackered by the end of it.  Well done us!