For some time now I’ve been wanting to hold my own little art show online. I think the idea first arose part-way into Covid, when I was trying to work out other ways to sell my work and to be more self-reliant (weren’t we all!). At first I had big plans… sorry… BIG plans. I was going to hold an in-person event in my own space (not that I have a space of my own where I could do this). Then I was going to video my own show in my own space and put it online.
This is what I tend to do… think big, and then get stuck in the details of how to make it work!
Not long before Christmas I was in Halifax buying some art supplies (DeSerres is my shop of choice in the city). On the drive in I listened to one of my favourite art business podcasts (Art Juice) where the two hosts were talking about different ways to sell art, and if I remember rightly one of them was talking about having just done their own show of work online.
The wood panel section in DeSerres was extremely sparse, with none of the normal sizes I buy. The supply chain problems had hit art supplies. But what they did have were lots of smaller sizes of panels. And, they had a 25% off for professionals sale on. So, with the voices of the podcast hosts in my head, I thought “I could have my own show, online, and I can sell smaller pieces of art that I paint on these available panel sizes!”.
So I loaded up 🙂
The panel sizes I am using are 4″ x 4″, 6″ x 6″, and 6″ x 8″. I was quite busy with commissions after Christmas (more on this in another post) but at the end of January I went through my stockpile of candle/lantern photos and chose the ones I wanted to paint. And now the current commissions are finished, I’ve been able to make a start!
The show is titled: “A Glimpse of Light”, and all the pieces have my candle light / lamplight theme.
I am still fine-tuning the details of the sale but here’s the important info so far:
- Paintings will be for sale online, first come first served.
- Subscribers to my mailing list will get an invite to a ‘private showing’. They will be able to view and purchase the pieces before they become available to the general public on my site.
- Sign up to my newsletter here!
- I will be showing the pieces as they are completed on my Instagram feed, and occasionally on my Facebook page, you can find me there by searching for isobelhamiltonart
- My plan is to do a little ‘video tour’ of the artwork once they are all finished, and before they go on sale.
I hope that this is the perfect opportunity; the pieces are smaller, so easy to sit on a shelf or hang in a small space. As they are small, they are affordable! And hopefully I’ll be able to connect with more people who are interested in my art – which will help me make this a career not just a hobby.
More news to come!
