Subiaco Craft Fair
Positives - meeting new people, catching up with friends
Negatives - hot weather, swelling up to be a puffy elephant, traffic jams, no crowds, high entry fee, no ice!!
Subiaco Craft Fair
Positives - meeting new people, catching up with friends
Negatives - hot weather, swelling up to be a puffy elephant, traffic jams, no crowds, high entry fee, no ice!!
Okay, so I've sold my work at markets before but never a car boot sale. So the latest event at PICA (Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts) was certainly an experience!! I took it as an opportunity to show a variety of work, take along plenty of specials and clearance items. It was a fun day!
When I tell people I have my own business some of the most frequent comments I get are "wow, you must be rich", "it must be so easy to work for yourself" or "surely anyone can sell their artwork, it can't be that hard?"
Ha, far from it. Working for myself has been one of the biggest challenges of my life. Sure, I am my own boss. However that means I also have extra responsibilities. My official title according to the tax office is freelance illustrator. In reality I am the boss, bookkeeper, administration, accountsperson, promotion manager, staff member, checkout chick, designer, factory worker.... this list goes on. I am the one who comes up with the idea, creates the artwork, reproduces it into a product - which I create with my own hands, promotes the product and then makes it available for sale to either a store, market or exhibition. Oh and by the way I'm also supposed to turn the clock off everyday and have a real life, which of course rarely happens.
You hear on the news all the time about people losing their jobs and so many people say to me I'm lucky because no matter what I can keep my job. Well, yes and no. Whilst I may have this business at the end of the day it needs to make money to pay bills and everyone is affected by the global financial crisis. No-one more so then those who own small businesses.
I hear a lot of other designers & creators complain about how the state of the economy is affecting their business. How they are making nothing at a market, or barely their stall fee back. How no-one is buying their $350 necklace or $1200 dress. Sure, I know my paintings aren't going to race out the door considering they are a 'luxury' item and most people are only spending money on necessities. But that is the reality of the day. I know I have to change my business to reflect the economy if I'm going to survive it.
We can't all go to a market and walk away $5000 richer at the end of the day otherwise we'd all be working in this job. We work hard, we don't always reap financial rewards, but in times like this we have to think outside of the box. Use the time to work on new products, improve current products, discontinue lines and even evaluate what we are doing and why. I know many people this year whose businesses have completely changed from one genre to another. There is a reason businesses fail and anyone who goes into business to purely make money won't remain afloat for long. Personally I run this business because I absolutely adore it. I enjoy interacting with customers, seeing people walk down the street wearing my artwork and flipping open a newspaper to see one of my products on a store shelf! I also enjoy the many daily challenges that are thrown my way.
What has been disappointing for me in regards to markets is the low numbers of attendance. Of the past five markets that I've participated in, crowds have barely been 1/10th of their expectations. These markets were a mix of everyday markets & designer markets spread out across Perth. I can understand that everyone is strapped for cash, but when you see people racing out of Myer with arm fulls of bags, or Target with trolleys full of products and laybying multiple flat screen televisions it does leave you to question things.
I'd love your feedback on those questions and even what you think about buying from independent designers like myself.
To show you just how much markets have changed around Perth and the crowds another designer Jane organised a photo of the PICA car boot sale to compare it from 2007 to the event in 2009.
Now, how is that for a comparison?
How can we keep markets alive in Perth and keep designers within Western Australia?We are trying more and more each day to be as organic & environmentally happy as possible in our everyday lives. We exercise, we walk wherever we can, we recycle, we use fresh fruit & veg, we use as little processed foods as possible, we use organic bath & body products and try to buy secondhand when we need clothes or furniture.
Something that we've really been enjoying at the moment is gardening our own food to eat. We use organic compost, our own homemade compost and our worm farm.... and our plants are growing like crazy! I can't wait until we have produce we can use in our meals.
Mr R staking up the peas.
Pumpkin grown from seeds (they sprouted in our compost!!)
Mmmm.... lettuce in all shapes and sizes.
Strawberries
Runner beans flowering
Runner beans flowering again.
Mr R staking up the runner beans. Look how high they are getting! I love having them outside my kitchen window, they provide a welcome sight each night when we cook & clean.
Sweet potatoes growing wild and crazy!
Our temporary vegetable garden. Everything is in pots as we are expecting to move in the next few months and want to take our garden with us. It is also hidden around the side of the house where my crazy vegetable obsessed dogs can't get to them!
Tomatoes.
Free this weekend? Out and about?
Be sure to drop by my stall at the PICA Car Boot Sale on Sunday 8th November. All artworks that I have available will be on show at crazy low prices as I'd love for them to go to new homes before we move.
All paintings will be under $700 and drawings from a low $60. Unseen artwork, old & new, as well as artwork that will never be reproduced. Layby available.
There will also be gift sets for sale and badge sets. Perfect for Christmas treats! Hope to see you there.
If you wish to see my normal current range of stock I will also have a stall at the Darlington Arts Festival from 10-5 on both Saturday 8th November and Sunday 9th November at Darlington Oval.
-----------------------------------------------------
Only 8 weeks of market season left before Ali J Art & Illustration will only be available through stores for sometime.
Wow, I can't believe I'm already 162 days into my "365 day project". It's been 105 days since I last blogged about what I've been up to with my business so I thought it was time for a bit of a round up.
Business Update
Christmas orders have started to flood in, so I'm on overdrive at the moment. Luckily I'm now 5 months pregnant (as of this Saturday) so my energy levels have returned enough to cope with it all.
I'm working on a whole range of different projects at the moment, all with rush deadlines, all due to be completed within the next 2-4 weeks. The great thing is that now I'm getting a whole variety of projects to work on and keep driving my illustrations to the next level.
When I think of client jobs I will admit I do have a bit of a chuckle. Just after I started illustrating back in 2007 I applied to various illustration agencies at the time and was told that they couldn't take me on because they didn't think I'd be able to get client jobs. Well Mr Agencies.... look at me now! I absolutely love client jobs/commissions. (BTW - Applying to illustration agencies is once again in my future sights, but I've decided I'm going to wait for the baby to come first)
So.... I'm currently working on the following projects -
I am a little bit panicked at being so busy during peak market season, I think I've got 12+ markets before January already! I don't want to cut back on them though as this will be the last few months I'm going to do markets for a significant period of time. Our aim is to earn as much as we can through the business so we can put as much $$ aside as possible for the baby.
My aim for the next few weeks is just to work, work, work and keep the flow going. I've got so many plans for the future but until I know where life is heading, I don't want to overplan the business.But great news - I've been accepted into the Life In Style trade show next year!! My first trade show, and I'm super excited. =)
Life Update
In 5 weeks time both myself and Mr R graduate from our studies. Hooray! Our plan once that has finished is to take a few days off housesitting to recharge before throwing ourselves into work again.
The downfall is that because our studies finish, so does our financial support from the government. I won't be able to get help again until I give birth, Mr R's income from the army stops as well (they go on holiday) so it will be an interesting time relying completely on me and the magical artwork I can create. He's applying for jobs in the interim period, but no-one seems to want to hire anyone right now.
We have our 20 week ultrasound booked for next week that we are SO excited about. I can't believe we are already 1/2 way through the pregnancy. Oh, speaking of halfway Mr R and I have our 6 month anniversary on Thursday night. We are going to go out for a meal, so exciting!
We're just impatiently waiting now to discover if Mr R has a job teaching next year, and where that may be. As soon as we find that out we'll organise a house, move into it, then set ourselves up. I'm hoping that can be done in January as I'm not keen to move during the hottest month of the year - February where temperatures often sit at 40 degrees+. Yuck!
Pregnancy wise everything is going great. I have very little problems, just little niggly things that remind me of what I'm going through. I feel like a dried out shell everynight. I can't drink enough water and my skin, mouth and nose are bone dry. I'm affected quite badly by hayfever at the moment, first time in my life. My record of sneezing so far has been 21 sneezes in a row! Other then that I've been keeping my fitness up by both walking and swimming - sometimes laps in the pool, other days in pregnancy fitness classes. I really really miss exercising stronger, and I've been aching to run up and down sand dunes. Of course I can't, so I'll just have to wait a bit longer. Oh, and I've started to waddle. But don't stare! LOL
Last of all, I just wanted to share a sneek peek with you about an upcoming exhibition I've got one work in. I really wanted to do more works for it, but had a reality check that time just isn't on my side. This exhibition revolves around fairytales. The story I was given is "Puss In Boots". So here is a sneak peek.... when the exhibition opens I'll show you the full image and the story behind it.
Sneak Peek - "A Gift For The King"
So I hope your day has been going well. Hopefully I can pop back onto here quicker next time with plenty of new things to finally share!
I cannot believe it is midway through October already and only 9 weeks until Christmas. Where has the year gone?
Life here is on absolute overdrive. Christmas orders have started to rush in and my graduation show is in 6 weeks so I've barely got a moment to take a breath before flying into the next task. I've got lots of things that I need to finish before the end of the year, but for the moment I just wanted to do a quick post that announces most of the market stalls that I'll be participating in until the new year.
Next year I'll be taking an extended leave from markets and I'm unsure when I'll get back into doing them. As much as I love them we'll be living somewhere in the country with a new baby so I have to keep things a bit quieter until we can get settled in. Because of this I'm going all out for the remainder of the year and trying to do a market stall every week in a different location whenever possible.
Upcoming Market Dates
Sunday 25th October
Subiaco Craft Fair, UWA, 9am - 4pm
Sunday 1st November
Bayswater Community Fair, 10am - 4pm
Saturday 7th, Sunday 8th November
Darlington Arts Festival, Darlington Oval, 10am - 5pm
Sunday 15th November
Made On The Left, Hyde Park Hotel, 10am - 4pm
Sunday 15th November
Applecross Jacaranda Festival, Ardross St, 10am - 3.30pm
Thursday 3rd December
Fremantle Village Art Market, King Square, 10am - 4pm
Saturday 5th, Sunday 6th December
Fremantle Bazaar, Fremantle Arts Centre, 9am - 5pm
Thursday 17th December
Fremantle Village Art Market, King Square, 10am - 4pm
Thursday 24th December
Fremantle Village Art Market, King Square, 10am - 4pm
Thursday 31st December
Fremantle Village Art Market, King Square, 10am - 4pm
Friday 1st, Saturday 2nd, Sunday 3rd January
Fremantle Markets, 9am - 5pm
As of this coming weekend I'll be having sales on various items at each of the market stalls - rotating at each event - as well as selling original artworks/drawings at very special prices! Time to make room for new artworks in my studio next year and say goodbye to past favourites. Up for sale before Christmas will be many unreleased artworks. Hope to see you at one of my stalls!
The past few weeks have been fantastic.
It isn't super clear but the baby has its hands up beside its head on either side. It was doing what Ryan does all the time - stretching its hands up & then arching its back. Freaky!
image from ASOS one of the stockists (as of 25/9/09 removed from sale due to this copyright infringment)
Publicity image from Killah (the creators of the dress) so bad it makes me cringe.
When looking up silhouette inspirations I came across these amazing items. They are animal index cards to help sort your bookcase!
Made by the japanese designer Hiroshi Sasagawa. Buy them here.
"Cooking"
"Pampered"
"Travelling"