Friday 29th August

Well that was hell of a weekend.

The marquee brought up by Matt and Sarah was excellent.  The best yet and allowed for a lot more paintings and a lot more space. The set up went well and because they came a day early I had all day Friday to get the paintings set up.

It all looked great for opening on Saturday which, was supposed to be 11am but by 10am there were plenty of people coming in. I sold quite a few paintings by the time we should have officially opened. The trend continued all day and a part from a lull around lunchtime we were busy even past the official closing time of 4pm, which I changed to 5pm and we had people visiting at 6pm! The good weather helped and although it got cloudy in the afternoon, there were plenty of people around. We ended up with a record day, better than any in the last 5 years. One highlight was a couple and there 13 year old son who, after buying a few paintings, returned because their son wanted a painting for his birthday. It was £180 and they are also looking to buy some more after the event. The post exhibition drinks session got a little exuberant.

Sunday was slower but steady. I was surprised how the sales built up and even more surprised when we ended on the 2nd best day ever. The range of paintings in size, style and media surprised a lot of people and gave them a good selection to choose from. I was surprised at how many abstracts sold in the first 2 days. I’d had them out before with no interest at all.

I had visits from quite a few locals and also visitors who came last year. My local advertising seemed to work. We also caught many people going down to or coming back from the beach as the good weather held. It’s difficult down here as parking is a nightmare, particularly on a Bank Holiday. One guy, a solicitor friend of Dylan came every day (and bought something every day!) I had plenty of work and was able to keep plugging the gaps.

The evening celebrations were somewhat subdued.

Monday morning was very hot. The footfall was slower. However there was a late rally and it turned into the best 3rd day ever! A friend who does the quiz came with her daughter and granddaughter who after a bit of a tantrum insisted on buying a £200 painting with her own savings. The final total not surprisingly was the best ever money wise and 76 pictures sold. The total however is still rising.

We didn’t have to break down until Tuesday so we celebrated the best ever Art in the Garden in the evening sun.

It did rain overnight which we didn’t want but it soon dried out and we packed away with all hands on deck in a very organised manner.

And just like that it was all over... well not quite as some dialogue is still going on which may result in more sales. In fact the statement painting on the easel at the gates sold on Thursday.

It takes a lot of effort and not just from me. Everyone seems to get locked into it. It’s always worth the effort, for me, financially and in terms of exposure but everyone seems to enjoy it. It was made a little more difficult this year as we had taken Luna to be spayed on Thursday and she was a little subdued on Thursday and Friday.  We also all missed Ray who’s slightly drunken idea it was 5 years ago.

The whole thing is also very exhausting physically and mentally and we were all knackered on Tuesday evening but work goes on. During AITG I had a website request for a painting I’d sold a while ago resulting in a commission and I’ve also had a commission off someone who liked a painting from Buckinghams. There are other post AITG negotiations going on. It’s also my quiz this week so life goes on.