I`m back from my trip to Switzerland where the weather was amazing! They have never had weather like that, and the weather data goes all the way back to 1864. No rain and in fact not a cloud in the sky for ten days! Absolutely fantastic!
Ma friends Myriam and Béatrice and my sister Anne and I in Soleure at the Art Sale I`m in.
Soleure, the town where the Art Sale is, is an amazingly nice Baroque town. We happened to be there on the 11th of November. Soleure is the city of 11 - there is 11 of everything. There are 11 fountains, 11 churches, 11 towers, three sets of 11 stairs in front of the cathedral, 11 town squares and even a beer called 11. We happened to be there on the 11th day of the 11th month of 2011 in front of the big Baroque Urs cathedral, when a journalist wanted to take a picture with people forming the number 11 for the local newspaper. So sure enough the next day, there we were on the front page of the Solothurn newspaper.
A funny coincendence being in the right place at the right time (see if you can spot us)!
Now as far the Art Sale (Kunst Supermarkt, which means supermarket for art) goes, it is an amazing organisation and a well done event.
The place for the exhibit is very nice and the atmosphere inside is pleasant and charming, yet spacious enough to exhibit 80 artists with over 2000 paintings at once.
It was crowded and you can see the shopping carts (because it is a supermarket for art) suspended from the ceiling.
Here is how they present the paintings. They are in boxes in front of easel like stands.
All the paintings were on the smaller side, 24x24 inches being the largest for me. However I also had one larger painting at a higher price and here I am, in front of my large painting (the one with squares, which was sold on the third day of the show, to my great pleasure!).
The theme for the show was contemporary. I was very curious to see what the 80 artists would show.
There was graphic art, mixed medium, papier maché on canvas, all sorts of mediums, some very abstract, some representative, dyptiques etc...etc...etc....in short, something for every taste. Because the prices were fixed at specific price points, people could come with a budget in mind, know what they could afford and that they would find something to buy. So they came confident they would find a wide selection of original art with something they would probably like at an affordable price. They also liked the fact that they could take the piece of art with them right away, continue to browse and if they liked something else, bring the painting back and pick another one. And when they had what they wanted, they paid for it and took it home to hang right away. Our society likes instant gratification and this certainly caters to that!
The feed back I had was that the shoppers liked being able to touch and handle the paintings, look at them without any commitments and no sense of obligation or pressure - just like at any self service supermarket. They could wander around, think about it and, with a huge crowd and a huge selection, they could decide without being pressured.
So here is the tally so far, which I know you all want to know. As of a few days ago I have sold 21 paintings, including my big one. I`m happy with that so far and there is still lots of time to the end of the show, which is January 6th. Next weekend they hope to have the televison channel come, which would provide more publicity and hopefully another boost in visitors.
I am very happy I went to see the whole process, the kind of art that was shown and to see where I fit in all of that.
Thanks to all my family and friends who helped me before the show and to the ones who came to support me in Soleure!! The whole experience was much better and more enjoyable for me because of it.
Please stay tuned for the Kunst Supermarkt sale update in January after the sale ends.
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