A Slight Interruption

I thought for sure I'd be finished with the Amazon Sketch/Journal Tutorial now. I would have been, too, except that something else came up that couldn't be put off: my number came up for a sales space at the newly opened Ashland Artisan Emporium, in Ashland, Oregon, about ten miles down the road.

If you've been following my blog, you'll know I have been trying to find homes for my closets-full of book and magazine illustrations from the last few decades, so I had put my name in a couple of months ago with no idea when, in the natural turn of events, an empty booth would come up: 8' x 4' in a bright, airy mini-mall.

So I was working along on the Amazon Tutorial ~ I have the first draft finished except for the last two pages, now ~ then I had to stop to get the booth up and running.

Frustrating, yes, but exciting in the other direction, as I figure out all the twists and turns involved in getting my unique setup set up. I've been slugging away at the plan in off moments here and there for the last month in anticipation, taking minor breaks from the tutorial lest I get moribund and turn to stone at my computer (NOT recommended!).

The second image is the space, looking at it from about ten feet before you get there. You can see how bright and spacious the aisles are, and to be honest, the quality of this artisan mall is FAR above any other I've seen (they can be pretty darned tacky, if not actually trashy).

The third image is my first appearance, flung up day before yesterday as a kind of "place holder." Because as soon as I got the word, I rushed in with what I'd prepared ~ a laminated banner that reads "The Art, Illustration and Books of Irene Brady" (hey, there's no room for modesty in a sales booth), a "Coming Soon!" sign, and a matted and sequestered-under-an-acrylic-sheet article that appeared in December in a local magazine (the magazine is called "Joy" and the section I was under is called "Soul" which leaves me a bit speechless. My!)

But it's a nice article, and if anyone stops to see who will be in the new space, they can get introduced in advance.

My studio is a shambles, filled with framed artwork I've been pulling out of cupboards, tables covered with items in preparation, etc. I'll be using a lot of the inventory I prepared for the December Art Show and Sale. For that, I didn't mat or frame anything that didn't already have a mat or frame, offering them in clear display sleeves (these are sometimes called "bags" in the industry). But for the booth I think I'll want to have everything framed or at least matted, so pieces that already have frames or mats will go up first.

Since the unique thing about much of the art in my cupboards is that they are illustrations either for books I have written or for books written by others, I will be displaying the open books so that people can leaf through to compare the original illustration on the wall with the printed illustration in the book. I'm using the same setup to hold the book that I created for the art show, but now they're painted a light green and will hang on the pegboard wall near the book (click on the image of the open book for a close-up) -- so a lot of things have had to happen to make that work.

Actually, I've decided to blog in some detail on the setting up for the sale booth since a lot of people expressed interest about the preparation for the Art Sale and Show in December. It will help me organize my mind, as well, so it's good for us all.

But that's going to have to wait a day or two, until I start the setting up. It's being a fascinating process for me, and I hope you find it interesting, too ~ maybe it will give you an idea of how you could do it if an opportunity arises for you to set up a booth some time in the future.

So, this is a kind of place marker. Stay tuned, as I'll be making regular entries for the next couple of days (and THEN I will get the Amazon Sketch/Journal Tutorial up online ready for download! YES!)