Slowly slowly catchy monkey

I recently put on a small local exhibition of 1st edition prints, I usually only sell originals direct to the commissioner (the person who commissions the work, not the guy from Batman) and i've never exhibited or sold prints before, so I wasn't quite sure how it would go, but it was amazing.

I'm really happy. I simply wanted to sell at least one print and get my business cards out to direct people to my website, but in 5 days I sold 60% of the prints, which, to me, is fantastic.

I was a little nervous about speaking to people about my artwork as i'm quite shy about my work and I don't really like being centre of attention, but everyone was really friendly and I was overwhelmed by how interested they all were in what I had to say.

I loved the fact that everyone liked different pieces and it really taught me that art is a personal choice so it's not for me to say what is good and what isn't so good, it really is down to the audience to make that decision. The overall consensus of thought was that people love vibrant colour and colourful pieces of work the best, no matter what the topic is.

I'm really over the moon that it went so well and thank everyone that helped me put it together in such a short space of time. I can't wait until I exhibit again, but next time I think I will only display originals and paint to the price, if you know what I mean. Baiscally people will buy things if they are under £50, so for my next exhibition I will paint original artwork worth £49.95, they will be small pieces, but they will be originals, then as my name gets out more I will slowly work up to larger pieces with larger prices.

I really enjoy painting big pieces of work, but that means I need to charge big prices to compliment the work, people are usually happy to pay the higher price, but I feel they will be happier to pay larger sums of money for my work when they have a better idea of who I am and my artistic CV is more varied.

You need to learn to walk before you can run and take one step at a time...slowly slowly catchy monkey.

If anyone is thinking about exhibiting their work I really think it is a great idea. It really helps you to understand what the audience want, which enables you to have a greater understanding of your artwork - paint for yourself, but always have your audience in mind. It also gives you more confidence to speak about your work. It is a must if you wish to compete in the artistic world.