I was reading an article where the author described how he was completely overwhelmed as he stood in front of a painting in the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. He told of how he needed to sit, control his breathing and to settle himself before moving away from the painting – it literally took his breath away.
This man’s reaction was textbook Stendhal syndrome, a psychosomatic condition where an artwork causes such a powerful mental and physical reaction in the spectator they can actually faint from pleasure.
As I have been going through the applications for #Cafdgg the quality of the applications has been spectacular, and whilst I haven’t fainted with pleasure yet I have seen some work that has made me stop and sigh with pure joy at the ingenuity, quality, design and manufacture of the pieces of art.
Our arts fair is free entry with donations to local charity #LifeSpace, so you can visit as many times as you want over the weekend bringing friends, family and visitors to the event.
In case anyone does feel overwhelmed by the sheer range and quality of the art exhibited, we have the Golden Cup Cafe where you can recover before buying the piece of artwork that made your heart flutter….
Every year in the lead up to #Cafdgg I worry about how I can make it the best for our wonderful exhibitors and visitors, and this year was no exception.
The visitors came in their droves, the artworks left the building with happy buyers and I felt I chatted all weekend with brand new visitors from afar, welcoming back locals, our glorious stalwarts plus inquisitive new visitors wanting to see what it was all about from our social media posts and local radio interviews.
There was a gentle hum throughout the weekend as visitors met exhibitors talking about how their work was developing, taking commissions in time for Christmas, how they made their art work and sliding pieces of work away after a knowing present buying secretive nod.
I was pleased to read in the exhibitor reviews about the number of visitors who took up places at workshops being held in 2023 as presents for themselves or others.
The Golden Cup Cafe and the exhibition of Temple Goodies was busy all weekend, with some visitors not quite believing in the golden tea sets and teapots until they walked into the Ballroom ante-room upstairs and were hit by the glimmering display. I cannot begin to tell you how many visitors comment that the tea and coffee tastes better out of china cups and I felt more photos were taken of the cafe than last year!
In the exhibitor reviews after #Cafdgg it came up about the warm and friendly atmosphere of the event and how enjoyable was to meet other exhibitors, both new and returning artists. For me this was the most important report as I feel it is my job to make the experience of exhibitors as stress free as possible, so they can concentrate on sharing their work, networking and hopefully making new artistic friends.
The Private View was a hoot, and I especially enjoyed seeing the exhibitors chatting together before we opened the event to our invited guests. We were so busy the bar ran out of glasses so had to do a major washing halfway through the evening. I felt it set us all up for a relaxed weekend.
I cannot put on this event without the unfailing help of my family, friends and helpers – thank you once again and are you ready for next year?
A few weeks and counting for our Arts Fair Discover:Gather:Give – whop whop!
Have a look at our exhibitors page to see who is coming this year as we have many new and as well as our returning artists. Every year the Panel chooses a range of artists to showcase different styles, mediums, price points with passion and joy.
I visit many arts events over the year, looking at how other organisers put their shows together and what I can learn – from each event I take something away to mull over.
However the real joy is meeting the different artists and seeing how they are developing, so that each of the artists at #Cafdgg always show movement in their artistic endeavours. Like you, I don’t want to see the same old designs rehashed or endless print runs devaluing once interesting work – I look for deep rooted skills base, for craftspersonship, for pride in their work.
All of our artists are at a point in their personal artistic development and I am forever thankful that they are able to join us to share their work and for you to fall in love with it….
This post is from Trend Build, however I thought it really useful as it is something I am working on to promote all the artists at #Cafdgg.
You may have seen that many Instagram users display their stories in tidy little circles and wondered how they did it. Or maybe you’ve heard others talking about their Instagram Highlights and been confused as to what they are.
Here, you’ll learn everything about Instagram Highlights, including what they are, how they may help your profile, and how to make the most of them.
What are Instagram Highlights?
Instagram Stories that you want to highlight on your profile indefinitely are called “Highlights.” It’s a terrific method to keep your most successful stories running if you put them in a Highlight, where they’ll remain accessible even after 24 hours have passed. The Instagram feature known as “Highlights” is a must-have.
An individual Highlight may be viewed and navigated in the same way as any other story, excluding the visitor’s list. The list of viewers disappears once the story you saved has been up for 24 hours, and all that remains is the views count.
You can create an unlimited number of Highlights, but each can only include up to 100 pics or videos. When there are too many to fit in one view, you may scroll left and right to see more.
How to Make a Highlight on Instagram
For those who haven’t done so before, Instagram lets you compile Highlights from either your most recent story or older stories. Therefore, you must activate the archiving function. The Stories Archive is normally turned on, but if it isn’t, you may turn it on manually as follows.
To access your account settings, go to your profile and click the menu button.
Navigate to Settings > Privacy > Story.
Turn on the option next to “Save story to archive” to save your story.
Once you have enabled archiving, you can proceed with making your first Highlight. Following is a rundown of the steps required to make your first Instagram Highlight by including the current story:
Go to the Instagram story.
Click the lower Highlight button.
To add anything new to your highlight, choose New from the Add to Highlights.
You may personalize the cover and give the highlight a name.
After that, choose Add, and then Done.
Alternatively, you may use an older Instagram story that you uploaded as the basis for a Highlight. In this way:
You may start a new entry by tapping New on your profile.
To create a new Highlight, choose the items you wish to include and press Next.
Set the cover art and give your Highlight a name.
When finished, choose the Add and Finish buttons.
So long! Your Instagram profile has been updated with your first Highlight.
What Can You Use Instagram Highlights For?
With Instagram’s Highlights feature, you can give your followers a hand-picked selection of their favorite posts to peruse. They are crucial if you use Instagram to promote your blog or online shop.
A few examples of possible applications for Instagram’s Highlights feature are as follows:
Showcasing a variety of your published content kinds
Featuring several types of things you have available for purchase.
Maintaining a uniform aesthetic across your Instagram account.
Providing easy access to small pieces of data to people.
There are many more possibilities; perhaps, the aforementioned examples have sparked some creativity in you. In addition, you can browse all of your saved Instagram stories in one place and organize them geographically into a Highlight.
Simple Ways to Upgrade Your Instagram
Instagram’s popularity and features continue to expand. You probably forgot about Instagram Highlights when it first came out since it was simply one more new feature. Instagram often steals the greatest features and concepts from rival applications, and highlights are a prime example of this.
Every year I do our Contemporary Arts Fair Dsicover:Gather:Give I get ridiculously excited about sharing with you our inspiring artists who will be exhibiting with us and this year is no exception.
Over the next few weeks I will be sharing with you on social media photos of our first time exhibitors, our exhibitors who we welcome back after a break and one or two of our exhibitors who will always have the option of exhibiting with us as a thank you for the support they gave me when I first set up #Cafdgg in 2015.
