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.
After our contemporary arts event Discover Gather Give I put aside a few weeks for reflections, review and assessment, listening to the comments made by visitors, artists and volunteers and how I felt the event went.
It was the first actual live event after my husband had died last year during the Covid lockdown and he was an incredible support both mentally and physically in putting the event together. I really was not sure how I was going to feel about doing the event without him, however I cannot shout loudly enough my thanks for the support both expected and unexpected from family, friends and our marvellous exhibitors; I am truly grateful and touched by your kindness.
It was a grand weekend, with our exhibitors really pulling out all the stops to make the event visually sumptuous, elegant and a joy for visitors to buy at every exhibition space.
The Private View had a solid number of visitors enjoying the WILD EVE https://www.wild-eve.com/drink-the-wild long drink with the best sourdough bakery in the area making our delicious food https://www.morbakery.co.uk and even though it was Bonfire Night near two hundred people joined us over our very jolly evening with a number of sales taking place.
Over the weekend there was a constant flow of visitors milling around. I was at the door hand sanitising visitors as they entered and chatted to many as they left the beautiful town hall with bags and packages of all sizes commenting ‘I’m so glad you are back’, ‘I’ve been waiting to buy from Claire Henley’ and ‘We love coming to see the artists as they are a really good standard of work’, ‘It is great to see so many quality artists together’, plus many more positive comments and welcome back’s!
I realised that our visitors had really missed our high quality live event as there is nothing like talking to an artist who shares their enthusiasm and passion for their artwork, to talk through commissioning a piece of work from them or buying a card to remind themselves about the artist – thank you for your support of our event and especially of our inspiring artists.
I will be putting on our next #Cafdgg over the weekend of November 18th to 20th 2022 at the Town Hall, so do pop it in your diary now
So I have never worked in a real cafe or bakery, I missed out on the whole waitress or kitchen staff thing as a student choosing to work in Austin Reed as a summer job meeting some characterful customers and staff, but that is another post…..
A huge part of #Cafdgg is our friendly and glorious Golden Cup Cafe, where you can meet friends, ponder what to buy from the fab artists exhibiting with us or even just pop in over the weekend to enjoy the coffee, tea, cakes and buns. It is the heart of the Arts Fair.
I decided it would be interesting to work in a full time deli and bakery so I have spent the last two weeks working in the kitchen of the Temple wee Deli and Bakery in Northton in the Isle of Harris, https://www.instagram.com/thetempleharris/ what a learning experience!
The team started work at 5am making the breads and delicious goodies opening its doors for the first time at 9am on 1st August with a long socially distanced queue waiting for the artisan sourdough breads, rolls and baguettes, with freshly roasted coffee, pastries, croissants, delicious sandwiches, soups and a whole wall of homemade jams, chutneys and scrumptious food.
I learnt how to make plaited Machair buns, flavoured with Wild Rose and Chamomile or Meadowsweet, all picked locally from the Croft or Machair where windblown shell sand built up over thousands of years to give the Hebrides a narrow but productive rim of floral heavenliness.
The wildflowers of the machair are at their best during the months of June, July and August, reaching a fantastic crescendo in late July, with over 100 species identified as flowering in Harris one July day. Amongst the machair display are daisies and buttercups, thrift, clover, orchids (you might spot a heath spotted orchid, bog orchid, frog orchid or even a greater butterfly orchid), harebells, vetches, gentian, centaury, eyebright, chamomile and thyme.
Tufts of frothy Meadowsweet grow along the single track roads in profusion, scenting the air with its sweet floral aroma and the wild roses hunker down to protect themselves from the South Westerly winds.
Plants here are tough and low; the thyme is inches tall growing into carpets of purple on the sandy dunes with the roses growing into very prickly low thickets. Harvesting the flowers for the buns and preserves is great fun and local knowledge is imperative.
We looked back through the payment system and realised the gap between serving each customer was three and eight minutes – no wonder I was rushed off my feet!
It was a fantastic adventure and I am very thankful that the team of Ianthe, Matt, Connie and Amanda for letting me work with them to see how a full time bakery and wee deli function.
I realise that passion, organisation, co-operation and respect for each others skill base is paramount to a successful venture, using locally grown and sustainable fruit, vegetables and herbs, working consistently in producing the entire range of delicious goodies, the importance of keeping the customers informed through social media and for me, regular coffee from https://tindonkeycoffee.co.uk
It is definitely not the job for the work-shy or night owls, but worth every moment when you hear the audible sighs and lips smacking from the customers and recognising them as they return day after day, literally eating their way through the Wall of Loveliness!
I am sure they have sorted supply and demand by now, but as I left on my last day we had one solitary bread roll left….
In my research at Art Fairs, Festival, Craft events and Markets I am always looking to learn how they do things. I chat with as many artists as possible, organisers and volunteers and from each event I visit there is always something that sparks an idea that can inform how I curate Discover:Gather:Give, and this year it has been about branding and bling.
Thanks to Dave Pearson https://creativepearson.com I feel #Cafdgg has a strong, clean, recognisable and easily identifiable brand. Our branding offers security, shares the personality of our business and its credibility. Emotionally we connect and share values with our visitors who in turn offer loyalty by returning to visit on a regular basis.
The more I talk to organisers in this time of unknown and political unease the more I realise the importance of a trusted brand and for visitors to anticipate the standard of art works they are coming to see, the experience of the event plus their continual support of artists by buying the work on display, commissioning a piece after the event or attending a lecture or workshop – it is that level of engagement and on-going patronage that #Cafdgg inspires .
I believe that we can no longer just expect visitors to turn up at the Town Hall door, we need to bring them in to enjoy the experience, to be encouraged to engage with artists and to feel the excitement in discovering new and challenging art work. Nothing makes me happier as I walk the event to hear an artist sharing their creative process with a visitor, and later seeing a wrapped parcel leaving the artists exhibition space under the arm of a contented patron.
All too often the events I visited relied on past successes with the same or similar art work; getting that balance between the new and established artists is such a difficult note to get right where both the artists and the visitors feel the event has been a success and further to quantify that success in real terms such as sales on the day and follow up sales. With a strong brand I believe one can introduce new artists whilst keeping the standard of art work at an exceptional level.
#Cafdgg is not a super trendy, white cubicled event full of highly priced statement pieces on plinths; it has a curated balance with both traditional art and pieces to make you think, feel and cannot ignore. Our brand stands for art for all, of passion and the joy in the making, sharing, creating and collection of art. It is unique in the region for being a free entry event with such an array of art open for you.
I started by asking can one have too much bling and no other event has anything like the Golden Cup Cafe, for me it has just the right amount of bling to keep it the positive side of tasteful kitsch; although it is becoming a close call with my golden serving platters for our Private View…
