Presentation

Yesterday I was part of the group hanging a show at a local gallery.  We are a very diverse group that includes painter, potters, fibre and mixed media people, and glass workers.  This means that the pieces that were brought in--60 of them--were all very different.  The person who operates the gallery was able to pull the pieces together and arrange them so that every piece looked its best.  That takes real talent and I was impressed.

All of this made me start thinking about how much of the success of our art depends on the presentation.  I rarely frame my work, mainly because of the cost.  But maybe I should be re-considering this.  I also know that some venues demand that all work displayed be framed, and many fibre artists are affected by this.  Fibre, generally, doesn't frame well.  Lately I've been mounting smaller pieces on painted canvas or using a "gallery wrap", but many places would still require that this be framed. 

The other alternative might be to matt and shrinkwrap pieces.  Another group I belong to offers a separate area to display such work, away from the main gallery.  They are in hte process of planning a show and I have applied to be included in the "shrinkwrap area', but not to display in any other part of the show.  They appeared quite taken aback by this, so well have to see how it goes.

So, right now, other than my usual itinerent shows I have these two venues for display.  We'll see if I sell anything.