The Art, The Decor and The Countryside

2024 was the first year I exhibited at The Game Fair, which was held in the beautiful grounds of Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. Not only was this the first outdoor exhibition I had attended as a business, but it was the first exhibition after quitting my teaching job, so it felt like there was a lot riding on this event. Quitting my teaching job This had been my dream for a long time and I never really knew when I'd go for it and hand my notice in, but it just felt right at the end of May. Whilst it is a huge risk and leap from my steady teaching career, I knew it was something I needed to do. I've always wanted my own business and to be my own boss - but I'm not sure I would have necessarily found myself becoming a full time artist if I hadn't first become an art teacher. I'm a strong believer in everything in life happens for a reason and I truly believe my decision to quit this year was the path laid out for me. Why the Game Fair? I knew that I wanted to focus on targeting a smaller niche of customer and move away from pet portraits. This year I rebranded myself as an equestrian and countryside artist, focusing on British countryside pursuits and field sports. The Game Fair felt like the perfect opportunity for me to reach a new target audience. My 'game' plan Being a rookie exhibitor at this event, I wasn't too sure what would be popular, so I essentially took everything (products, commissions, originals). My other target was to get lots of emails (which I'd failed to do at The National Equine Show earlier in the year). I also wanted the look of my stand to really stand out and brand my business in a way that people would recognise at future events. One slight disadvantage for me was my location. The Game Fair was so huge and vast, the footfall was really low in my area. Other exhibitors found this too but that was completely out of my control so I had to focus on the things that were in my control. The weekend! It was 3 days of sunshine, sore feet, lots of talking and dogs! My favourite moments were when a few attendees found my stand and recognised me from social media, which shows that online presence is very important. Chatting to potential customers about my art and how I could create artwork of their dogs felt really good. I did a live drawing whilst I was there too, which helped pull people in. Sadly I didn't finish it, which was one of my lessons learnt from the weekend. Overall, I had so much fun and made a great friend in my next door neighbour Josh, who runs Northern Log Cabins.  What defines 'success'? My sales were much lower than I expected over the whole of the weekend and it's hard to judge exactly why. However, being a brand new business to a lot of people, not everyone will be willing to part with their money until you've built the trust up. My husband always says to me 'control the controllables'. Therefore every person that came to my stand, I had a chat with and got their email address. Over the course of the weekend, I ended up with 80 email address. After the weekend, I emailed each person individually and got a handful of responses back with people asking to book in a commission. At the point of writing this blog, I am nearly full up for 2024 already! So, what defines success? Ideally, I would have made a lot more money in sales at the event but I still consider the weekend successful. Not only have a made the cost of the stand back in commissions, but at least 80 people now know my brand. They are potential customers waiting in the wings which I now need to nurture and turn into customers.  Lessons learnt I like to reflect and will always think about what I've learnt from every experience. Here are a few things I learnt from The Game Fair, which I will change about my experience next time: 1) Lots of attendees will come for more than one day. I need to put a strategy in place to encourage people I speak to to come back (such as a live drawing). 2) Live drawing. The live drawing that I did, really helped to pull people in, but the downside was that it was really big and I hadn't started it before hand. I think people interested would have liked to have seen something finished so next time I will either start one so it gets finished, or do something a bit smaller (should help to bring people back to my stand too). 3) Print more business cards and leaflets! Towards the end of the weekend, I completely ran out. Considering I had low footfall, when I am in a better location I'm sure I will need more (perhaps 300 next time!). 2025 I will be back to The Game Fair in 2025, with a better stand and more beautiful artwork! Hope to see you there x