Lessons learned

Two of our previews have been very successful. Both the preview at Haslam's of Hallgate in Hexham and the preview at Bianco Nero in Stokesley were well attended. It is great when a gallery owner is on the ball with a good mailing list. We received some very positive feedback which are now translating into sales which will hopefully continue in the coming weeks.

It is a constant lesson - how best to work with gallery owners to reach and sell to our audience. It can be tricky getting the balance right between seeming to be too upfront and not being upfront enough. After all we both want the same thing, for our work to sell. How we go about it is extremely important. It needs to be a collaborative process.

At The Bakehouse, we hung our own work in return for a reduced commission on any sales made on the first weekend. The extra effort of travelling all the way to Alnwick to do it ourselves was, at the time, not particularly convenient but in the end worth it. It was hung to present a coherent, bold statement.

In our opinion it is as important, in a group exhibition, to try as near as possible to create the same impact with the way the work is hung as if it were a solo exhibition otherwise there is a danger that the mix will be slightly confusing on the eye and difficult to see the wood for the trees.

The turn out for The Bakehouse preview was disappointing. The evening coincided with the turning on of the Christmas lights in Alnwick. The Bakehouse is a beautiful gallery but it is in an out of the way position. The lights were too much competition. Perhaps in retrospect the timing was not right. Either that or some clever thinking could be done on how to pull the crowds in off the street in the future. We must hope that in the coming weeks we have more success.