After frustrating experiences selling her work with art galleries, Alce Harfield decided to go it alone by exhibiting at art fairs. Here, she shares her priceless pieces of advice for those wishing to follow a similar route
WHILST ART FAIRS have been around for well over 20 years, they have only recently become a really popular way for many artists to sell their work direct to the public. With the demise of many traditional high street galleries, creators are choosing to bypass this route and take control. As a professional artist for over 34 years, I did just this by taking part in my first fair 19 years ago.
My career started selling art from a barrow at Bristol’s Watershed, then in two shops in Bristol and Bath. Unfortunately, I soon became disillusioned by the way galleries worked. This included demanding art and then leaving it in the stock room for six months and returning it damaged, followed by late payments and high commission fees, often over an eye-watering 50%. It seemed the obvious step to go it alone.
In 2017, with the experience I had gained from exhibiting at over 15 art fairs a year, I created The Bath Art Fair in a marquee in a field outside Bath. Now in its seventh year, and held in central Bath, the fair has won an award from Creative Bath and been shortlisted for Five Bath Life Aw
