Displaying art at artists alley

Looking at improving my rendering techniques, I wanted to learn how to make a display/displays for my convention table.

I looked at lots of references at how other artists displayed their tables but decided the most achievable for me at this convention was this method I created.

The plan for the table is on the bottom right.

Most convention tables using poles were made using pvc piping (which i couldn't find anywhere) so instead of that, I bought a clothes rail from Argos, and then a 6ft long pole from a DIY store so the pole would stretch across the whole table.

I also used bull clips tied onto the 6ft pole with ribbon and then attached card to them to back my prints.

To create prints hanging in a row, I used a scalpel to poke small holes in the card and then used thin wire to attach the card pieces together.

I also duct taped this to the floor and the back of the table. Most blogs suggested using table clamps to attach the poles but they were too expensive for me for a single convention, so I created this variation instead.

Aside from the method I used, two other methods seemed pretty common,


The wire cubes seemed a really good idea, but as all my prints were flat there was really no need for the shelving this could provide. Wire cubes were also very expensive and the pole method was much more cost effective.

I thought the pole version of displaying was better than the minimalist version because this way my art would be able to be seen from a distance whereas it wouldn't be if I used the minimalist set up.

***

Not all of my art would fit on an overhead display and so I had to come up with a way to stand my art up on the trestle table. My original decision was to use frames but this idea proved to be very expensive and I worried that people thought I might be selling framed prints if I advertised them this way.

To combat this I created these L shaped stands you can see in my photos above.
Because my table cloth was white, I tried Papier Mâchéing the stands to make them a bit stiffer and then after that I painted them white. Rather than making the stands stronger though, the extra weight of the Papier Mâché really weighed the stands down and altered the shape, so I didn't use this idea.

Instead, I kept the stands using the plain card and just hot glued the bent edges to keep the folds at the right angles.

I added the backed prints to these stands to create an A shape. I hot glued the top of the stands to the back of the prints for stability.