With the nostalgic and inspiring Preston Arts Festival coming to a close, the Harris Museum have a wonderful event happening this weekend.
There is a new initiative attempting to raise awareness and shine a focus on artists, especially those who share their business solely online and through social media as having a physical shop these days is unattainable in this financial climate.
According to the Guardian, most people within the art industry are paid an average of £10,000 a year, this is only 66% of the national living wage.
The Creative Principle, who established The Creative Emporium event, are an online, not for profit organisation, which encourages and supports artists and their work using upcycled and reclaimed materials.
It is fair to say that art is not a majorly profitable industry, this makes it difficult for creators, to earn a dependant income.
The Paying Artists Working Group (PAWG) was set up in 2018 to ensure that UK artists are paid enough to be financially stable.
Within the PAWG campaign page, Yinka Shonibare MBE said: “We won’t have great artists making significant work in the years to come if we don’t tackle the problem of low or no pay.”
This Saturday, the Harris Museum will host ‘The Creative Emporium’, an opportunity for local artists to showcase their work, sell their crafts and engage with others.
The Harris Museum, in Preston Town Centre, has been a pivotal and popular place for the recent festival.
The annual festival has held 120 events this year such as ‘An Evening with Edith Rigby’, Preston’s most famous suffragette, and ‘A Walk in the Park’ reflecting on the area’s local history and memories.
The family orientated museum is known for its sense of community and support towards ‘the arts’, catering mainly free events that everyone is welcome to attend whether it be historical, theatrical or showcasing physical art and crafts.
This weekend, the crafts will range from homemade purses, to paintings, to pottery.
With the established museum involved, The Creative Principle have a beautiful space to set up the Emporium with stalls for browsing and purchasing, along with skills workshops and even activities for children.
Elizabeth Emmens-Wilson, Sarah Aspen and Norma Fields set up ‘The Creative Principle’ less than a year ago.
Their motive is to organise friendly fairs providing superior crafts whilst establishing a connection between creator and consumer.
This event is an opportunity to present and hopefully sell individual and unique pieces without an ‘overhead’ price.
Galleries charge almost 50% commission for showcasing art which is put in place usually on a ‘sale or return’ basis.
Emmens-Wilson said The Creative Principle are getting, “the public to realise that artists are effectively running small businesses.”
Therefore, they invited artists through previous events or connections to the new craft fair, which being held at the fantastic venue will hopefully be successful.
Kath Heywood, from Nelson, Lancashire has handknitted and sold her crafts for 10 years, she is attending the Preston event this Saturday selling her stylish gloves, scarves and hats in an array of colours.
Heywood is retired and uses her passion as a small business creating items she’s proud of, “My own styles offer something unique.”
Having attended similar events in the past, Heywood said: “The Creative Emporium is a vital part of the ‘crafting year’, especially this time of year in the run up to Christmas.”
Her products would make excellent stocking fillers or simply just practical for the brisk British weather.
Admittedly, Heywood said: “Selling at craft fairs can be a bit hit and miss, so much depends on the promotion, the weather and the time of year.”
The Creative Principle wants to urge the public to get behind ‘#shopsmall, #justacard’ campaigns, these hashtags allow creators to share their work on social media and hopefully gain more traction and awareness.
Emmens-Wilson, the co-founder of the Principle said: “Having a real-world shop is very expensive and not profitable in today's tricky market.”
The push behind engaging with the hashtags and social pages of local artists gives them the element of freedom to work from home and advertise on their own terms.
However, events like The Creative Emporium allow that initial engagement face to face, seller to buyer.
Showcasing their art in person means returning customers can find them online and continue to purchase their crafts through a way that is beneficial to the artist themselves.
Graham Threlfall, from Flyde, is the owner of ‘Bobbintroll’ photography.
Threlfall fits this passion project round his full-time job and believes that the collective pull from organisations such as “The Creative Principle” enable more people to see his work.
Despite loving both aspects of his career, Threlfall expressed that he’s aware he couldn’t do his craft unless he was retired, highlighting the austerity in the UK.
At ‘Bobbintroll’ photography, Threlfall uses a range of methods to create his charming pieces such as using found objects, for example, flowers and leaves for the images and photograms.
Photograms are photographic images but are not taken with a camera, objects are placed onto a light-sensitive material in order to print.
This weekend, Threlfall is travelling to Preston to sell his photographic prints, mainly made using the Victorian cyanotype process.
They are made by using an iron-salt solution and then dried in the dark.
“Some of the prints have been made on fabric, which has then been made into things like cushions and bags,” he said.
Threlfall’s unique but traditional art style is both elegant and vivid.
“I enjoy the process of making things and learning new skills,” he said.
The event welcomes new customers and provide a social gathering for the artists.
Despite both Heywood and Threlfall knowing of some similar artists, the number of connections has increased since The Creative Principle reached out to them.
The arts are a community which needs support.
The creative nature of these artists is something some people could only wish for, although the industry is tricky to navigate, selling their art is heavily rewarding.
It is these individual talents from artists which need the awareness and advertising.
‘The Creative Emporium’ is taking place Saturday the 2nd November 2019, the Harris Museum, Preston.
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