My first market

If you read my first blog post called How It All Started… you might remember me mentioning spontaneously registering for my first market. Well, that’s what we’re talking about here!

My first market was on May 13th 2020 and in was in a small neighbouring town. From the very beginning I had no intention of selling any of my paintings so it’s safe to say that being a vendor at a local market was definitely not on my radar. However, friends, family and people online started commenting on my art and some even started to request some of my pieces which made me realize that I could do something with my art. One day I was driving to the grocery store and I saw a little sign that was advertising a local flea market and I thought to myself “well my basement studio just keeps filling up with more and more paintings. Why wouldn’t I try them out at a market?”. 

So I took action and as soon as I got to the grocery store parking lot I found the market website and filled out the vendor registration form. I was super surprised that I even had to fill out a form and give them a bunch of information about my business. I mean my business wasn’t even a business yet. I was just trying to see what being a vendor at a market was all about and also see if the community had any interest in my paintings. Anyway, in that moment I had to decide my business name so I chose something easy “Gab's Studio”. They then wanted an email so I created one and then they asked for a social media page so they could take a look at what I’m selling. That being said I went to my instagram and made sure it was looking good. I finished the form and clicked submit.

Once the form was submitted a pop up came up to say I would get an email which would let me know if I was accepted into the market or not. ACCEPTED?!?! Another surprise. I didn’t expect that I would need to be accepted. I went into this thinking I would just need to tell them I wanted in and they’d be like “cool. Show up and do your thing”. I don’t know why that’s what I expected because thinking about it, it totally makes sense that you would need to ask to be part of a market and that they’d have to accept you as a vendor. There’s a lot of planning and organizing that goes into making a local market work. It makes sense that they’d want to make sure they have original and legit vendors. Another thing that surprised me was that I’d need to pay for a spot. But, again, it makes total sense to me now. The organizers need to make up their costs too. 

Anyway, I did all of this in the grocery parking lot and once I was done I went on with my day. I’m sitting on my couch that afternoon and I get and email from the local market organizers. I know it’s just a market and it’s not that big of a deal, but I was nervous. I was scared they’d decline me as a vendor. It something so small but again, I had no intention on selling my paintings and registering for a a market was super spontaneous. I was really hoping they’d accept me….and they did!!! I was so excited. So I click the link in the email to book my spot. When it came to booking I was a bit hesitant because, like I said, I wasn’t expecting to need to pay for a spot and I was a bit worried about spending money on this market and not making it back. But, I told myself to just do it. I already got this far and I was super spontaneous in registering so let’s just keep the flow going and pay for the market without thinking about it too much.

All booked in and paid for, it was time to get my shit together and figure out how I’d set up my little vendor booth. I had paid for a 6 foot table provided by the market, but I had a lot of paintings a knew a 6 foot table would not be enough. I ended up using an adjustable clothing rack and leaning a peg board on it. Then luckily enough my vendor booth has backing onto a high school stage so I was able to put some paintings up there too. The market started and it ended up going so so so well! People walked by and complimented my art more times then I could count. It felt really good to be seen in that way. Especially considering that I literally put so much of my feelings into my art. Something I didn’t expect were the amount of kids that reacted to my art. They would run up to it and get their siblings and parents to come look at it too. They loved all the bright colours and asked so many questions about what techniques I used. It was so cute to witness the bright smiles on their faces. 

I went into the market not knowing if I’d sell anything. I really had no idea how it would go and I made it clear to myself that I was going into this very chill and no expectations to sell. I just wanted to enjoy myself and connect with the people there. I told myself I wouldn’t leave disappointed if I didn’t sell any. Well, I ended up selling 5. 5 PAINTINGS?!?!? I was shocked. Like what? People I don’t even know bought 5 of my paintings? Complete strangers? It’s one thing when family and friends buy your art, but it’s natural to think they’re a little bias and just think your art is nice because they love you. When a stranger buys it it’s totally unbiased so to me it felt like a really big deal. 

Although it was absolutely amazing to sell 5 paintings, my favourite part of it all was 100% connecting with people form my community. I loved talking to other vendors and appreciating that we were all there selling our labours of love. It was amazing just chatting to people walking by. I had many people ask me if I’d be at other markets. Many also asked for my business card, which I didn’t have at the time. So all in all it was such a great experience and it was reassuring that I can created a business from my art. There will definitely be more markets to come!

-xox Gab-