Over the past few years, we have created a variety of ways to display the beads for sale at fairs. Craft fairs, bead fairs, history fairs. The common theme has always been to present the beads in the best light, but how to achieve that has been an endless question.
Oddly enough, the display version we used in 2009 received the most compliments and also the least positive comments. The positive ones were about the professional way the display was set up and the lighting. The least positive were about the professional way the display was set up! Apparently, making an effort to display my work means that it doesn't look 'handmade' or it detracts from the idea that I am an 'artist'.
When did being an artist or making things by hand require that the work is displayed in a slipshod, amateurish way? How is pinning things to a cork board better than displaying them on a specially designed stand? (we love IKEA, so much of their shelving and other items can be easily altered for display) Often, we wondered over the past year if people felt intimidated by the display we used, or if it really mattered.
How do we get people to perceive that handmade and art don't equate with cheap car-boot items? Is it necessary to descend to the lowest common denominator so as not to frighten the horses or servants?
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