Final day...

The third and final was another big success. Since we were open for longer and it was weekend, a lot more people were able to come to the exhibition. My family came and had a look through all of the work and wrote lovely messages in the guest book. Everyone got lots of compliments but the main thing that everyone wrote and spoke about was the variety of work - although everyone was given the same brief with the same theme, the work showed great diversity. 

The exhibition has come to an end now but it's been a lot of fun. We all had our ups and downs and worries but everything came together brilliantly. It was a very successful couple of days and only got compliments. I think the project has been a great learning experience, it has given me the confidence to one day have my own gallery. It taught us how to all collaborate together in order to create a fantastic exhibition and I wouldn't have been able to do it without my lovely Artea photography team. We also wouldn't have had been able to have such a successful exhibition without the tea ladies at "Mad About the Cake" so a big thanks goes out to them. 

Also a big thanks for all the people that showed up at our exhibition and to anyone else that has helped us along the way! 

Second day...

The second day was even better than the first. We were open from 1pm until 6pm, similar to the first day, and people already started to show up before we opened! It was lovely to see how many people came to the exhibition to admire our work. Most of the people that came were friends and family, although there were quite a few strangers that had come in to the exhibition (meaning the leaflets did pay off!). It turned out to be a fantastic day as I managed to sell one of my photos! Someone had come in and looked through my portfolio and decided he wanted to get one of my photos printed A4 and mounted. Someone also came up to me and asked my where I had gotten my portfolio from as she loved the professional finish of it. Later that day the people who let me take photos of their house came to the exhibition. It was wonderful to see them again and they loved the work. They noticed some details about their house that they had never seen before (the repetition of arches - even in the wine cellar) and they joked how their house "was actually very nice"! They told me some more history of the Nunnery and took some photographs of me beside my work. Overall it was another very successful day and I hope that the last day will be just as good. We will be open a couple hours longer to get some more people to come. 

Opening day...

The opening day was a great success. People started coming to the exhibition before we even opened! Quite a few people from the course came to see the gallery and a few parents. Joe (the owner of Ultraviolet) also came to view the gallery and brought along a friend who wants to study photography. One of the tea lady's friends also came to the gallery (mainly for the discounted tea and cake price) but she also admired our gallery. A few of my friends came to view the work as well so it was really enjoyable. Everyone stayed in the gallery most of the day, although we did leave in turns to go get some lunch. In the afternoon Joe came back with two bottles of wine which we could share among ourselves. 

To the right is a photo of some of the people in the group. Unfortunately not everyone was there for the picture both the Isle of Wight girls had work commitments so they had to leave. We had a guestbook which people could sign to tell us what they thought of our exhibition. Everyone wrote really nice and positive comments. Some people that came to the exhibition even showed interested in buying some of my photos - not only the ones on the wall but also some in my portfolio! They will come back tomorrow to have another look.

Overall the first day was a great success. The second day will hopefully be just as successful. I know that quite a few peoples parents are coming and some more of my friends are coming so I hope it will be a good turnout. 

Time Lapse 2...

Time Lapse...

Tom decided it would be a great idea to create a time lapse of the exhibition to show the progression of the set up. He will create two time lapses for the two days we will be setting up. The first one is below - it looks at the first day of setting up. As you can see I put up my work! There was a lot of standing around and discussing what should go where. We want each piece to have its own space and to stand out just as much as the next piece, so coming up with the idea of who is going to hang their work up where was quite a difficult task. A couple weeks ago some people from the group had already created a rough layout of the exhibition, but having the photographs in the exhibition itself, rather than pieces of blank paper roughly the same size, is obviously a massive difference. We had to change a few pieces around as the measurements given weeks ago weren't the same as the ones now. In the end we managed to sort out where everyone would hang their work and how much space they had to spare.

Venue...

I visited the venue today to help prepare for the opening day. The work is slowly starting to be put on the walls and the gallery space is gradually filling up. There are two large tables at the front which the tea ladies will be using and there is one small coffee table. Tomorrow two chairs will be brought to the gallery for the tea ladies, as well as two more coffee tables. Everyone's books and portfolios will be displayed on the small tables so people can look at the work on the wall while also looking at the bigger picture. 

I managed to get the wall space I wanted! I really wanted to have the wall on the right of the gallery and have my prints close to the middle, and that's where I ended up hanging my work! The other photographs that will be displayed are quite a bit larger than my photos. Originally I wanted to have A3 sized prints but since the gallery was so small I had to make some changes in how I wanted to display the work. My photographs have now ended up being the smallest photos in the gallery! I am a bit worried about this as I don't want my images to get lost between all the other photos. In order to prevent this I have made the colours quite bold and have made a square format which should stand out against the rest. I also added the piece of text I posted a while ago to have a bit more space on the wall.

I also met the tea ladies today! They came round to the exhibition to have a look at where they will be serving the tea for three days. They were very enthusiastic about helping us and will be bringing some covers for the tables as well as some cooler bags and a supply of water. Tomorrow the tea ladies will be coming by again to drop off some of the supplies. Only two more days until our opening day!!

Social Networking...

Because the exhibition is only 3 days away, it is very important that our social networking sites are constantly updated and our website is complete. I am still in charge of updating facebook and twitter and have been posting little updates every now and then to keep people interested. I have been promoting everyone's blogs as well as the pub quiz and the bake sales. Other than that I add the website to the posts and have little count downs to the opening night. I try and post/tweet a variety of different things so I don't keep repeating myself. Along with that I am also trying to promote the group as much as I can by posting about it in my status or posting my blog on facebook. 

On twitter I have managed to get 41 followers! Quite impressive since I had never even been on a twitter page before this project started. Again on there I am posting everyone's blog and adding little tweets promoting all the other pages we have. 

Tom is in charge of the website but it has been a bit of a mission to get everything on there. The only things we are missing at the moment ar Tom's gallery, most of Kate information, Naomi's about me, and Adam's profile photo. It is a bit of a shame the website isn't finished because we have been promoting it on our leaflets and social networking sites. Hopefully we'll be able to have the website completed by Thursday.

Here are the links:

Website: http://www.arteaphotography.net

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Artea-Photography-Exhibition/180153982067439

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/227905713937897/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/arteaexhibition

Portfolio...

I think the presentation of the portfolio is just as important as the photographs that you put in there so I wanted to get a cover that could protect my work, but also looked professional. I bought the cover in the photo to the right from Staples for about £16. It has a hard cover but has a layer of softer material around it so it feels nice and does the job of protecting my work. Inside are 24 see though wallets where I will put my photographs in. I only have 40 pages so somehow I will have to add some more photographs or pieces of writing. I want to fill up the whole folder otherwise it will look like it isn't finished. On the inside of the front cover is a little pocket where I have put some business cards to promote myself. The first page starts off with an "about me" and from then on every page has photographs. The book finishes with a photograph of me and my contact details. 

I ordered the photographs from a company called photobox because I love the quality of the prints and at the time they had a 50% discount on all 8x10 photos. I received the photos the day after I ordered them but it appeared that the text was slightly cut off. This was quite worrying as it was getting so close to the exhibition date. I spoke to photobox about it and they let me print the photographs again with free delivery! The second time round they look much better. The portfolio shows off a lot of different themes of photography that I have tested while being at Uni, but it does explain the type of photography I want to do. My portfolio will be at the exhibition alongside the smaller books so when you're there feel free to browse though it!

Portfolio...

I want to have an A4 sized portfolio that features all of my photography and includes lots of different themes, but I also want to have something that shows off the photography that I want to do in the future. This is Travel/Landscape and Wildlife photography. I am not doing these kinds of photos for the University as it is a bit expensive to travel for every project we have to do and wildlife doesn't match any of our set themes. I printed off these two books from truprint. They were only £5.99 each but since I was able to get a 50% discount code from them, I got both of them for £5.99! Incredibly cheap - I wasn't really expecting too much from them, but to my surprise they came out amazingly well. The quality is beautiful and the book has very thick paper making the photos look even nicer. I am really happy with how they turned out and am going to make a book like this for a couple more themes (once I have enough photos to make a book). I will be displaying these at the exhibition as well as my A4 portfolio and if people are interested in buying these they would be £10 each (I have to make a bit of profit!)

Leaflets...

I have managed to collect all the different leaflets by the other groups on the course. All of them have turned out very different from one another - none of the look similar in the slightest! The only similarity between them is the size. Everyone has chosen A5 leaflets. The bottom right leaflet by 10 Degrees South is on very thick paper whereas the other 3 are on thin paper and are a lot more flimsy. Not only are all the leaflets different, all of the exhibitions will be completely different from one another. 14 metres squared are going to be exhibiting in Bonzo Studios on Albert Road. They will have free drinks and food and will have a green wall they have to work around. Some have framed photos and other are having installations. They will also have live music. The Big Picture are displaying their work in a cinema in Old Portsmouth. They will have the big screen (hence the name) and will also have visiting speakers and short clips of photographs explaining their work. The final group is called 10 Degrees South. I know the least about their exhibition. All I know is that they will be having their exhibition in the Round Tower in Old Portsmouth. 

For more information about any of these exhibition here are the links to their website:

14metres squared: http://www.wix.com/14meterssquared/territories

The Big Picture: http://thebigpicture2011.co.uk/

10 Degrees South: http://www.10degreessouthphoto.com/

Meeting...

There was a meeting on the 1st of December at the venue itself to discuss the last bits and pieces that still need to be sorted. Some of the people in the group hadn't seen the venue yet, so it was a good opportunity for them to have a look at the venue and get a feel of the place. The main decisions made were about when we wanted to hang up the work and when we were going to move in the furniture. Because we still have to attend lectures this week, we are having to work around that, this means that people will be putting up their work both on Tuesday and Wednesday. The furniture will be brought to the venue on Tuesday so by Thursday everything should be finished!

We finally managed to get the name of the tea ladies helping us, they are called "Mad About the Cake". They will be coming round to the exhibition sometime this week to have a look at the place. We are in the process of getting a small refrigeration for the tea ladies, but we haven't managed to get a hold of one. Worst case scenario we will put the milk outside. As there is an issue of running water in the venue - not having any - the tea ladies suggested that they could bring their own bottled water. They are being incredibly helpful and we owe them a big thanks. 

Dominic was responsible for getting an ad in the University magazine, Pugwash, unfortunately we didn't get an ad, however he managed to get something even better! Someone on the Pugwash team is going to write an article covering our exhibition in the next issue!

The risk assessment has also been finished. There are 6 pages in total with possible risks although most of them are very low risks such as wearing appropriate shoes (I am willing to risk this, but I think I will be wearing high heels), sweep the floor before opening, hang the photos at a level that is out of reach for young children etc.

Another subject that was discussed is a dress code. We all feel it is important to wear something smart casual as it is an exhibition, but we are trying to create an intimate feel to it.

I can't wait until the opening day. We have worked so hard to get to this point, it will be amazing to see the final result and to see what other people think of the gallery. 

Venue...

Sorry for not posting for a while! We have been quite busy with all the preparations as the exhibition is only 8 days away!! We have finally got hold of the keys so the venue is officially ours now. We have already put up the banner and some leaflets and posters in the window of Ultraviolet so passers by can't help but look in and read about our exhibition. As the exhibition is nearing so quickly we have also been trying hard to distribute all of the leaflets. I have left leaflets in Bateson Hall and at the desk in Anglesea where students can walk by and grab a leaflet. On Monday I will be distributing some leaflets in Dennis Sciama cafe as well. Everyone has been given the task to distribute leaflets so they will literally be appearing everywhere!

Since we've got the venue, a lot of things need to be done. We are looking into getting an electric heater so it will be a bit warmer inside and a kettle for the tea ladies. Both of these appliances will need to be PAT tested beforehand. We also need to complete the risk assessment and make signs such as "do not touch the photographs" and "floor slippery when wet". Along with that, we also need to contact either Joe (Ultraviolet owner) or the council about getting a fire extinguisher. 

Another recent update is that we have slightly changed the concept of the gallery. Instead of having a Costa in Waterstones feel we are just going to have tables in the venue but no chairs. It had been decided that having chairs scattered around the venue could potentially be a safety risk. We will have a few coffee tables where we will place our portfolios and two chairs for the tea ladies. We are still hoping to achieve a more intimate gallery space by having the portfolios there to be viewed while have a lovely cup of tea. 

Tea Ladies...

We have been in contact with the tea ladies again who are supplying cakes and tea for our exhibition. The original plan was that they were going to only supply us with their services for the first day of the exhibition, although they have just informed us that they will be able to help us every day! They will provide us with teas and cakes as well as organise everything from drinking water and plastic cups. The only thing we will need to get a hold of is a small portable fridge to keep the milk cooled. I did mention to the group that if no one has a portable fridge, we might be able to keep the milk outside as it will be close to freezing! 

We will also be getting tea and coffee from Tesco which we can use as a back-up, if anything runs out. They will also sell both the teas and the cakes at a discounted price, this money would go towards them for helping us out. They asked us whether we could give them an estimate of about how many people are going to come each day so they know how much to bring with them. Obviously this will be rather difficult, but if we speak to our friends and family to ask which day they are coming we might be able to get a better idea. Hannah has mentioned that we should give them a big bunch of flowers to thank them for helping us out for the 3 days and I think that'll be a lovely way to thank them. 

Isle of Wight...

Lucy lives on the Isle of Wight and has been busy trying to promote our event there. She has been in contact with quite a few different places such as schools and radio stations etc and most of them are very willing to promote our event. Lucy has informed us that she has been in contact with the IOW College and they have said that they will put up some of our posters on their noticeboards and that they will also forward the email Lucy has sent to all the art subject tutors. 

We will also be featured on the Isle of Wight arts website in the news and events section! 

Pub Quiz...

The pub quiz was a lot better than I expected it to be. I was worried that hardly anyone would show up and that the atmosphere would be a bit awkward, but it was the complete opposite! There were seven different teams of 3-5 people each and there was a very lively atmosphere. Even the bar staff was playing along! As you can tell from the photo below, all of the pub quiz teams had very mature names.

The pub quiz team had set up a projector which showed the questions and also read them themselves using a microphone. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and there was quite a bit of rivalry between the groups. First, second and third place all got prizes ranging from vouchers, a bottle of sparkling rose and a box of chocolate celebrations. There were also two breaks where people could get another drink, go outside for some fresh air or buy some cakes! The cakes we had left over from the bake sale were sold for a reduced price. 

I took part of the pub quiz as I hadn't seen any of the questions or answers. The quiz started off with general knowledge questions and we were rocking it. We knew the answer to every question so we thought we would easily win this quiz. Although as the quiz continued we had a lot more blank spaces.. In the end we became 5th - which isn't too bad! 

Together with the bake sale on the previous day, we made £112.19! That's a lot of money! That's more than we paid for the leaflets! As mentioned in a previous post, we will keep this money together and use it for anything that still needs to be paid for towards the exhibition and the left overs will be split between us all. 

Pub Quiz...

The pub quiz team has been busy trying to organise the quiz and everything to do with that. They had a meeting on the 21st of November to decide on the topics they wanted to use and the questions they wanted to ask. After discussing for a while they came up with 7 topics: general knowledge, movies, art, music, lateral thinking, what happens next and know your tea. They have made a time limit for all the questions so that people have enough time to answer the questions but not enough time to look up the answers on their smart phones. 

The owner of the Fawcett inn has also given them the opportunity to use a microphone and speakers. Tom has been in contact with our course leader, Daniel, and he has been able to get a projector from him. The questions are going to be put in a power point format with a small timer on the bottom of the page. Everyone will be able to see the questions but someone will also be reading out the questions. 

As for advertising, we have printed a large amount of leaflets which we distributed in Eldon and other University buildings. We have also given out leaflets at both bake sales. Tom has printed 11 A3 posters and 10 A4 posters which we have hung up in the University buildings but will also be hanging at the Fawcett inn. We have also talked to our lecturers about the pub quiz and most of them seemed very interested in coming. I have been talking to my boyfriends' house mates (as they really like pubquizes) and they have been inviting their friends along to the pub quiz as well! The facebook event page shows that there are 17 people attending so hopefully it'll be a good night. 

Bake Sale 2...

 We had our second bake sale on Tuesday the 22nd and it was an even bigger success than the first bake sale. We obviously picked a better day, but we also had a lot more cakes to choose from. I had baked some chocolate fudge brownies, chocolate chip cookies, white chocolate chunk cookies, lemon poppy seed muffins, cookies and cream cupcakes and vanilla cupcakes. Kate added 2 bowls full of Welsh cakes, Tom made some chocolate brownies and Hannah's friend made Oreo cheesecakes and rainbow cakes. A big selection!

Our bake sale lasted from 11 until 4, although the last cake was probably sold at about 3. The most popular things were the brownies, muffins and the Welsh cakes, although we were told the cookies were delicious! The picture to the left shows the rainbow cakes Hannah's friend made. I decided that I had to try one, and to by honest I was quite worried about trying it. It was really tasty though and the inside looked really nice. 

In the end we managed to make £74.11 which is a massive profit! We are going to keep this money just in case we need to pay for anything like chairs and tables, but if we have money over by the end of the exhibition the money will be equally split between each of us. At the moment it looks like we've got free chairs (thanks to my boyfriends house mate) and free tables (thanks to Dominic's connections with the foundation tutors) so hopefully the money can be used to repay the money I have spend for printing my portfolio and my photos. 

CCI...

"The creative and cultural industries form the powerhouse of the new world economy. Communication through many media - words, music, images, models, performance, games, video, film - is shared by global communities, brought together by common interests and high-speed technology.

The University of Portsmouth is at the heart of the booming creative and cultural industries in the south east of England, itself one of the most successful and dynamic regional economies in the world. We have a long history of excellence in the arts and technologies, which have come together to generate this exciting boom. And more importantly, we have a tradition of sharing and developing this expertise with global partners."
From http://www.port.ac.uk/departments/faculties/cci/. 

The CCI have a blog and a facebook page. They send regular emails to all the creative and cultural students at the University of Portsmouth. We have contacted them and asked whether it was possible they advertise our exhibition in they newsletters. They agreed to help us out, so as soon as I got their email I checked whether we were part of the "events" section - and there we are! As you can tell "The Big Picture" and "14M Squared" are also mentioned. 

Text...

Although we have got the A1 poster explaining our work, I think personally my work needs a bit more information than the 61 words on that poster so I have written a little text that goes with my photographs. It includes the title, an explanation about the work, a bit of history of the Nunnery and the price of the images. 

I am not counting on selling my images, but if for some reason people are interested in buying them I need to be prepared. I have made the images £5 each as they are very small but as a set they would cost £40 (which means a £5 discount!). If someone buying my work it will be highly unlikely that they buy just one photograph as the set only really works when everything is together. Hopefully I'll sell my work and earn a bit of extra money! 

Contract...

The picture to the right is a scan of the contract. It was signed on the 1st of November and basically states all the do's and don't Joe Alabaster (the owner of Ultraviolet) has told us. It also shows the amount of money we have paid him. The fee is £30 and the deposit is £60, which we will be getting back when we have handed the keys back.

We will have Ultraviolet for 2 weeks. The original plan was to only have it for 1 week but the contract states we are only allowed to rent it for 2 weeks or more. This basically means we'll have it from the 28th of November until the 12th of December. Having it for such a long time will make it easier for us to put in the furniture and hang pictures up on the wall. 

It also means that we can hang the banner up in Ultraviolet as well as a poster with opening dates and times so people who walk by can have a peak inside. This might result in a few more locals coming to our exhibition! 

Since we lost the space next door we have been in contact with the council about whether we could use part of the side walk outside. Dominic has just gotten back to us explaining that we are allowed to use up to 1.4 metres of the pavement. This is brilliant news as we can put a table outside and passers by might stop and see what's going on.