Setup opinions?

[Toney Robertson]

I am getting ready for my reception on Thursday and I was trying to maximize the attractiveness of my setup.

I am going to setup on a large dining room style table in one end of a fairly large area that is an open balcony on one side. I will cover the table with black cloth. I used my pool table since the felt area is approximately the same size. I tried to disperse the different sizes, styles and species of wood. I also tried to elevate some pieces so that it would not have a flat appearance.

I have 30 bowls/platters, probably about a dozen bottle stoppers, 6 perfume atomizers and 20 pens/pencils (they are not in the picture). I hope I come back with none of it!!! (I can hope can't I).

Forgive the clutter in the background. My son's bedroom is getting painted and I will give you three guesses where all of his stuff ended up.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I apologize for the pictures. I had to go hand held with the camera since I could not fit the table into my tent!

Thanks,

Toney

[Dennis Ford]

It looks like you have the setup figured out, it looks great. Your turnings look great too but if you come home empty handed then you priced it too low!

[Tom Hamilton]

Hi Toney:

You've got some really great looking pieces there! I hope your show does in fact clean out your inventory.

Your idea to use risers is right on target. In fact a small block, stand, cube, plate holder for each piece is not out of line. Risers give the piece importance and lift.

If it was my show I would build some type of center spine about a 9 inches tall and 6-8 inches wide down the length of the table. Plywood works great for this. On either side another spine but at 5-6 inches high and 4-6 wide. Covering the whole structure with black cloth will make your pieces POP!

This gives you three levels: Top, shelf and table surface. Arrange you display with the largest on the top shelf, on stands just like in the pic. On the next shelf group similar sizes and types. For the table surface again group by product type. You might include a few props, a real wine bottle with your stopper in it and a perfume bottle with the atomizer. Pens in their own display stand.

Have you thought about signage? Small fold-over table tent style that tell a short story about the piece like, sycamore from the Wabash River. Or, walnut from Grandmother's farm near XXXX. This piece was inspired by ....

In other words give the customer another reason to connect with the piece. I'm guessing all the pieces are signed, dated and identify the species. I've made a number of pieces from wood that Hurricane Ike felled. I include a reference to "IKE" on the bottom of each piece and always get a positive response.

Having you on-site to visit with customers will be a huge help. The customers love hearing from the artist and having their own story to tell friends "about when they met the artist."

Here's to a great show and total sell out!

Best regards, Tom

[Bernie Weishapl]

Great looking pieces Toney. I agree with Tom on the tiered look. I look for those tables first because the pieces are easy to see and look at. I hope you sell a lot. Don't price things to low.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Toney - looks pretty good so far! I agree with Tom that you should have things tiered. Breaks in elevation prevent your eyes from doing a quick once over scan and will draw attention to the various sized groupings. Also think it would be nice to have stoppers displayed in a couple of different areas instead of lumped together. Tom also brought up the idea of props - sounds like it could add a lot to the display.

Any photos of a piece during the turning? Adds to the history/story of it and makes it just that much more interesting!

Hope you sell lots! Be sure to make lots of friends to give all your business cards to! We always hope for major sales at the event - but I believe it is the contacts you make that will benefit you even more in the near future!

Have fun with it! Looking forward to seeing photos of the event! Best of luck!

[alex carey]

Nice setup, im sure you'll fare well, more importantly though, nice pool table, I love pool.

[Bill Bolen]

Your layout is quite pleasing and your work is superb! I don't think you will bring much back home with you...Bill...

[Toney Robertson]

Hi Toney:

You've got some really great looking pieces there! I hope your show does in fact clean out your inventory.

Your idea to use risers is right on target. In fact a small block, stand, cube, plate holder for each piece is not out of line. Risers give the piece importance and lift.

If it was my show I would build some type of center spine about a 9 inches tall and 6-8 inches wide down the length of the table. Plywood works great for this. On either side another spine but at 5-6 inches high and 4-6 wide. Covering the whole structure with black cloth will make your pieces POP!

This gives you three levels: Top, shelf and table surface. Arrange you display with the largest on the top shelf, on stands just like in the pic. On the next shelf group similar sizes and types. For the table surface again group by product type. You might include a few props, a real wine bottle with your stopper in it and a perfume bottle with the atomizer. Pens in their own display stand.

Have you thought about signage? Small fold-over table tent style that tell a short story about the piece like, sycamore from the Wabash River. Or, walnut from Grandmother's farm near XXXX. This piece was inspired by ....

In other words give the customer another reason to connect with the piece. I'm guessing all the pieces are signed, dated and identify the species. I've made a number of pieces from wood that Hurricane Ike felled. I include a reference to "IKE" on the bottom of each piece and always get a positive response.

Having you on-site to visit with customers will be a huge help. The customers love hearing from the artist and having their own story to tell friends "about when they met the artist."

Here's to a great show and total sell out!


Best regards, Tom

Tom,

Thank you for the suggestions and the time that you took to respond.

I had thought also about a raised platform down the middle or at least raising the middle up some. I will see what I can do about that.

We (the wife and I) had thought about a wine bottle. We will see if we can't dig one up since we don't drink wine.

The perfume bottle is a great idea. We will definitely have to do that one.

As far as signs, yes I had planned tent signs for each piece. Already input into the computer, all I have to do is print them out. On one side I plan to put the species, size and price in larger script print. On the other side I put the origin of the wood plus a short description of the wood or some interesting fact about the wood that I found on the internet. Here are a couple of examples.

"American Colonists mixed cherry juice with rum to create Cherry Bounce, a bitter but highly favored cordial. The bark was used in the production of drugs to treat bronchitis, and cherry stalks were used to make tonics."

"Spalted wood embodies all that is curious in the natural world. It is formed by unseen organisms at a specific time and place that only it knows. In its brief tenure it leaves artistic inspiration and timeless decay."

Thanks again,

Toney

Steve,

No pictures of me turning. NO ONE wants to see my ugly mug preserved on some picture or poster!!

[Jeff Nicol]

I agree with everyone!! Great display and good luck with the show!

Jeff