Welcoming the public

Studio Tour Sign

On Saturday, August 19th and Sunday, August 20th, I welcomed the public to come and visit my studio in Little Compton for the first time. Preparation began back in February as I waited patiently to apply for the South Coast Artist 2023 Studio Tour. Since this was my first time, I had to wait for 2022 tour artists to have first dibs to apply. This was a little nerve racking since they were only accepting 75 artists in 2023. I stayed up until midnight for the open registration to begin and got my application in. Then I had to wait a few days to make sure everything was received and approved. Needless to say, I did a little happy dance once I found out my application was accepted.

My next step was to build a website. I honestly had no clue where to begin. Luckily, South Coast Artists was offering a 6-week website course on Zoom for a very reasonable price. I learned quickly how much work it was going to be. The course finished in May, and I struggled for the next 2 months trying to put my site together. My biggest challenge was finding the right photos of my work to use. I am not a great photographer so there was a lot of trial and error. Finally, with Just a few weeks before the August tour weekend, I launched my site. While I am happy with it, I view it as a constant work in progress.

Studio Entrance

The first weekend of the tour was in July. I could not participate due to work commitments. This turned out to be a good thing as I quickly learned I had a lot more to do before August 19th. This included getting a insurance rider, a permit from the State of Rhode Island to be able to sell my art, Purchasing new business cards and postcards, cleaning the studio and pricing the work for sale.

Sold Sailors’ Valentine

When the weekend finally arrived, I had no idea what to expect. To my amazement, 122 people came to my studio on Saturday and another 44 on Sunday. I was truly exhausted but in a good way. I also made enough sales to cover the costs of preparation and make a small profit.

To me, everything about the weekend was great. Every single person who came seemed to enjoy their visit. I was even surprised by a visit from my sister and a cousin I have not seen in decades who drove down from New Hampshire. I look forward to participating again in 2024.