Changing my display...

Well, it struck me that now that I'm doing more hanging pieces I am going to hafta figure out how to nicely display them.

In my booth it's fairly easy, however, in an indoor show I'll need free-standing "hangers" to display the pieces.  Given they're all different sizes it's going to be an interesting challenge. For me. Maybe not for some of you!

I have been wandering through websites, booth displays, and how-to articles for ideas. I have also been looking at what I have on hand. I want a tasteful display that is lightweight, flexible (as in, fold-able, easy to transport) and a good fit for my shelving and overall "look"...

I spent the morning sorting through the things I have stashed in the garage and out in the studio. I have a number of tall and short shutters that can be connected or painted. The big ones are not exactly lightweight but they are flat. They might look good painted, standing up at the back of the booth. The short ones would work on top of a table but you can't see through them so I'm wondering if they would block too much. On the plus sides, I can use both sides, they fold flat and I could paint them any color.

I have dowels --- thinking about adding some cup hooks to the back of my shelving, hanging a dowel and using it. I would need to also hang a back onto the shelves to avoid having the hanging pieces clash with the pieces sitting on the shelf. That would also only work when I have room on the back side of the shelve for people to walk. Maybe I'll save that one for an outdoor show. I rather like that people can see my art from both sides so not sure if I really want to go that route.

I also have a number of old window frames without glass. I am toying with making a free standing contraption. Not sure if I can convey the picture in my mind but I'll try. It would have a center pole with frames branching out, hinged somehow so they'd fold together. When standing they would form a Y (well, close enough, more like an X minus one leg ;-) with the pole being at the middle. I think that's an idea I might carry up to my Dad's for some ideas and help!

I like the idea of using the frames and shutters as it kind of fits with my basic design. You can see how I've used them in the booth shots I included, but they hang from the tent frame, something I won't be able to do in an indoor show.

I have three different size shutters, that's the medium tall thin one in the bottom picture. The smaller ones are hinged and can stand alone on a table. The larger shutters are about the same height as the tent walls.

I have a maybe five or six pieces of free-standing driftwood sculptures that I've used for smaller hanging pieces. They look good but you can't hang much and they can break --- plus I've found a lot of people ignore what's hanging on them and want to buy the driftwood!

I also have some stands that my Dad made for me --- you can see one in the bottom picture next to the window frame.

I'm thinking about changing the color of my shelves, too. Right now they're black. I like them black, but black absorbs light and my pottery does best with a lot of light given the way I mix colors, add glass, etc. They used to be natural wood but they looked a bit unfinished. I wish I'd stained them, but the idea of black worked for me back when I did it.

So, I guess I'll be outside playing with displays if they rain will hold off. I'm a notorious last-minute person. My next indoor show is next weekend so for a change I'm kinda-sorta ahead of the game...