The Search for Art Festival Supplies: Part I

A few weeks ago I went supply shopping for art shows and festivals.  I already had three tall, narrow panels I created out of slatted closet shelves. They were a deal, and I needed something ASAP last October. They worked fine, but were 8 feet tall and cumbersome to move.

Here's a photo of me standing in front of the panels.

See that behemoth panel in the background on the left? Yep, that's what I used...

...and the wind loved them...

If it weren't for the several good Samaritans at the tour to catch the display, many of my pieces would have ended up on the concrete.

My goal has been to purchase pro panels, but they are still cost prohibitive for me to get an entire set for a 10x10 display area. A fellow artist had black grid panels that created a nice display for her paintings. I went to the surplus store where she purchased her display and was instantly in heaven.

Did I mention I'm obsessed with supplies?

I stepped foot in a surplus store for used store fixtures. I'm a total geek for stuff like this, and even though I have no need for 99.9% of the items there, I still spent at least 3 hours salivating over them.

Here are some of the items I liked.

Check this one out...it's a metal pedestal thing with adjustable feet. Would be perfect for pottery displays! I think it was $8.

OK, so naturally there would be several mannequins in a surplus store fixture place...too bad I don't sew, crochet, or...anything else this little guy could be used for.

Slat walls are always useful, but I suppose they would be too heavy. Great for the garage or studio though.

Metal frames for signs...this would be great to add a great logo or...something like that...I don't know...there's potential there.

Ahh...a white grid panel. Once I saw this one, I knew I was going to get the panels in white instead of black. Just a personal preference there. The black works too, but maybe I'm a visual person and since the white one was on display, I fell for it.

So here they are in my studio, already being all purposeful with my paintings hanging. They're all helter- skelter here with no order, but order and neatness is not the purpose in this photo. I purchased 2 white grid panels because they only had 2. They had plenty of black ones. I'm planning my next trip soon...
 

I almost forgot...check out these ladders! I suppose they could be for a library or kitchen with tall ceilings...or they could really come in handy for a not-so-tall-person. Hmmm...