Thursday, July 24, 2008

Equipment decisions

I have been trying to make some decisions about upgrading my display setup, and now thanks to my EZup tent breaking on me in June I need to start doing research into upgrading my tent as well!!! :\ Over the last couple years, my work has been changing and becoming more complex, as well as becoming almost all pure original work. Because of this, I can't afford to charge prices that will let my work sell well in a typical craft show environment in this area, so I need to work on upgrading my display image so I can fit in better at the more "fine art"-type shows instead. This is going to be a gradual process of course cuz professional quality displays tend to be expensive!! :)

The bets choices I have seen for portable display of 2-D work are carpet panels. And even better- they come in a knock-down version- each 7-foot panel comes in two pieces. This means that I won't have to worry about upgrading my vehicle as well to accommodate 7" long display equipment- definitely good news!
This spring I picked up a 2-tier carpet panel print bin from Armstrong Products and so far I am thrilled with both the product and the service from the company. I am hoping to buy the portable desk later this year, and some of the carpet panel walls I need next year (tax refund, here we come! :) )
I am trying to decide between Armstrong or Propanels. There are pros and cons to both, but at this point I am leaning toward Propanels because their panel width choices made a setup that I really liked- since the Armstrong panels are wider I would be more limited in my display space (even though I would be able to buy less panels and it would therefore be cheaper). If I go with Propanels, I will have to get 6 30" wide panels and 4 25" wide panels for the display layout that I have in mind. But I figure I can split the purchasing up into pieces to spread the cost out a little- there doesn't seem to be a shipping break for clumping them together.

Now all I need to do is win the lottery!!!! And I am one of the lucky ones since I have a full-time job to support myself with- I have no idea how the artists who do only art festivals full time do it!!

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