Norman Rea Gallery pop-up market
Hello again!
January 30th was my first time tabling at the Norman Rea Gallery’s pop-up market! It’s a biannual event, I hope I can go to the next one too.
I was nervous about this one as it’s located in a University of York building, which is a 15 minute drive away from my house. However, I remembered how anxious I was to be tabling at York Zine Fest the first time (less than 10 mins walk away from home), and how well that went, and how much easier it’s been each time! Something I’ve learned over the past 2.5 years of agoraphobia is that it’s true: you really do have to do it scared. Sometimes it backfires and you take a step back, and I need to learn to recognise when a limit really is a limit and I need to rest, but not pushing forward is worse than never trying. When I try and succeed the rush is amazing! It really feels like gaining a huge amount of freedom every time I manage to complete something scary. Just writing about this (continuing to do scary things until they’re ignorable-y scary, or not scary at all) is increasing my heart rate, but I need to keep pushing forward.
I’m so lucky to have a Mum who is willing to go to these events and sit with me there for as long as I need, even though I always get closed-off and on-edge at the set-up and take-down, plus driving me there and back for this one. She’s amazing. (Check out her writing blog, 2 books being published next year!! She gives so much of herself to her family, so it’s gratifying to see her getting so deservingly recognised and praised for her own art.)
Mum behind the table!
I had warned the people running the market, Evie and Iris, that I might need to leave early and would need my Mum to sit with me for at least part of the event, and they were so incredibly sweet about it! The Norman Rea Gallery is student-run, which is hugely impressive - I never would’ve guessed.
According to Iris and Evie it was quieter than their markets usually are, but selfishly I quite liked that. It was a calm, comfortable event with a still decent number of visitors, in a stunningly beautiful building! Talking to other vendors and in-person buyers is such a boost - this little weighted frog is by @menacing_ginger, a current LAU student! It’s so soft and cute. Also, it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to flip through clothes in public (something I’ve always loved), so having Lauren Atlanta behind my table was so fun in quiet moments!
(frog by @menacing_ginger on instagram)
Part of the reason I love events so much, beyond selling & meeting people & pushing myself, is having a deadline to make new things! For this event I made air-dry clay keychains, rings, pins, and phone charms for the first time - I had made things with air-dry clay before, but nothing for sale and nothing I could make into these little “life-cuteners”! I’ll make a post about the process of making those and what I learned.
I changed my initial table layout an hour or so into the event. This table was twice the size of the table-sizes I’ve had before and the room had a giant wall of windows - a big change from the Zine Fest location with it’s disco ball and band-postered walls. I love both locations, but this was a lesson in light and room space! Moving the calendar presentation to the wall-side opened up the table to the rest of the room and made it feel much brighter. I learned to adapt to the location - no table is an island!!
After the event me and Mum got coffee on the way back (sitting in the café), and I tried a new food! That’s 3 huge wins in one day. I’m so, so glad I applied and was accepted - thank you other tablers, thank you Evie and Iris, thank you Mum, thank you anyone who bought something from my table, and thank you me for doing it despite The Fear!
