November ‘24 - Busy markets with a broken hand…
That was a crazy busy month of back to back markets and social events!
My month kicked off with my best market of all time and a fantastic collaboration with The Bear&Wolf Co. I was exhibiting with Tea Green Events at Aberdeen Art Gallery 2/3rd of November. This was my first time exhibiting in Aberdeen city centre and it did not disappoint. I stayed central and managed to get all my set up and stock on my sack truck (pictured below) with the plan to walk to the gallery - I made it about 10 metres before it all tumbled off all over the car park (I was too stressed to get a photo). Thank you so much to everyone that stopped by in Aberdeen, I’ll be applying again next year. I also ran a competition alongside The Bear&Wolf Co. to win a free print and brand new t-shirt design. Jake, the founder, is very passionate about building a lasting, sustainable apparel business. Give their website a look and follow along on socials for updates!
The following weekend I was off to Glasgow for the Tea Green Events Christmas Market at The Burrell Collection. Last year, this market had 10,000 visitors over the weekend so I was excited to see how it would go. I stayed with a friend over the weekend which kept costs down for accommodation. A few days before the market I fell off my bike and landed awkwardly on my hand. I later found out I had broken at least 1 metacarpal after an x-ray (pictured below). This made setting up very slow and painful - top tip, don’t injure yourself before one of the biggest events of the year…
The Burrell Collection was very successful again for me, I’ll definitely be applying for this market next year. I treated myself to a very cool knife (pictured) from Ocean Plastic Pots which I highly recommend, the handle is made from broken and discarded fish boxes.
The following week was spent sorting out wholesale orders and completing a little drawing of one of my favourite places, Glenelg (pictured below). I was off to visit Glenelg and stay with friends and family that coming weekend and I wanted to give the drawing to our friends that host us. Glenelg is a magical little village on the West coast of Scotland with a population of around 300. I visited it as a child with my family and after a hiatus, I’ve started returning over the last few years to stay with our friends and hosts, Janet and Roddy Macpherson. The visit is always centred around food, mainly seafood. This year was no different! Janet and Roddy have their secret ways of getting access to the best langoustines in Scotland which was our Friday night ‘starter.’ On Saturday, we had Scott Jones from the Glenelg Inn come to the house and cook us the most delicious 7 course meal (a few pictures below) - hake, scallops, lobster, langoustines - absolutely incredible. I had the best time in Glenelg, it is always a highlight of my year.
The following week was quickly swallowed up with administration work, video editing (below), house viewings (I’m moving) and market preparation for the following weekend. The weekend was spent at my wife's cousin's wedding near Newcastle and then my Granny’s funeral on Monday in Perth. Life is sometimes like this, massive highs followed by deep lows. I am thankful the funeral went as smoothly as it could have.
The final week of November has been all about preparing for my final market of the year with Exclusively Highlands at Eden Court. With over 80 small businesses in attendance, this will be my biggest market and one not to miss if you’re in town! We’re open 10 - 5 on Friday 29th, Saturday 30th and Sunday the 1st. Come say hi if you’re in the area. My top tip would be to come on Friday if you can as it can get very busy on Saturday and a lot of makers are down on stock at this stage in the year so if you see something you like, best to get it!
I was also doing a little bit of filming with Dog Falls Brewing Co. on Thursday to help promote their latest limited edition batch brew - Quercus 24. I’ve done the artwork for each Quercus release with the latest design using my stag drawing. This will be released in the next week or so, keep an eye on Dog Falls socials! Below is the promo video for Quercus 23.
Looking ahead to next month - a few last minute commissions, preparation for Scotland’s Trade Fair in January, meetings with my mentor to discuss next year's plan and potentially packing up the house!
Thanks for reading if you got this far, I will continue to attempt a blog a month.
