RAW Visual Artist of the Year - Gold Coast

In July of last year I was invited to have my very first 'RAW: Natural Born Artist' showcase on the Gold Coast for their second event 'Communique'.

I had not previously heard of RAW and after receiving a very kind and informative email from the Byron Bay RAW event organiser, I checked out the website and found out for myself what this great promotional experience was all about. 

Basically RAW started in the U.S. as a way to showcase local Artists in all creative fields in a professional and interactive one night only showcase. Artists who participate invite guests from their network of contacts to purchase a ticket and come along for an entertaining night of creativity. 

Consequently the event ends up connecting different people from all walks of life with other like minded individuals, while also bringing a new audience to the work of the Artists involved. Now those of you who read my blog will know just how much I love the opportunity to connect with other Creatives, so naturally this idea appealed to me and I said yes.

We were provided with this image to help with ticket sales.

In preparation I made sure to have a good selection of framed prints to also make available on the night.

The lead up to the event was smooth and the RAW team who were responsible for putting the Gold Coast event together - were nothing short of helpful. They replied to any queries or questions via email or over the phone and the responses were always prompt. There were regular reminders of important deadlines and encouraging emails to see how preparations were coming along. A few weeks before the event took place they even held a meeting in the showcase space to talk us through the layout and answer anymore questions we may have had. This was also another great opportunity to mingle and meet the other local creatives taking part, before the big night.

On the morning of the big EVENT we had been scheduled a time to have professional head shots taken…by an actual professional Photographer! And yes we got to keep these to use for promotional purposes. Here is one of mine, which has come in handy for various other blog interviews such as LIVE WORM Gold Coast's feature on me late last year. Click here to read the interview.

On top of the photo-shoot we were also give questions to prep for a video interview….again filmed and edited by a local Professional Videographer. 

The interview questions allowed for us to discuss our inspirations, the ideas behind our work and any aspirations we may have. They were all uploaded onto YouTube to be shared or used for further promotional purposes.

You can view my interview by clicking here.

So with my photo-shoot and video interview out of the way by lunch time, I had time to calm my nerves (because I'm not a naturally confident public speaker and I can't say I like having my photo taken) and get on with the task of setting up my showcase and artwork.

I had planned my display methods in advance and decided to use a white peg board as the back drop for my pop up gallery. It allowed me to hang and move my works with ease and I felt it looked more professional then the construction fence that it was to hold onto.

It took me about 3-4 hours to get my display set up to the standard I wanted. My trusty helper Matt was looking after our Daughter Thea, who was only 3 months old at the time. Luckily the RAW staff were also on hand to help out and the lovely Joy French held my boards up while I zip tied them in place.

I had decided that I wanted to be painting live at the event to hopefully draw the crowd over to my display and because I was working with paint I got to set up on the balcony of the Sound Lounge (the venue for the night in Currumbin). I ended up with more space as well, which was an absolute bonus! 

While the set up took longer than I anticipated I was fortunate enough to be there while other creatives were also setting up. I met the very lovely Kim of 'Jewellery by Kim' and her beautiful Daughter Kelsie and I had some great chats about giant budgies with the MC for this night the 'Ambassador of Smiles' Tommy Franklin. It was a really fun day and we were all getting excited for the night ahead. I'd also like to mention the lovely Amber Kingi, another talented Artist I was fortunate enough to meet and have great chats with on the night. Find her work on Instagram as well @Amber_Kingi

The crowds that came through the event exceeded the expected number of 300 - with up to 500 tickets being sold for the night. I enjoyed chatting with lots of kind folks who were interested in my style and wanted to know a bit about my story. A fair few sales were made of gift cards, prints and three of my original works. All in all in was a successful night.

Earlier this year I received an email informing me that I was eligible for nominations for the 3rd Annual RAW Awards for having taken part last year. A finalist for each category in every Australian host city would be selected and then one National winner for each category would be selected following that.

Voting for nominations were open for one week only, so I used my social media accounts to drum up some support and votes.

While I'm certain I must have annoyed a bunch of my friends and family on FB with this image, I'm really grateful to everyone that did take the time to vote. Especially those who went out of their way to vote every single day!

So I eagerly awaited to hear who the winners for the Gold Coast were…and to my delight I was named the Gold Coast RAW Winner for Visual Artist of the Year! A huge call considering the talented Artists that have taken part at the Gold Coast events, but none the less I was more than happy to take the title!

Along with the accolades I also won a $250 voucher for professional  printing and framing services at Gold Coast business 'Left Bank Gallery'. I'm going to use the winnings to get some more promotional materials made up for two very exciting projects coming up in the near future…stay tuned for those!

I would like to mention a special thanks to those supportive people who purchased tickets for the event and came along to show their support on the night. I'm equally if not more grateful to those who purchased multiple tickets despite being too far away to actually attend. Your kind gesture will always be treasured and I appreciate you all so much for it. Thanks Gayle, Owie, Helen, Jaana, Laura and Therese xoxoxoxox