Confessions of an Artist Preparing for Markets (the chaos edition)

At the end of last year, I made a conscious decision to take a little break from physical markets.

There were a couple of reasons for this:

To give my creativity time to recover from the constant make-create-launch cycle that markets invite.
To take a breath after what has honestly been a pretty chaotic four or five years
To nurture myself after my creative burnout from last year,
And honestly? I am perimenopausal, and standing in a hall at the height of summer currently sounds like one of the seven realms of hell!

So, after this extended break, to say I am slightly excited to be back at the markets in June is an understatement.

And it’s not just one market but two in June that I am attending.

Over the long weekend, you will find me at the annual High Priestess Witch School market at the Hawthorn Arts Centre.

The Witch School market is one of my favourites – not only do I get to visit Melbourne, and visit my favourite shops, eat the best meatballs, and wander around the markets, but I have amazing conversations with patrons and stall holders alike, talking about what they are learning or their amazing experiences.

The following weekend, I will be returning to Epic, Canberra, for my favourite market, Canberra Handmade. Not only is this the best-run market I have ever attended, but it also has the most amazing patrons, all looking for uniquely handmade products. (It’s also so refreshing to attend a market focused on genuinely handmade work rather than AI- generated images slapped onto drink bottles and signs)

Much like my 52 Ways to Invite in Whimsy article, this is a post I’ve wanted to write for ages.

THE ACCEPTANCE HIGH

The first thing that happens when I receive the email or text message saying I am accepted to a market is a happy dance.

I am talking a literal, out-of-my-seat boogie in the studio.

Then very soon after, there is a WTF moment of questioning my sanity.

It goes a little like this: ‘Oh shite, what am I going to make for the market, do I have enough current stock, do I need a new collection, of course I need a new collection. Did I throw out all my signage from the last market? Have my tablecloths been washed?’

This freak-out lasts about an hour, and then immediately after this, I pretend there is nothing happening and go back to whatever I was doing before.

Nothing to see here.

Designing hand painted notebooks for markets

half painted girl with triple moon crown on a handpainted note book

THE AVOIDANCE PHASE.

Up until the four weeks before the market point, anything to do with my upcoming markets is a future Kirstin problem.

Apparently, my preferred business strategy (and to be fair, my life) is avoidance and procrastination until panic creates motivation and momentum.

And to be fair, all evidence suggests that this works very well for me, and it seems I am very good at getting things done under pressure

However, during this stage, there are several recurring themes happening.

The anxiety dreams begin. (These dreams are always market-related, and everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Hello Handmade Canberra in a Kmart store, where no one could find me hidden in the jumper section.)
I am time blind. Which means that even four weeks to go feels to me like ten.
And I keep planning a ‘planning session’ but find other, more exciting things to do during that allotted time, or fall down a rabbit hole. My last one was a rabbit hole of making bookmarks.

And this is it, until four weeks before the market. I will look at my calendar and realised I only have four weeks left.

Cue freak out two.

THE COUNTDOWN

But with four weeks to go, shit is getting real.

I would like to take a moment to recognise how far I have come since my first markets. This four-week window was once upon a time only one week.

But now is the time to make some tea, play some suitably brainstorm-y music (like binaural beats, or lo-fi beats), grab my notebook, sit somewhere that isn’t the studio and start planning properly.

This is when I think about the stock I already have in the studio, the half-thought-of ideas I have had in the past. Do I have any half-started product ideas hiding somewhere in the studio?

I also look at any notes I made during the last few markets. Did I need new signage? Print more prints? Do I have low stock on an item? Did something sell out?

Markets are often where my best new product ideas are born, and this is where the affirmation cards, the wish kits and the daydream collection were dreamt up, as well as countless collections from over the years.

THE PANIC

Four weeks is not a long time in the creative world, especially when you are creating new products, so this is where I start to lament past Kirstin’s decision to do nothing.

And it usually starts with a very long and detailed list that I start working through and that I check before I start, and when I finish every day.

The list is ambitious. It’s detailed, and it is constantly evolving.

It can include:
*all the signs for my stall – including pricing, painting descriptions, etc.
*printing prints
*ordering of supplies
*stocktake
*creating new products (to the smallest detail)
*Stall set up ideas
*Accommodation organised or booked
*food shopping lists for the weekend

a table with half-painted notebooks with snake, rainbow and girl images

A collection of notebooks painted with different images handpainted

TWO WEEKS TO GO…

Those four weeks will go very quickly and become two.

My process is to still try to keep to my weekly schedule, website updates, and social posts still need to happen.

My list is being whittled down somewhat, but often new ideas take longer than I allocate, so there is a very frustrating period of feeling like I am not getting anything accomplished.

The to-do list seems to grow longer in this phase.

I know things are coming together, but I also know that my ambitious to-do list is being culled.

For the coming markets, the oracles have been postponed (due to editing), new box sets are now a maybe, but the handprinted notebooks are almost finished – the painting part is finished (they look sooo good!), the new elemental squares are almost done, and I am 50/50 that the small goddess paintings will still go ahead.

TWO DAYS TO GO.

This is it. The final countdown…

And this is where reality sinks its claws in.

No, that new painting series isn’t being finished in two days.

No, that order of ink isn’t going to arrive before you pack the car and leave.

No, the magic house fairy hasn’t arrived – your family still needs to eat.

And yes, you should spend valuable time cleaning up your studio before you break your ankle.

Two days before the market is for my every market checklist: is my square updated and charged, my float is counted and topped up, I have painkillers, lozenges, and have I stocked up on red frogs?

AT THE MARKET

Before every market, there’s a strange mix of exhaustion, excitement, anxiety, hope, and magic.

There’s a strange moment at the market, when you realise that all the things you wanted to make or finish but didn’t, suddenly don’t matter nearly as much as you thought they would.

These things consumed your thoughts for the past month, but once you’re set up and the doors are open, I rarely think about them (until four weeks before the next market 😉)

And despite all the chaos, the endless lists, the anxiety dreams, and the very questionable amount of caffeine consumed in the lead-up, I genuinely love the markets.

There’s something really special about watching people pick up a painting and connect with it. About hearing your stories, talking about creativity, whimsy, intuition, burnout, life, and everything in between. Some of my favourite conversations of the entire year happen standing behind my little market table, surrounded by my art and other makers.

So if you’re visiting Witch School Melbourne or Handmade Canberra this June, please come and say hello. Truly. I would absolutely love to see you.

And if you enjoyed this little behind-the-scenes wander through the chaos of market preparation, you can also join my email list, where I share studio diaries, new collections, whimsical thoughts, creative rituals, blog posts, and the occasional nervous breakdown disguised as a product launch 😉

I promise there’s usually magic involved somewhere.

This is part one of the BTS market series – part two will arrive mid-June, once I’ve survived the actual markets.

From my whimsy world to yours.