How much would you pay for an artwork?

Affordable Art Fairs (affordableartfair.com) are running regularly across the country, and internationally. The concept took off about 24 years ago in London with the aim of making art purchasing an enjoyable and relatively inexpensive thing to do. Most of the exhibiting artists are alive for a start…! Then there is a price cap…the cap is $10 000, and many exhibitors have items under $100. Artists or galleries exhibit in booths, much like a market stall.

There is a bit of a carnival atmosphere – the events are held in rambling halls, there are coffee and wine bars, you can wander through the stands with your refreshments or you can sit and watch the passing crowd. You can meet the artists, join an art class, and explore thousands of art styles, mediums, and sizes and price points. The Brisbane fair is in May and the Melbourne Fair ran for three days in late August; Sydney is coming up in November. If you are travelling, look out for Affordable Art Fairs in cities such as Hong Kong, Amsterdam, or Vienna.

Stephanie’s enjoyed a relaxed afternoon at the historic Royal Exhibition Building when attending the Melbourne Fair. Worth a visit alone for its history and remarkable architecture (including a Victoria era roof top dome), the Royal Exhibition building is situated in the dreamy Carlton Gardens. The building was the site of Australian’s very first parliament in 1901, and served practical purposes, such as a quarantine area during the Spanish Flu outbreak in 1919, then an airforce barracks during WW2, and an Olympic weightlifting and wrestling venue in the 1956 Olympics; but mostly it is a busy exhibition space for many diverse Melbourne events and large gatherings. A lazy day can easily be spent in the precinct, with the arty surrounds of Gertrude Street and Fitzroy a short walk away. You will be amazed by the sun flooded hall, and the dizzying number of pop up art stalls here in this massive Italianate building. The whole event is a rather languid affair – people ponder and critique, and examine the art close up and from afar. There are plenty of love at first sight moments with canvases. The brilliant thing is you can buy on the spot, and take your choice home with you in the Uber. So it is retail therapy, mixed with culture and style.

Stephanie’s was excited to meet artist James Price at the Melbourne Fair. James’ work is well known for its all at once funny and sad, contemporary graphic everyday moments. Known for simplicity and sensitivity, and for people and dogs portraits, Price, by his own admission, does very few landscapes. Hence Stephanie’s was excited to become the owner of his house on a hillside painting…a perfect addition to a Southern Downs home.