We had a great week at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year. I am hugely grateful to Knight Frank who generously sponsored me. Chelsea Flower Show can be a difficult event to budget for. Of course, you never really know how many sales you will make.
Therefore, building the stand can be tricky to get right. It has to look eye-catching and attractive in order to showcase my sculptures in their best light. But you don’t want to blow the potential profit or exhibiting at Chelsea Flower Show can become a costly exercise! Knight Frank’s generosity meant we didn’t have to worry about that.
Bowles and Wyer made the design and build easy. They were highly professional, with huge experience and expertise and the stand looked fantastic. Their team also brought a much-needed sense of humour to the proceedings! Thank you everyone.
We made some good sales both to UK and overseas collectors. Since Brexit was announced, I have found export sales have increased. Now is a good time to buy goods ‘Made in England’. I really enjoy knowing that my sculptures are finding homes across the world. A Sir Winston Churchill scale model is going to New York, Oklahoma and New Zealand. Pheasant 2017 and Hares 2018 are both off to Staatsburg and Oklahoma. A Robin 2015 is going to New York and Arizona. A small scale Goodman’s Two Horses Running Together is going to Liechtenstein. A Silver Partridge is off to Switzerland, and a Kingfisher 2017 to Jersey.
The stand worked really well as a smart meeting place and exhibition platform and there was a great cross-over of clients with Knight Frank and myself. We made some excellent contacts. I am now working on some exciting new projects, including a piece for one of the world’s most famous yachts! Chelsea Flower Show is a great venue for face to face interactions with collectors and clients. In fact, it can be so busy that I sometimes don’t get a chance to say hello to everyone that comes by to visit us.
I must also say thank you to my team of Hughie and Belinda who took the stand down late into the bank holiday weekend. I’m already looking forward to next year and hope Knight Frank and Bowles and Wyer will be with me again!
