An art fair is a peculiar place to spend a week, especially when you’re only used to working in a cold, uninviting studio for months on end. The inhabitants of Half Moon Studio tend to emerge slowly into the bright lights and bustle of art fairs, with their unsettling mixture of nail-biting tension and ennui.

On the one hand, there’s nothing like the buzz you get from completing a sale (especially when it’s your work) but on the other hand, there are long stretches, especially during the week days, when nothing much happens.

I find it hard to keep looking alert and interested for hours at a time but then again I don’t want to look too desperate. In my experience, visitors really don’t want to feel that they have to buy something before they can get out alive/leave the stand.

Also, forget trying to second-guess who is a serious buyer and who is ‘just looking’. You can spend what seems like hours with someone who looks ready to whip out their wallet at any moment, only to have them utter the dread words “I do a bit of painting myself, actually…” Meanwhile someone else has quietly come up behind you, with an armful of prints ready to buy.

Oh yes, it’s that time of year again – preparing for next months Glasgow Art Fair…..