Fan Expo 2014

Booth #464 at Fan Expo 2014

I never thought that I would have the opportunity to sell at Fan Expo this year. However a few weeks ago, it was a pleasant surprise when a man named Ian Howlett visited me at Art in the Open and offered me a spot at his table! Not only was I extremely grateful, but I was shocked and maybe a tiny bit skeptical. It's not something you would expect from out of the blue.



Despite the case, I prepared my work and headed out to the convention. It was a little nerve-racking since I wasn't sure if this offer was real or not. Plus it wasn't easy hauling my huge suitcase of merchandise through a busy crowd. Thankfully Ian's booth did exist and it was called the "Brampton Indie Booth" where I got to meet a bunch of cool Brampton artists there.

Fan Expo is my 4th convention of the year and with experience, I managed to improve on transporting my merchandise. However I'm still having troubles with my table display. After looking through the artist alley, I took down some notes on how I can make mine better.

So thank you for those who came by my booth and bought my "EYE LOVE" pins and posters. Look forward to making much more artwork and I hope to see you again soon!

by Ian Yuan - Pixel artist

Fan Expo 2014 - Arthur Darvill, Heather Agoncillo & Matt Smith

Special thanks to:
Ian Howlett, Ian Yuan, Barbara Klypych, Leanne Chan, Joseph Kong, James Jamroz & my supportive parents.

Experience Brampton Downtown

My brother and I would like to thank Herman Custodio for featuring us on his facebook page called: "Experience Brampton Downtown". He made us look super awesome with his mad photography skills!

Concerns for AITO

Galaxy Shoes

Although, I enjoy selling my work and meeting people at Art in the Open. I do have some concerns on why the BAC refuses to let me paint or work at my own booth.

Every Saturday morning, I wake up at 5am to get ready for Art in the Open which starts at 7. By the time my tent is up and my table is set, I'm fully prepared to sell my work until 1pm. Obviously since it's so early in the morning, usually customer traffic only picks up by the time it's 11:30 - 12:45pm. After a month being at AITO, I realized that I should work on my artwork so that I can do something productive than sitting there doing nothing. 

So last week, I decided to do something new and brought a pair of shoes to paint at the market. I set up my mini paint station and before I even began to paint, I was instructed by a BAC member that I wasn't allowed to do any demos at my booth. My intention wasn't to teach people on how I make my shoes, my goal was to create more product to sell at my booth. So... if I'm not allowed to paint, that would mean that the knitters next door should stop knitting right? I've seen them knitting since the beginning of the market.. so honestly I don't get it.

Did you know that before AITO started, the BAC hosted a workshop called "Creating Great Booth Displays" by Barry Siskind. He provided an example that an artist who paints at their booth attracts customers. I'm only doing what I was advised to do.

"Art in the Open is a Program to assist with your entrepreneurship, business efforts toward selling your product. As a result, AITO is not the best time to be practicing/demonstrating your 'product making'. Please use AITO for the intended opportunity that this program provides, the selling of your work."

This is not the only time the BAC has stopped me from doing something creative.