Making Light Work of It

It is finally time for me to finish up the discussion I began about lighting. I began writing about how important it is to have good lighting to show off your work to best advantage. Ambient light is often inadequate, and sometimes off-color.

So, now that you know you want lights, where do you begin?

Clip on lights are an option. Jennifer posted a link to her booth with the clip on lights in the comments of my last post. You can see how she had a light fixture for approximately every three feet or so of wall width. If your work is displayed on the walls or very close to the walls, this may be a great solution. But, what if you work is in the middle of the booth somewhere, and not on a fixture that can easily have a clip on light attached? Then what?

Track lights are probably the most common solution. And they are not that complicated to do.

There are a few basic components:

1. The track(s).
2. The light fixtures which are inserted into the track.
3. Bulbs for the light fixtures.
4. A cord attachment for the track.
5. A crossbar to attach the lights to.
6. Something to hold the track onto the crossbar.
7. A power strip or two.

If you can build something with Legos or Tinkertoys you can put up a track light. It really is that simple.

There are lots of places to find track lighting components. Stores like Home Depot or Lowe's, or on-line stores like USA lights. I ordered tracks from Home Depot on-line recently, and it was easy, and got just what I wanted.

So, what do you need to consider when you start looking at the many options that are out there?

1. Color. Black is a good choice. White electrical components can sometimes yellow over time, and black will tend to "disappear."

2. Rotation. How far can the lights rotate or angle so that you can position them just the way you want? I had lights similar to the ones shown in the USA Lights link above, and I found I could only rotate the lights about 200 degrees, and there was very little ability to adjust the angle of the light. The lights I recently purchased have nearly 360 degree rotation, plus I can adjust the angle of the light.

3. Bulbs. You want to choose lights that have a shielded halogen bulb. This will reduce the fire hazard potential of the lights, and will also reduce any problems you might have with certain venues that are very strict about lights that can be used. Also look at the wattage. Most are 50 or 75 watts. Make sure and purchase a few more than you need. You never know when a bulb might burn out or otherwise fail.

4. Track. How much track? The limitation of how many lights you can put on a track are physical more than electrical. But you also want to spread the lights out over enough space that you can adequately light the whole space. At least two, probably three or four tracks are needed.

5. Plug. Purchasing track lighting means you need to get all the components separately. Some people will wire in the track directly in line, but for a craft show, you want to be able to plug it in. So you need to purchase a plug for the track. You can also purchase elements that will allow you to join tracks, and use one plug for two or three tracks.

Before the show, and preferably not the night before, you want to practice putting together the lights and track,....a dry run. First, unpack the track. You may need to remove an endcap on the track with a screw driver so that you can then insert the connector for the plug. This is usually tightened in place with a screwdriver.

Unpack the light fixtures, and determine how to insert to bulbs. Keep the packaging for the light fixtures. It is a good way to transport them to and from the show. The lights general go on the track with a push and a twist. You will usually get a sense of whether or not it has engaged properly. Put several lights on the track, and then plug in the track to your power strip, and turn on the power.

Did the lights go on? If so cheer and pat yourself on the back. You can do this!!

If not, don't panic. I usually find this means that the light was not properly inserted into the track. Often turning off the power, removing the light or lights that fail to light, and re-inserting them into the track is all it takes to fix the problem. But, I will admit that a few times it has taken several tries before I achieve success.

Now, you can remove each light fixture, with the light bulb in place, and return it to the package I suggested you save.

How is the track attached to a crossbar? There are several options. One is the plastic zip ties that are strong, inexpensive, and relative easy to use. Another is velcro strips....hooks on one side, and fuzz on the other. Easy on and off, and re-usable. You can find them at the big box stores, or office supply stores where they have things to control the mass of wires coming off the computer or home entertainment centers.

Not so bad, huh? I hope if you are considering doing a show, and issues like lighting are holding you back, this little primer will help. It really is doable. After a few shows you will be wondering what all the anxiety was about.

Shining a Light on Things

If you plan to do shows, retail or wholesale, lighting is something that you will have to figure out. It was the also one of the parts of doing shows that scared the heck out of me. Electricity has this affect on me. Watts, volts, amps....my head starts spinning. This big dark cloud settles in and I find ten other reasons why I don't want to go there.

But, I did want to go there. I wanted to do shows, specifically juried shows, so I was going to have to figure it out. After several years of doing shows, I think I have finally reached a degree of comfort with this area that had previously seemed elusive. So, let me share what I have learned, and maybe help alleviate any anxieties you may have had around this area, and maybe shorten your learning curve.

Let's start with why. Why do you need lights? Because you want your work to be seen in the best light possible (Pun fully intended!). Without lighting, your work can be almost invisible. I was next to an artist at a small show this past December who had part of her work hung up on panels, with lights illuminating the panels. The rest of the work was sitting out on a table. The ambient light in the room was limited at best. As a result, the work on the table was hard to see. The color, the detail, were all lost in the dim light. It had to have had an affect on her sales. The only work that people were looking at was the work on the panels. It was terrific that she was selling some of this work, but what potential sales did she miss by having half of her work in the dark?

How much light do you need? Let's talk about the 10 ft by 10 ft booth, standard at most juried shows. Some shows will include electricity with your booth fee. Often this is about 300 to 500 watts. It is not enough. Trust me. I have tried to use that much in the past. It is not enough. 1000 watts is a better level of lighting. Most track light fixtures are 50 watts. So this means 20 fixtures. Yes, twenty.

I have finally accepted that this is what I need to do. I have done shows with 300 to 500 watts, and have been perpetually frustrated by my inability to adequately light the work. Some of the work is well lit, and other pieces are sitting in shadow. Not the presentation that I want. If you have dark walls, you definitely will need lots of light. Black walls are popular for colorful work, because it makes the work seem to "Pop!" But it also absorbs a lot of the light in the booth.

What kind of light? Ideally you want to use halogen lights. They have a full spectrum quality. You want the colors of your work to be as true to what they would appear in natural light as possible.

What kinds of fixtures? Track lights are the most common kinds of light used in a craft booth. They give you lots of flexibility as far as placement, and direction. But they have potential pitfalls as well. It is important to be sure that lights are not pointing at your customers faces, blinding them, or that they are not hung too low so that tall visitors to your booth risk scalp burns. Many fire codes also require that the track be at least eight feet off the ground.

On a recent webcast that was available to ACRE show participants, Bruce Baker touched on this topic. One of the booths he showed caught my eye. It had several crossbars in the booth space. One across the front, and then one from front to back, and another from side to side. Lights were arrayed along these central crossbars aimed at the work in the booth. Baker recommends that lights be placed above where the visitors to your booth will stand. If the lights are hung on the front crossbar, pointing into the booth space, as soon as the customers walk into your booth, they will block the path of the light onto your work. And as they turn around to leave the booth, they get a blast of bright light in their eyes. Not a good parting experience.

There are other options of course. Some jewelry cases come with lights. Under shelf lights are great for work that is displayed on nearly any type of shelving. But even with these types of lights, you will want to have some overhead light.

So, where do you begin? There are companies that specialize in tradeshow lighting. Look through Crafts Report, and you will see plenty of advertisements. Or go to the local Home Depot or Lowe's. You will find track, lights, cords, and all the components you need to install your lights.

In my next post I will show you what some of those components look like and how you can hang them, for those of you who are like I was a few years ago....in the dark!