A Girl on Art: AFFORDABLE ART FAIR, BATTERSEA 2013

Painting by Candice Tripp as featured at the Affordable Art Fair

It's true, art fairs aren't exactly the most inviting. In my fantasy land they would be places of paintings and candy floss; a place where everyone smiles and buys art. In reality they are somewhat like a dentist's waiting room. A little cold, lots of white, and not so many smiles. But the Affordable Art Fair is in town to brighten the scene and prove it all wrong.

I didn't expect it to be so fun. It's packed with all sorts of art – prints of vintage spoons, giant photographs of scenes from around the world, moving portraits and those pieces that make you laugh or frown. If there was ever a place where every taste in art could be satisfied it's this. The other amazing thing is I could easily talk to gallery owners about any piece I liked.

It's set in an awkward location – Battersea Park, although it also pops up in Hampstead and Bristol over the year – but a shuttle bus service from Sloane Square makes you feel like Knightsbridge royalty. This is what makes it physically accessible. Financially, everything is between £40 to £40,000 so in theory it's for big shots and small pockets. But I'll say that anything with a $40 price tag is a reproduced print the size of a post card. So unless you have a slice of wall that could just do with a sliver of art, the fair is worth going to for a day or afternoon out. The down-to-earth organisers hold regular quick-fire tours to give you an idea of what's on show and how to approach art. Each stop takes you to a different gallery stall, where the managers are given a minute to explain what they're selling and why. There's also artisan food and drink. It all seems pretty posh, but the nice part is, it's really not.