Art on a Budget

Art on a Budget

Many people are intimidated by art and the possibility of buying art. Believe me, I know, I see tons of art I would love to buy but it always seems like the money goes to more spontaneous purchasing. When you do not have excessive disposable income, it can seem lofty to buy art. With this in mind, it is not impossible to buy original oil-paintings or any kind of art at an affordable price. As you can see from my blogs and others selling art, many pieces can be purchased for a little as $100.

Here is a great article that was published in the Washington Post. It gives advice on how to buy art on a budget. It mentions how blogs are a great way of finding art at an affordable price and in a non-intimidating environment.

Go for it, buy some orginal art, splurge. If you think about the costs of buying to decorate a home or room. Take 500 bucks for example, divide this into 365 days in a year. In one year you are paying 1.40 a day, and two years time equals half that. If you consider the value over time it is well worth every penny. And you know what, tell me about your purchases - I can post it on my site! Email me: jax chachitz - jax@atelierjax.com

Art on a Budget
The Secret to Starting a Great Art Collection? It's Not a Fat Bank Account.
By Dan Zak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 30, 2008

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The most vibrant room of the house I inhabit is the ground-floor bathroom, which isn't a bathroom so much as an eight-square-foot closet with a leaky toilet and a teeny sink.

That's the one room with original art. Hung on the wall is an 18-by-40-inch oil on canvas of a woman rendered in crimson swaths of goop and clothed in shimmering gold paint. The canvas is stretched across a wood frame and signed by the artist, Quest Skinner, who lives in LeDroit Park. I bought it from Skinner in 2006 at Eastern Market for $160, discounted from $400 after she saw I loved the piece but couldn't afford its starting price.

The fact that I, a writer of modest means, bought this beauty for a reasonable price does not alone demolish the notion that collecting art is the province of the wealthy. But the opinions of local artists, collectors, gallery owners and curators seem to do just that.

First, let's remember why we're buying art. The queen bee of the D.C. art world, Margery Goldberg, is here to remind us: Buy art because you love it and want to live with it forever. If you do, it's hard to have regrets about parting with the money.

"Buying a piece of art is like a good relationship," says Goldberg, owner and director of Zenith Gallery in Penn Quarter. "You shouldn't buy it if the most you like it is the first time you see it. It should grow over time. Every day you should like it a bit more."

Unlike with most relationships, though, you need dollars when you say "I do."

It's easy to recoil at a painting with a $25,000 price tag at a commercial gallery and retreat to buying cheap, mass-produced art from Target. But you might find meaningful pieces at reasonable prices by exploring Washington's original-art market, where more affordable work is available through emerging talents and lesser-known mid-career artists. The first step to becoming an art collector is, after all, totally free: Loiter at exhibitions in both commercial galleries and nonprofit alternative spaces, establish your tastes and familiarize yourself with what the area offers in terms of styles and prices.

"Educate, educate, educate yourself," says Norman Parish, director of Parish Gallery in Georgetown. "Get familiar with all the art galleries. The most important part is get to know who the artists are in the community, and you only do that by going to art events."

Galleries suitable for beginning art collectors on a budget are, according to local scenesters, the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, the Arlington Arts Center, the District of Columbia Arts Center in Adams Morgan, the Randall Scott Gallery on 14th Street NW and Transformer Gallery on P Street NW (specifically its Flat File collection, which includes two-dimensional works 16 by 20 inches and smaller).

It's also good to pick a day to tour neighborhood galleries that open jointly. Spaces in Dupont Circle, Bethesda and Georgetown hold opening receptions on the first, second and third Fridays of the month, respectively. In a single day, you can hit 10 to 15 galleries in one area and get a feel for what's selling and for how much. Sign guest books, get on e-mail lists and talk to people.

"Galleries should not be intimidating," says Parish. "Just visit and get accustomed to coming to receptions, meeting the artists and getting into the society of people interested in art."

But what's the least you should expect to pay for good original art in Washington? Is it always possible to find a great piece like mine for $160 or less? Depends on whom you ask.

"You don't get anything decent under $360," says Marc Zuver, exhibit director at Fondo del Sol in Dupont Circle. "More likely an artist is going to start at $800. You've got to spend money, and you've got to have a good eye. If you put $3,000 a year into buying first-rate art, you'll never lose money, and you'll have fun owning it. Twenty years later, it'll beat everything except gold as an investment."

Sounds like a rosy situation if you've got money to burn, but many of us can't justify laying down $1,000 at once (or $3,000 a year) for what is really a luxury item. Before you rule out buying a great work of art you're in love with, however, consider the options. There is generally a 10 percent leeway in price, and most reputable dealers will give regular customers a 10 to 20 percent discount right off the bat, says Chevy Chase artist and critic F. Lennox Campello, who has been involved in the art industry at almost every level, from dealer to gallerist to blogger ( http://dcartnews.blogspot.com). And most galleries offer payment plans without interest.

When you're investing in art, though, take care to make the proper inquiries. "The most important question to ask is, 'Is this original work?' " says Campello. "Technology now can visually fool people into thinking that a reproduction is an original. When you see the word 'print,' be careful. If you have copies of a watercolor made on watercolor paper, that's not a print. That's a reproduction."

With proper inquiries comes proper budgeting. Aspiring collectors should set aside a certain amount to spend on art. Some say allotting $500 per year can yield a respectable collection in five to 10 years. In 1990, Adams Morgan resident Philip Barlow started earmarking $100 to $200 a month for buying original art. Eighteen years and 262 pieces later, Barlow, a 48-year-old actuary, is a well-known area collector who buys almost exclusively from local artists. Why does he do it?

"I want to help promote the local art community, because I think it makes Washington a better place," says Barlow. "And it's kind of nice that I get the benefit of getting interesting artwork that I can look at whenever I want to."

Last year, Molly Brose of Adams Morgan painted three to five small watercolors a week and sold them for $95 apiece on her blog, A Day's Work ( http://www.mollybrose.com). She made hundreds of paintings, and buyers e-mailed her from across the country. If you have a small living space and a small budget, the Internet's the place to look. Artists who want to avoid the anxiety and overhead of galleries are selling through personal Web sites or through communal sites such as the Daily Painters Gallery ( http://www.dailypainters.com).

"It's been so natural for artmakers and art buyers to find each other like this," says Brose, 27. "This is a way for art to be affordable and accessible. It's not intimidating to get on a blog."

Brose puts her own spin on the "painting a day" concept hatched by Richmond resident Duane Keiser, who was in the news a few years back for posting photos of original works daily on his blog ( http://duanekeiser.blogspot.com) and auctioning them on eBay, a business model followed by hundreds of artist-bloggers today.

There are, after all, more people getting MFAs today than anytime in the past century, and not enough physical galleries to house them, says Lisa Hunter. She is the author of "The Intrepid Art Collector" (Three Rivers Press, 2006), a guide to finding, buying and appreciating art on a budget. So the Internet becomes a universal gallery for the talented but otherwise unconnected, as well as a way to bring together artists and buyers.

Hunter suggests the Web site 20x200 ( http://www.20x200.com) as a resource for fine photography at cheap prices. Started last year by New York gallerist Jen Bekman, 20x200 issues 200 smaller reprints of new work and sells them for $20 each.

"I thought $1,000 was the entry point for serious photography, and now with 20x200, it's smaller size and cost," Hunter says. "Not every piece works small, but if you choose carefully, it's a terrific opportunity."

When it comes down to it, you should go for the best art you can afford, says art consultant Allison Marvin, founder of the D.C.-based business Sightline ( http://www.sightline.biz). She tells her clients to consider quality and how much they like a piece rather than quantity for the sake of filling up their walls. And for those wanting to amass a collection but lacking the space to exhibit one, there's an easy solution.

"Think about your art collection as a rotating, living collection," Marvin says. "Just because you decide to put something on the wall one day doesn't mean it's static and has to stay there forever. Maybe you have just one wall, but you can change it up every few months. You can enjoy more art than your space can allow."

Indeed, even a tiny bathroom with a teeny sink can be transformed into a personally curated exhibit. All it takes is the money that would be used to fix the leaky toilet.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/27/AR2008032702788.html

Miligirl's tips for Artists - 30 minutes a day

Artists Helping Artists
30 Minutes A Day
by Miligirl

The one thing I have loved about the art industry (from the artist’s standpoint) is how supportive the majority of artists are toward one another. It’s a real challenge making a living as an artist, but it can also be one of the most rewarding, intriguing, and fulfilling experiences of your life. I have met many wonderful people, and made some lasting friendships that I will cherish for the rest of my life for sure. These people helped me, mentored me, and offered me the kind if encouragement, support, and advise that I was unable to find through family and friends.

I, too, enjoy returning the favor and passing on what I have learned thus far to emerging artists.

Here are some ideas on how to spend 30 minutes a day marketing your art career.
Click here to Download file

* Apply for a Business Tax Registration certificate and Sales Tax permit that allows you to purchase supplies wholesale and charge sales tax.
* Purchase your domain name (register.com) and establish an internet presence. (either your own site or an artists' co-op site). If it’s your own site consider using ‘your name’ for your domain name to increase your name recognition. And it’s best to stick with a “.com” Address instead of .biz, or .net. because people are use to addresses ending in .com
* Hire a professional photographer, or assembl the photographic equipment necessary to properly document your work (emphasis on properly!)
* Document your work with properly labeled slides and organized digital files at 300dpi, and 72 dpi
* Do the necessary research to come up with a target list of places (galleries, museums, consultants) that may be receptive to your work.
* Subscribe to relevant art publications such as, ArtCalendar, Artweek, ArtNews, Art in America, etc. and whatever other publications will keep you posted on the activities of the contemporary art world in your community and elsewhere.
* Make a commitment to yourself to devote at least ‘X’ number of hours per week to the business aspects of your career...sending out slides/digital images, visiting galleries, making follow up phone calls, researching opportunities, talking to other artists.
* Read your local art reviews and visit exhibitions
* Organize files for yourself to keep track of in coming and out going correspondence, emails, phone calls, and contacts. (A contact management program, such as ACT, or Entourage can be invaluable.)
* Send out at least one package per week that will familiarize a gallery, private art consultant, curator or collector with your work.
* Agree to spend at least 1 hour per month online checking for new websites, e-commerce sites or art sites that may be of value.
* Email your website link to at least 3 people per month
* Assemble a personal mailing list of friends, target galleries and potential collectors that may be interested in your work for use when you send out exhibition announcements. I strongly suggest collecting email addresses to utilize email blasts!
* Have simple business cards printed with your name, address, phone number and email address, to distribute to anyone potentially interested in your work. If possible, include an image of your work on the card.
* Create an updated bio that outlines all your previous exhibitions, education, collectors, and awards.
* Write an artists' statement, not only for distribution and publishing on your website, but also to help you talk intelligently about your work, should someone ask.
* Create a simple consignment receipt and bill of sale for future use.
* Determine pricing parameters for your work.
* Prepare a referral list of resources for future use: framers, photographers, packers and shippers, printers, etc.
* Come to terms with the possibility of rejection and feel confident you can handle it.


Remember, this checklist is just a beginning. You will need to personalize it and adapt it to your specific needs. But, if you commit yourself to devoting time to all the activities listed above, you will have accepted the responsibility of seeing yourself as a working professional artist. Over time, the results you see WILL give you the exposure you want and your work deserves.

People Buy Art for Many Reasons

Author: Wendy Hermann

Did you ever wonder why art is so valued in our society? And it's been that way all through the ages of mankind. Yes, each age and each tribe has it's own style, but every age and every tribe we know of, has valued art.

After all, unlike food, gas, clothes, and water - art is not something that we need. For most of us, art is something that we buy with our dwindling disposable income. But why? Well there are many reasons:

One of the most common reasons people buy art is to enhance their home decorating. A beautiful painting can make a world of difference to a stark, empty, white wall. A unique piece of sculpture can make a remarkable and transformative addition to a dull corner. The right art can beautify any environment.

Some people buy art as a sign of status. Imagine showing off to your friends a recently acquired Picasso original. Imagine the gossip and admiration that would surround you and how many of your peers will now see you as a person of stature, a person of class.

The purists among us will simply buy art for its beauty. These people when they look at a beautiful work of art are simply taken into another world. They can literally stare at the same art piece over a period of days and each time come away with new insight as to its meaning.

Museums buy art to attract visitors and tourists. Their concern is not with beauty so much. They want to make sure that any piece of art they buy will be a good return on investment. As long as people will pay to see it, they are satisfied.

Of course, one of the most popular reasons for purchasing art, especially paintings, is to cover up that blank space on the wall. In some neighborhoods I've lived in, it is the number one reason.

Many hobbyist art collectors will buy an artist's original pieces as a potential investment opportunity. In a sense this is a little like playing the lottery, especially when sourcing works from new and unknown artists. While enjoyable, as one learns more and more about art, this sort of collecting can be quite addictive. The good thing is that your investment potential improves as your knowledge improves with your extensive research.

Have you ever bought a piece of art simply because something in it uniquely captures your own personality. Somehow it's as if the artist, in that one art piece, is speaking to or for you. And it simply connects to you. Even if you've never been attracted to a piece of art in your life.

And lastly, there's the "I wish I had said that" form of art collecting. This is where the artist has expressed something in such a unique or outrageous manner that you really wish you had thought of it first. But owning it is the next best thing. I would suspect that a large percentage of those that are drawn to political works of art fall into this category.

As we've seen, people buy art for many and varied reasons. And that is why art and artists will be around as long as there are humans on this earth.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/art-articles/people-buy-art-for-many-reasons-178486.html

About the Author:

Wendy Hermann is a writer and blogger for Native Art, Eskimo Art - Eliot Waldman at NativeArtTraders.com, a site specializing in Inuit sculptures and paintings.

Opportunity: Institute on Disability Seeks Artists for its 2009 Calendar

News from the Artists Foundation

Institute on Disability Seeks Artists for its 2009 Calendar

Are you an artist looking for an opportunity to get your work noticed?
Do you know someone who is an artist and might be interested in such an
opportunity? Every year since 2000, the Institute on Disability
(IOD) at the University of New Hampshire has
produced a calendar that features 13 original works of art. These highly
anticipated calendars are distributed to thousands of people around the
world each year who are connected to the IOD’s mission of
strengthening communities and ensuring full access, equal opportunities,
and participation for all persons. The IOD is currently inviting artists
to submit artwork to be considered for its 2009 Calendar.

The theme for the 2009 calendar is reflective of the quote

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes,
but in having new eyes.”
Marcel Proust (1871 - 1922, French novelist and essayist)

If you would like to submit, here are some simple guidelines to
follow:

* All artwork must be 2-dimensional (i.e. drawings, paintings).
Unfortunately, we are unable to accept photography and sculpture.
* Artwork for submission may be created for the purpose of this
calendar or may be selected from an existing portfolio of work.
* Artwork should reflect the artist’s interpretation of the Marcel
Proust quote above.
* Artists are encouraged to submit artwork with vibrant colors (see
links to past calendars below).
* Artists are welcome to submit up to three works of art for
consideration.
* Submissions must include the artist's name, phone number, email
address and title(s) of artwork.
* If chosen, the original work submitted will be requested and will
need to be sent to the IOD. All originals will be returned to the
artists.
Here are links if you would like to see a PDF copy of the 2008
and 2007
calendars.

Digital copies (scanned or photographed artwork) for consideration
should be sent as a JPG or PDF file to contact.iod@unh.edu
with
“2009 IOD Calendar Art” in the subject line. Please do not send
original artwork at this time. If you would like to submit a printed
copy of your artwork via snail mail, please mail it to:

INSTITUTE ON DISABILITY / UCED
Attn. Matthew Gianino
10 West Edge Drive, Suite 101
Durham, NH 03824

During the final selection process, the IOD may request the original
artwork for further consideration in some cases. The 13 finalists will
be asked to complete an Artwork Release Form
. Please be sure you are
able to comply with the terms of the release form prior to submitting.
The deadline for submissions is Friday, August 8th 2008. All artists
whose work is chosen for the 2009 Calendar will be contacted by August
22nd.
Jax

Brooklyn Museum and Healthcare Industry - What does the public want for art?

I just read a recent article by Health Care Fine Art. It is a very interesting analysis of the link between art chosen for the new show at the Brooklyn Museum's Click Show and research done on the type of art that hospitals should display.

The Brooklyn Museum just opened a new exhibition titled Click, on exhibit June 27- August 10, 2008. The theme is, who should pick the Art for Art Exhibits? Art connoisseurs or the general public? For this show the general public chose the art and it is a very interesting commentary on what the public prefers.

What is fascinating about this article is that according to Healthcare Fine Art,

"when selecting art for HealthCare the answer about who should pick the art is trickier. Many who believe in Evidence-based Art would say that the kind of art that art connoisseurs pick is often not appropriate. For example, they might say that abstract art is always wrong." (Patients sometimes respond violently)

"Interestingly, the most popular art for the general public is identical to the art which is the best (according to many research studies)."

According to Health Care Fine Art, USA’s Most Wanted Art is... (drumroll please)

"Surveys have been conducted to find out what it is that people (regular people, not people who go to gallery openings) want in their art."

Here are some of their top suggestions:

* Representational landscapes
* Calm water
* Calm weather
* Visual Depth with openness in the immediate foreground
* Landscapes depicted during the warmer seasons
* Landscapes with low hills and distant mountains

The New York Times review of "Click" concludes: "the exhibition itself is not very interesting to look at, but the issues it raises are fascinating"

Well, I guess I wont be getting any Hospital Wing Commissions anytime soon. I knew I should have listened when my parents pleaded with me, "Why cant you just do a pretty picture, you know, a landcape or pretty portrait? Something we can understand."

Jax Chachitz

Hamptons.com article on collecting art you can call your own

I sometimes read articles about art collecting to try to understand how collectors collect. What are the parameters that exist. As an artist that sells art it is in my interest to fully understand the dynamics that occur. It occurs whether we like it or not, that is the reality. And I think as artists we need to embrace this and enhance the dynamic as well. By understanding maybe we can shed light on the act of creating, being appreciated and selling work so that people can enjoy our art.

I was reading the article written by Cindy Lee Bergersen in her article "An Art Collection You Can Call Your Own" from Hamptons.com when it struck me as odd that in the beginning of her article she discusses how people are intimidated by art when they enter a gallery but then she goes on to mention bullet by bullet the "spin" on buying art.

"According to a recent article in the New York Times, there’s a newly coined term, “Art Buying Paralysis” that helps shed light on this question. Some forms of this modern malady include feelings of intimidation upon entering an art gallery, obsession with perceived investment value, even fears about making an unfashionable choice. “Art”, after all, is a barometer of class and taste. If you select the “wrong thing,” your apparent lack of polish and culture is graphically exposed.

Complicating matters, even interior designers can’t agree. There’s a difference of opinion about art collecting as it pertains to the art and execution of interior design. Many designers don’t want to select art for clients because the criteria for selecting art, clashes with the logic and rationales used for creating an interior. Other designers see the addition of good art as the final crowning jewel for a beautiful home design.

And then, the prospective art buyer should be clear whether they are starting a collection for love of art, or for profit and status. According to renowned dealer and collector Eugene V. Thaw, there is no real art market as much as there is hype and spin. “There’s just trophies and what they can be hyped up to,” which is how a Rothko owned by David Rockefeller, originally appraised for $10 million about nine months before it sold at Sotheby’s, went for $72.8 million at the time of sale. There was a tremendous amount of promotion for months prior to the auction causing the sale dollars to be spun into the heavens."

I very much enjoyed her article it is really worth reading, and she does include some noteworthy pointers but unfortunately I also believe this article plays into the very foundation of what is intimidating to prospective art buyers.

One suggestion is to

"learn what you like as well as the difference between “good art” and “bad art” from those in the know. Though it’s more difficult to find people who don’t have an opinion about art than those that do, pay the most attention to the opinions of key players in the art world such as art critics, museum curators, and prominent collectors. What they have, is well-developed taste (like it or not) and a lot of experience. Visit galleries, museums, and attend juried shows at art schools and colleges. Search out museum and gallery websites for art information. Make a commitment to look at as much art in books and magazines as you can to develop both your eye and your taste."

I very much agree with the basics of this suggestion and I do believe that if you want to buy art for investment purposes then why not stick to what is being collected by others. It makes sense if you want to pay money for a label then that is what you do and it makes you feel secure knowing you have a "name brand". The thing is that there are many people out there that have there own interests at heart. A Gallery wants to sell the art, museum collectors have preferred styles and many "educated" and "well-developed tastes" really are just tooting their own horns. It is inevitable that someone ultimately has a reason behind their opinion. You can either blindly follow the status quo or truly appreciate art from you gut reaction.

So how does one see through this clutter? Does the art speak to you? No matter what it is - do you enjoy the art? I believe too many people in the art world are too busy with all the marketing spin and hype. This is why people are intimidated. Let the art just speak for itself and stop trying to label, categorize, price, define artists, define decorative versus non decorative, stop the continuous self absorbed nonsense and just let art be. The "art world" as we know it is too limited in scope and does not truly define the countless artists that exist outside of these "the chosen few" parameters. Art will never be defined, that is the very core of its existence. We can never fully define the existence of great art, it just is what it is, different for every individual . That is the beauty of it. And we as humans lose sight of its essence. When you find the right piece that brings you awe and joy when you view it, that is great art for you. And you will know it when it happens. Discover what moves you, get to know the artists creating the work and you have made the right choice for your interest in collecting art.

You could certainly turn around and say "well there is another artist trying to sell their work" Yes this is true, I am an artist and I do sell my work, but I have also been in this "art industry" for some time now to realize the "marketing spin" that exists and to truly realize how many great artists there are in this world. And many of them are not in galleries, art fairs and auctions at sothebys. They do have resumes, websites, shows and are seriously actively trying to exhibit and create art independently from the "begin quote gallery and art dealer end quote". These are the true unearthed gems that have a brilliant piece of art for you to buy and hang on your wall.

Jax Chachitz