in these difficult times for contemporary artists, when an economic recession means that people hold back on those non-essential purchases, one has to be ever-resourceful adaptable, realistic… trading artwork with other artists, finding alternative venues as exhibition spaces, expanding the range and type of artwork… if not an original artwork, perhaps a series of postcards or portfolio of mini-prints, shop art, street fairs, open studios or virtual galleries, a world of self promotion and self-representation (and self-preservation)…
the one hundred paintings on paper series, I-C, aka chromatids, here are some box framed..
[click to view more small abstracts on paper]
in a perfect world (without money constraints), my plan was to frame all one hundred of these and exhibit them as one wall-based work, about 2 metres square, in an exhibition all about colour, perhaps entitled chromatids (a reference to strands in DNA)… i have sold some of the series, both framed and unframed, as there was the added interest in selecting personal colour combinations…so, there no longer being one hundred, i will continue to put some of these on etsy..
[click to view more in the series]
etsy works like ebay in that you register as buyer or seller and you can use paypal to safely purchase a wide range of art and crafts direct from the artists… etsy currently lists items for sale in US dollars, and paypal does any currency conversion for you automatically at checkout.( Etsy is American, but they are working on making it more country and currency specific, just like ebay)…
etsy is a smartly-designed website for artists and craftspeople who self-represent their work… and, you have one-to-one contact with art buyers (etsy does not actually undertake any sales of work, it merely acts as a highly visible storefront)… the only drawback is that as the site becomes more popular with artists, it becomes more difficult for one’s work to be discovered just by browsing!…
this method of promoting and marketing contemporary art is becoming very popular with artists and buyers alike… with no large commission on sales, artists can sell their work at competitive prices and can offer a larger body of work than a single gallery would show at this time… commercial galleries are extremely good for getting your work known, with their skills in hanging shows, promotion, press and marketing and a comprehensive mailing list to boot, but the internet has opened up global marketplace… without the web, i doubt i would have collectors of my work overseas…
some of the small works on paper series are available unframed at a special sale price of $75 (about £50), the box framed works are $175… i often think the unframed ones would look good float-framed as a set in one large deep box frame…
[small works on paper.. in the studio]
the white wood frames accentuate the deckled edges, subtle textures and tertiary colours, and can be hung in small groups, and are deep-set so also stand upright on a shelf or mantle (no need for picture hooks or nails)…
as square compositions they can work in any modular orientation… the frames were made by a picture framer who has worked with many well respected artists and curators in the region, from solo exhibitions to archival musuem exhibits… so getting frames custom-made is great, but i still like to frame each artwork myself…
a reminder of where the obsession with stripes began; from these..
to these…
if you are interested in buying any of these small works on paper but would like to ask questions beforehand, just email:
and finally; what are non-essential purchases??? a brand new car, an HD-ready, widescreen sky broadband TV, an iphone??? possessions that don’t seem to hold their value, quickly superceded by the next big thing…
