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Dear Donnie:
I was recently, and not so pleasantly, surprised to see that you had happened upon one of my pieces of artwork called Synergy and you were "kind" enough to leave the following message:

"This has been done over and over again do something different. If you really understood synergy you do not mimic. Find your own vision it is not easy, why should it be? ."

Unfortunately, this is a direct quote.

First of all, Donnie - I've seen lots of crappy pieces of artwork on this site numerous times and I've decided that it's entirely unfair to make a lousy public comment on someone's public page - just uncouth, if you know what I mean. So many artists are struggling with careers, attempts to find new ideas and not to mention that some here are very gifted while others are not and that's alright because it has provided a vibrant art community where people get the chance to learn from each other as well as enjoy the camaraderie that comes with a successful site such as FAA. You do the community a great disservice when you make the assumption that one artist is beneath you in some way.

And I'm a big believer in taking the log out of one's eye before you go to the trouble of picking on a spec in someone else's eye.

Let's start with your pathetic ability to communicate in the highly regarded form of the English language. Really Donnie, you show your ignorance when you can barely place the proper words together to form a complete thought. The least you could do is grant me the courtesy of properly stating your  "opinion" in a manner in which people can read and understand it. Here's how your paragraph should read - pay attention, you may learn something!

"This has been done over and over again do something different. If you really understood synergy you do not mimic. Find your own vision it is not easy, why should it be? ."

FIRST! You need a period between the words "again" and "do" or, at the very least a comma. Also - you don't put a period AFTER a question mark....the question mark kinda has its own built-in period, so two of them aren't necessary. This is called punctuation, learn to use it properly and people won't think you're an idiot.

And this sentence would make an English teacher cry:
"If you really understood Synergy you do not mimic."
...I'm sorry - what?
So you're attempt to tell me that I don't understand the term Synergy falls sadly short. The main reason for this, Donnie, is that most - if not all - artists often name pieces of art something abstract. The point of naming the artwork is to connect with the viewer in some way. I'm sorry if that concept is beyond you're reality, but there it is.
It wasn't a matter of mimicking, it was simply a matter of giving an abstract work an abstract name. That's all, nothing more complicated than that.

"Find you're own vision"
Excuse me?
What gives YOU the right to tell me that I need to find my own vision? I simply created this work in my studio one night when I was bored of painting other things. In reality, the piece actually created itself - most of my artwork isn't this type of genre, but I like many other artists like to play and sometimes play is just a good thing.
I don't need to consult the likes of you to figure out what my vision is - if you don't like it, click the damn "next" button and move on.

Lastly, your entire statement is a little silly, Donnie - you see - pretty much everything has already been done once and stuff that hasn't been done already by its very nature, borders on the bizarre. Most artists now are simply trying to find new ways of standing out in a crowd, some succeed and some don't. I would take the time to look at your art to see if you have anything that can be classified as "unique" but you see, Donnie - I suspect that you are taking the time to insult people in order that they up the number views on your art....so I'm not falling for it and really - I'm not all that interested..in fact, I question if you're an artist at all.

In closing: this piece has sold many, many prints nationwide. I still have the original - simply because it's gone up in value GREATLY!
People like it.
Move on, I have.

PS - my husband thinks you're a twit.

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop? There's a question that haunted me all throughout my childhood. And now that the fleeting thoughts of my youth have matured into the complicated questions of my adulthood - I am left with a new question: How many failures does it take to get to a successful painting?

I was pondering this on the way to work this morning. I've been in a funk the last week or two and it's really come down to the new piece on which I've been working. Basically, it just isn't going where I think I am directing it to go. Do all paintings have a mind of their own and like a horse you have to break them in order for them to perform as you desire? Is it really that complicated? Or do I just lack any real talent?

I had some really high hopes for the piece and it's just not going where I am leading it - so now I am left to wonder why. The bigger question, however : Is it this way for everyone? How many failures do you have before you get the piece that you've had in your head?

Or is it even simpler than that? When a painter starts on a work, is there no expectation in their minds, no mental picture as to how the piece turns out, or what it is supposed to look like? If that's the case, then I am simply putting myself through far too much worry and overworking the piece until I cannot save it anymore. Maybe my expectations are too high.

I just don't have the answers to these questions. And for certain I am looking to scrape the paint off the canvas, let the skimmed coat dry and simply start over again. And then I think - "Well, what about the next one?" So then I resign myself to putting down the piece until another day - or another month later.

So what now?
Is it like this for everyone?

Well, I've been excuriated by my art professors NOT to drink ANYTHING while painting - and all the reasons they gave me were of sound mind and for a healthy body (don't want to accidentally drink the turpentine - if you know what I mean) But it really hasn't stopped me from this dangerous pursuit. Whilst I may not recommend this to other artists, I take great pains to make certain I don't confuse the coffee with the paint cleaner.

All that aside - I think it's imperative to write a treatise on the making of the perfect cup of coffee. To me, a great cup with some really good music go a long way to creating the perfect work of art, or at least go a long way in alieving my frustrations when I'm NOT creating the perfect work of art. So, I really wanted to share the experience with all - simply because it's just too good to keep it a secret.

And it starts with the BEAN (The Arabica Bean - that is)

Many people buy their coffee already ground, and being an admitted coffee snob I just have to sigh. I can understand the convenience of it all but since coffee continually off-gases immediately after it is roasted - the worst thing you can do is to buy it already ground. It takes those little beans a lot longer to go stale when they have their girth about them. So for the sake of it all, I would have to say to go and invest in a coffee grinder. It doesn't have to be fancy - just a simple one should suffice.

So now that you've opened up your - hopefully vacuum packed - coffee beans, and yes, that IS important... go ahead and take a moment in time to make yourself a hypocrite and show your kids how to "huff" something that makes you really high - and I do mean stick your nose in the bag and take a really slow deep inhale...it's just a part of the experience. Well, I guess you can compare it to smelling the cork - which in and of itself is a faux pas, but that's another article. You can then go ahead and take only the amount of coffee you need to make a pot and grind it. Store the rest of your coffee in another tightly sealed container.
I don't recommend storing coffee in the fridge or in the freezer - it can take on all sorts of bizarre scents from the other foods in there - and that's bad.

Measure your coffee at approximately twice the coffee with the amount of water you are going to run through the drip-style maker. For example: When I make a full pot, I put in four scoops of ground coffee and 5 cups of water (for my 10 cup coffee maker-yours may be different). Yes, it makes strong coffee - but we will fix that in a minute...
Doing this only allows for the beans to be activated by the hot water for just the right length of time. Too long in the water and you are literally siphoning all the flavor out of the bean. You'd think that was a good idea, but it's not. It creates a very bitter cup of coffee and pretty much everyone agrees that bitter coffee sucks. So by keeping the brewing time down to its minimal amount, you will bring out all the fresh and rich flavors of the bean and nothing else (and once you've tasted this - you can't ever go backwards, your ignorance has been lifted and you are now in the land of the living...)

So go ahead and let your coffee maker brew the coffee as it should - BUT, just before you put the coffee on to brew - take a tea pot and heat the OTHER half of the pot of water until it's very hot (not boiling-that, too is bad) Once the water is ready, and the coffee is finished brewing, take the pot OFF the heater and fill up the pot with the rest of the water (and try to put the coffee in a carafe to keep it hot, leaving it on the burner - burns the coffee). So what you have managed to do is keep down your brewing time for the beans and yet still blend the right amount of coffee strength.

And it is a simple as that. Not too much brewing time for the bean, the water is the temperature it should be and the beans are freshly ground. - and you have a whole pot of joe. And why is this way important? Well apparently coffee growers and roasters know coffee as a SWEET drink and not a bitter one. We've all been walking on the dark side for many years now and injustices, no matter how insignificant must be corrected. It's just a small victory in my little world.

I recently went to see the Monet exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art. I was unprepared to see these paintings in person - it was a whole new experience that I have never known before now. It's not at all like flipping through a book and seeing the works in print. Very ethereal...and it's been the same with coffee - too many years without "the real thing" I now find it difficult to stop at a coffee shop and find a cup that doesn't follow the standard formulation: coffee, water, on button, wait ten minutes...(ten minutes is six minutes too long-- it should be no more than four!) Hopefully, if you're a coffee drinker, you will try this method, and if you think you don't like coffee because it's bitter - hopefully this method will spur you to try it again.

Happy Coffee Break!
Laura

I am continually amazed by the dedication that the FAA staff has to making this site a place for art to be bought and sold. You have put in a lot of work here and it is showing, and you should be noted for your dedication to both art and your business. It is making it easier for all of us artists and we highly appreciate it.

Ebay has had its spot in selling art for years and has gone out of its way to make certain that it's getting rich off the sales of the artists (just try to list something there - you're talking about $30-$35) every new ebay feature comes with a price tag and they are so lousy at making it user friendly, you just can't get enough sales to cover the price you pay to be seen.

Fast forward a few more years and along comes ArtByUs.com. I have no complaints about this site, started by artists for artists it's a great place to showcase your artwork without the fees that come along when you use ebay. It makes it easy to sell there, but I'm not certain that they are growing quite enough to become the place to be when showing your art. I go on this site everyday, and the owners are stickler's about making certain that the site is for artists (I turned in someone recently who was showcasing factory made jewelry from China - heck, I could go to WalMart and get that! Needless to say, their auctions were closed and their accounts frozen.) But the drawback is that the quality of art just isn't there. Compared to ebay, you just can't find really really great stuff there and I worry that the site is not going to show the increase in traffic that it needs to in order to be a highly successful tool for artists to use.

Fast forward another few years and I get an email from FAA. I was skeptical. I signed up anyway.

I can only say that in the few years that FAA has been here I've been impressed at how much versatility they have put into the site and it continues to get better all the time.
The only thing that I worry about is that the marketing has not been strong enough to bring in the potential buyers. But all good business plans take time and the more I am here the more I am willing to wait it out.

That being said, I would like to take the time to note that I would love to see an auction area on this site. I think that some buyers - most notably the occasional ones, not art collectors - but those looking to just put a solid piece of art into their homes - really like the auction idea. I think that they are spending their time mostly on ebay - largely because, again, the quality of art isn't there on ArtByUs.com. I think the buy-it-outright option here scares them a little and they feel a sense of anonimity with the buying options on ebay. I think that an auction area here would be a great way to give buyers choices on how they want to purchase art.

I look at this site and scan everyday and I am amazed by the quality of art here. It's literally everywhere and there should be no reason that most artists are not selling on this site.

A feed back function for buyers is also a good idea. People live and die by those recommendations on other sites. There are many more advantages to doing this - I could probably write another page about it, so I won't go into now.

I'm not asking FAA to become ebay - but borrowing a few great ideas from another successful business is done all the time. I know this because I work in retail advertising, and sometimes much of my job is looking at what our competitors are doing and then improving on the technique.

Thanks FAA for your dedication to the art world and collectors alike. I look forward to being here for many more years.

Laura Swink

The Art of being a Capitalist Pig

Since about 1984 I've been a regular on the Fine Art Scene. It started with my first years as a "budding" classical flutist (that's a story for another day) and one day, my interest as a painter piqued and I haven't looked back. One thing that I have learned over those years is that the fine art market - be it music or art - is one tough market. And there are a lot of reasons why.

Let's start with the people who participate in the world of art: Not the easiest people to know. While I believe most of us here at FAA are pretty level-headded and well rounded individuals - it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see why some in the art world really scare the "Average Joe" You have more artists who are either so bizarre they can't adjust themselves to the mainstream, and others who are so snobby that they are convinced their stuff don't stink and look down at you because you don't hold that opinion - of them. For years the art world has found new and creative ways to separate themselves from most of the American Public, they are in love with being a clique - and ignore and often insult that same public who buys the movie tickets, listen to the music and shop for art for their walls.

If you then take the time to understand the average ball player - he's got to hit a ball over the fence - as one of our artists has so stated in a blog of recent. And believe me, I understand his point of view, I really do - he's not the only one who lays awake lamenting this at night. But between the art set and the sport set it's far easier for Average Joe to understand bat-to-ball over paint-to-canvas. Sports are heavily taught in schools, and when a new levy doesn't get passed, it's usually the art programs that get cut. For years the music students had to pay-to-play by renting or purchasing an instrument, buying the sheet music and taking the lessons and yet parents scream when other students are asked to fork over $50 to play football.

I wish that I could change the makeup of parts of American society and teach people to understand how color effects their mood on a daily basis than does the recent antics of Brittany Spears (child porn-star, for those who don't know). But as children, we are given a ball and a bat, or a sexy Barbie doll and lots of clothes to dress her in - but rarely do parents spend the time to take their kids to the art museum, or a gallery opening. They don't take their kids to the orchestra, the ballet - nor do they enroll their kids in some kind of art class or school. These things are thought to be the realm of the wealthy, the "arts and croissant" set and average Americans are often felt to be left out.

These attitudes then filter directly into the market forces of capitalism. Many fathers grew up with a bat and ball in their hands - so then they spend a Sunday afternoon watching the game with their sons. Those fans mean advertisers pay big bucks to have their ads shown and since better ball players get better exposure - more fans for the team, higher ad rates for the advertiser and that translates into big bucks for the players. This is the way it works and our entire society is extremely rich because of it. You can't blame the ball player when you go out of your way to find out who won the game last Sunday, who's playing next Sunday and who's going to the finals. You pay to buy team jerseys, even if you don't go to the game - and you spend the time to check out the scores and stats on the sports channels. They measure every aspect of this and know where every dollar is going and they know how much the public likes it and is willing to pay for it.

We as artists have to find a way to excite the marketplace - Nascar did it. Years ago-all the sport was about was the car. It was only exciting for the really hard-core race fans (those who could tell a alternator from a fuel pump)...but it didn't translate into big dollars. So they shifted their focus - it became about the racers - their personalities, their rivalries. I don't follow Nascar and yet I bet I can name at least three well known names in the sport. All that and yet I CANNOT name three up and coming modern artists in the United States today. Again - this group of people loves to be a clique, they love to exclude themselves from society and the only really popular artist - Thomas Kincaid - has managed to become a marketing genius over his artwork. So much so that he's become, quite simply a one trick pony.....and people are still buying his stuff in droves.

So there we have it, unless we change our approach, most of America isn't going to be very interested. Stop handing out government dollars for artists who strive to insult the mainstream and instead open a gallery that caters to the common people. It doesn't mean having to bend or break the focus of your art - not at all. It just simply means that we need to become more fascinating to the rest of the world. Sure it's going to hack-off the snobby-set - but where have they gotten us anyway? Sell a work for $1000 on ebay and they won't call you an artist, trust me. With enough of our heads together, we can actually change the way the market works for us.

And here is one last point in case you doubt me. Have you seen the line up of television shows for the discovery channels lately? LAInk - tatoo artists, American Chopper - guys who build bikes. Who would have dreamed these people would have their own TV shows? Seriously? Then there's other reality-styled shows like "Top Designer" and "Top Chef" and Ace of Cakes - the guy bakes cakes for a living! I just don't see why we are missing the boat here, it's like every niche has a show and yet the artists are still out there hoping someone will see their work and buy it.

To use a sports analogy....It's time to change the playing field here, people. And it's up to us to do it.

As a skilled professional in graphic design I go to work everyday and creatively layout a catalog. It's more like putting together a puzzle who's picture you've never seen, and despite it being technical in some areas, it does require an artist's eye in order to create a page that the viewer of the catalog is happy to read. Happy readers = happy buyers, we make money - I stay employed....

My work day goes as any other work day goes and at some point during the day I either hook myself up to itunes or to some radio talk show, both of which helps to alleviate the boredom of eight hours of doing the same thing day after day.

But it's not the same at home in the studio....

I have found that in order to create a mood which inspires the piece which I am creating, I have to choose carefully. I have old stand-by's who I return to time and time again, which put me in that mental place that helps me to focus on the mood of the work I am attempting to create.

Which then begs me to ask:
How much thought do you put into the music you play, or the story you listen to when you work on your art?

Here is a short list of music to which I like to listen:

Trivium - Excerpt by composer Respere
performed by Camerata Talllinn
(Now if anyone can locate the entire composition on this piece and let me know where I can buy it, I will forever be in your debt.)

The Fog is Lifting for flute and harp
(I don't have the composer's name on this)

Secret Garden - the group, my favorite album by this set is called White Stones

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5

and then to the land of the living:
Wynton Marsalis, I will listen to anything performed by this guy.

and this is just a list for the days I am working on paintings.
What I listen to in the car - is very different.

I find it fascinating that I use one artist's work to inspire another.
In closing, I would love to know what inspires you when working. It's just too bad we don't have a place to share all theses pieces between us.

I sold a few things there, but after about a year - I became disgusted and decidedly quit without looking back.
Afterall, they don't call it Fee-Bay for nothing...


So here is the problem with Fee-bay: as an artist you have to pay the $19.95 featured auction fee - just to be seen, and then there is your listing fee, which was based on how much you were asking for the artwork. Then, if you are lucky enough to sell the item, you pay a final value fee and then the Paypal fee and before you know it, you are lucky to be taking home two pence for all your work.


So it's working for some and more power to them. But for many of the others, there is simply something I just can't understand - and that's the constant need for these artists to list their originals - yes, ORIGINALS - at an opening bid of $1...

So there it is, after shelling out $30 to $35 for the listing, they began their auction at $1 (and I am not considering the price of their materials here, either.) I understand the need to create interest in the work, to foster bidders into a game of out-bidding each other by offering a "too good to be true" offer, and yet these paintings rarely sell at anything above $10 - if they sell at all. And if you spend any real time there looking at the artwork, you will also see that often times the art doesn't even get many views.

Why?

But it's not a question of why don't they get any interest.. It is more a question of why do you do this? Why does ANYONE do this? And you can't blame Fee-bay, there are other art auction sites where you see artists engaging in this same insanity. The legacy that they are passing on to their counterparts is tragic - it makes it nearly impossible for any artist to ask even $99 for their artwork, let alone a real price for the piece. And then you have to consider what to charge for packing and cost for shipping the item. How ridiculous does it look when you charge $1 for the artwork and $50 for the shipping. On a piece that is 30 x 40 charging $50 to ship is down right cheap - but the customer thinks you are trying to gouge them by charging a higher shipping. So the artist doesn't get a sale and he looks like a con-man in the process.

I don't deny that the advent of auction sites for art have brought more market forces to the art buying public. Art that isn't worth it's salt simply won't fetch a good price. Artists who have large market appeal will see their prices rise - it's the way it works. But the idea of any serious artist attempting to pass off their hard work for a lousy buck makes me want to scream. It also makes it harder for me to defend why I am charging hundreds more for a smaller painting.. Despite the market forces, many art buyers simply don't understand what goes into the work itself. Unfortunately, few clients understand the work that is entailed and an ignorant public then cannot go the extra mile to see why the price is high.

And how about this simple comparison - remember this the next time you price your work: Diamonds are the most plentiful of all the precious gemstone - you want rare?? Go buy a Tanzanite, an Emerald, an Imperial Topaz - and we'll talk rare. But the diamond sellers weren't stupid, they simply placed a high emotional value on the item and sold it as such. To this day no guy could ever get off buying his best girl anything less than something of such perceived value - and it had better come with a nice price tag - or its worthless in her mind. It's just a shame that artists have not been able to master this technique. Many more of us could be living as full time artists. I believe the buying public is happy to have something of value as well as having contributed their hard earned dollars directly to the artist from which they buy. Clients simply do not now how many of their dollars have supported fee-bay, and how many really good artists drop off the edge simply because they refuse to compete in the sweatshop market place.

In closing. Consider carefully the next time you place a dollar value on your piece. A simple, fair market price does everyone a favor.

Synergy:
When abstract art is more than the sum of its parts.


I've been totally surprised by the success of "Synergy" over the years. It just doesn't cease to amaze me how much people have become drawn to it. Synergy was my first trip into the world of abstract art. I had simply spent a weekend playing with paint on an old canvas that already had something else painted on it. And it would figure, wouldn't it - that the old canvas with the new painting on it would become a pivot point towards my decision to make art a full time pursuit. I apparently couldn't have planned this if had wanted to.


There were no drawings, no real thought that had gone into it, yet the piece seemed to have decided to be despite my lack of experience creating abstract art. To this day, I haven't been able to repeat it in quite the same way.


The piece had hung on a wall in my bedroom for a few years - and then moved with me when I bought my house. It then took a perfect place on the back closet wall where it is easily viewable to anyone entering in the back door. The color demands your attention, and the moving shapes and static sphere's command your emotion. All that and yet, I still don 't know WHY it works.


I find myself trying to pry into a viewer's thoughts (if I could only read minds) so that I can get a glimpse of what they see when they are looking at the piece, but no one to date has been able to give me a tangible answer.

Then one day, my dear husband - out of seemingly no where - simply stated that it looked like a vase of flowers. I had to stop and look at the piece again. I thought he was kidding, I really did, and then he explained what he saw...and the synergy of the piece became a little more real to me. I am often now left wondering if I had sub-consciously hung the painting that way....


Although I often get the impression that more realistic art sells better than abstracts I can totally understand why artists love to paint them. They are simply a statement of creativity and nothing else. They go where they are lead and yet become a mirror into the moment. Much of abstract art is he Synergy of the artist and their art...Immortalized- if you will- on a canvas forever.

Have you ever seen the movie Amadeus? An oscar winner from the eighties, it's definitely worth the time to watch it at least once in your life - as it gives you a rare look into the mind of a genius, and the people who recognize it.


That being said, it's not the discussion about genius that keeps me referring back to the movie - it's the pictures that the movie creates to help you understand the artist. Case in point is the scene where Mozart is conducting the last performance of Don Giovanni. After watching these few minutes of the scene the writers of the movie actually have you convinced that you want to buy subscription tickets to the opera. I mean seriously - the opera. But it isn't the music or the visuals that have the viewer so engulfed in the scene - it's Soliari's description of what is going on in the head of that strange little man named Mozart.


I suppose we can spend a lot of time debating whether or not the narrative prods you to buy season opera tickets - but the point I need to make regarding this is a valid one...At no time should an artist title a piece "Untitled" Simply stated, you remove the description, the narrative - from the viewer and along with it any emotion that he or she would otherwise attach to the piece, thus squelching their desire to dive deeper into the piece's meaning and it's overall effect.


You have robbed the artwork of it's soul.


Imagine it:
"Oh what a sweet baby - what's her name?"
"UNTITLED"


Or this:
Buy this cool new car from (insert car company name here)
"The new UNTITLED V-6 with six speed automatic transmission"
There's something you want to fork over $35K for - yes?


Good heavens, if the car companies won't do it - why do YOU?
Do you know how much time and money the automakers spend in order to give the car a name that will appeal to it's target market? And it's harder for them - they have to do this with a simple word.

Take for example "I drive a Nitro" (Isn't that an explosive??) versus "I drive a Milan" (Named for a town in Italy) There are two very different sets of emotion that you will attach to each car simply because of its name.


And now to get back to the soul of your artwork - the song with out the lyrics, the very moment at which you were to verbally communicate with your viewers. Is it so unimportant that you would name your piece "UNTITLED?" People buy art because it stirs them on some level we cannot grasp, and often times that little title on the piece pulls the viewer into some other place they wouldn't otherwise go without your help. It gives them a glimpse into your mood, your memory - your moment and it connects them with you every time they refer back to it. It's that important.


I can go on and on and on making this point -
but I hear the dead commander calling "Don Giovanni" from the grave.


I think that one day I shall see this opera for certain, not because I'm a fan of opera - but because I got to see it from the artist's perspective - for a moment I got insight to where he was at the time of it's creation, and I want to feel the hair stand up on the back of my neck just one more time....

Clients and friends always ask me for pointers on how to care and clean their artwork. So I spent some time writing this information down and putting it into an instruction sheet on the best way to care for, frame, clean and hang your artwork:


1. Framing: Paintings are often sold without a frame so that the client can choose the best frame for his or her taste. So keep in mind that when you frame a canvas painting, the canvas itself must never directly touch glass. Canvas likes to breath, so it is important not to cover the surface with glass. Contact with your local professional framer will have the best recommendations on how to properly frame your painting in order to protect it from dust and dirt.


2. Hanging: Any type of mount for your wall is acceptable for your painting as long as it does not puncture the painting’s surface (surface punctures, rips and tears cannot be fixed) and the wall mount must be sturdy enough to hold the weight of the piece - and the wall must be strong enough to bear the weight of the piece. Be very careful if you choose to penetrate the wood canvas stretchers. The nail or screw that you choose to affix the mounting must be SMALLER than the width of the canvas stretcher. Anything longer will puncture the canvas.

IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU CONTACT A REPUTABLE PROFESSIONAL ART FRAMER TO INSTALL THE MOUNT ON YOUR ARTWORK.


3. WHERE NOT TO HANG YOUR PAINTING: It is not recommended by this artist that your painting hang in an area that is subject to the following conditions: Heavy steam or moisture rich areas such as shower rooms, bathrooms where is shower is heavily used, steam rooms or sauna. Cotton canvas and pine stretchers are subject to absorbing moisture and heavy amounts of hot steam can destroy the piece. Sunlit Areas: If you choose to hang in a sunlit room, please be advised that it is recommended that paintings not hang directly in sunlight. Most paintings can handle a few hours (no more than 2-3) of bright sunlight per day, as long as the room the artwork is in is not subject to high amounts of heat. Likewise, extreme cold is not recommended for the artwork.


SMOKING AROUND YOUR PAINTING IS NOT ADVISED, EVER!
Cotton canvas will absorb smoke, become discolored and your investment will become worthless.


4. Cleaning: When dusting and cleaning your painting, it is best to dust with a SABLE BRUSH using compressed air to loosen the dust from the surface. Most paintings have been sealed with a clear coat of waterbased varnish to protect the artwork, but cleaning the surface should always be done with great care.
DO NOT USE feather dusters, pole mounted dusters or vacuum cleaner attachements as these can scratch or mar the surface. Do not hang your artwork is in an area where it can become greasy. Professional cleaning of paintings is always recommended.

I certainly hope that these few pointers help, and it is always advised to contact a good professional.

Hello Everyone!

I would like to take a few minutes to jot down a few things I know about file formats and what to use for electronically displaying and transporting your artwork. If anyone has further suggestions - or if I am just wrong on something I say here, feel free to comment. This is a learning experience for some and I know I am always open to learn something new as well.

If you are not working with Photoshop now, it s a really good idea to consider getting it. It is bundled with a program called "ImageReady" that is good for optimizing files for internet. It takes some time to understand these programs, but whatever you learn is just wonderful for working with your own files directly. I suggest a class in the program, and teaming up with someone who knows it as well.

EPS files vs. TIF files. An EPS file is an "Encapsulated Postcript" Outside of knowing the name, all I do know is that it was created by the Mac people for electronic photo files. Pretty much all platforms can import the files into programs - even if they cannot modify those same files.

TIF is a "tagged image file format" I don't know what that means but tif files are pretty versatile across platforms (IBM or MAC) and can be read and imported by most programs. A fundamental difference is that tif and eps files do read color differently - but a good color separater or printer (not desktop printer, professional printer from a print shop) knows this and either has the technology or the knowledge to head off any problems. Tif files are often smaller than eps.

GIF: a gif is used primarlily for display on internet. It is NEVER a good idea to send files in a gif format for printing - either desktop or professional. You can't control the color output and you can't control the resolution. Just a bad bad bad idea.

JPG: jpeg files are the most versatile files to date - but they do have some considerable drawbacks and should only be used when necessary. A jpeg file has the ability to really compress a file down to nothing. For example: I had a file yesterday that was 300 MEG. I compressed it as a standardized jpeg at a compression factor of 12 (the scale is from 1-12) and got a file of 57 MEG. When I further compressed that file down to a factor of 9, I got a file size of 9.6 MEG. Pretty impressive. BUT - you need to be aware that the lower the compression number, the more your file will show some strange pixelations and or "dirt" on the image.

Think of it this way: Your original file is like a piece of tin foil newly cut from the box. It has a smooth, almost blemish free surface. to jpeg that file is like taking that foil and scrunching it into a ball. The higher the compression (the lower the number, that is) the tighter the ball. Opening that file then, is like taking apart the ball - you will see some image distortion, noise, "dirt" pixelation on the image. Some of it you don't see until you are up close to it - but it is ALWAYS THERE!

The WORST thing you can do is to open a jpeg file and then recompress it into another jpeg. It is recompressing that image and thus - like re-scrunching the foil ball - creating more damage to that image. Always save a jpeg from your original.

Standardized jpeg is best for print files
Optimized jpeg is best for internet files.

After opening a jpeg - save it to a file format like eps and tif for storing.
300 dpi is always best for your images - that makes them versatile for print and internet (internet files are typically 72 dpi)
And by the way - I almost forgot!!!!! You can always go backwards from a 300 dpi file down to 72 dpi (called downsampling) but you can NEVER, NEVER NEVER go from 72 dpi to 300 dpi. It enlarges the image to blurry, or it just adds more data to the file - but not more information to the image. so storing images at a high resolution is always good. This higher, the better.

And that's basically it in a nutshell - I'm certain that I will think of something I forgot, so if you have questions, just contact me.

Always remember the tin foil - and you'll do just fine....

Laura Swink