Spaces Between The Gaps: buy art paintings

Setting Up an Art Fair or Market Stall

Thursday, November 03, 2011

The stall of WhereFishSing aka artist Fiona Morgan at the Ballarat Artisan Fair 2011

Set up of my stall in progress for the Ballarat Artisan Fair

Ballarat Artisan Fair. This Friday, Saturday and Sunday 4th, 5th & 6th November 2011. The Mining Exchange, 8 Lydiard St, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia (just a few doors down from the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery). 10am - 4pm each day. Some forty or so regional artists will be displaying and selling their creations, along with music, coffee, nibbles, artists talks and demonstrations. Come along if you can.

Today has been consumed with the set up of my stall at the Ballarat Artisan Fair. This is the first time I've prepared for an art fair. It's taken several weeks to get everything together, from varnishing all the (70+) paintings, to sourcing gift bags (that never arrived!) to printing promotional material. Below is a list of everything I've been able to think of to take along or have prepared. I'll append it afterwards as there are bound to be new insights gained from participating in the event.

Table

Trestle table or two
Many markets require a white table cover, so get a white sheet or two, or something nicer such as velvet (not velveteen as it looks cheap) or satin or canvas
Large butterfly clips for clipping tablecloth to table, and gaffa tape the same colour as the table cover for hiding the clips
Clamps for backup clipping tablecloth to table
A bucket or box as a bin for under your table is rather handy

Promotional material

Business name banner with rope & eyelets and gaffa tape for hanging options
Business cards
Email list signup sheet on clipboard (essential!!)
Pens for signup sheet, attached by string
Postcards of artwork
Photo books of artwork - show off more than you can bring on the day as interested people may ask for a commission based on what they see you are capable of
Photo board of artwork - lots of artwork to choose from on the day but too many paintings to display at once? Show photo samples of your full range. Individual artworks can be shown on request.
Artist statement for display, possibly laminated
Price tags, ready and blank (who knows what will happen on the day and how many you will need)
Nice paper to print out price tags and artist statement and any other small signage

Displaying artwork

Figure out the stall design and layout first
Builders level for getting frames hung straight (so good)
Wire/hooks/picture hooks (a roll of fencing wire, some pliers and tin snips are super handy to make hooks of any size or strength)
Framing wire (make sure it's rated to cope with more than double the weight your work weighs)
Fishing wire to make a washing line artwork display (useful for giftcards and other small lightweight works)
Sinkers to weight down display wire to make it stay taught
Small bulldog clips x 24 for hanging unframed artwork washing line style (these are super handy)
Cotton gloves for handling artwork
Frames, ready to hang
Pliers - fat and thin
Hammer
Wirecutters (tinsnips are far more effective than the scissor part of pliers)
Screwdrivers - an assortment
Masking tape
Scissors
Gaffa tape / cloth tape in colours to match your display elements
Blu-tack
Double sided tape
Backboard/screen on which to hang artwork
Window cleaner and paper towels for cleaning the glass & frames - essential

Storing artwork

Portable box storage system
Glassine paper for unframed artwork

Looking after me

Portable music
Lunch - no heating required, not messy
Snacks - nuts, fruit, quick, not messy
Water - have two litres
Coffee, tea, hot drink in thermos or hot water plus bags/containers, milk
Camping chair or something to sit on, plus a cover to make this presentable

Selling artwork

Change from bank for cash sales
Cash storage - bumbag or tin or wallet
Credit card payment facilities - if not provided, take a laptop with easy access to the Paypal site, laptop power supply, powerboard and extension cord
Certificates of authenticity - ready to print (take printer, extension cord and spare ink) or already printed out in doubles and take carbon paper
Clip board with attached pen for filling out the COA's - very handy
Packaging for sold artwork - precut cardboard sleeves / boxes or gift bags and bubble wrap
Phone, charged up
Red dot stickers
Paintings, varnished and framed
Pencils
Pens
Notepads
Packing tape
Regular stickytape / sellotape

If you're an artist and have useful notes to add from your experiences of art fairs, please enlighten the rest of us in the comments.

Beginning your own art collection

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Image by by Incase

So you've decided you'd like to begin your very own art collection? Or perhaps you're contemplating the idea? Here are some pointers to get your collection going in the right direction for your cashola and enjoyment. My other article, 'How do I know what art to buy?', gives pointers on choosing individual pieces of art.

First up, $500 a year is enough to begin a collection. Yes. So if you think you can't afford your own art collection you're probably wrong.

Secondly, a collection of related pieces of art is far more valuable than a random collection. You'll get more enjoyment out of becoming an expert on your chosen niche of the art world too. Don't be random. Choose a theme for your collection, it doesn't matter what it is as long as it's something you're interested in. Local artists or surreal artists, landscapes or cartoons, oil paintings or stencils, there are many ways that you could choose to do this. Remember, there is more financial and enjoyment value this way.

You might want to write down what your collecting theme is to help keep you on track for when you find art that you love that doesn't fit with your theme. Just a suggestion.

Thirdly, you also may want to take into consideration your living environment. In that, humid or coldly damp places and works on paper are not a good match (add insects and direct sunlight to that list), bronze sculptures are almost indestructable which is useful for bushfire zones, massive sized artworks don't fit in apartments and if you have a colourfully decorated home the art you choose may need to fit your home colour scheme. If you are worried about an artwork fitting in with a change in decor, remember that like a good piece of furniture, a good artwork will transfer just fine into a different residence.

Where to find the art you want and can afford.

The primary art market means buying direct from artists or via galleries representing an artist. This is the cheapest way to start your collection, with artist direct being the most hip pocket friendly. Generally, the less well known the artist, the lower the price of the work. You can find artists online, artists selling direct from their studio and artists selling via exhibitions in both commercial and artist run galleries. There will be publications in your area listing all the latest exhibitions. Visit and view. Get on the mailing lists of artists and galleries that you like so you find out about new works and shows first.

The secondary art market means buying from other art collectors. Usually an art dealer or gallery is involved. Art auctions are another form of the secondary market. If you are buying via auction, remember that there are cycles in fashionability in the art world. This affects auction prices significantly. What's not in fashion is cheaper to buy.

A couple of notes

An artwork with a signature on the front is more valuable than a similar piece with a signature hidden on the back or missing a signature altogether.

Oil on canvas has traditionally been seen to be the most valuable of art mediums, but this is changing with so many more materials available to artists and more knowledgable conservation techniques.

Go with what you love. You'll be looking at it for a long time.

Just One Trend

Monday, May 02, 2011

art collection

How Do I Know What Art To Buy?

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Photo by E. Bartholomew

This article is cheekily brought to you by the Official Art Store for WhereFishSing, with the announcement that at last, all of the Autumn and Winter cookbook paintings have been released for sale. Yes, all the original paintings are now available to own.

How do I know what art to buy?
It's a common and understandable question. I'm interested in having some original art on my walls, but I'm not sure what art to buy.

But what? Perhaps a quick think about what art to avoid would make things clearer.

Mass produced prints vs original art

Let's start with mass produced prints vs original art. A mass produced print, say from Ikea, has absolutely no possibility of financial appreciation. You may like it, it may be convenient. Your cash will go into the pocket of a multinational and you own a pretty but worthless picture.

An original piece of art, no matter how obscure the artist, has some potential for financial appreciation. How much will vary from artist to artist. You will be able to find an original that you love just as much as any mass produced piece. It will be unique. Until you are used to seeing original art vs mass produced prints, you may not be aware that an original will have so much more detail and life to it. A piece produced by hand almost always has this extra dimension. Buying an original means your cash will go into the pocket of the artisan and will help enable them to make more of their unique, labour intensive pieces.

A quick FYI. An original painting is one of a kind. An original print is not a reproduction, but an original piece in it's own right. There will be a limited number of these produced by a hands on method. A reproduction print is a mechanical reproduction of another piece of art. Reproductions may be in limited or unlimited editions and these have the least value due to the fact that they are essentially authorised copies.

So where to start?

Look at art. Get to know your artists. Very quickly, actually instinctively, you will know what you like. You may have friends with similar taste. Ask them for artist recommendations.

Figure out your price range. There is a perception that original art is unaffordable to the average person. Not so. Have a look around, online and off. Truly, there is art for every budget. Not to mention, for every size of wall.

There's a final litmus test for any artwork

It's the most important criteria of all which puts all uncertainty into place. Do you love it? While there's no guarantee that any original will realise the potential for financial growth, you can guarantee that you'll be gazing on this artwork for years to come. Does it make you feel? If not, pass. But if it's a source of happiness, if you would love to be living with it and it's in your price range, give Ikea a skip and go for it.

If you're thinking of starting a collection of art, you may also find 'Beginning your own art collection' useful.

Excited by the potential of owning an affordable original piece of art? Why not head on over to the Official Art Store for WhereFishSing and see if there's something there that sings to you.

All About The Artist's Certificate of Authenticity

Saturday, September 12, 2009

A Certificate of Authenticity is a bit like an artwork's birth certificate, passport and quality guarantee all rolled into one.

A Certificate of Authenticity (COA) provides a lot of concrete detail about a piece, but by existing for a particular piece, it says even more. An artwork that has a COA is one that is made by a professional practicing artist, not an amateur. It is a piece that potentially has collectible value. The Certificate adds a tangible credibility to the work. It can help the work hold its value.

The COA is held to be an indirect promise of quality. Art pieces that have a COA have usually been made by an artist who cares about their work, it's longevity and their collectors. The piece is likely to have been created from the best materials available, be designed to last and been created by an expert. Back to the concrete details, the Certificate will provide all the information on the medium(s) of the piece needed for conservation that might otherwise be lost forever.

Certificates protect the artist and the buyer by helping to prove that an artwork is original. Cheap copies sold without an artist's knowledge or consent are unfortunately common. Without a COA attached to the original this situation makes it next to impossible for the buyer to be confident of the value of the piece or for the artist to maintain their credibility and their livelihood.

As an art collector you really must only buy contemporary pieces that are backed by a Certificate of Authenticity. This helps ensure that what you have bought at a premium is genuine and not counterfeit. As an artist, do yourself a favour, be professional, and supply a detailed and complete COA for your buyers investment security and your own career protection. They are very popular right now amongst contemporary artists, but there are a few pertinent points to bear in mind.

What Is a Certificate of Authenticity?

Essentially, a COA is a document, created by the artist or someone who is an expert on the artist, which accompanies an artwork and contains all the information a collector could need to verify if the piece of art is genuine. Certificates of Authenticity are common for art and software. With art, they provide some guarantee of genuineness if they are complete and authored by an expert on the artist. Most often the COA is a paper document, but there has been a recent move toward digital certificates. Both are acceptable providing they are complete.

How to get a COA

A certificate of authenticity should be provided at the time of sale. For all sales of all original art. In fact, it should BE the sales receipt, not a separate document. High end art dealers view sales receipts signed by reputable gallerists or the artist themselves as reliable proof of genuineness. They view with great skepticism the sort of 'added on' made-up certificate with a decorative border supplied with an artpiece. That is because anyone can produce this sort of 'document'.

So when you receive the artwork, you should also receive it's completed COA as part of the sale invoice. Do not be fobbed off with promises for the certificate to be posted later. Always check that the original art you are buying comes with a complete and valid COA . It is OK to ask to see a sample of the certificate before purchasing. No certificate? How do you have any peace of mind that what you are buying and paying a premium for, is genuine? Return the artwork and get a refund if the seller you are dealing with is not forthcoming with a valid COA at the time of sale. At the very least you should receive an invoice or receipt for your purchase, the more detailed, the better.

What an authentic Certificate of Authenticity should include

It should be authored by the artist, or their publisher or dealer or agent and if the COA is authored by someone other than the artist, it should state who and what their relationship to the artist is and their full contact details.
Name of the artist and preferably their location and contact details (and web address).
Title of the artwork.
Date of completion. There are various dates that can be included, depending on the medium involved. For paintings, the date of completion. For prints there is the date of completion of the original, the date of this print edition and the date of signing the print. These all help art historians and collectors to understand the timeline of the artist’s work.
Medium. The materials used to create the artwork. For prints of an original artwork in another medium, both the medium of the original and the medium of the print should be listed. The exact materials used in creating the piece helps the collector to verify they have the authentic artwork, and greatly helps conservation decisions. This can include the paint or ink type, the printing device, the canvas or paper type, source and weight and any pertinent or known archival properties. Professional artists prefer to use professional grade materials and take pride providing a piece made for longevity.
Description or preferably an image of the artwork.
Artwork dimensions. This helps the buyer to check whether the art piece has been altered since it's completion. It also makes it easy for them to order a correctly sized frame.
Signature of the artist.
Copyright statement. The copyright holder should definitely be identified and possibly also the applicable law and any reproduction rights. It is possible that the work will be under a public license or only have some rights reserved. In this case, copying of the work may be permissible.
Extras which can be included are additional information on the techniques used to create the image, further information about the subject matter of the artwork, artist’s comments on the piece and for photos, details such as where the shot was taken, the GPS benchmark, date, time of day and camera used.

For prints, there are quite a number of extra details that should be included:

The number of this particular print within the edition and the edition size. ie 4/10 (print 4 of 10 prints)
Whether the edition is an open edition (more prints can be produced at any time) or limited.
The number of prints and proofs in the edition that are signed/numbered, signed only, and unsigned/unnumbered.
Whether the edition is a restrike or posthumous edition.
Whether the edition is part of a series of editions. eg artist proof, press proof, transfer, etc.
The status of the plate or master. Is it destroyed or on file? If the master has been destroyed then the edition is truly limited.
Name and location (and web address) of the Master printer / publisher.
Signature of the printmaker

Certificates for art by really famous artists should include a few extra details on top of those mentioned already. ALL limited edition prints by well-known artists are documented in books called catalogues raisonne. If a catalogue raisonne exists for an artist, the corresponding catalogue number or entry for the work art in question MUST be noted on the certificate of authenticity. You can also expect to find the names of previous owners, names of dealers or galleries that have sold the art, and sometimes information about auctions where the art was sold and the reference books that list the artwork.

Caveats to beware of

Valid certificates of authenticity state that the artpiece is absolutely and unquestionably by the artist who has signed it. If the certificate has any conditional statements such as "in our considered opinion..." or "we believe that..." these should ring your alarm bells. These statements are warning you that the art may not be genuine.

A statement that a work of art is genuine is NOT valid unless made by the artist or a respected authority on the artist. That person's qualifications and contact details should be stated on the certificate and be easily verifiable. When the contact information on a COA is out of date, check with a current authority on the artist to find out if this old certificate is valid. They will know if the COA author was a legitimate authority.

A certificate with illegible or incomplete contact information for the certificate author is never acceptable. A certificate with only an unidentifiable signature is not valid.

It is worth noting that there is no currently official body or legal binding for COAs. Anyone can write one. That's why inspecting the Certificate of Authenticity before a purchase is so important. It allows the potential buyer to check the credentials of the certificate's author and the details of the document. Not all COAs are created equal, so if any of the information on the certificate doesn't add up, it's your risk.

Remember, ideally the COA should BE the sales receipt, not a separate document. High end art dealers view sales receipts signed by reputable gallerists or the artist themselves as reliable proof of genuineness. They view with great skepticism the sort of 'added on' made-up certificate with a decorative border supplied with an artpiece. That is because anyone can produce this sort of 'document'.

Hey, a bunch of Useful Links

http://www.artbusiness.com/certaut.html

http://www.wm-arts.com/Information1/certificate_of_authencity.htm

http://www.communities.hp.com/online/blogs/graphicarts/archive/2009/05/31/add-real-value-to-your-fine-art-prints.aspx

http://www.worldprintmakers.com/english/certauth.htm

Certificate samples:

http://commissionworks4pets.com/SampleCertificate.htm

http://www.ligiclee.com/services/certificateofauthenticity.htm

http://inga-art.co.uk/coa

Setting Up an Art Fair or Market Stall

Table

Promotional material

Displaying artwork

Storing artwork

Selling artwork

More art technique articles

Beginning your own art collection

More art technique articles

Just One Trend

How Do I Know What Art To Buy?

Mass produced prints vs original art

So where to start?

There's a final litmus test for any artwork

More art technique articles

All About The Artist's Certificate of Authenticity

What Is a Certificate of Authenticity?

How to get a COA

What an authentic Certificate of Authenticity should include

For prints, there are quite a number of extra details that should be included:

Caveats to beware of

Hey, a bunch of Useful Links

More art technique articles

About me

Newsletter

Follow

Recent Posts

Blog Archive

Categories

Copyright Notice

Setting Up an Art Fair or Market Stall

Table

Promotional material

Displaying artwork

Storing artwork

Selling artwork

More art technique articles

Beginning your own art collection

More art technique articles

Just One Trend

How Do I Know What Art To Buy?

Mass produced prints vs original art

So where to start?

There's a final litmus test for any artwork

More art technique articles

All About The Artist's Certificate of Authenticity

What Is a Certificate of Authenticity?

How to get a COA

What an authentic Certificate of Authenticity should include

For prints, there are quite a number of extra details that should be included:

Caveats to beware of

Hey, a bunch of Useful Links

More art technique articles

About me

Newsletter

Follow

Recent Posts

Blog Archive

Categories

Copyright Notice

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