What to do with'em all?

[ZenDruid]

Ah, well...hang in there Rich.

 

[laika]

I saw a really nice painting at the thrift store today. Wasn't to my tastes, but it was very well executed and was on nicely stretched canvas on proper wooden stretch bars. 1.99 USD. I hope someone buys it and treasures it.

 

[Bartc]

I only give mine to folks who request them seriously and more than once. Then I give them a few choices so they have to think about really hanging it. Then I make sure they understand that they should not feel obligated and my feelings won't be hurt if they don't keep them up, but that I want them back if that's the case - "permanent loan". But I do insist that they frame and glaze pastels if they choose those. I wouldn't want my pastels to look like crap on some wall because of poor handling. Otherwise, I'm open now to selling them.

And, yes, that does create a bit of a storage challenge for me, but more so for my spouse, who loves to throw things away without any sense of value.

BTW, working with the homeless, I can tell you that this is a two edged sword. On the one hand, something they really like and can easily manage might be a mental boost, but otherwise you're just turning them into your junk pile. And believe me, they've been turned into society's junk pile of discarded and unwanted humans already. That's the tragedy. So please don't joke about them or their plight. They might well be one of your former employees, servers, neighbors or even your kids' teachers - and I am NOT exaggerating here!

 

[brianvds]

But I was trying to respond to
Never give anybody a gift that they have to wear or hang on the wall
with the idea that someone else would have to store them. Maybe attach a note reminding them that the price of artworks goes up after the artist dies. (Hmmmm, may not be a good idea...)

One of my solutions to the storage issue is simply to paint very small - I enjoy doing ACEOs, and you can store a whole year's output (or indeed even more) in a shoebox. I also like to turn them into fridge magnets by simply sticking a magnet to the back - they then make for nice gifts because it's not a "serious" thing that the recipient feels obliged to hang on the wall where it then irritates him for the rest of forever.

Also, because they're small and quick, I don't get too emotionally invested in them, so I have far fewer compunctions about throwing them out.

 

[Bongo]

A big department store had a dozen plus laptops on display for sale. So I put up a different one of my paintings full screen on each of them. It was Christmas time and my paintings of wrestlers, ufo's, and weeping beauty queens was a bit incongruous - but that also made it more eye-catching.

 

[Artyczar]

Ayin, your storage is a model of organization. You are more prolific, and obviously are fortunate enough to uses your knowledge and talents to make a living from art. Since I have only painted occasionally over the years, and watercolors are smaller and lighter to store, I don't have nearly as much accumulated. I have saved lighter areas of used paper to swatch paint, and thrown away quite a bit of pieces from many years ago that I will never "miss". I photographed everything so I would have a record of my journey and progress. There is not one thing I wish I had back. On the contrary, too much stuff accumulated is suffocating.

Joy, thank you for calling me prolific (and organized--which I have to be), because once upon a time, I was prolific. These days, I'm sorta burning out.

You are smarter than me to make less work and smaller work and on paper. I have wanted to change over to that in more recent years. Sometimes the problem with that is being a gallery artist because the galleries want big paintings. And in fact, they tell me I don't paint big enough. I promised myself never to paint another big painting larger than what I can fit into my little 4-cylinder SUV. I got stuck with having to rent a U-Haul for a few pieces in the past and it's very costly (and inconvenient!).

YES, too much stuff accumulated is very suffocating and I've often wished an accidental fire would have erupted in my garages and storage spaces in the past. I of course am not serious, but ONLY because I don't want oil paint burning into the environment. Not because of the loss of the art. It's a kind of pipe dream to start all over again, or to be forced to start again and work small and only on paper. It's just, I would have to frame stuff for exhibitions and that makes for a storage issue all over again.

 

[16ga]

Most of my work is small and done on paper. what i don't have have room to display properly i can stick in binders with clear sleeved pages.
Smaller canvas boards I keep stacked in Pizza boxes and as I get full sized canvases I'll just find places to cram them.

 

[Martin C]

While I work out what to do with three 1 x 1m canvases I bought recently, I've been playing around with ideas on 5" x 7" blank cards (I'll put some of these up for sale on the side at an exhibition in the summer). The problem is that I've got so much into the card format (just ordered another 200) that I've kind of forgotten about those big blank canvases... and this discussion isn't helping.

 

[brianvds]

While I work out what to do with three 1 x 1m canvases I bought recently, I've been playing around with ideas on 5" x 7" blank cards (I'll put some of these up for sale on the side at an exhibition in the summer). The problem is that I've got so much into the card format (just ordered another 200) that I've kind of forgotten about those big blank canvases... and this discussion isn't helping.

Cards are indeed another idea. I enjoy painting small pen and wash sketches like this, some 3 x 4 inches in size:

But what to do with them, seeing as there isn't really a market, and I'm not sure I could sell something this unrefined with a straight face anyway? Well, just glue them to folded-over cardstock, to turn them into handmade cards that I can then use myself, or hand out to friends for their use.

 

[Artyczar]

Somehow, I sell mine with a straight face.

 

[brianvds]

Somehow, I sell mine with a straight face.

I suppose I might too, but around here there isn't much of a market to begin with...

 

[Bartc]

I suppose I might too, but around here there isn't much of a market to begin with...

I don't know about that. I see lots of sets of cards, simple and small like yours, that people do buy and actually use. Some they frame even. You never know about this.

 

[brianvds]

I don't know about that. I see lots of sets of cards, simple and small like yours, that people do buy and actually use. Some they frame even. You never know about this.

Well, I have tried to sell such cards in the past, and got pretty much zero interest. Nowadays I don't particularly care whether they can be sold, as long as I can get rid of the clutter every now and then.

 

[Artyczar]

Brian, I think your work is so good and you might want to keep trying. Just sayin. I know it can be discouraging when stuff doesn't sell, but if you keep at it, things can surprise you sometimes.

 

[Bartc]

Well, I have tried to sell such cards in the past, and got pretty much zero interest. Nowadays I don't particularly care whether they can be sold, as long as I can get rid of the clutter every now and then.

I don't doubt your experience. Selling art appears to be an exceedingly difficult challenge! If all you want to do is release your art into the world and don't want to simply trash it, then here's one more idea you didn't ask for.

For many years I was CEO of a major nonprofit organization, which had to raise funds constantly to capitalize the good work. When asked by my development and event committees to donate my artwork, I always said yes, but cautioned them that my experience was that it often ended in disappointment for both artist and fundraisers, because people don't usually buy art at such events. Sure, they'll buy a framed football jersey for hundreds or even thousands of bucks (likely fake signature to boot), but real paintings, much more so commissions for painting simply didn't do well. At least that was the experience in my well-heeled neighborhood. Unless someone had a personal attachment to art and the organization it just didn't fly. Although I do know one major executive who purchased his son's work at a art organizations event for $10K, so you get what I'm speaking of.

I relented under much begging and put a couple of paintings into the mix. Three or so years ago a small watercolor of mine sold for $300, and boy was I surprised. This past December I put up a 9x12" acrylic in one auction, put a minimum of $300 so that nobody felt slighted if it sold way too low, and it did surpass that figure. To be honest, these are not exciting results for me, but at least the agencies got something out of it. And hundreds more people became peripherally aware of my art.

For years one of my board members who likes my art has requested that they make notecards in packs of 10 from my paintings to either sell or use as party gifts at events. So I said yes. (It hasn't been done yet but might soon.) I have nothing to lose and they may get the word out better than I can myself, plus that way I'm not giving away the originals I might hope to sell someday. Nor would I be dismayed at low asking prices in that medium.

Your lovely small paintings may lend themselves to that kind of use. I've seen similar cards selling at small boutiques, even if you haven't found such a market. But gifting them for this purpose to a nonprofit that would run with them seems like it might be good for your challenge. YMMV of course!

 

[brianvds]

Brian, I think your work is so good and you might want to keep trying. Just sayin. I know it can be discouraging when stuff doesn't sell, but if you keep at it, things can surprise you sometimes.

Until 2019 I did mange to sell some paintings online. Then Covid hit, and virtually wiped out the market. Also, the local economy is moving towards implosion, so the market is not good at the moment. Maybe it will pick up in the long run, but I am ever less interested in painting for a living. It feels more and more like a kind of artistic straitjacket.

In any event, and perhaps rather weirdly, paintings are easier to sell than handmade cards, it seems, though the market for watercolors around here seems to be virtually non-existent.

Your lovely small paintings may lend themselves to that kind of use. I've seen similar cards selling at small boutiques, even if you haven't found such a market. But gifting them for this purpose to a nonprofit that would run with them seems like it might be good for your challenge. YMMV of course!

I have in fact donated a painting to a charity a few years ago, and it did sell. As I recall, not for much, but every bit helps.

 

[Dave Woody]

Great chatter, thanks everyone.
I think, like I did with Drew Pritchard, my stuff in archive will find owners in good time.

 

[ntl]

A few years ago I had some work done on my house. There were 2 owners and 3 employees. The day the work was to be finished, I had laid out about 15 paintings, mostly landscapes, on stretched canvas or canvas board or canvas paper from 9x12 to 18x24". One was a seascape which I really liked, but in colors I didn't like. In the morning I told them I wanted to offer each of them a painting, my thanks for the work they did. I said, "You may not like any of it, it may not be your cup of tea, so if you don't want a piece, I understand. Come look at it now, and when you're ready to leave, come back and choose. I really appreciate what you've done." So they came in and spent several minutes looking, then went out to finish the job. They came in later and all accepted a piece, including that large, colorful seascape. I heard one fellow say, "You don't like seascapes." The other man said, "I love the colors!" Another man told me he chose his because of the theme, they have a room decorated in a similar fashion. His wife called the next day to thank me, and said they went and have it framed already. It was especially nice for me, too, to have passed those on.
Another possibility: If you (or a neighbor) is having a garage sale, set the paintings you want to go into a box marked "one of your choice, free" with each purchase. Of course, if they can't decide between two, let them take both and try them in their homes.
Two of my doctors' offices had unframed pictures hanging with price tags on them. A local cancer hospital also had paintings displayed (framed and unframed, prices attached) and other objects on counters or in glass cases-sculptures, needlework, jeweled pieces, (not jewelry) note cards, etc. On their three floors. By local artists.

 

[brianvds]

I have been thinking about getting a bit into digital painting; suitable software can be downloaded for free from the web, and it's one form of art that leaves no mess or clutter whatever. Except perhaps digital clutter on one's computer.

 

[Artyczar]

Good idea Brian. I certainly have a ton of computer clutter of works in progress! I don't even want to know how much!