artandpaper

Whether you are an artist or a collector you need to protect your art. Not just from theft, but from fire, water damage, light, heat, damp etc.  Art works come in many forms, from stone, metal, canvas, paper, plastic, fabric, ceramic, glass, plastic and combinations of all those.  Metal and stone my be left outside but then you need to think about security. Is it on a solid surface and won't topple over? Can it easily be lifted and therefore "lifted"? Glass and ceramics also need to be on a solid surface to avoid risk of breakage and damage. Either put them in a display case or keep them away from children, dogs, cats and all clumsy adults.  Works on canvas, paintings, paper art including photography should be correctly attached to a wall to avoid falling. A light painting will suffer damage to the stretcher and could tear if it falls even a short distance.  If your works are very valuable they should also be screwed to the wall and not just hung. Man...

I have created a new section in my Etsy shop. It's " Vintage" . It's for the Retro boxes that I've made. The boxes are covered in old French countryside maps and lined with reproductions from a turn of the century French geography school book. I will be adding more over the next few days. They are a lot of fun to make and I am also planning on using illustrations from an old book called   'Les Capitales du Monde" printed in 1892 in France by Hachette & Cie.  You can check out whats on offer  here

The latest paintings to leave the studio. 'Three Weeks in Autumn' is a triptych which I painted over the past two years. Based on the impression I had each time I drove up the road to the house in autumn. The painting on the left is Week I, autumn just beginning, still lots of green but yellows and red creeping in. Week II in the middle, autumn progressing so more reds and yellow, less green and finally Week III on the right, few greens more yellow and red and brown too as the leaves wither and die. I also wanted to give the feeling of the wind blowing the leaves about and up in the air. I am pleased that the paintings are going to a home with a big wall as each measures 60x60 cm, so a total width of 180cm.  The new owners are planning on putting the tree together of course in their living room where they can look at them each day and hopefully get a lot of pleasure.  See more of my work

The Index of Economic Freedom was first formulated by Adam Smith in 1776.  The idea is to track the economic freedom of  the world measuring liberty, property rights, business freedom, prosperity, trade, fiscal, monetary & economic freedom and so forth using 10 references.  The top five Free countries are as follows: Hong Kong Singapore Australia New Zealand Switzerland Mostly Free: The UK  - 14 The USA - 10 Ireland - 9 Sweden - 21 Moderately Free:  Kazakhstan - 65 France - 67 Jordan - 32 Norway - 40 Belgium - 38 Mostly Unfree: Italy - 92 China - 138 Greece - 119 Repressed: Iran - 171 Burma - 173 Argentina - 158 Cuba - 177 For a full list go to http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking

I have always loved Peony Roses. I think it's because my mother liked them and they bring back sentimental memories.  So one day in the supermarket I spotted a bunch of pink Peony roses for a few euros and I bought them thinking they might last a few days at most. In fact they lasted over a week and were a constant source of pleasure on my table.  I took some photographs because they were a beautiful colour and texture and I am very into textures of all sorts.  If you want to download these photographs feel free to do so but if you want high quality images, well, just ask and I'll send them to you. I like the ones with the unusual colours, it was a bit of fun with Photoshop. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. They could make nice screen savers.

I have added a new ACEO page to my web site . Got to  http://www.bluemoonart.net/bluemoonart/ACEO.html to check it out. I also put links to my Blog & Twitter. However I had problems trying to get the Facebook like link to work. Still I'll keep trying. Maybe Facebook doesn't like Twitter! 

New ACEO's on line for sale - $25 or €20 each. They look great framed and grouped together.  Postage worldwide: €5 for first and free for 2 - 5. One off and original oil painting, not reproductions. Contact me for more details. Lovely colours of blue turquoise and mauve with a coral motif. art@bluemoonart.net

Should artists stay with the same style of painting/drawing/ etc. or should they explore new styles and techniques and push the boundaries? How many times have you looked at a painting and you know exactly who painted it. I don't mean a well known painting but a work that you haven't seen before or just vaguely know it but yet you can immediately identify the artist.  So, should artists stay with what they do best and what sells best or should they stick their neck out and try something totally different? I think they should go for the latter. I understand why many go for the first approach. We all have to live and pay the bills so naturally if one style sells well and gets popular it must be very difficult to turn ones back on it and try a new style. However, I believe many successful artists go for the easy way out and churn similar work as they know it's what the gallery wants and it's what sells.  But is that not boring? It's like eating the same food ...

New online brochure for my ACEO's http://issuu.com/artandpaper/docs/aceo

ACEOs or ATCs (art trading cards) are the size of a baseball card. They are a fun, easy and affordable way to collect original pieces of art.  Each card measures 3. ½ "x2. ½ ".  6.35 x 8.9 cm.  I have been painting lots of these cards recently and have put them on sale in my etsy shop.  A group of framed ACEO's would look great along a stairs or corridor. Check out the shop and tell me what you think. Thanks  Click here for Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/artandpaper

Now you need a web site.  You will need to consider several important items.  First, the name of your site. It's crucial. Will you choose your own name, your studio name, type of work you do, a catchy name, it's up to you, but try not to make it too long, otherwise people can make mistakes typing which kind of defeats the purpose.  Your page should look professional, therefore it should not have flashing images or text. No ads either, you want your audience to stay on your page not click to another site. Please, no music or irritating sound effects such as bird song etc.  Keep to a plain colour background to show off your images at their best. Have the same text font throughout and the same layout and colours. Next photographs. Take high quality photographs, you can resize them afterwards. Use a thumbnail image which downloads fast and then can be enlarged by clicking or in a slide show. No decorative borders either on your photographs, a thin line m...

SELL YOUR ART ON THE NET. Part III So what's the bottom line? How do we sell our work online? How do we sell our work direct to the clients? How do we get in touch with people who are interested in art and wish to buy direct from the artist instead of paying a commission to a gallery? I think there is no easy way. I spend a lot of time at my art work. I also spend a lot of time updating my ads on different seller sites and linking to my shops and web pages. My art might not be to everyone's taste, but I have sold steadily down through the years in exhibitions, so my work does please some people.   Every artist has their own technique, ability and inspiration. Every buyer has their own taste and budget. However for the net, it's different than face to face with a potential buyer. In person, one can size up the other and judge whether they are really interested in the work. Either they like it and want to buy or they don't. If they do it's an easy sell. O...

Of the thousands of sites out there dedicated to selling artists works (for a fee), the best known is of course http://whttp://www.ebay.com/. They sell anything and everything. I am not convinced a potential client will look for art and crafts on eBay. I've looked at paintings on their lists. Some you would not want on your wall and some are so cheapI wonder how the artist can pay for the materials.  Cost of advertising: they charge an insertion fee and a final value fee. Very few buyers are willing to spend a lot of money for a work of art that they have not seen in reality. Screen colours differ from one computer to another and many people find it hard to imagine sizes and dimensions. I personally would not buy a work of art from the net. Next big site is http://www.etsy.com/. They are hugely successful as they are dedicated to selling only arts and crafts and all things hand made. Some of their best selling items are jewellery and vintage items, as well as art suppli...

SELL YOUR ART ON THE NET. You are in artist, you make good art. It may be sculpture, painting, installations, illustrations, ceramics, craft work, etc., but you'd like to give up the day job and concentrate on art or you'd like to at least make a living from your work and pay the bills.  You have already done the rounds of the galleries and shops in your area. They either won't take on another artist, or they feel your work is not their style. Maybe they took a few pieces which didn't sell.  Not everyone lives near a large town where craft fairs take place, which are often scheduled for the month of December to catch the Christmas market. What are your options? We all know the power of the internet. We buy over the net, music, books, shoes, clothes, household items, etc. There are lots of people who make a living selling on the net. But it takes a lot of time and commitment to sell enough though the net before you can give up that day job and work full ...

I found this on the net and it's perfect. Cos that IS what you are doing now! Ha!

Check out the new trend hitting the waves http://www.branding-isobel-brookes.info Going global

New items on Etsy . Flying birds - have a good trip.

I saw this clip on the Survive France web page. It's not far off the mark. Anyhow good for a laugh! Take a look here and amuse toi bien!

New items for sale on Etsy. A set of five cards featuring The Tree of Life. A set of five for $15. Eash card is made with cream Canson paper which is a pproved by the Paper by Nature Association . Let me know if you like them?  Or not as the case may be! https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/artandpaper

I have added a selection of my books and boxes. More can be seen on my web page www.booksinboxes.net