Our resident artist has kindly taken the time to discuss their musings and to give a bit more information about her work.
The Aesthetes - You make a wide variety of art pieces for all types of customers, why is that?
Resident Artist - Working in the creative industry I work as a designer would - from couture,brand,diffusion lines and so on. My work has changed from gallery style conceptual pieces to paintings. Paintings are easier to sell due to the practicality and aesthetic root.
TA - Are the arts a dead end as Ivan Hewitt had written last weekend in The Telegraph?
RA - I read that piece, it was really interesting and clarified a few concerns that I had last year when I went for a cultural jaunt to a few spots in the UK. I returned home really disappointed at what I had seen. Nothing innovative or interesting, it was quite depressing that there is a plethora of talent and yet galleries seem to pick the most "safe" and regurgitate the same old themes and styles. And its not as if the world hasn't given artists any material to work on. But if galleries have to abide by certain grant/funding rules to keep open then it probably is dead as the first step is to show the work to the public. For artists that would be their first obstacle, the second would be to save up funds to pay for a space in a gallery.
TA - If money was no issue would you prefer to work on more conceptual pieces or continue to work on your paintings?
RA - If money was no issue then I would still continue to work on my paintings. I had started as a painter then through college and university painting was not banned but it was frowned upon. Aesthetics interest me now ,colours, textures more design based rather than issue based pieces. I get more of a kick from customers or "fans" (as they like to be known as) emailing me telling me that they love my work and where they have hung the painting(s), sometimes I get a bit too much information . In my experience of gallery shows I just see small groups of people dotted about drinking their free drinks, so I stopped doing gallery shows, I didn't want to involve myself in that. But I'd like to point out that gallery show openings are very different abroad, much more interactive and the audiences take an interest in everything that surrounds them.
TA - All of the artwork featured on The Aesthetes is by you, can you explain the differences between the pieces?
RA - The paintings for Brogue are all to do with colours and textures,light and dark. Sometimes a few of my conceptual paintings I have put forward because for my high end market pieces I prefer to paint on huge canvasses. These do stand out from the rest.
The paintings for Bebiased ( new ones are still drying) tend to be more trend orientated. The alternative wall hangings are more designed orientated. For The Aesthetes in a nutshell my work is more colour, aesthetically and design themed. And this reflects in the prices. My conceptual work is priced higher.
TA - You told us that you do not make copies or even limited edition prints, why is that?
RA - I mostly mix certain shades of colours and to replicate them at a later date is an absolute nightmare. It only happened once but once was enough. I had sold 2 paintings and the customer wanted another one to match them ( colours not a complete copy). The colours were a green/grey mixture so I had to get the colour spot on before I could start on the commission and I didn't have the paintings as a reference. But I did it and the customer was very pleased. I won't replicate a painting in a smaller or larger size because that just goes against my utter dislike at regurgitating the same work.
5 years ago when I first started I did offer to do prints but nobody wanted to purchase prints. Through my customers I realized that there seems to be a stigma associated with prints of paintings. A big no-no. Some people are really insulted if you mention the p word - limited or not.
I price these paintings so that you can afford a great painting without having to overpay for a print.
TA - Thank you Miss P
The saying "Everyone's an expert" is true in the reality of great PR. A few months ago a semi-known musician had an exhibition in New York. On the opening evening his more well known "close" friends attended thus the PR machine was in overdrive. He sold a few paintings for a comfortable few thousand dollars each. At this point I would like to point out that his paintings are very reminiscent of the artwork shown in the Facebook group
" Museum of Poor Art". If you are feeling slightly fed up I would recommend viewing this group , the celebrity portraits (when you have sussed out who they are supposed to be ) will make you smile ( either through humour or confusion).
PR and the way someone has marketed a painting reflects in the price rather than if the person behind the work is legitimately an artist. The words "hand painted" have also been hijacked by certain businesses that sell mass produced contemporary /American expressionist paintings via China which has started to tarnish the reputation of the artisan.
These are some pointers as to whether you are purchasing from an Artist or Painter.
Painters tend to stick with one style. If you research them, then you will notice that they just stick with paint as a medium. Their work will be on generic websites where anyone can join. Be careful of paying too much, shop around and oils have much more longevity than acrylic ( unless the painter is in the 20th Century Art Book). Also be aware that many artists don't paint on un-stretched canvasses as the cost of stretched canvasses has lowered over the past 12 years and because of the inconvenience.
( our artist has just made some painted canvass wall hangings which are coming soon, these are not to be taken to the framers to be stretched, more will be reveled at a later date).
A serious artist will be listed on the Saatchi Your Gallery website. They will have their own bespoke website ( it may not be an e-commerce site but it will have information about their work). They will have their work for sale on reputable websites where their CV's have been checked. These gallery sites tend to approach the artist by invitation first.
Intro - Buying art on-line
This part of our blog will cover general questions and tips about buying mainly paintings on-line. The information given corresponds with primarily purchasing from us but you can also keep in mind some of the information when you purchase from other retailers whether on-line or physically.
Buying paintings from the internet will always be cheaper than purchasing from a shop. There are lower commission costs and much more competition. It is also easier to check to see if the self representing artist is an actual artist if you are looking for something special. Always purchase a
painting that you like but keep in mind the cost.
Colours.
Every individual PC/Mac monitor has different colour settings and the colour reproduction could often be slightly different from the one of the actual painting. However we try to display colours as accurate as possible and photograph the
paintings hanging against a white wall in natural daylight.
Canvasses will be the same as the image you see on-line. ALL of our paintings are one of a kind and the artist refuses to have the images made into prints - so your
painting is truly exclusive.
Always check the measurements to give yourself an idea of the size. We do not superimpose our images onto fake backgrounds because that can give such a misleading impression of how they look. It also looks incredibly tasteless.
Artwork and guarantees
Artwork is like jewellery and does not have a guarantee. It all depends on how you look after your paintings. We keep a record of all paintings sold so if any are damaged and our customers need documentation for insurance purposes we can send a photocopy to them.
Our artist is fully booked until mid 2011 for any commissions or large orders.
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