A few years ago, when my production started to get more serious, I looked for a way to catalog my art. I started writing things down in a notebook but soon realised this would be unwieldy. From my Computer Science days, I remember teaching students that computers were not always the solution, but in this case, it had to be. So I started looking for a simple tool that would allow me to create a database, and knowing me, it had to be free. I am a big Google fan and I use Sheets and Docs all the time, but they didn’t have a database app. Then I discovered ArtMoi. It is a Canadian-based online tool created by and for artists to do exactly what I needed, that is catalog my work. And the basic level, which is still perfect for my needs, is free! It even included a free webpage, to which I could link from my website, where I could publicly share a small number of paintings from my catalog, asking people to contact me if they were interested in a purchase. Perfect! Last week, I received a note from ArtMoi saying they will no longer be providing the free webpage. There is an option to keep it for a small monthly fee, but I would need to get my own domain name, just for that page! This does not make sense for me, so I looked at other options. I already have a website where I offer my Greeting Cards and ACEOs for sale. I also have a link to a site that offers print-on-demand products with some of my artwork. (And up until literally minutes ago, I had yet to make my first sale! But I just did! Yay me!) I could also put my full-sized original art on my website, but I have resisted so far, for two main reasons. The first is that most of my original watercolors are framed under glass, making them difficult and costly (but not impossible) to ship, especially internationally. The second, and much more important to me, is that I honestly don’t believe that regular people buy original art online without physically seeing it. And THAT is what I am talking about today. (By regular people, I mean not the super-rich who collect famous artists’ work for boasting and investment purposes, often not even seeing the artwork which will be stored in a vault anyway while its value hopefully goes up!) Much of what I have read about buying art speaks of a gut reaction of the viewer to the piece of art. They see it, and the image recalls a memory and evokes feelings that the viewer wants to feel again and again. And putting the piece of art in their home will do that for them! Sometimes the person can explain the feeling --- my grandmother’s house was just like that --- I loved going to the beach when I was a kid --- but sometimes they can’t. They just know they love it and the way it makes them feel. And they want to keep that feeling alive. On the other hand, I am also reading that online sales of art have skyrocketed in the last few years. Dozens of sites are popping up allowing artists to sell their work online, both as reproductions and originals. There is even speculation that physical art galleries will eventually disappear as online art buying goes more mainstream. I totally understand someone buying a reproduction (often wrongly called prints) online. The investment is minimal, usually less than $50. They know it isn’t a “forever piece”. They like it, but mainly it fits their current decor and will be replaced with the next set of furniture. There is little attachment to it, and that’s fine. That is decorative art. But I would like to believe that it is different for original art. The person buying it would take pride in it, placing it in a location where they could see it every day to get that feeling again. They would take care of it, and eventually, their children would do the same. Original art is a forever thing. Isn’t it? Or am I simply too romantic, stuck in the old ways? What about you? What do you think? Would you buy a piece of original art based on a photograph? Have you ever? Should I be putting my originals up for sale online? The solution I am leaning to right now is to put them up, but with “Pick up” as the only delivery option, asking a potential buyer to contact me to discuss shipping if they are interested. Would you do that? Or would you just continue looking for an artist who isn’t so “old fashioned” and where the process of buying their art isn’t so complicated? Where it's just "Add to cart", "Checkout", and that's it! I am really interested in what you think. Even if you have never commented, I would appreciate you doing so this time! Thanks! And thanks for reading!
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorMy name is Claire Bureau. Archives
March 2023
Categories
All
|