Invest in Your Art

It is so hard for photographers.. my immediate art group to realize that once they have bought the camera and the printer and the paper that they need to continually add to their art materials without a sense of economic return. They need to take a million photos to find that special one.

I think that this is a companion concept to my sister's blog on people investing in art for the purpose of profit.

In the art world of creation, new materials are always coming out. Artists are stretching and finding a style that they can live... growing in a new skin. Its interesting that the old watercolor designation has turned to water media since new tools are out there to integrate watercolor with acrylic and other constructive materials. Many artists must however stick to the transparency model within the watercolor framework. NO white paint shall even be on my palette. I have been playing with some very high quality watercolor crayons and pencils recently. They leave a water soluble wax on the paper. Some colors just like the tubes run and dominate the painting, while others have to coaxed and mixed and layered.

Am artist must continually upgrade the materials that they have. So who pays for this upgrade? The investor.. no most art is not for sale. Art as a form of communication and the passion that it forms powers the purchase of new materials.

Some art for sale is made to go in a particular color arrangement. There are painting that just "go with the couch." This draws the ire of many artists. When art is sold it is often fits into the category.. it will go a certain place in my house. Art for investment.. is shown in galleries down on the Embarcadero in San Franciso. And anyone that has take a cruise in recent years is bombarded with promotions for reproductions of art that are framed up and sold as "investments." Original art is different than reproduction art.

If an artist invests in his or her art they do so to expand the ability of the artist's ability to communicate. If it works then it is a good investment. If it even has a chance at providing this it is a good investment.

There are all grades of investment. One of my gallery friends is a fractal artist. He makes paintings on the computer with equations. He has even had some of his work in the California State Fair. He has talked the good folks in his local Starbucks to exhibit some of this work. He sells some of it. Now he has a series of photos of Yosemite in the winter that are pretty cool. Are they investment material? I don't know. They are pretty good wall coverings for a Starbucks. He would have been stuck with his fractals if he didn't invest in his art. Fractals along with Magic cards have a limited audience.

This same person is stuck often with the collector's bug. He was bought some paintings that are not signed but in his mind clearly represent a particular California artist's work from an earlier era. He thinks that if he can prove they are from the same artist, that he will have a gold mine. The same thing is true with his pursuit of presidental election buttons, and propaganda. Do they fit in the same gallery space with original art.. no it doesn't fit.

Hope you have a good day.. and get out their and make some art! Invest in YOUR art. Become passionate artists!

: ) Pat