Remember that time when I used my readers for all their art knowledge? Yeah, thanks for that. I spent the weekend clicking on all your links, going back and forth with artists, commissioning items, trying to buy originals, failing, making some mistakes, etc. I felt VERY grown up. Kinda like Charlotte's job as a gallery owner in "Sex in the City, " but without the money, pearls, prudishness, and Upper East Side beautiful apartment. Also, I know VERY little about art. I know what looks cool and that's about it.
I'm assuming that he grooms his cat with his own tongue, because that's what eccentric artists do. I'm sure of it.
Well I've written about the best online art resources for prints, and affordable (almost) art round-ups from Etsy before, but finding originals has been trickier. That's why I think I gravitate towards vintage paintings -- one of a kind pieces that I can actually afford.
Good original art is EXPENSIVE, as it should be. Like being an expert at anything, a good artist creates something that us non-artists can't and a I'm a massive fan of not under valuing people (probably because as a designer I get undervalued constantly). But I also have a small-ish budget since our goal this year is to buy a house.
So, I wanted to share a new source that I didn't know about for original art. Thanks to some of my commenters for letting me in on this one.
Curreeo: Original Art, Understood.
You can search by style, price, medium, size, shape, and color. They do have some that aren't originals, but those are normally photographs and very limited editions.
Otherwise they are all originals, like this one by Leanne Grimes. 14 x 11 x 2 for $550
I know that $550 isn't nothing, but it's also not gallery prices.
And there are some that are really inexpensive, like this 4 x 4 mixed media piece by JP Gardner for $75.
I like this piece by Nate Otto, 24 x 18 f0r $490, which I think is a decent price for an original painting in that size. If you frame this you could add at least a foot to each dimension and then it becomes a serious piece.
UPDATE: Cureeo saw this post and is offering any reader 10% off from now til March 31st, with the code 'love2style'. Why, thank you Cureeo. :) I hope your artists get some business out of this post.
I'm not sure what is up with 20x200 and why their site is still asking us to "stay tuned." But meanwhile, do you have any art resources or artists that you want to share? A lot of you already left comments in Friday's post, but in case you didn't, it's show and tell time ... Man, I love the interwebs.