St. Augustine Stables

Carriage Stable, 18 x 24 original oil on canvas by Mary Hubley

I live in St. Augustine, Florida, a place that was settled by the first Spaniards who crossed the Atlantic. This is where Ponce De Leon found his Fountain of Youth. Fort Matanzas was the scene of many fierce battles between the Spanish, French, and English. And where 500-year-old ghosts still roam the old city.

The compact colonial town is a place to find real American history. Every nook and cranny hides ancient architectural treasures. Just stroll down the patchwork of alleys to find archeological digs, colonial structures, and stables jammed with old horse carriages. This town is a wonderland of artisitic opportunities for a painter, and I'm priviledged to live amongst one of the most beautiful cities to paint in America.

What to do with Too Much Art

I know collectors who complain that they don't have another inch of wall space left. I love these collectors. They fall in love with art and they can't get enough of it. But they often end up with a home that's crammed and cluttered. Each piece deserves to be cherished, but nothing shows well because each piece competes with the other. Collectors sometimes have the problem of owning too much art.

So, do what the galleries do. Revolve your work. Rather than hang all of your pieces in a cluttered menagerie, leave only a few things on the walls. By minimizing, these few pieces are your showpieces. They'll stand out. The rest of your paintings can be placed lovingly in a closet, to be pulled out to replace your current showpieces in a month or two. Essentially, this redecorates your home every time you revolve your collection, and you will enjoy your art much more.

What to Look For When Buying Giclees

I always suggest buying original art, but occasionally you may be in the market for something less expensive. What should you look for in a print?

• Buy an Artist's Giclee ("zhee-CLAY"), a digital scan of a painting printed with high-end ink-jet printers. It's more expensive than traditional offset lithography on paper, but it can be printed on canvas or watercolor paper, and the quality is superior, producing brighter, longer-lasting colors.
• Buy Giclees from a gallery or direct from the artist. Don't go to Wal-Mart or Target, or any other big-box retailer. If you buy from the gallery or artist, you'll be getting a painting that's not mass-produced. Galleries and artists produce a few giclees, rather than thousands, so you're less likely to see the same image on your neighbor's bathroom wall.
• If you can, get an enhanced/embellished giclee. This is when the artist paints dabs over the giclee with oil or acrylic paint to capture the texture and feel of the original painting. Embellished paintings can cost more than just a plain old giclee, though, and not all embellished pieces are embellished by the artist him/herself, and they're more expensive, so ask before you buy.

Buying Paintings: Prints versus Originals

SOLD "Gentle Surf", 6" x 6" original oil on cavas by Mary Hubley

 Why do artists sell prints of their paintings? To offer a lower price point. To make them more affordable to a wider range of people. To sell more. Prints mean extra "bonus" money for the artist. While it could take months to sell a $500 painting or longer for a painting in the $5,000 range, artists can sell ten $80 giclee prints during that time. And they can still sell their originals when the right buyer comes along.

When buying a print, however, the collector gains little more than a pretty image for his wall. He hasn't purchased art -- rather, he's purchased a copy of art. Serious collectors simply don't buy copies -- they buy originals.

I haven't gotten into selling prints. They may work well for some artists, but I'd rather sell originals. For the same price as giclees, I sell a series of 6" x 6" original paintings that I start and finish in a day. My small paintings sell quickly in galleries. And, rather than offering copies, I offer my clients real art. It represents an entry point for customers to build interest in my work. Later on, when these customers are ready, they come back and start collecting my larger works.