Thursday, September 16, 2010

ArtFire: Who knew?


I'm going to stop in midstream here to tell you about the best-known secret of online artists and handmade craftspersons. 

As a relatively long time seller on ArtFire, I've only recently begun to take them up on their fabulous offerings, and now that they're leaving their beta stage, well, here's what I found out. I'll explain  in a moment, but first go read this, http://www.artfire.com/groupdeal come back, and we'll hit the highlights.

Hmmm...Let's see, what else can I tell you? Oh, yeah, this is the BEST DEAL EVER since I've been an ArtFire member. Here's why:
  • It's cheap! Where else can you get unlimited listings to sell your artwork or handmade items for less than $6.00 a month with :
  • No listing fees
  • No final value fees
  • The option to create collections of your work to post on blogs, in Facebook and in other social media
  • A wonderful, friendly community of fellow artisans and "I'm on your side" admin staff
  • A blog page
  • A customizable studio 
Don't take my word for it. Go read up on it, make your comparisons, check out their admin posts. And...PS: This will be the best win-win since online selling began.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

An Old Favorite

Tin Roof Barn - $49
Pastel Barn - $200
Joe's Barn Too - SOLD
This barn sits on an old farm property which is now the Joe Kurz Wildlife Management Area in Meriwether County, Georgia.  The landscape around the building has changed a lot over the last four years since I've been coming down here to paint it and little by little the surroundings are disappearing. The acrylic painting, "Tin Roof Barn" is one of my latest versions of my favorite plein aire location and it's more of a stripped-down version of the landscape and barn on a hot, bright day. 

This top right image is a pastel from about 3 1/2 years ago that shows the old fence and trees. As warm and inviting as it looks, it was painted on a very cold and blustery January day and I thought I'd gotten frostbite.

The last image, "Joe's Barn, Too" was painted in oil at some point during the time in between the first two works and gives a sense of the vanishing trees and old English privet which once encircled the building.