In this holiday season, if you are considering buying art as
a gift or for yourself, buy "the real thing."
Of course, I’m not saying you must buy an original. Limited-editions and
legitimate reproductions make wonderful gifts. What I’m saying and the point of
this blog: Don’t buy a knock-off of
someone else’s blood, sweat and tears.
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We’re just cleaning up from our Garmash/Danish show and now
we’re getting ready for our Fifth Annual Holiday Open House (Thursday, December
6 from 7-9pm). Yikes! It’s a quick
turnaround!
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By divine intervention in May of
2010, William Christopher Hawkins dropped off a resume just as we were in need
of an additional framer. We took one
look at samples of his work – including gorgeous shadowboxes, original artwork
and intricately cut mats – and hired him on the spot.
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Did you hear about the woman from Concord who, while shopping for a blanket at a local Goodwill store, found two large canvases selling for $9.99 each? She thought the pieces were ugly and dated, but bought them to paint over since she was an artist herself and canvas that size is expensive. Her friends noticed a sticker on the back of one of them from UNCG’s Weatherspoon Gallery and suggested she do a little research before painting over them.
An internet search told her the artist, Bolotowsky, was one of the premier abstract artists of the 20th century. She contacted Weatherspoon who confirmed the painting was loaned to the museum by Burlington Industries, Inc. and displayed at a show in 1979. She then sent photos and the Weatherspoon documentation to Sotheby’s in New York who agreed to sell the painting for her. It sold recently for $27,500 at auction. The woman has been out of work for quite some time and has health and financial issues, so it’s easy to feel happy for her good fortune.
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It can be annoying when a light bulb goes out in your home and you have to replace it – especially when it is out of reach and you need a ladder to change it. Imagine owning an art gallery with nearly 200 light bulbs each going out at a different time and each requiring a ladder to reach. It’s a never-ending task to which Andy or Chris will testify since they are the ones who have to change all those bulbs.
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When I got into the business of framing, it didn’t occur to me that selecting a frame would often be an emotional experience. It stands to reason emotions come into play when you consider that people generally frame photos and objects that are of great importance to them. (Of course, there was the client who shadowboxed a rock only to inform us later it was one she’d found it in her backyard. We make no judgment – on the contrary, we encourage all of you to look in your backyards for unusual geologic formations and bring them to us to frame.)
Most often, the framing is for happy occasions – a wedding or new baby photo, tickets to a favorite concert, a hole-in-one scorecard, etc. Clients love to talk about what they are framing and we love to hear the stories. We’ve heard some unbelievable tales of wild vacations (wish I could tell you, but we keep secrets), celebrity encounters, interesting family histories and many others.
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Judging by the ratings, Lenny and I aren’t the only ones
glued to coverage of the Olympics. We’ve been eating dinner in front of the TV
and going to sleep at night with it on.
(Please comment and tell me we aren’t the only ones doing this.)
What does this have to do with art? I just learned from Janelle’s Facebook post
that the Arts used to be part of the Olympics. It was the dream of International
Olympic Committee founder Pierre de Coubertin to "marry the aesthetic with the
athletic." He felt that "an internationally-focused revival of the
ancient Olympics would provide an intellectual and moral compass to citizens of
a rapidly industrializing world."
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Tough Framing Project? Ask Chris.
Webster’s defines "challenge" as "a stimulating task or problem." And that is what our Production Director Chris Taylor loves.
Whenever we have a framing question or tough framing problem to solve, the answer is usually, "Let’s ask Chris."
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At the recent wedding of a friend, the bride & groom read letters to each other during the ceremony. It reminded me that over 35 years ago, I had written a letter to Lenny the night before we got married (in 1975). Since he had no memory of it (of course), I was determined to find it. I was sure it had to be in an old trunk we kept locked in the attic. First chore was to find the key to unlock the trunk. Found it. Since the temperature is about 130 degrees in the attic this summer, the second chore was to drag the trunk down the stairs so we could wade through all the memories in cool comfort.
(Yes, that’s Lenny and me on our way to our honeymoon. Two things in this picture Lenny doesn’t have anymore- the leisure suit and the hair)!
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I am going to brag…just wanted to warn you.
Janelle created a great video about Andy’s recent guest shot on Rock 92 Radio’s morning show. He was terrific in the interview – funny and knowledgeable and entertaining. Listening to him you’d never know he was actually nervous about his appearance. He sounds like he does it every day. Listen and tell us what you think.
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