Prints vs. Originals

I'm not yet making it to "weekly", but I'm trying. :)

I recently got in a conversation with an art publicity blogger about the necessity of good photos, the conversation being about prints and her reasoning being that good photos by a professional photographer would be the only approach to making proper prints of what I do.

My question to you is - would you be interested in purchasing a quality print of a painted feather, or do you prefer collecting the original framed artwork?

As it stands, good reproductions would be the only immediate reason I would have to invest in proper photography (aside from needed publicity material just a little further down the road). While my own photographic efforts are admittedly poor, they still seem to do their job on my website - which is show you the paintings and also give you ideas for commissions that you might like to request. My substandard photos haven't stopped the interest on the website, for many of you have requested existing paintings as well as placed requests for meaningful paintings to suit your needs. To be honest I've been painting at full-tilt all this year just to keep up.

Now I've a few artist friends who believe that prints degrade the original work, and somehow make the art trivial. Some will only sell original works in shows and galleries, and do the show circuit with a booth full or original one-of-a-kind graphites, inks, and paintings. They do quite well with heir high standard.

There is a downside to this though, as I've come to find out: if you only sell original work, your sales are limited to your speed of production. In other words, you can sell no faster and no more than you can physically paint. This is a ceiling that can only be broken through duplicity - reproductions of one kind or another.

If there is an interest in a series of reproductions, I will most definitely set to work in finding the right photographer for the job. Right after Christmas. The Christmas orders for original paintings are coming in at a steady stream, and I may have to wait for that post-holiday slack-time to do this right.

Resolution

As with many wayward blogs found throughout the internet, this one was begun with the best of intentions. But as it goes with many such blogs, this endeavour was moved to the back burner to make a little more room for pressing matters.

As many of you reading this already know, my artwork received a lot of international attention this year. The results of such mountainous exposure left me scrambling over the last several months - keeping up with contacts, interviews, orders, and what subsequently ended up being an overbooking of shows and exhibitions. the show schedule was by no means too heavy when it was originally set, but it turned out that way in the wake of everything else.

That being said, no more excuses! I believe I've adjusted to the new level of things, so I will be making blog entries at least once a week.

This weekend marks the last BIG show for me this year. It's the annual national exhibition, the Fred Oldfield "Celebrate Western and Wildlife Art" show. You can read the itinerary on the events page at the Fred Oldfield Western Heritage Center's website.

I must say I am just barely prepared, having had the happy problem of keeping up with orders instead of devoting most of my time to rebuilding inventory. Although new works will be few, I will be exhibiting some pieces that go in a new direction. These incorporate lithic pieces along with the feathers in multiple object mount presentations. They are themed around particular animals, and include extra adornments such as stone and bone beads, braided horsehair, leather, and bison wool. Buffalo, obviously, is one of those new pieces - and Wolf will be the other. I've others on the table, but sadly I don't think I'll be able to have them completed and framed in time.

The next blog entry will feature the upcoming Oldfield western and wildlife show, as well as the new lithic-feather combination pieces.