April 20, 2015

Here are some current active items available on my Artfully Ann's Etsy website.  Come take a look and shop through each category.  It is the easiest way to shop.  I hope you stop by.

By the way, Artfully Ann's will be at the Apple Farm Village in Woodinville, WA on May 2, 2015 from 11:00 to 6:00.  There will be wine tasting, music and eight artists displaying there art.  Come on down and say HI!!

By for now!!

April 18, 2015

New lessons learned on paint disposal today.  Here is a warning to all who have paint stored.  Getting rid of it may not be as easy as you think.   

We have dozens of cans of paint left over from the builder and from various painting activities, including exterior painting of our home.  Today we wanted to clean out our garage.  Throwing the paint away was first.  We just figured we would take it down to the hazardous waste dump as we had in the past.  WRONG!  Latex paint is no longer considered hazardous waste in Washington State.

  

 

To dispose of latex paint you have to mix it with kitty litter, spread it out on plastic and let it dry.  Then you can put it in your trash.  Sounds easy enough?  It is not. 

 We found that painters like to put other things back into paint cans.  We found unidentified solvents, brushes, rollers and hazardous materials mixed with the latex.  Kitty litter does not work on these toxic chemicals.

 

I think the folks at the EPA and others at the hazardous waste sites need to rethink their decision to have homeowners and other disposing of their own latex paint.  

John and I are pretty experienced with paint and painting materials and know what paints are what.  Even so John was running upstairs to the computer to check the disposal processes just to make sure we were doing it right.  So many people could get into SO MUCH TROUBLE playing with disposing of paint, thinners and solvents that really are NOT harmless.  I think I have a headache!!  

Be careful out there when you are working with these toxic materials!  We now have a pile of paint cans that are not "oil based" paints that will be going to the hazardous waste dump tomorrow.  I can't wait to have a chat with them!

Bye for now!

April 4, 2015

Great Article on Buying Art

One of the  Facebook pages I watch had a great  reference the other day to a guide to how to buy art.  I thought I'd share it with you.  The complete article can be found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/distilled-perspective.  The article is titled "Guide to Buying Art: 7 Things to Look for When Purchasing a Piece"  by Stephen Tanenbaum.


I would highly suggest you read the whole article, but in a nutshell it suggests that when you choose art you look for the following things:

 
Cohesive Style; Originality; Content; Emotional Connection; Artist's Background; Balance Between Process and Product;  and Quality.




The 10 Questions to Ask Yourself When Buying Art:

1.  Do I have an emotional reaction to the piece?
2.  Does the piece bring me into it, or am I looking at it?
3.  Does the color palette stimulate my senses?
4.  Does the composition guide my eye through the piece
5.  Do I understand the piece?  Is it conceptual and thought-provoking without being to complicated to understand?
6.  Is there anything unique about in the creation process that sets the work apart?
7.  Is the artist working in a cohesive style? (this indicates focus, repetition, and practice which leads to more refined work)
8.  Is the artist building on a previous artist's work or an artistic movement?
9.  Is the piece well constructed?  Is it made of materials that will fade or technology that may go out of date?
10..  Do I continue to think about the work and its meaning far after purchasing the piece?  Would I grow tired of it?  Does the work have staying  power?

As an artist these questions are good ones to ask yourself as you create the Art.  If you hope to sell your pieces you want to be sure that the Buyer of the art can answer Yes to ALL of these questions.  Maybe not everyone viewing your pieces will love what you do, but enough so that you can sell what you make and that allows you to make more.

I really thought these were very interesting and meaningful points.  The article goes into even more detail.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT!!

By for NOW!!