The Postman Cometh

and he bears gifts. Got a box of goodies in the mail. Snagged some artsy swag on sale and got 5 freebies in the deal. not sure what to do with the pirate stuff. But I can't wait to play with the thin chipboard and my GERMANY die cut.

I do have to wait to show pics because the camera batteries are recharging. Note to self: put batteries in the charger upon returning from an adventure.

Kick start My Art?

I talked with Scott at Vada Color today. As I feared would be the case, the third hand information about pricing was a bit off. He was really helpful and his work is amazing. When he calls himself a color specialist he isn't kidding. And he is picky. PICKY!

That is just the kind of quality you want in your printer. Ultimately he will print whatever we tell him to print. But! But when it is his butt, his camera that takes the digital image AND he has to print that for a client, you better believe that he is going to make damn awful sure he has the color right. When I stopped in today he had a watercolor in the works. After he explained to me the whole process he showed me this water color. The concept was phenomenal, the work delicate and the colors even more so. He showed me the proof, the original and wow....

He was so close that if it had been my work I would have been happy with what came out. He was not. On a Pantone™ chart the color of his print and the original might have been 3 shades of barely perceptible difference (because Pantone™ is like that). He kept saying it wasn't right. And the goal was to keep as much of the original pinky white paper the pinky white that it is without loosing the cool in the celadon and olive colors.

So the start up cost per print is going to be 125.00 + wholesale pricing for each design. For that price he will take the photos in the highest resolution that he can. They won't have the hotspots that mine have. The camera he uses won't cast a shadow like mine does because I'M DOING IT WRONG! And he will be pickier about color matches than I will be. I just want it on the market.

For 60 he won't be so picky. Or he will use my own digital images. I chose from a variety of papers or canvas. And here is where I am most disappointed in my 3rd party information. A 16x20 print which is fairly standard for "larger" sizes will cost me 20.00 per print. So for me to sell it at reasonable mark up for a reasonable profit and charge 45.00 will require me to have a "name". Because I am unknown I will most likely only be able to charge 32.00.

An 8x10 size is infinitely more marketable, most common for the average sizes and will cost 9.00 to produce after the initial digitalization fee. And again, will only be able to charge 20.00 without the branding to justify the 36 others are getting in town for the same  size.

So this leaves me with the perpetual frustration of having done things bass ackwards (ass backwards for you non-English vernacular speakers) and still not selling anything. Or kick starting the art sales department in my life.

Kick start my art? Is that something that you can kick start? Would advance sales get me enough cash to get this done? But who pays for advanced art? People at home parties.... which is something else that I have been thinking about trying to do here in my home town. I don't know exactly how I would accomplish that either.

Ugh!!!!!!!!!!! Ideas? Anyone?

Comission Request

So one of my friends has decided that she loves my work and wants me to do something for her of the State Hospital. Built in 1911 as an Asylum  for a few dozen world weary men and women, it grew over many decades to become a sprawling complex housing 5,000 patients. In the mid 1980's the property was closed, the last of the mentally handicapped were released into the wild while the building was left to melt into the scenic hillside and rolling fields of the grounds. The reclamation process was interrupted a few years ago when the Minervini group began to redevelop the entire property for mixed use commercial and residential use.

The State Hospital has always been fodder for local ghost stories, the hunting grounds for the most desired species of tree and shrub for biology class leaf collections, hiking and making midnight excursions at your own peril. Stuff of legends and nightmares, nearly everyone in town has a story to tell. With the push to reclaim from the Earth that which the Earth wished to reclaim there is a great panic to photograph and chronicle the patina and patterns of neglect left on its stories walls. Decay is a natural part of life. No matter how beautiful this renewed facades will be, there is also a beauty in the aging process.

The building is an amalgam of many romantic themes of gothic architecture and the romantics in town who see beauty and character in the desolate structure wish to preserve those characters. And so we photographed and chatted and photographed some more. I will go again in a few days to take more pictures. There are things that I did not think to get a shot of because I was so lost in the experience. I did not get the exact angles that my friend wanted and while we will share back and forth for a time, I would like my own shots.

Most likely this series will be in acrylic and atmospheric, suggestive. I do not think that I will do a watercolor series of realistic features. My perspective skills leave me less than confident.

For myself, these are the photos that inspire me most:


Here the Italianate styles seem to dominate the skyline as it does with the fret and ginger work above the trattoria on the grounds. The cupolas are crowned with the Minervini family symbol. This puts me in mind of Michelle's duomos and the wonderful visual textures. These are but two of the four cupola designs on the property.

I still have not decided which country's Victorian era construction this emulates. As we walked around I was put in mind of an English Manor house. But then this façade would seem to fit somewhere in Venice as well. In either case... I felt as if I were a spectre lurking about for the sordid stories of the family in residence, perhaps the Copper Beeches, Shoscombe Old Place or a Medici family retreat.

 

 

 And this turret could be straight from a fairy tale park. This part reminded me a bit of the Musgrave house. As I was going through the pictures the first time I had Matthias Reim on. The Schwanenkonig song seems appropriate for this picture. The foundation of this building could be a mere foot or two about a moat or a river upon which the Swan King swims his last and sings of his beloved who has died before him. Were those trees and shrubs willows the scene would be complete. And I think that might just be where I start with my project.