Location:
online only
Specialty:
Contemporary Art
Price range:
($$) Mid-Range
I love modern art. Unfortunately, the price tag that often comes with it moves these lovely pieces from the "Must Have" category to the one entitled "Will Admire Forever From Afar." I was thrilled to come across Erin Ashley's gorgeous works for sale in her Etsy shop recently.
Erin uses sharp, bold colors and textures, bringing out the old with the new. She is a self-taught, full-time artist and her work has been featured in galleries across the U.S. and Europe. I hope to snatch up one of these pieces one day soon to brighten up my bedroom, living room, or front hall.
For more about Erin Ashley, visit her store page over at Marketplace.
Images: Erin Ashley's Etsy Store
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Another great place to find art is at The Salmagundi Club at 47 Fifth Avenue. They occasionally do art auctions where you can find a nice original painting by a contemporary artist for very little! And of course it's a good investment. My favorite thing to do is to go to street sales, flea markets, good will, salvation army or where ever and find valuable pieces. In my last trek I bought for 5.00 a lithograph by Millet of "The Gleaners" but here's the catch, it is signed by Millet himself! So for 5. I purchased a piece valued at over $7,500. Not bad. I also did a little presentation on youtube about how to find a cheap apartment in nyc: what every new yorker knows! Or maybe not. You can check it out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgQYlSaRF_Q&list=LL8J2UHpXY51i_lofjT06k0w&feature=mh_lolz. Thanks.
I do like the style but I'd go for either high end trained artist or dirt cheap craft blogger type. One might be an investment, the other will go with my furniture and can be thrown out. At this price range it might be more meaningful to buy from a local artist or someone I have a connection to, or even a local mental health art group.
Pretty much everyone on etsy and craft blogs can do this and they frequently do. Reasonably priced is debateable because it is overly trendy, unlikely to appreciate in value and will likely be grunge splattered landfill in five years. $300 is a bit much for that.
@SARAIH, I so disagree. I bought art I loved from local artist friends in the '70s in the $200-$600 range (what would that be, the low thousands now???) I still have and still love every piece. A few of these folks probably have appreciated in value, some are probably "unknowns" -- but I didn't buy the things as an investment, I bought them to enhance my life. Which they have done for 40 years! (Not ever going to a landfill!)
NO art is assured of rising in value, it's a trendy thing. (OK, Picasso is likely not to drop. But you know what I mean...) You should only buy what you love, what you can envision living with a long time, and what you can afford. $300 sound eminently reasonable for all that to me.
I'm with SHERRYBINNH, I would never spend $300 on something that would end up in a landfill in five years. While I have not looked at everything on etsy, Erin Ashley is pretty darn good and in my humble opinion better than most of what I've seen. My family loves art but we don't have the bucks to spend big, we are in the $50 to maybe $500 range. We choose very carefully. Because of that you often hear things like "You know that great piece of pottery in the living room that you got at the Denver Art Festival, if you ever get tired of it...."
Honestly? This looks really expensive for what it is. Maybe I just have different tastes, but it looks a bit trendy and a bit cheap. I feel that I could buy something similar (albeit not original) at World Market for 1/6th the price, then throw it out when the style changed. I'd go for either really beautiful originals that I loved, at any price I could afford, or trendy cheap prints I could switch out at will.
Having said that, if you love these pieces to death, and know your tastes won't change substantially, this isn't a terrible price. I just don't love them.
The painting picks the owner, regardless of the price.
Here is an original painting by Paul Rinaldi hanging behind some "functional art" - a mod lamp.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=234947833251142&set=a.152951741450752.39355.152894788123114&type=3&theater
The artist website: www.paulrinaldi.net
Set your price and go shopping. For me it's about $300.
Places to find beautiful things: Senior Class exhibitions, Bachelor of Fine Art exhibitions, Master of Fine Art exhibitions. Ask around.
You can frame anything. I have framed beautiful art paper and even framed this amazing wax paper I found in a market in Buenos Aires. It has a picture of a cow, and what cut of beef and the price. I bought the paper, not the meat, for 5 cents. Butcher thought I was crazy. People think it's the coolest piece of modern art.
I must say that I adore this artist Erin Ashley. She is an artist that is fast on the rise, I have purchased a few of her pieces and they are stunning.I believe her work was published in American Artist magazine and I have also seen her work in galleries. In my opinion, it is well worth the small investment, I will definitely be keeping an eye on this artist and purchasing more of her art.