They are all over the house and I collect them incessantly… almost ritually and impulsively. They make me feel good, inspire me and are so irresistible to me! So I am showing just some of them from my collection here.

photo

photo

While words such as “excessive” or “obsessive” might sometimes be used to describe persons with psychological or emotional issues, John Pomara, artist and assistant professor for Arts & Performance, thinks these qualities can be good – for artists.

Read more… Link

I was wondering if any of you have obsessions and would like to share them here on A & P. Would love to hear from your own eccentricities!?!

It happens that A&P had come to the C’s attention, and as a way of getting hirs feet wet, the C is considering buying perhaps half a dozen prints of images that have appeared in my posts. My prints are cheap; I’m sure I wouldn’t be writing this post if your paintings, linoleums, quilts, etc. were the same! (But maybe they’ll be next.) The C had good timing, in that just a few days ago I met with a local gallery owner who was enthusiastic about showing my work in her gallery. If that works out, my prices will have to go up, at least for work being sold by the gallery. (Also, the C didn’t know it, but I currently give an unadvertised 20% discount on purchases after the first.)

Now my posted images are a motley assortment, having been selected not necessarily for “quality” but to fit the subject of a post. It’s pretty clear my recent dirt piles bombed, and I won’t even mention the chocolate chip cookie fiasco. I suggested to the C that, if there’s wisdom in crowds, a good selection might be determined by the collective evaluation of you all (meaning ANY AND ALL readers, not only A&P contributors). The C was intrigued by this idea, and though not committed to abiding by your choices, I think s/he would be strongly swayed. S/he certainly hasn’t mentioned any favorites of hirs own yet.

So, for convenience, I’ve compiled below the leading possibilities from each post (which you can revisit by clicking on the title; click on the image to enlarge it). For completeness, I also included in the text above two other images (call them A and B, respectively) that appeared on Mark Hobson’s blog, the landscapist. Please vote for any and all images you care to. Score each that you vote on as a 1, 2, or 3 for top tier, middle tier, lowest tier. Unscored images will be considered to rank somewhat lower. You may find it easiest to cut and paste this template

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S

inserting a 1, 2, or 3 after the letter of each image you want to evaluate.

I’ll do the same myself. I’m very curious whether there will be any consensus picks, and whether my choices resemble yours. Thanks for your help, and I’ll let you know how it all turns out. And of course, I invite comments or suggestions on the whole concept.

C: 41 views

D: Still and falling water

E: Chirping among the birds

F: The mystery of things

G: Twice-Told Tales

H: Art and solitude

I: Steal this idea

J: To BW or not to BW?

K: Junkyard treasure

L: Four views of bare limbs

M: Photograffiti

N: Quark’s rabbit

O: Three more pears

P: Stylistic diversity

Q: Four categories of art

R: What else they might be

S: From the shadows

I’m interested in the relationships for each of us among four categories of art. Maybe five for technical reasons having to do with the size of our bank accounts.

1. Art we make
2A. Art we own (but didn’t make)
2B. Art we would like to own but don’t because we can’t afford it. (For the purposes of this question only, you can have it. But only as much as fits in your home.)
3. Art we like to look at but don’t really want to own.
4. Art we don’t like to look at.

These categories are reasonably exhaustive and mutually exclusive, except for just a tiny wee bit of overlap between 1 and 4 in my case.

Here are my particular questions:

Q1. Is the art in category 2 similar to that in 1, or is there a difference in genre, style, or subject?
Q2. What do you get out of art in category 3?
Q3. What art is in category 4? And is it closer to 10%, 50%, 90%, or 99% of all art in the world?

My personal answers:
A1. 2A is either other photography (four other photographers) or one real print my wife has had forever. The rest is family art or reproductions, except for our one expensive piece, a $350 metal sculpture called “Night Wind” that goes well over the mantel with the photo above. Category 2B, art I’d like to own, would include mostly painting, also some photography I covet, mostly different from my own in style. And a fabulous art quilt if I could figure out where to put it. In style, I’d like abstract as much as representational.
A2. I like to look at all kinds of art, but wouldn’t want most of it for free if I had to dedicate wall space to it (investments don’t count). I probably enjoy painting and photography most in this category. I like to study how other artists do things and get ideas for my own work. Not ideas for imitation but a repertoire of approaches and techniques that will likely influence what things I see and how I see them. I do find various kinds of conceptual art interesting, but it doesn’t seem to be what I want to look at daily.
A3. Includes anything kitschy or blatantly commercial, which is probably at least 90% of what’s out there, but feels more like 50% because I tend to tune it out before it reaches a conscious level. I’m sure I miss things and if it’s a gallery or similar setting where I see something that I’m not really interested in, I try to take advantage of any simpatico artist or fan willing to lead me around and talk me through it.

Paul Butzi recently showed this photograph on Art & Perception. I fell in love with it at first sight. There was no discussion of the image in the post itself. I asked Paul if he could write something about the picture, and he did. At that point, I decided to buy the print.

This weekend Paul’s print arrived in the mail. I was not sure exactly what to expect, because Paul uses an Epson printer to produce his prints, and I had no idea what the result would be. Now that I have it here, I am surprised but pleased with the result. The print is crisp (despite my lousy photo of it above) and has lovely gray tones. It is not like a “normal” photograph, however — it is matt rather than glossy. This does not diminish its beauty, but does give it a different feel — say, like a fresco as compared to an oil painting.

Am I ready to “upgrade” to the 40″x50″ print for $2500? I’d like to Paul, though I’ll have to wait on that one. But I am most encouraged with my first foray into the online art market.

Still life by Hanneke van Oosterhout, detail

Last Friday I helped Hanneke and Maurice set up the exhibition at Galerie de Provenier. While doing this, I started to ask myself, “What does it take to be an art dealer?”

Reine Claudes en Kruisbessen by Hanneke van Oosterhout
14 x 18 cm
oil on panel
2006

Normally I think of an art dealer as someone with a gallery. But is this a requirement? Consider an alternative. You know someone in your town (say in Kansas) who you think would like to buy one of Hanneke’s paintings (which are in The Netherlands). You take this person to Hanneke’s web site and say a bit about Hanneke and how you feel about her work. Your guest sees the painting, likes the price, and buys the painting online with PayPal. What have you done? Have you not acted as an art dealer for Hanneke? Should you not receive a commission for what you did, say, 10% of the sales price?

I’ve discussed this idea with Hanneke. She thinks it is interesting. I discussed it with an economist (an expert, but not an art expert) and the economist finds it a good idea. What do you think? Would this be a good idea, or is it nuts?

Let me make some things clear. Hanneke would not sell the pictures that are in the gallery this way, this would be for artwork that is not in any “off-line” gallery. And at the moment, she is not even trying this idea. But it seems worth discussing. What are the potential problems? Would you like to start being a dealer?

Artist and writer Jannie Regnerus has collected three paintings by my partner, Hanneke van Oosterhout. I went to Jannie’s house today to make a photograph of one of the paintings and to see if there was any chance that she would consider reselling them.

KARL ZIPSER: What do you think about these paintings you bought?

JANNIE REGNERUS: I like the intimacy of the painted objects. They have been cut off from their former lives as useful or functional things — especially the ginger pot. The ginger pot whispers its own history and has its own universe. The pears have a different feeling, they are sensual, almost like human bodies. And the strawberries have some humor because the proportions are confusing, the giant berries in the tiny cup.

KARL ZIPSER: Don’t you find these pictures a bit too dark?

JANNIE REGNERUS: I like the way the objects sink within this black background. They are very silent, but also very strong. I like these better than the paintings with the light background. Hanneke is very good in this dark and intimate night atmosphere. l like the tempered light, the sun has set, this is the best time for objects, they become more mysterious than they are in the broad daylight.

KARL ZIPSER: Would you sell these paintings? Perhaps you could buy something different, like a new stereo system?

JANNIE REGNERUS: Of course not. I bought them because I love them. I saw them and I wanted to have them close by. I didn’t buy them as an investment. When people come to my house they also want them. Hanneke made one picture for friends of mine who saw her work here. Every time I visit Hanneke’s studio I see new things, so it is very difficult for me to go there.

KARL ZIPSER: But you don’t like everything she makes.

JANNIE REGNERUS: Sometimes she works too long on a painting and I think that I liked it better at an earlier state. That is normal, it happens to me, I think it happens to every artist sometimes.

KARL ZIPSER: I agree, working too far is often a danger.

JANNIE REGNERUS: So Karl, what will be the prices of Hanneke’s paintings in the exhibition that begins this Friday?

KARL ZIPSER: That is an interesting question.
. . .

Hanneke’s show opens 15 December in Haarlem at gallery De Provenier (which does not have its own website). What will be the prices? Which pictures will she select for the exhibition? Will she, should she, sell on-line as well? All of these questions are unresolved. Hanneke will discuss the progress of the show on her own site.

I want to expand my blog Art & Perception as a book. Lisa Hunter, author of The Intrepid Art Collector, gave me some excellent advice. [Note, this post was written before Art & Perception became a group blog]

Karl Zipser: We bloggers write what we want to write and act as our own publishers. When you want to publish a book, how does this affect what you can write about?

Lisa Hunter: Writers don’t like to hear this, but commercial publishers really want evidence that the book will sell. They’ll want to know if the author has a “platform” (i.e. whether he/she gives seminars, has a TV show, writes a syndicated newspaper column, etc.) They’ll also want to know what the readership demographic is, and what opportunities for PR exist. And they’ll want a “competition analysis,” which lists all similar books and explains why this one is different or better. At big commercial publishers, the marketing people can be just as important as editors in deciding what books to publish!

Karl: Are books about art a special case with respect to publishing?

Lisa: A major factor with art books is how expensive they are to produce. Color illustrations raise the printing costs substantially (and this is on top of reproduction rights fees.) Oftentimes, a book proposal is shot down because the book would cost so much that few people would buy it. I know this from personal experience. Recently, I had a great idea for a coffee table book that several editors loved, but no one could see how it would be profitable. Sigh.

Karl: Tell me about the writing process itself. Did you write your book first and then look for a publisher?

Lisa: Non-fiction is unique, in that you don’t have to write the book until you have a contract with a publisher. Acceptance is typically based on a proposal, outline and sample chapter. An agent who believes in your project — and who knows what publishers are looking for — is a HUGE help in getting editors to take the project seriously.

Karl: So you get the agent and editors to believe in you with a great proposal, etc, and then . . .

Lisa: Of course, once you have the contract, you actually have to write the book, and if you’ve never written anything 300+ pages before, that can be intimidating. When I was writing The Intrepid Art Collector, I was lucky because the chapters were all stand-alone. I could work on them one-at-a-time, as if I were writing magazine articles. After a while, I had my 80,000 words. For a more narrative type of book, an outline is critical to stay on track. And when writer’s block and deadlines build up stress, I recommend chocolate.