# Do you buy local art ?



## sags (May 15, 2010)

We were in a Williams coffee shop today, and an older couple were putting up some new art on the walls.

At first, I thought they must be the owners, changing the decor a little.

But then I realized they put little white notes beside the paintings, so I ambled over and asked the lady if she was the artist.

She was..........and I liked a particular piece of her work, but wanted a larger size of something similar.

So I am going to call her and order the art as I would like it.

It got me curious...........not that it matters.......because I am buying it anyways for reasons more important than money, but has anyone ever bought an unknown local artist work and then seen it rise considerably in value when the artist became well known ?

Anyone here ever purchase an original Banksy or Robert Bateman..........in their early days ?


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

My wife's relatives, who lived on the west coast, used to buy many pieces from local artists...some became quite famous and valuable...as in members of the group of seven.

Well before my time.

Personally, I never got into art.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Wow........that's cool.

My wife had a cousin she lost track of..........and apparently he was a well known sculpture artist in Vancouver.

He was the guy who carved the big hawk and totem poles in Stanley Park. He passed away last year, I believe.

I never met him.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

I saw some of the art a few times before they passed away, never had any appeal to me. Don't understand why it was so valuable. I wouldn't have bought it...but then they wouldn't have bought the stuff I buy like stocks and real estate, so I guess we're alike.

My sister-in-law is trying to take up the mantle I think...but she's perusing the galleries and stuff. Talking to experts, probably paying too much, but that's her style, buy the lifestyle. 

I'm pretty sure my wife's relatives bought stuff from unknown artists because they had the eye for art.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

I had a conversation with the artist today, and ordered the artwork.

Custom is great........I never bought it that way before. 

This painting will tie four generations of family together in one piece of art.

The scene will be white birch trees, with their bark peeling back in places......as they tend to do.

They will remind me of my dad and son.........with whom I spent much time in the woods at our little trailer. It will remind me of my favorite spot on the ATV trail......where someone had planted a forest of white birch trees long ago........with the trail splitting the middle of an incredible "all white" view.

There will be a small lake visible through the trees with an wooden rowboat drifting unattended on it.

That will remind me of my grandfather, who had a bronze statue of a horse.........saddle and bridle....... but no rider to be seen.

I remember asking him all the time......."Grandpa, where is the rider" and he would chuckle and tell me a different story each time.

I can do the same for my grandson, and start by asking him......."why do you think the boat is drifting in the water".

Nice..........to get all that in one picture, that will hang in the dining area and be a daily reminder of those things that I have well enjoyed.

I think alas, I grow more nostalgic as I grow older..........

Anyone else ever had custom art done.......to commemorate an occasion or preserve some memories ?


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## maxandrelax (Jul 11, 2012)

LOL at "Banksy or a Bateman..." Also few people have a Banksy unless they owned the property he did the street art on.

RE: the boat: I love the art that tells a story. When my partner and I got married, I had a local tattoo artist a few doors down paint a portrait of her and I in old school tattoo style "true love" with the date. We always get a laugh out of it. 

I don't have the disposable income for art collection, but tend to get a few pieces that are all under a few hundred. Never broke the $1000. I don't expect them to ever appreciate greatly, just look awesome. 

http://www.briandonnelly.org/
http://tincanforest.com/ 
These are some friends that are doing interesting work. 

Not local, but http://20x200.com/ has some awesome pieces for cheap. I got this a few months ago: http://20x200.com/collections/bahar-yurukoglu/products/neoscape-ii-sub-urban

If you haven't seen this doc about Herb and Dorthy, get on it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vma2T5luy08 It was on TVO often last year.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

We buy some local art IF it is exactly a piece that we like and that we have a location for in our house. Whether the artist ever becomes famous or not is not relevant. We do have some good pieces from some more recognized artists from AB, SK and QC, again because we want them, not because of any potential future value.


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

We almost exclusively have local artists:

About 6 by my brother in law,
One by the ex-wife of a friend of mine.
One by a carpenter friend who learned to paint while building a studio for a famous local artist. 
Two by the mother of a neighbor we had way back when we were a lot younger.

None of these will ever have much value, but we like them.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

sags i love your story, that picture is going to be a masterpiece, dining room will be a perfect spot. If i were your artist i'd labour so much on the work that i'd have real difficulty letting it go.

by coincidence i have a friend who has a large painting of a painted rowboat drifting on bright blue water hanging in her dining room. The perspective is straight down, as if the viewer were hanging in the air a few feet above the unmanned boat. When i remarked on it, she pointed out how the current is moving very fast. I focused again & she was right, the yellow/mustard/amber coloured rowboat was being carried along in the grip of a fast flood, but all was still bright, cheerful & peaceful.

max thankx for the tincan link, they really do have talent. Interesting. They're at a fine crossroads between commercial art, comic books, early eskimo printmakers' design & fine art. Nice how they print on art paper, using special inks.

but bahar's print looks to be a digital version? i'm not sure how this can ever rise in value?


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## uptoolate (Oct 9, 2011)

AltaRed said:


> We buy some local art IF it is exactly a piece that we like and that we have a location for in our house. Whether the artist ever becomes famous or not is not relevant. We do have some good pieces from some more recognized artists from AB, SK and QC, again because we want them, not because of any potential future value.


This is our approach too. We buy what we like and have items in various media from local artists from wherever we've traveled. Have no idea on monetary values but they are all priceless to us.


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## Islenska (May 4, 2011)

On my bucket list is to buy a Group of Seven painting, saw one at auction for ~$40k

This would be low end on the scale but still a treat to have,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,someday!


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Thanks Humble...........isn't it interesting how art can come alive and portray so much......often adding something with each new view.

Thanks for the links....Maxandrelax...........the different styles and expressions are very interesting.......

Most of our art comes from estate sales.....often for free, or garage sales. I have found they are good places to buy original art for very reasonable prices.

My wife sometimes rolls her eyes when I bring something through the door, but after awhile........she won't let me move it.

"Leave it there", she says........"I like it".


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## maxandrelax (Jul 11, 2012)

humble_pie said:


> max thankx for the tincan link, they really do have talent. Interesting. They're at a fine crossroads between commercial art, comic books, early eskimo printmakers' design & fine art. Nice how they print on art paper, using special inks.
> 
> but bahar's print looks to be a digital version? i'm not sure how this can ever rise in value?


Tincan have a lot of Eastern European mythology going on .... Baba Yaga etc. http://tincanforest.com/tc/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Kraina_Mriy_tincanforest.jpg I purchased this print for myself and a good friend recently. 

Bahar's print is a digital print - Limited run. Most likely will never rise in value. That isn't my goal though. Stocks are for income. Art is for love. It's pretty cool if they make it big though. I was really into skateboard art 10-20 years ago. I regret buying some artists that have really started to make it. I always liked the weird style of SanFran artist Jay Howell... he now created the caracters of "Bob's Burgers" animated series on fox. http://typo-graphical.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/JH_EML_13.jpg


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## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

Every year, there is a huge Art Walk on Whyte ave, which is kind of the social heart of the city. There's about 450 local artists, showing off their wares. http://art-walk.ca/ There are certainly some bad artists there. Creating work you would expect to find at a garage sale. Of course they're doing it for the love of it, as a hobby, not to make money. And there are some amazing artists and creative people. We usually buy some small pieces that we fancy. We're cheap, so they're just prints and not originals. One of our friends is a very talented artist who makes a living off his art. We plan on commissioning him to do a piece for us. Some kind of story about our family.

I would never think of buying something as an investment, hoping it appreciates, or the artist dies and I get rich, a la George Costanza.
We definitely spend a lot of money on photography. That is paying local photographers for photography sessions of our family. A session for an anniversary a couple years ago, maternity session, newborn session, session for our 6mo daughter, another one booked while we are in maui next month (I guess that's not a local artist, though I do know some people that have paid to bring their photographer of choice along with them). It's the kind of art that can make anyone smile or giggle. And it's value is of course inflation protected. A family session with a good photographer would run anywhere form 300-1000$. I am a photographer as well and make a nice side income doing family sessions and such, so I kind of have to see value in this!


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

Yes. Bought a Jack Campbell water colour when we lived in Vancouver. Like it even more after 15 or so years than we did when we bought it. 

We no longer have the wall space that we once had so no purchases on the horizon for us.


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## LBCfan (Jan 13, 2011)

nobleea said:


> ......There are certainly some bad artists there. .........And there are some amazing artists and creative people.


How does one know the difference? AFAIK, most "expensive" artists died poor. Once they were dead, others found value in their work. How does one determine "bad" from "good" art other than their own likes and dislikes?


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## Ag Driver (Dec 13, 2012)

Everything piece of art on my walls, with the exception of mirrors, has a story. I buy "local" when I am abroad -- either I haggled in a market using money and cervezas, or bought it off the artist personally. I have framed some of my own photographs, and also have art from hunting trips. 

I learned about "personalizing" from a good friend of mine. You can literally pick up a spoon in his house, or a cup coaster, and every piece has a story. This includes furniture ... most of which he purchased from a local woodworker. I have not ventured into "personalized" furniture as it is too expensive at this point in my life ... but I will be knocking on the Amish shops in the near future! 

Art should never be purchased from a big box store!


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## maxandrelax (Jul 11, 2012)

LBCfan said:


> How does one know the difference? AFAIK, most "expensive" artists died poor. Once they were dead, others found value in their work. How does one determine "bad" from "good" art other than their own likes and dislikes?


You have to develop an eye for skill of production. The topic could be a squirrel with a pop can on its head. If it is painted very well, might be worth picking up. The amount of terrible landscape paintings I have seen are enough to make the group of 7 collectively roll (and swim) in their grave.


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## JosephK (Nov 7, 2012)

My walls are far too covered in my own paintings for me to even consider purchasing any. I've put up a few for sale in local stores, never actually sold one, though I'd imagine it's pretty rare for anyone to walk into a book or coffee shop and decide to buy a painting on the spur of the moment. Personally I have no need for the money, I'm just happy that they're out there for people to see.


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## Westerly (Dec 26, 2010)

JosephK said:


> My walls are far too covered in my own paintings for me to even consider purchasing any. I've put up a few for sale in local stores, never actually sold one, though I'd imagine it's pretty rare for anyone to walk into a book or coffee shop and decide to buy a painting on the spur of the moment. Personally I have no need for the money, I'm just happy that they're out there for people to see.
> 
> View attachment 2497


Sounds like a good opportunity for me if your planning to die poor

We bought a local print for my dad for his 50th but then along the way found something we wanted to give him more. After his birthday he showed such interest in the print that I offered it to him on a "99 year lease"  I have the print back now and it reminds me of him. It doubled in value after I framed it, of course the frame was twice the print cost. I have to go now and admire the print. 

Thanks to the OP for the reminder.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

I don't know if anyone caught the last auction of fine art at.......I believe it was Christies Auction House.

Millions........tens of millions.......hundreds of millions.........for drywall mud thrown on a canvas, orange paint on a canvas........and the big one.......

106 million for a sculpture of a steel 1 wheeled cart...........one of only 6 in the world I believe.

It was bought by some hedge fund guy who buys a lot of art...............

I guess these hedge fund guys have so much money rolling in they don't know what to do with it all.

Buy another mansion, another couple of Ferraris........a dozen Rolex watches.......

And then what to buy next month ?

It reminds of the movie where the drug dealer was filling up bedrooms with bundles of cash............

Or Breaking Bad..........and trying to hide skid loads of greenbacks.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/14/us-art-auction-idUSKCN0IX09P20141114


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