SEVEN TIPS FOR COLLECTING ORIGINAL ART ON A BUDGET

We do not have to be rich to purchase original art. It is possible to go beyond just what we love and speculating to purchasing original artwork with knowledge and confidence within our budget.

These seven tips will take you beyond a general criteria of buying art that you love and that is meaningful to you. When you are collecting art to enhance your quality of life, love and meaningfulness should underpin all of your original art collecting decisions. These seven tips are not for speculative art collecting where you want to get ahead of the next hottest thing and buy low to sell high in order to make a fortune flipping the artwork after a few years when it is “discovered”. Speculative art collecting is a game of chance with more variables than most of our common sense is likely to be comfortable with playing. I like a more calculated risk assessment to my art purchases that happens over time in a thoughtful manner. I am presenting my personal seven tips for collecting original landscape paintings on a budget. I have distilled these from my own art collecting practices and by observing the success of art collectors of my own work.

ONE - Have a line item in your household or business budget that is for purchasing original art. The benefits of this for art collectors is that they understand that original art is a necessary element to enhance their quality of life. They also know that what is considered in advance has a better chance of being accomplished. Original art collectors who have acquired my work have moved away from “waiting to win the lottery” or “hoping” for some discretionary funding at the end of some unspecified month. These art collectors are planning for their new original art acquisitions. By using an advanced planning method and setting a line in my budget, already this year I have purchased two original paintings from Canadian artists to add to my art collection. It works!

TWO - Do your homework in ahead of time. Research the various artists whose work you are attracted to the most. Learn about the processes and materials they use. In this way, you will begin to understand how these artists fit into the larger art market and why their work might be priced the way that it is. My paintings are created using the highest quality canvases, surfaces and paints that I can predictably acquire. Oil paintings are generally a higher price point than paintings done with watercolour or acrylic and good professional quality canvases, surfaces and paints of any kind have a better archival capability than student, hobby or craft quality. Secondly, research the artist themselves. How many paintings are they completing each year? How are those paintings selling over a five or ten year period? Is the artist new to the emerging art market or have they been honing their creative skills and practice for years. This kind of knowledge and research helps the art collector know what they are getting for their money and why the art might be at the price point that it is.

THREE - Visit the work of artists you wish to purchase in person or online often. You can follow artists on social media and if they have one, subscribe to their newsletter. In this way, you learn about their full inventory of artwork and where there might be an entry point that is within your own art budget. Many artists, even ones that usually work large, will on occasion do a series of smaller works as part of their painting process and to work out new ideas for larger paintings. These painting sketches and experimental works are often full of excitement and have a freshness that is deeply appealing as well as a more modestly priced.

FOUR - The list price of an artwork might not always be the purchase price. For example, once an art collector has purchased one of my original paintings they get an art collectors savings of 10% off of the list price. Forever! On a larger painting, this can be a substantial savings. This is why many of my art collectors start collecting with a smaller work or will purchase a smaller work along with a larger painting and then receive the art collector’s savings on the larger painting. Most art collectors respect that artwork is the artist’s livelihood and that they are operating a small business. Generally, a successful artist has consistent pricing whether they are selling their work directly or through commercial galleries. With the internet, pricing differently between the studio and a gallery shouldn’t be happening. However, usually the artists presenting work in either their studio and the commercial gallery have a little wiggle room for repeat collectors. Other saving might be found by coming to pick up the work directly rather than paying shipping costs. Or you can ask if there is a savings if you do not want the show frame if it is included with the painting. Every little bit helps to stretch your art budget and these suggestions have limited impact on the ongoing livelihood of the artist or the gallery owner. Also, work might be listed in different currencies in a specific location. All of my paintings are now listed in my own online gallery in Canadian dollars or CAD for all purchases. Then the appropriate Canadian sales taxes is added if sold and delivered within Canada. These sales tax must be collected even if the art collector is as an international visitor coming to visit my gallery pod on Mayne Island in Canada. However, if you purchase the work online from outside of Canada or have it shipped to you outside of Canada then the duties and taxes of the country of destination apply. In addition, if you are purchasing from a gallery that represents my work in another country, the price might be in the currency of that country. For example, the Opulent Art Gallery in the United Kingdom, lists the prices of my paintings in pounds in their online gallery.

FIVE - Ask about purchase plans. Sometimes, if you have found “your” next perfect painting but the timing is slightly off for your budget, I can offer a purchase lay-away plan over 3 or 4 months with no interest. I can only offer a few of these at a time but it is worth a conversation if it will work for you. Again, saving on interest that would be charged on a credit card purchase is yet another way to stretch your art collecting budget.

SIX - Appreciate that big is not always better. Instead of thinking about just one big painting for a space, start by discovering what it is you are really seeking. What job will your desired painting have in your home or work space? Sometimes a small landscape painting can offer a visual feeling that far exceeds its size. I have painted 8 x 8 paintings that can hold attention on a whole wall all on their own. I have large paintings that are so gentle that they are more for cozying up with in a smaller space and will never overwhelm a quiet room. Knowing these things may lead to collecting smaller paintings over time that are a better fit for your budget and can be successfully organized in your space in groupings. I have an art collectors that have been collecting my work for years and they now have the largest collection of my small paintings in all of the United States.

SEVEN - Embrace the power in waiting. Waiting allows for the enjoyment and pleasure of considering. Art collectors practice waiting in different ways. Most have their budget already set aside and they are knowledgeable about my landscape paintings - both in process and where these works fit into the art market. They are now waiting and watching for just the right painting to come off of my easel. When “their” painting appears they are ready! They can often make an offer to purchase even before the painting is dry or released. These art collectors will frequently invest in my paid newsletter subscription, as well as my free offerings and they keep a keen eye on my social media posts. These art collectors know that over half the number of paintings that I paint each year will sell from my inventory and that more than two thirds of my paintings are currently already in private art collections. These art collectors have a huge advantage over those that haven’t built art collecting into their budget. The second kind of waiting art collectors of my work embrace is taking time to decide. They will come and look or request paintings for a trial hanging on a regular basis. They already know that if they miss out on one painting another will gain their interest in the future. They know that they can also commission a work in a specific size of a similar subject rendered in a previous painting that has already sold. Some art collectors have a habit of considering several paintings at the same time as a way to enrich their consideration process. They will then take time to ponder their consideration before making a decision. When they are ready to then purchase, I know they are confident in their choice and the painting will be much loved and will love them back.

I hope you have enjoyed these insider tips for purchasing original art on a budget. Thank you for being one of my many subscribers to “A Brush with Life” and paid subscribers to “Terrill Welch by herself”. I hope you enjoyed this bonus article and feel free to add any thing that you do that is not already covered. Together we can do most anything!

Terrill :)