Art Collecting...A benefit of blogging

The paintings in my house used to be all ones I painted myself. Ok, well, maybe they still are.... mostly. But I've discovered another benefit to blogging- Exposure to great art. Completely affordable art. Art that is made by artists you get to know. Art that shows up in your mailbox and makes your whole day happy when you see it on your wall. Wonderful!

In the last few weeks I've become the proud recipient of four beautiful paintings. All small. Each a jewel. Let me introduce you to the paintings and the artists who made them:

Carol Marine painted this as a demo at the great workshop she did in March in Round Rock, TX, and I got to watch:

Luscious. It's a 6" x 6" oil on canvas panel. Go check out her wonderful small, daily paintings HERE, but come back when you're done. I have more to show you!




This is (I'm not kidding you) a 2" x 2" oil on paper by Sarah Sedwick. Stunning. By some trick of fate I got to be her first buyer of her small, daily paintings. Go see her work HERE, but do come back, there's more!



Kathryn Law painted this in oil on a 6"x 6" stretched, gallery-wrapped canvas just days before she found out she's getting to move to Italy to paint. My heart rate zoomed when I saw it. You can go see her work HERE. Again, come back! The painting arrived today, packed oh-so-well, and it went right up in my dining room. Beautiful! (No, I didn't paint the one of the back of the girl's head. Karen's mother painted that as her self portrait. Cool, yes?)


This is a cool pastel painting (4" x 5") of a cropped-in-close Weimaraner's face. You can go HERE to see her work. I got to meet Pattie at Carol Marine's workshop in March. She's a fun and versatile artist in Kansas.


Now, I'll bet if you follow a few links on a few artists' blogs, you'll find something you'll want to see every day in your home or your office or to give a good friend. Some artists will have a link to their eBay auction, or a handy PayPal button for an easy transaction , but most artists will appreciate you asking "Is it for sale? How much?" either through the email link on their profile or by leaving the question in a comment. I don't know any artist who isn't thrilled that someone sees value in the work they do.

11 comments:

Pattie Wall said...

Susan, thanks for featuring me in this post. I enjoy reading about your "art journey" and it is a true honor to be noted - by you!

Barbara Pask said...

Hi Susan, I added a link to your blog on my blog, hope that's ok. I just love all the videos you've been posting lately, so fun. Barb

Stacey Peterson said...

Hi Susan!

I agree that blogging is a great way to find new work. I made a goal a long time ago that I would buy at least one original painting per year to build a collection. Back when I had a corporate job, we bought through galleries. Now that I'm blogging, I buy from artists I've "met" online - it's so much more fun to buy from someone I'm familiar with. I just bought a great 18x24" landscape from Montana artist Taylor Lynde through his blog - what a find!

Susan Carlin said...

Anyone reading these comments- check out Pattie's, Barbara's and Stacey's work by clicking their names which takes you to their profiles. Then click on the blog link at the bottom. Stacey has just painted a gorgeous canyon landscape you should see.

Frank Gardner said...

Hi Susan, I found my way over here from Carol marine talking about you and your comments on Kathryn's blog.
I am still exploring, but I like your blog and will link to it.
You make a great point here about art collecting and blogging. This year we started to collect some art that we actually pay for (not trade). Most of it has been from artists I met through blogging. We have a few of Carol's too. Most of the artists on my short list of painters to buy are also bloggers.
It is a great way to meet new artists, make friends, and scout out new pieces of art.

Susan Carlin said...

Thank you, Frank. I've been a lurker at your site for a while. Your work shows me how far I have to go. Good thing I love the journey!

Unknown said...

Hi Susan - you've expressed what I've felt perfectly. I love getting artist emails every day and looking at their blogs and new work. It makes my day. The only problem is that I did figure out that you can click on the artists they link too, and now I'm having a hard time getting my work done - it's much more fun to visit blogs and drown myself in art and words. I just found Frank Gardner and I love his stuff - I feel a new painting from Mr. Gardner will be coming to live at my house soon. Oh, and I too own several Carol Marine paintings, both large and small - I knew she was becoming very successful but from the sound of these comments she is raking it in. :o)

Unknown said...

Oops, all of those words and I forgot to say that I'm adding you as a link on my page. Hope that's ok. One of these days I hope to see my blog as a link on one of the pages I'm visiting.

Susan Carlin said...

Chris- I'm adding a link for you. Now PAINT! Ok, let me say that more gently, yet still persuasively... "Please paint." How's that? Smiling Susan

Takeyce said...

great post, Susan!
Blogging is an excellent way to buy art without the inflated gallery prices.

kathrynlaw said...

Susan, you are so gracious and generous to feature other artists (including me! :D) on your blog. I'm so proud to have a painting in the private collection of an artist that I admire so much!