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9 Years Ago
I have another great sales story. This one is about a buyer finding me through Pintrest.
She saw this image that has been pinned over 1000 times.
She found it through a family members pin board. Tracked it back to me and purchased an original drawing. This drawing, called Determination, that I did as a preliminary sketch to two separate paintings.
I did sign the original after she arrived at my studio tour to pick up the piece. It turned out that she lived in a nearby town and I didn't have to ship it. She also wants to buy the original to this image, Celestial Stallion, when she has enough saved up.
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9 Years Ago
A woman who owns a Spa in California near the wine valley saw my "Tranquility" image through Fine Art America. She wanted to use it for her spa advertising, logo, etc.
I retained the rights to the image but sold her the "usage" of the image for a substantial fee to use for her advertising. I then sold her the framed image to use in her spa, as well as 4 other images through Fine Art America as part of our deal. I now see the full page ad in Marin magazine on a monthly basis at present...
9 Years Ago
Brilliant news!
I was walking the puppies a couple of weeks ago and we walk with a lot of other dogs and their humans. One of the ladies asked what I did for a living and I told her I am an artist. I had my phone on me and showed her my Pixels site. She gave me a commission there and then and paid the deposit the next day. I deliver it next week. She is absolutely thrilled (she has seen the photos of him) and another two ladies want me to paint their dogs.
Who thought my two puppies would get me work :)
Meet Buddy
9 Years Ago
Excellent! Both of you two. :-)
I posted this foggy pasture image in a contest here at FAA and sold a print of it not too long after. That has happened to me about 4 or 5 of times in the last 3 years with completely different images.
The original to this bird image sold in August at a local gallery I have work in and the story I was told was that a lady and her husband came to their art walk (they were visiting from NY), drank a little wine, and browsed around. The husband wanted a painting by another artist and the wife wanted this little black bird. The other one was $2000 and mine was $250. The husband didn't want to buy two paintings, just the $2000 one. The gallery owner told the husband that she would take $200 off the $2000 painting (knowing that the artist wouldn't have a problem with it) and discount mine to $200 (the gallery owner ate the $50 not me) than two artists would be happy and both the husband and the wife would get what they wanted.
He agreed.
The wife was ecstatic.
The husband told the gallery owner with a humorous tone, "You did something to me here and I'm going to figure out exactly what you did on my way home."
Happy customers, happy gallery owner, and two artist got paid.
The End.
9 Years Ago
After I put this on my artist Facebook page, I was contacted by someone who wanted a copy and explained that she & her husband had been waiting since they were married (8 years ago) to find just the right piece to go above their bed. We chatted back and forth about sizes, mats and frames. She told me what she thought she would pick and sent me a shot of her bedroom after I asked. I then made a screen shot of what she had picked out to go with the print, reduced the size and then put it over her bed to show her what it would look like. She loved it and purchased a large framed & matted print that day. She had a quilt on their bed which her mother had made them, and this brought out the colors of the quilt. She then posted that she loved it!
9 Years Ago
I just got word that the gal is going to purchace Celestial Stallion this week. Working out a meeting as we speak. Wahoo!
I just love this buyer too. Perfect person for the painting.
9 Years Ago
Thank you Abbie : ) - I think you will continue to do well by your doggie friends. You know what they say - Just do what you love... - & you will prosper.
I do love how once people see our work - one sale will lead to another.
& finally the perfect owner for your wonderful piece Jani .
9 Years Ago
This is my best selling image (in color). However at one art fair a couple came up and said they go engaged in the lake shore building the night I took this photo. They didn't buy the photo then; however next year at the same art fair they came up told me the story again and bought, if I remember correctly, the black and white version.
Another art show, a woman saw this photo and really like. She then brought her husband over and showed it to him. They didn't buy it. A while later he was at the fence and said he would buy it and give it to his wife for Mother's Day (this was the weekend before MD). A year or 2 later the woman came up to me and told she liked the photo and that her husband had bought the photo, then hid the photo in a cupboard, and promptly forgot about. She found it at some stage, but left it, planning to see how long her husband would forget about it.
9 Years Ago
Thank you so much Lisa - you are always so generous with your encouraging words. Love that smile : )
Rebecca - how wonderful it must have felt to be tracked down , & to know they had waited 8 years ( ! ) for just the-perfect-piece . Beautiful.
9 Years Ago
I asked my insurance agent to come by the house to see the studio I am building and to give us a quote for insurance on the building and contents.
While here, he noted that he did not know I made art. He was interested to see some. I showed him a few pieces I am getting ready for my Opening at a local Gallery Nov 8 and he bought this one!
Not an FAA sale, but all sales are good. :)
9 Years Ago
Great job, John
I forgot to say that I did sell the original to my Celestial Stallion to my new art collector and it has been delivered.
9 Years Ago
Great Jani!
And John that's a lovely piece he purchased! Never know when a sale will come about.
Rebecca
9 Years Ago
Just got the story behind the print I sold of Summer Rain.
A husband and wife saw the metal print of this painting (which looks fabulous printed on metal) hanging in a local chiropractor's office. The husband loved it and wanted to get it. It being close to Christmas, the wife convinced her husband that she hated it and it wasn't going to be in their house. She later, purchased it for him. She said that anytime she buys a painting as a gift for a family member she wraps it up as a present hanging on the wall. Her husband thought it was for some other family member. She set it down on the counter, wrapped on Christmas day and asked her husband to fix the wrapper because it fell off the wall. It hadn't, of course, and he was put out because everyone was opening gifts. When he saw it unwrapped, he new it was for him. They love the print and are excited to have it.
Do put your sales stories down here. Always fun to read.
9 Years Ago
Lovely stories, Jani. Fun to share the good times, too.
Re: "My Garden"..........12x14"
Re: MY GARDEN painting
A dear friend who travels the world and collects memorabilia along the way, stopped into my studio years ago now (this is an old story,like me !),
and fell in love with two paintings.
She dithered madly between the two. And guess what clinched the deal?
This one fit into her suitcase !!!!!!! I loved the fun of her - she never quibbled
about price and was truly enthusiastic. And, we still are friends - nice !!
.
The photo, last vestige of the image, was so poor, I've had to 'repair' the painting with a few tweaks.........don't tell Judy, ok?.
.
.
9 Years Ago
In July of 2013, a man came on a Facebook page I joined and asked if anyone had a photo of his car, a Ford roadster, from the carshow that town ran a couple of weeks prior. Of course a few photos came up and then I posted mine, directly from FAA. He flipped, which probably made the others feel crappy, but...
He ordered a 20x16 canvas and 2 30x24 matted and framed prints-the only large sale I've ever gotten, I was over the moon!
Then came an email from FAA-because the car and the background were not of the same texture (the image was a composite of 2 photos), they were not going to print it unless I uploaded a "better" version. It took a couple of emails to make FAA understand that this was intentional as I wanted the car to be super smooth and shiny against the garden.
Later that same year, as I was participating in a street fair in the same town, he sought me out and thanked me for the "wonderful" photo.
9 Years Ago
Great story, Louise. I see nothing wrong with the image. It looks intentional and very well done.
Vivian, I hear tell that it is always good to have pieces that fit in a suitcase. Good sale and I won't tell. ;-)
9 Years Ago
I'm thrilled to report that prints of two of my pieces, "Eve" and "Age of Innocence" are hanging in the historic home in Greenwood, MI where scenes of the popular film "The Help" were filmed. The owner sent me pics of them hanging there as well as a message that he loves them! Here are the pieces.