PSU Raising Money with Online Art Auction - Buy Now
We wanted to let you know about an excellent art buying opportunity going on right now through Portland State University.
Harrell Fletcher has organized an online art auction to benefit the PSU art Department including student scholarships, The PSU MFA Monday Night Lecture Series, the new Art and Social Practice MFA Program and the Center of Art and Social Practice.
The on-line auction is a great opportunity to get a bargain on works not only by local/Northwestern artists but great works by far-flung artists too. It is also a chance to participate in a new kind of auction designed to benefit vital and important programming here in Portland.
PDX artists in the auction: James Lavadour, Marie Watt, Storm Tharp, Kristen Miller , Brad Adkins, Joe Macca
Link to the auction
China Olympic’s Opening Ceremony Brings Tear to My Artistic Eye
Beijing Olympics Artistic Blockbuster
Portland, Oregon – I am absolutely electrified by the artful beauty of China’s Olympic opening ceremonies. The spiritual nature of this age old culture which intertwines the oldest religions in the world with the beautiful, seductive romance of poetry, music, calligraphy, painting, dance and martial arts creeps down somewhere to my gut in a place I did not think China could reach. Modern technologies like LEDs and pyrotechnics pull me into a modern grip yet sends me back to a, perhaps, collective memory of my ancient roots or a sacred past. Through it all what punches through the color and the choreography is the people. Just people, powering it all. Creating it all, and some how pulling us into a place deep within our soul that reminds me of what connects us – art.
The tear, posed to drip down the corner and over my cheek is a simple wish for peace. In this moment of artful connectedness, I pray that a cleaver of evil will not split me from my overwhelming appreciation of this coming together.
Art and the athlete can transcend everything, at least for a moment.
Janelle Fendall Baglien, Studio Art Direct
Studio Art Direct breathes new life into Brasserie Montmartre
New exterior colors for Brasserie
Portland, Oregon - The Brasserie Montmartre was one of Portland’s most treasured restaurants. Native Portlanders will remember the magic acts, crayon paintings, jazz and the French vibe. Located downtown on Park Avenue, the building was purchased in 2007 by Norway Development (Carl Coffman) and a total historic renovation is now in progress.
Originally built in the French Revival or Baroque style in 1907 as a hotel, known as the Calumet and then later as the Esquire Hotel, Norway is completely gutting and rehabbing the entire 7 floors. The first floor will be the restaurant, the second floor offices and meeting rooms, and floors 3-7 will apartments with a beautiful penthouse at the top.
Now dubbed the Esquire Apartments, the entire building will be eco-friendly with LEEDs Gold status. It will also be a state and federal historic landmark. Much of the old floors, moldings, brick walls and other period finishes will be re-used in the building. And yes, even the Brasserie Montmartre restaurant will be back.
Studio Art Direct is providing a full package for the project including exterior building coloration, interior finish selections which will evoke a vintage modern feel, art, signage, website, logo and public relations.
CALL TO LANDSCAPE PAINTERS
July 25, 2008 Portland, Oregon –- Studio Art Direct is currently curating permanent art collections for several projects in the Pacific Northwest including hotels, resorts and corporate headquarters.
For these projects, we are specifically interested in large landscape paintings on canvas and panel utilizing mixed media, encaustic, acrylic and or oils. Of particular interest are paintings with Oregon subject matter.
Paintings must be large (36″ to 96″) and original. Paintings must be of highest quality and craftsmanship. Those in the impressionistic or slightly abstracted styles - with care in creating a unique look at nature through the painter’s eyes - are of most interest to us. No Mt. Hood, Multnomah Falls, or other “typical calendar type shots” will be accepted. No works on paper accepted for this series.
Up to 5 artists will be chosen for these projects. Studio Art Direct will purchase the work on behalf of our clients at artist wholesale prices only. No galleries please. Budgets for purchase are $1000-$5000 each. Emerging artists are encouraged to submit. You must be an artist residing in Oregon or Washington to be considered.
Submit at least (3 to 5) low resolution jpegs of your work to curator@studioartdirect.com by AUGUST 1, 2008. Please provide complete contact information, your wholesale artist price for each painting/jpeg, size, medium, and substrate within your email.
For more information about Studio Art Direct, visit our website at www.studioartdirect.com
Bank of America gifts the Portland Art Museum $600,000.
PORTLAND, ORE.—Today, the Portland Art Museum announced a major gift to its Art Access Endowment to fund free admission opportunities. The Bank of America Charitable Foundation has pledged $600,000 towards free Museum tours for school groups, grades K through 12. Each year the Museum welcomes more than 20,000 children through school groups and field trips.
“This gift will allow children to come face-to-face with the artistic wonders of the world, past and present. At a time when schools are cutting funding for the arts, Bank of America’s donation will encourage educators to utilize the Museum and its collections as a vital resource, inspiring our children with mankind’s greatest creative achievements,” said Brian Ferriso, the Marilyn H. and Dr. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. Director.
“Through a wide variety of programs, Bank of America works to strengthen artistic and cultural institutions and, in turn, the communities we serve,” said Roger Hinshaw, Bank of America Oregon/SW Washington market president. “We are proud to support the Portland Art Museum to permanently eliminate cost as a barrier to area schools’ access while providing a transformational opportunity for our local youth.”
Studio Art Direct Post
31 Artists. 31 paintings. $31 dollars.
Last year, an art show called “Thirty!” brought out crowds that lined up around the block waiting to get in to a standing-room-only space to see 900 small paintings created by local Portland artists. In the four-hour opening, over 700 of the paintings were sold - that’s almost three paintings per minute throughout the course of opening night. This year brings the sequel, titled “Thirty One!”. Thirty one local artists have thirty one days to create thirty one paintings, apiece. The result: 931 small (7″ X 7″ 
original panels on sale for $31 apiece, and 31 larger paintings up for silent auction.
This is all happening on Friday, August 1 at OM Tradition Arts - 14 NE 10th Ave @ E. Burnside, right here in Portland.
For more information:
http://www.thirtyshows.blogspot.com/
And for photos of last year’s event:
http://flickr.com/photos/tysonrobichaud/sets/72157603460051087/
http://flickr.com/photos/sepiasalax/tags/thirty/
http://flickr.com/photos/wyattdemille/2104479006/
http://flickr.com/photos/wyattdemille/2104457972/
AIA exhibit demonstrates art’s versatility (DJC article)
Studio Art Direct president encourages architects to try to integrate fine art into their buildings
POSTED: 04:00 AM PDT Wednesday, June 11, 2008
BY SAM BENNETT as written in the Portland Daily Journal of Commerce
At Hotel Modera, Janelle Fendall Baglien put a nude drawing in every bathroom. For good measure, she also placed a few in the lobby of the recently opened downtown Portland hotel.
“Hotel Modera has a modern shape with clean, masculine lines,” said Baglien. “I thought the hotel needed some curves. And what better curves than a woman’s body?”
As president of Studio Art Direct, which helps architects and interior designers place art in commercial buildings, Baglien said art is playing an increasingly important role in the built environment.
“Art in the built environment is more important than it ever used to be,” she said. “People just expect to see nicer buildings and they want a nicer finish and artwork.”
Baglien demonstrates how art, technology and the human figure intersect in a new show called “Naked: Art on Raw Surfaces” at the American Institute of Architects’ Portland gallery space at 403 N.W. 11th Ave. The exhibit hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The show is designed to educate architects, interior designers, trade professionals and artists about new ways of integrating fine art into buildings. The event will showcase new techniques that allow art to be reproduced in almost any size on a multitude of surfaces, including green/sustainable surfaces.
The show features a nude painting reproduced on a variety of materials, including bamboo, eco-friendly paper made of elephant droppings, panels made of sorghum and resin made of recycled plastics.
Last week, during the exhibit’s opening night, which coincided with the Pearl District’s First Thursday art walk, AIA Portland was bustling with art lovers and the curious. They watched as local artists William Park, Aimee Erickson and Sidonie Caron portrayed a partially nude model in chalk. The artists generated about 80 figure drawings that are on display and on sale at the AIA.
“We are excited to merge so many elements into this show, including demystifying figure drawing, experimenting with sustainable surfaces and most importantly, encouraging designers to incorporate art in the early phases of design using fine art created by local artists,” said Baglien.
She said her clients are turning to Studio Art Direct as more architects are thinking about the finishes of the building and not just what she calls the “hardscape” of the building. In addition to walls, art can go on ceilings and floors, she said.
“I’m giving architects ideas for how to integrate art into the built environment, not just use plunk art – art that you plunk on a wall.”
“Art on Raw Surfaces” Show a Smashing Success
Studio Art Direct’s “Naked: Art on Raw Surfaces” saw 300 people come through the opening reception party at AIA Portland’s gallery on June 5th. The show included the month long exhibit by artist and president of Studio Art Direct, Janelle Fendall Baglien, of one of her original nude paintings printed on 20 varying surfaces including sustainable surfaces such as bamboo and sorghum as well as modern finishes like glass, frosted plex and aluminum. This show will hang until June 30th.
For the opening party, Baglien included live figure drawing. Professional figure model Julie Webb posed for artists William Park, Sidonie Caron, and Aimee Erickson. Their sketches went up for sale as drawn. Many of the drawings are still available for $100 each at AIA until June 30th. (AIA Portland Gallery 403 NW 11th, Portland, Oregon). Photos by Katy Cannatelli [katy@aiaportland.org]
Oregonian coverage of Hotel Modera Art by Brian Libby
Art at the Hotel Modera
by Brian Libby
Thursday June 05, 2008, 10:44 AM
One of the amenities of the new Hotel Modera is the art. A lot of art.Local artist William Park had an impressive show of paintings last month at Mark Woolley Gallery called “Life Is Good,” which fused colorful abstraction with wildlife portraiture. But it’s arguable that the acclaimed Park’s best recent work is on view more permanently down the street from Woolley’s space, as part of the dilapidated former Days Inn City Center’s transformation into the chic Hotel Modera.
With its sleek renovation designed by Portland’s much-admired Holst Architecture, the 174-room Modera, at Southwest Fifth Avenue and Clay Street, has become the city’s latest and perhaps most impressive boutique hotel. Along with interior flourishes of marble, stained wood and stylish furniture, the hotel has invested about $150,000 in artworks by local artists for virtually every room and public space on the site, as selected by art adviser Janelle Baglien of Studio Art Direct.
Modera’s lobby is a dramatic open plan with floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking a new courtyard, the latter converted from a parking lot by landscape architects Lango Hansen. Baglien sought a variety of curvy, circular forms in the artworks, be they abstractions or figurative nudes, to counter what she felt was a masculine design with its straight lines and hard surfaces.
The lobby’s centerpiece is Park’s massive 72-by-72-inch painting, “the white album,” a vivid swirl of creamy white plaster. Although it’s a gorgeous work, it’s also no accident the painting’s circular form recalls Hotel Modera’s logo. Baglien gave Park explicit instructions for what to paint.
“Not all artists work well on commission,” says Baglien. “I needed people I could trust.”
Although Baglien recalls Park initially bristling at having instructions, it led to an exceptionally compelling painting.
Park was also commissioned for two other works in the lobby. At first, Baglien felt that a colorful abstract painting near the entrance called “This will look different next time” was too yellow, so its primary wavy form was retouched to become darker, like a warped record album. There is also, on the facing wall, Park’s charcoal sketch of a quite curvy nude woman, “Sienna.” It, too, was made to order.
By the front desk is a multihued print of tree branches by Martha Pfanschmidt called “Traversing Time.” It also adds an organic feel to the clean-lined architecture and interiors. A few feet away are two photos by Stewart Harvey documenting the arrival of Raymond Kaskey’s “Portlandia” statue downtown via boat, before it was hoisted onto a pedestal atop the Portland Building. In Harvey’s black-and-white picture, the statue towers over Waterfront Park; one yearns for it to be returned there for a new permanent home.
The hotel has an inordinate amount of art in the bathroom, too.Modera is just the latest of several downtown hotels, either new arrivals or renovated existing establishments, to exhibit artwork by local or renowned names. At the hip Ace Hotel on Southwest Stark, for example, Portland artists such as Ryan Jacob Smith painted murals on the walls of rooms. One of the city’s top dealers, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, has often displayed works by its represented artists at two downtown establishments: Hotel Monaco and the Heathman Hotel. The Monaco even has a dog living on the premises named Art.
The venerable Heathman has long displayed its collection of Andy Warhol prints from his “Endangered Species” series in the elevator lobby of each floor, as well as in its adjacent Heathman Restaurant. Although prints admittedly aren’t as valuable as original paintings, there’s far more Warhol in the hotel than you’ll find across the street at the Portland Art Museum. For the former Mallory Hotel’s 2006 changeover into the classic Hollywood-themed Hotel deLuxe, curator Tessa Pappas accessed a collection of old studio photos featuring the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Alfred Hitchcock and Judy Garland.
At Hotel Modera, in addition to established artists like Park, Baglien chose work by a variety of emerging and under-represented artists, particularly photographers, with impressive results. The ground floor, near a series of meeting rooms, includes a series of abstract paintings by Jeni Lee that recall the rusty-hued works of James Lavadour. One floor with a Willamette Valley theme features luminous black-and-white vineyard shots by longtime McMinnville photographer Doreen Wynja.
In these high-contrast shots, vines and leaves backlit with intense sunshine appear to radiate light from within. Another floor of the hotel is devoted to photos by at-risk teens from the nonprofit Focus on Youth Photography Project.
The irony is that if you live in Portland, there’s no reason to be seeing most of the work at Hotel Modera or any of these new generation of local hotels unless the work occupies a prominent part of the lobby. Are these places yuppie havens? Sure.
Even so, these establishments now form a kind of shadow network of exhibit spaces in the city, providing opportunity to countless local artists, be they partial to boutique hotels, Motel 6 or camping. And besides, the former Days Inn has never looked better.
Hotel Modera, 515 S.W. Clay St.; www.hotelmodera.com, 503-484-1084.
Hotel Modera Artwork Gets Oregonian Coverage
Studio Art Direct received a very nice article about the artwork at Hotel Modera in Friday’s A&E section of the Oregonian. See artcle http://www.oregonlive.com/art/index.ssf/2008/06/art_at_the_hotel_modera.html
Naked: Art on Raw Surfaces
S
tudio Art Direct presents “Naked: Art on raw surfaces”
art show at the AIA New Center for Architecture gallery space June 5 - 30.
Art, technology and the human figure will intersect in a fascinating show called “Naked: Art on raw surfaces” June 5 – 30 at the AIA’s new gallery space in the Pearl District: 403 NW 11th, Portland, OR.
The art is created by Janelle Fendall Baglien, president of Studio Art Direct, a Portland based corporate art services firm. The show is designed to educate architects, interior designers, trade professionals and artists about new ways of integrating fine art into the built environment. The event will showcase new technologies that allow art to be reproduced in almost any size on a multitude of surfaces including green/sustainable surfaces.
The show will feature a nude painting reproduced on an exciting variety of materials including eco-friendly paper made of elephant poop, bamboo, panels made of sorghum, and resin made of recycled plastics.
The show kicks off with a Reception Party on First Thursday, June 5, 5:30 – 8:00 pm. During the party, local artists will be sketching a live model (tastefully draped) in a long pose and ending with a series of short gesture drawing sessions. Artists will sell their work as drawn. Audience members will be encouraged to grab charcoal and paper and join in for the gesture drawing poses.
“We are excited to merge so many elements into this show including demystifying figure drawing, experimenting with sustainable surfaces, and, most importantly, encouraging designers to incorporate art in the early phases of design using fine art created by local artists,” says Janelle Fendall Baglien, President of Studio Art Direct.
About Studio Art Direct
Studio Art Direct provides personal corporate art services to design professionals, offices, headquarters, medical facilities, condos, hotels and resorts. We help our business clients enhance their environments through affordable fine art created exclusively by Portland, Oregon and Northwest regional artists.
Our online art gallery, www.studioartdirect.com, features 900 original paintings, limited editions, giclees, sculptures, glass works, printmakings, and photographs created by Portland area emerging and established fine artists. The website exists as a resource for designers but is open to the general public 24/7.
# # #
What are the art trends for 2008
We have been asked a question: What trends are we seeing and what style of art are our clients buying? The answer varies depending on the project, but we can tell you of a couple of trends that we have seen that may carry through 2008.
a) Original abstract paintings on large, gallery wrapped canvases(2.5-3″ depth). Large meaning 4′x6′ or bigger. We have sold several 6′x6′ and larger paintings. Clients typically like to see an abstract that has “something in it they can relate to.” for example, we have commissioned paintings that have the original architectural sketches of a project collaged on the canvas and a translucent abstract painted over it. It is subtle, yet it is something the client is proud of and can relate to. We have also incorporated graphic elements of a logo into a painting in a very subtle abstracted way.
b) Oversized black and white photography. About 20″x30″ has a good “wow factor” and are affordable. Photographs in a series with a common theme work well in corporate environments. Popular themes that we are seeing are intimate nature shots: pebbles, sand, water, leaves in groupings of at least five and Oregon photos that are slightly abstracted.
c) Abstracted landscape paintings that reflect a slight relation to nature with foreground, horizon lines and sky are very popular.
d) Colorfield paintings that reflect popular color trends such as yellow, brown and blues, purples and browns, autumn colors (rust, olive, dark brown, pale yellow, and a bit of blue), apple greens and browns, and so on. Always check West Elm, Pottery Barn, and other mass market accessory and furniture stores to follow current color trends.
e) Impressionistic landscape paintingsare very popular with medical facilities. Abstract paintings have been proven to increase heart rate and blood pressure. Whereas landscapes are soothing to the soul and actually aid in the healing process.
e) Affordability is a keyfactor for most corporate clients. Giclees, reproductions on interesting surfaces, and affordable originals are the first order of business for clients who want to fill their spaces with art, created by local artists, but who are not necessarily “collectors” investing in an artist. Originals under $2000 always sell well. Reproductions that take into consideration the high cost of framing are also popular. Giclees selling at less than $200 fit the bill here.
f) Creating a body of work in a series is also important. Most of our clients have long corridors and public areas that need to feel thematic and pulled together. A series should be the same size, same substrate, same medium and same general style and subject matter. It is not unusual to install 20 art pieces on one corridor.
The Art of Hotel Modera in Downtown Portland
April 3, 2008 - Portland, Oregon Studio Art Direct has been awarded the contract to provide artwork for the Hotel Modera in Downtown Portland, Oregon.
The remodeled hotel, formerly the Days Inn on 6th and Columbia, will feature a mod-elegant ambiance reflected in pure white color palettes, clean lined furnishings, and natural woods. Named Hotel Modera for its mid century modern style, this new luxury boutique hotel will rival the Heathman, Hilton, and Benson.
To enhance the overall design, Studio Art Direct curated 300 works of art created exclusively by local artists. The art is designed to reflect a mid century modern ambiance with minimalistic paintings, large abstracts, nude gesture drawing sketches, glass works, marble sculpture, modern monoprints, and oversized black and white photographs of Oregon’s natural environment.
Artist selected for the hotel include:
PHOTOGRAPHY: Stewart Harvey, Gary Wilson, Thorsten Ott, Aubrie Aurand, Zeb Andrews, Doreen Wynja,and at-risk-youth from Focus on Youth photography program.
Photographs are stunning modern black and whites capturing the beauty of Oregon’s beaches, farmlands, vineyards, deserts, and dowtown Portland urbanscapes. Images were shot digitally and on film using techniques such as pinhole, infrared and time lapsed photography.
One entire floor will be dedicated to Focus on Youth. This is an organization which puts cameras in the hands of at-risk-youth and teaches them to “shoot beauty” and develop the film. These photographs are remarkably well done and are an effort to give back to the community by both Studio Art Direct and the hotel owners.
ORIGINAL PAINTINGS & WORKS ON PAPER: Bill Park, Martha Pfanschmidt, Jeni Lee, and Janelle Baglien.
Several main lobby pieces have been commissioned specifically for the hotel lobby and public areas. Works include large abstracts and minimalist paintings, nude figurative drawings, and monoprints.
GLASS AND MARBLE SCULPTURE AND ART D’ OBJECTS - artists to be determined.
Hotel Modera will open in late May 2008. Designers include Holst Architecture and Corso Staicoff Interior Design.
A thanks to Portland photographers for beautiful work
Portland, Oregon - January 22, 2008 Studio Art Direct would like to thank all the Portland Photographers who submitted images for our hotel project.
We received thousands of breathtaking images from both emerging artists and established professional photographers. Your ability to capture the enormous beauty of our state and nature within our city was inspiring.
The above photo is of the lake at West Moreland Park captured by photographer Gary Wilson using infrared. Beautiful Gary!
Impressionist Landscape Paintings of Oregon Wanted
Portland, Oregon - January 22, 2008 Studio Art Direct is currently accepting submissions by artist specializing in impressionistic style paintings of Oregon nature including our farmlands, vineyards, ranches, rivers, forests and trees.
We are specifically looking for works of art focusing on the Central Oregon High Desert and the Deschutes River.
To be considered, you must be an artist residing in Oregon or Washington. Please send 4 samples of your work as low resolution jpegs to curator@studioartdirect.com Include your contact information, artist bio/statement, and your artwork’s title, size medium, substrate and retail price.
Black and White Photos wanted for hotel project
Dec. 31, 2007 Portland, Oregon - Studio Art Direct is currently curating a permanent art collection for a downtown Portland boutique hotel. We are accepting submissions from photographers until January 14, 2007.
For this project, we are specifically interested in abstracted landscape and nature images of Oregon and Portland – our vineyards, trees & forests, lakes and streams, beaches, high desert, cattle, ranching and farming, orchards and etc. Photographs can also be of downtown Portland shots that depict how nature interacts in our beautiful urbanscape. Our goal is to show the beauty of nature both in our city and out in the hinterlands of Oregon. Our mission is to have people who stay at this hotel experience a bit of Oregon’s wild and natural beauty from the perspective of modern photography.
Photos must be black and white with a preference for those shot in infrared. The images must be slightly abstracted with care in creating a unique look at nature through modern eyes. No Mt. Hood, Multnomah Falls, or other “typical calendar type shots” will be accepted. Images must be horizontal. Final images will be printed to about 20″ x 30″.
Up to 8 artists will be chosen for this project. Studio Art Direct will handle the image printing and framing. The purpose is for wall art décor and there will be no other usage. The budget for royalty image use is relatively small. Emerging artists are encouraged to submit. Each artist/photographer chosen will provide 15 - 30 images. You must be an artist residing in Oregon or Washington to be considered.
Submit jpeg sample images to info@studioartdirect.com by January 14, 2008. Please provide a description of the images within your email.
For more information about Studio Art Direct, visit our website at www.studioartdirect.com
See Art in Your Space Before You Buy
If you are like many of our corporate clients, you need help envisioning how an art selection will look in your space. With digital imaging, Studio Art Direct can provide you to-scale photographs of art “in-situ.” This allows you to examine your choices.
Studio Art Direct is now providing our digital imaging services to interior design and internet clients. We can show you what your art selection(s) will look like in a space by embedding art images directly into digital photos - just like we have shown above.
Here is how it is done:
1. Choose art. Go to www.studioartdirect.com and choose (2) artworks you love. Write down the title of the work. (Artists in photos above are: Allan Stephenson, Jennifer Pinkham, and John Butler.
2. Grab your digital camera and take a straight on picture of the wall you are considering placing the art on.
3. Take a measurement of the wall - preferrably the height of the wall. This will help us provide you a to-scale image of the artwork in your space.
4. Email us at info@studioartdirect.com and include your art selection titles (#1), a jpeg photograph of the wall (#2), and a measurement (#3).
We will send you back your photograph with the artwork you have chosen placed right on the wall. You will be able to see how it will look without ever leaving your home or office.
How much does this cost? Nothing….yet. So take advantage of this new service today!
Janelle Fendall Baglien
The Art of Displaying Art
Art is one of those defining elements that improves the overall sophistication of a space. And yet, the thought of buying and hanging art seems to fill many of my clients with fear.
BUY WHAT YOU LOVE - but what do you love?
Art is like music. If you buy what moves your soul and fills your senses, you will enjoy it everyday. Many experts say “buy what you love.” But from my experience, many clients don’t know what they love. Here is an easy way to find out, go to www.studioartdirect.com or anyother online website and look through the categories - abstract, landscapes, figurative, modern, floral, and photography. Narrow down the general art genre (or category) you like. This will help you hone your style. After that, truly, buy what you love. Don’t let anyone tell you a piece of art is not “good” because art is completely subjective and should evoke a feeling - in you!
If you are a business, you need to think about your clients. Because you love sailboats does not mean your office should be themed with photos of sails cutting blue water. Your art needs to reflect your company culture and enhance the space. What often works best are gently abstracted works of art - nothing to edgy or disturbing.
LEAVE ROOM FOR IMAGINATION
Art can immediately grab you but you can grow tired and bored with it quickly. If you buy art with a bit of abstraction or interpretation, it will leave space for your mind to fill in the blanks. This may keep you more intrigued over time.
WHEN IN DOUBT, LEASE OR RENT
If you are hesitant, lease or rent to with an option to own. If you are a business, you can write the lease off as an operational expense. Studio Art Direct leases for about 4% of the purchase price per month.
EYE LEVEL
A recurring mistake I see in clients’ homes or offices is to hang art too high on the wall. Prints or portraits should be hung at approximately the eye level of a person standing between 5 foot 6 and 5 foot 8 in a room where people will mainly stand. In rooms where sitting is the main position, place art lower. The goal is to be able to enjoy the artwork at a natural level. Not to have to be looking up at it.
ARRANGING 101
)
Often clients will spread art across an entire wall. But this creates an unrelated, anonymous and distant feeling. When creating a display on a large wall, it’s important that the artwork be hung close together, with a relationship to each other, rather than scattered across the space. Consider similar framing or matting to make a theme.
Even if you’re hanging pictures over a couch or conference room console, don’t feel they have to be spaced out over the entire 7-foot furniture piece. Try to have the pieces equidistant from each other, but centered over the middle third or half of the focal point. You can also play with your pieces by taping paper templates up on the wall or spreading the art pieces on the floor and shuffling them around until you get the look you want.
CONSIDER BIG
Big art is very dramatic. If you have a large wall or space, don’t be afraid to go big. A trend today is to place big works in small spaces. With today’s technology, Studio Art Direct can take virtually any high resolution image - art or photo - and reproduce it in very large sizes - even as wall paper!
USE REMOVABLE HOOKS
Go to True Value Hardware/Ace (not Home Depot) and pick up plastic hooks that attach to the wall with adhesive and are REMOVABLE - no damage. This is a great way to determine if you like the placement of your artwork. You can use them permanently - they hold about 20 lbs (they say more, but my experience is 20 lbs is max).
20,000 hits per month and growing
At the beginning of this year, we were excited to receive 8000 hits per month. Today, Studio Art Direct’s website www.studioartdirect.com receives well over 20,000 hits per month. As the site grows in attention and with a little help from Google Ads, we expect to be at 100,ooo per month. As websites go, that may seem like a small number, but it is better than 90 % of the 876 million art websites on the internet today. Consolidating regional artists into one “home base.”carefully selecting relevant key words, online ad placements and direct marketing to design professionals assures that visitors to the site are qualified.
The average artist who maintains their own art website may receive 200-500 hits per month resulting in very limited exposure. Banning artists together with one online presence gives Studio Art Direct’s emerging artists about 100 times more exposure.
Here are the TOP 20 most viewed artworks (ascending):
| Field of Gold
La Lumiere |
||
| Thistles and Lace | ||
| Before the Storm | ||
| Opposite Attraction | ||
| Over the Top | ||
| Sunflower | ||
| Wrens Habitation Triptych | ||
| Beginning | ||
| Series III Untitled #1 | ||
| Contest | ||
| Hirondelles de Vigne | ||
| Homage to Rothko 3 | ||
| South to Tillamook Head | ||
| Cracked | ||
| Ancient Lines I | ||
| Thistle and Lace II | ||
| Leaf Gesture II | ||
| Aesthetic Philistine | ||
| Legna Pendant |
Congratualtions to these artists.
Commissions for corporate art booming
Portland, Oregon - Studio Art Direct has been busy commissioning local artists for several exciting projects. Some noteworthy commissions and custom designed projects include a penthouse at the Strand with Ankrom Moisan Architects in Portland OR: Specht Development offices in Beaverton OR; 7-story office building in Vegas NV; the new Brasserie Montamarte restaurant and jazz bar in Portland OR; Prange Law Offices in Portland OR; Wildhorse Resort in Pendelton OR; Dunthorpe wine cellar mural in Lake Oswego OR, and law offices in Honolulu HI.
The pipeline holds some very inventive designs including a boutique hotel with a rock and roll art and lyrics theme, a golf resort in San Francisco, a condo project on the Oregon coast, and more office buildings in California and Oregon.
Artists who have been commissioned for work include Martha Pfanschmidtt, Jeni Lee, Elli Milan, Jean Marie Rogers, Gina Kulig, Elizabeth Kimes, James Armer and Michelle Harris.
