Friends,

The photos I am posting today are of various artists that I met on my recent travels. I was especially impressed with their work and passion. In subsequent postings, I will talk about each in more detail.

The art world has gotten a bit more difficult recently with the economy being more of a challenge. With fuel costs going up, it is becoming more costly to travel to these shows. Consequently, artists have to be a bit more judicious in the shows they choose to attend. The public is a bit tighter with their money and will spend considerably more time mulling a purchase and look for more reasons not to buy. This may also have the added effect of a sort of reverse buyer’s remorse. That is they decide after they get home that the piece that they were looking at would indeed complement whatever space they imagined it in or they just regret not buying because they later realize how much they liked the particular work.

With artist’s streams of revenue drying up, they need to find a better alternative to the more costly, less lucrative shows. That is where we fervently hope to help by providing this source of art fans to view and perhaps buy work. One of the major frustrations that we feel is that artists, especially older ones, do not inherently trust the internet. They think that it does not make sense that we are giving them a free portal to display their wares. The questions that we receive are always, “What are you getting out of it?”

For my wife and me, this web site fills two needs. One we are ardent and passionate supporters of the arts. We marvel at the well of creative inspirations that are evident in the passionate people that we meet in our pursuit of creative expression. Funding is virtually non-existent for artists unless one is fortunate to find an angel to finance works. Most artists are more attuned to the creative side of their personality and less capable as business people. They are more focused to the creativity. It is what makes them who they are. As a consequence, they are subject to be taken advantage of by people and organizations that would over-charge for the right to display and sell their work their using the organization’s medium. We find it appalling that this occurs, yet some artists gladly pay up to 50% for minimal support. I am passionately devoted to seeing people not being taken advantage. That is why we are supplying the portal and are going to allow artists to sell through our site with a shopping cart feature. The 15% that we will charge is what we need to pay expense related to maintaining the structure and software.

Secondly, if the site does well and get consistent good traffic we may be able to charge advertising fees to art related enterprises. We also have as part of the business plan the intention of funding and supporting art programs through donations. The area we live, Philadelphia, has many art institutions and programs that help young artists develop their talents and provide an avenue for their creative expression. It is through the eyes of these visionary and talented people that my wife and I live vicariously. Nothing warms us as much as being able to help a young person.

This site fills our emotional needs in that we feel that it is our purpose to allow others to stand on our shoulders to achieve. We get satisfaction from the success and fulfillment of others. Please join us on FABA and if you know of any artists or art shows in the country please e-mail us with that information. We are fortunate enough to be able to travel frequently and we love to make visiting shows and artists part of our itinerary.
Sincerely,
Larry
Larry@findartbuyart.com
Robin
robin@findartbuyart.com