I’m not talking megabucks but I fancy maybe trying to specialise in a type of art collection. I know one should collect what one likes but where do you begin? Are websites like degreeart.com a good start? Are there any decent auction sites?

Thanks

Collect something you like.

Granted but where do I start to look?

That will probably depend on what you like…

Art galleries to look for art.

What about collecting ceramics? Goldmark gallery is good for that.

Quite fancy something a bit more tangible so ceramics might be a good option.

Thanks

Lots of ceramics on ebay.

Check out goldmark gallery’s videos on youtube, some really good ones.

If you’re not sure where you want to start from then at this time of year I’d be going to art school degree shows. Then maybe look at some of the annual art fairs. Frieze is probably a bit too spendy 🙂 But the Affordable Art Fair in London or the Glasgow Contemporary Art Fair – Lots of galleries all showing in one place. Personally I wouldn’t buy online – the difference between something you absolutely love and something thats just good is really difficult to gauge from a photo.

Keep in mind though – art-buying is a pretty rare condition to suffer from. Its not like shopping.

Are ceramics and pottery art or craft? You’ll need a v big wallet to shop in Goldmark.

Are ceramics and pottery art or craft?

And can a craft become an art? I’ve got a bunch of casting patterns, purely industrial things, but they’re beautiful so I hung them on the wall thus turning them into art.

But did I create the art or did the pattern maker?

Alongside a sculpture by Tapfuma Gutsa I have displayed a Brooks saddle and some digital art and vintage African passport masks. Where to start?

Check to see if there’s a Free Art Friday group local to you..
It’s a pretty on trend movement that’s gained worldwide recognition, and you won’t have to pay a penny..

There are some interesting artists involved in some areas.. There’s a good few hundred quidsworh of pieces being left around my town for the public to find this afternoon

Talking of crafty things, I came across this yesterday:

Bumgardner, M., R. Romig and W. Luppold (2007). “Wood Use by Ohio’s Amish,” Forest Products Journal 57(12), 6-12.

Made me think hard.

But did I create the art or did the pattern maker?

You did. As you had the intention it was art.

art collection – for what? Investment? Or enjoyment.

The former – good luck. You can try and find artists or schools that you think are underappreciated and buy at auction, risk it online, or from dealers, or you can go to galleries and have them try and sell you what’s currently fashionable. The rise of online support of auctions has meant that dealers + retail prices are converging (and there is a rise in the hobbyist dealer).

There are lots of people with a lot of knowledge who try and second guess the market (or influence it). There are also a LOT of people faking work all the way down the scale (not just paintings worth tens of thousands – I know of at least one onlne ‘dealer’ who is buying works and re-attributing by removing/adding signatures to make money (we’re talking buying works for £10 at auction and selling for hundreds so it’s not exactly mastermind stuff). Provenance is king, especially if you’re buying online.

You can strike it lucky – I know people who bought Robert Lenkiewicz works for hundreds fifteen years ago and now they’re worth many thousands. Conversely – in the nineties works by Graham Glarke for example were at a premium and now you can pick them up for tens of pounds.

You’re better off just buying what you like. As said above – affordable art fair etc are good places to start.

If you are looking for something very affordable you can’t go wrong with Sulis Fine Art. There’s a lot of dross but more than a few gems : http://www.sulisfineart.com/

London Art Fair

Stuff like this is what you need

there are loads of Fairs and Exhibits through-out the year

London Art Fair

Stuff like this is what you need

there are loads of Fairs and Exhibits through-out the year

this.

If you see something you like, want to live with it on your walls, and can afford it; then buy. Once you’ve done that a few times you will have a collection. It’s easy!

We have a few prints by local artists and others from galleries we have visited on holiday. I’m sure that they are all worthless to anyone else, but I like looking at them still. All except for the one of lapwings.

Are you doing it because you want to collect or because you want to invest with a view to things rising in value?

Which bit of the country do you live in? Only ask because I can make lots of suggestions but they may not be near you. The Internet is useful, but you need to go out and see stuff in the flesh to start deciding what you’re interested in.

Just walked past a Matisse print in the Goldmark gallery, £450!!!!

http://www.jokingpaintings.com/Drawings-and-watercolours.htm

Her name is actually Jo King

We just visit galleries and buy stuff we like. I haven’t spent more than a few hundred on any individual piece yet though, as I don’t know what I’m doing enough to consider any art I buy an investment.

I really like Jolomo’s stuff though, so might buy an original of his.

I fancy maybe trying to specialise in a type of art collection.

With respect I think you’re starting from the wrong end. If you buy what you enjoy having on your wall, then a collection will emerge.

Personally I like bold monochrome prints. There are galleries that specialise, and it is an inexpensive way to get original, interesting art on my walls. I have to cut through all the twee nonsense to find something worth hanging, and when I find an artist whose work I like, I follow them to see what they produce next.

I’ve never thought of my collection as a collection, and it probably isn’t worth very much money, but I have walls that reflect my personality and interests, rather than the standard Ikea/Jack Vettriano stuff that everyone goes for.

I’ve bought a few pieces from the Affordable Art fare, so they might be worth a look.

I also try and get along to the exhibition shows for final year University art students. I pick something i like and who knows, perhaps one day it might be worth something. But mainly I have something on my wall from a person i’ve met and which is aesthetically pleasing.

EDIT: Forgot to plug my artist friend. He specialises in mountains, which is appropriate https://rproberts.com/

You could do worse than purchase a print of mine to start with ! 😀

Check this out…

my work

Still some left of a 40 print ltd edition run.

Currently working on a second biking related piece…

Mark

You’ll never make a killing unless you are an accepted member of the shady world of dealers. My parents used to buy paintings, porcelain and glass; all the glass and porcelain got damaged over the years reducing its value to nothing. The paintings turned out to be liabilities because nobody wanted them; they even bought a huge painting by an artist called Carel Weight, a past president of the Roayl Academy. They bought it at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, thinking it would appreciate. It certainly gave them some dinner party boasting points but when my Dad died my Mum decided to sell it but nobody wanted it as Carel Weight never achieved public fame despite being a respected artist. Now my Mum keeps telling me: “We’ve got an etching by Turner you know!” I went and had a good look at it and it’s a print, not even an original etching. My Mum is an insufferable snob; she still talks like people did in the 50s on the BBC.

Foolishly I followed their example and bought a few genuine prints by up-and-coming artists in the 80s thinking they would appreciate in value. Now the mounts have gone yellow and the artists have sunk into obscurity.

Save your money and buy a decent bike; it will repay you far more than cash by keeping you happy and healthy.

I grew up with 2 brothers who went onto become artists. One was runner up in the Beck’s Prize, sold stuff to Saatchi, has a gallery rep. The other works like a dog, teaching, flogging calendars, putting on his own shows. I’d probably have picked him to succeed.

Bear in mind that 99.999999999999999999999999999….9999999% of all art produced will be worthless, as only a tiny fraction of all stuff produced ever attains a commercial value. Hence the importance of collecting somethng you really like. Otherwise you could end up with a load of really shit ceramics no-one else will ever want, and you will have paid good money for them.

What is ‘art’?

Go to the RA Summer Exhibition and look at smaller, affordable works that you feel you could live with, there have been many over the years that I liked, etchings and small paintings that were just out of my reach at around £100-200, but now similar works by those same artists go for thousands!
Go to local art shows, go to galleries, build up an idea of what makes you stop in your tracks and go ‘wow’!, then try to find similar works that excite you and you can afford.
Whether the work becomes valuable over time should be totally irrelevant; what’s really important is can you live with it every day, walk past, stop and look at it, and keep doing that for years, because trying to buy for investment is really only for the wealthy, who only care about the name, not about enjoying the work because they think it’s beautiful.
I regularly see works by Elizabeth Blackadder, DBE RA RSA at the Summer Exhibition, highly regarded artist, who’s works go for lots of money, yet I wouldn’t hang one in the loo! I really don’t like her paintings at all, yet they’re very collectible.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/H1NuGn]Severn Estuary[/url] by SGMTB, on Flickr

I bought an original banksy when I was a student . Blew a grand on it 1998. Yay me 🙂

I remember from my childhood a bunch of small water colours on our wall which I never liked, but frequently stared at. Makes you think.