FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Copyright
information (Can I use the photo of your painting
in my blog, school project, magazine, etc.)
All my paintings, drawings and images of
my paintings and drawings are protected by Canadian
and international copyright laws and may not be
copied or reproduced in any manner without my written
permission.
I retain
the copyright to all of my paintings. Sale of a
painting does not mean the transfer of copyright -
the artist always retains all copyright and
reproduction rights to his/her paintings. That means
that you cannot make copies or any kinds of
reproductions from a painting you bought from me. If
you would like to buy limited copyright to an image
of my painting, email me and we can discuss the terms.
You can
use the image of my painting in your blog or on your
(non-commercial) website providing that you link the
image back to my website and credit me as the artist
who created the painting by visibly placing my name
under the image. It is illegal to alter the images of
my paintings in any way. For school projects and
magazine covers/illustrations, seminars and other
events please email me as I consider these on a case
by case basis.
It is
also illegal to create derivative works from any of
my original paintings (there have been many instances
of people trying to illegally copy my paintings and
sell the copies as originals or reproductions - most
of them from China. There was a case in Canada
recently where a Chinese company was illegally
reproducing the paintings of many Canadian artists,
me among them - see
this newspaper article). If you ever come across
something like that please let me know, as I do take
legal action against any such copyright infringement.
Websites
are also considered to be intellectual property and
copying of the text on my websites is also illegal (I
even found a woman in Australia that simply copied
and pasted my Artist Statement from my website and
put it on her website as her artist statement and
also tried to copy several of my paintings!)
Paintings
on canvas that were created with either acrylic or
oil paints do not have to be framed at all (the
canvas is streched on a wood support so that you can
hang the painting on a wall as is without a frame - see
example). Paintings on paper have to be framed
with an acid-free mat and under glass to protect them
(see
example).
You
should not hang any paintings where they would be
exposed to continuous direct sunlight - acrylic and
oil paintings are not as vulnerable as paintings on
paper, but their colors might slightly fade in a few
decades if you let sun burn into them all the time.
The most sensitive are watercolor paintings and
prints which will fade fast even if they are under UV
protected glass.
Basically,
avoid extremes of heat, cold and humidity and abrubt
changes in temperature. For example, if you are
moving in the middle of winter, don't just take your
oil or acrylic painting from your living room where
it is really warm outside into a car where it is way
below freezing and let it sit there overnight. Don't
hang your painting in a bathroom where you take steam
showers :-) Doing that can cause the paint to crack
or chip and the wood support to warp as the wood
expands and contracts. Do not lean your paintings on
canvas on anything that would push against the canvas
(like a furniture corner), because doing so will
create a dent in the canvas.
You can
lightly dust your oil and acrylic paintings with a
dry, soft, lint-free cloth or a soft brush.
Original
painting is a unique creation, meaning there is only
one available, so only one person in the world can
own it.
Prints
are reproductions or copies, of an original artwork
(sort of like there is only one of you and a
photograph is a 'copy' of you). There are many
different types of prints depending on the printing
process and the degree of the artist's involment
(which increases their value). Giclees are basically
just posters but with today's technology the print
can be of a very high quality with colors close to
the original painting - they are created by digitally
scanning the painting and then printing that image
(using a special inkjet printer) onto a canvas or
paper. They are a popular choice for interior
decorators, hotels, etc. where they need to decorate
many walls on a limited budget.
Prints of
paintings cannot reflect light and change with light
the same way that an original oil or acrylic painting
does. An original work of art is alive, a unique
creation of an artist. An original painting radiates
energy, that of the artist who created it as well as
the 'universal' energy that has the power to deeply
move you, shift your perception, lift your mood, take
you outside of yourself and make you perceive more
fully than you did before.
You can
group paintings on one wall in different
configurations, or hang them in a hallway or on a
long wall gallery-style (meaning in a row, so that
the middle of each painting is at the same height -
about 56 inches from the floor to the middle of each
painting), or you can even lean them on a shelf or
suspend a big one from the ceiling (as a room
divider).
A good
idea is to tape together some paper (newspaper or
printer paper) into the size of the painting you want
to buy and experiment with the placement on your wall
until you find the right spot (this will give you a
feel of the scale of the painting in relation to your
room's size and decor - keep in mind that you can
have the painting framed and thus increase its size
by quite a bit).
When you
are grouping paintings, do it on the floor first -
move them around until you find a configuration that
looks good to you.
You don't
have to have the same paintings in the same places
all the time - move them around, collect more,
display different ones for a while - that's part of
the fun of collecting.
You can
change how the painting 'fits' into the interior
decor of your room by having it framed in a frame
that matches your room's decor. You can have a
painting framed with a wide mat and a big frame and
thus increase the size of the artwork considerably.
My paintings are expressionist and abstracted, with
vibrant colors but you can have them framed in a traditional,
classical way and they will
fit well in your traditional home. Or you can hang
them on a wall without a frame which looks very modern
and contemporary.
A very
contemporary way to frame paintings on canvas (mainly
those on 1,5" deep canvas) are "floater
frames" where the frame
looks like an open 'box' and the painting sits
(appears to 'float') inside of it, so that there is a
space between the painting's edges and the frame.
The cost
of framing depends on the size and type of frame you
select. There are many framing shops in every city -
you take the painting with you and they will show you
different options and kinds of frames. Remember that
paintings on paper have to be framed with an
acid-free mat and under glass (UV coated glass if the
painting is going to be exposed to lots of sunshine).
Sometimes you can buy ready-made frames in an artist
supply store and put in the painting yourself if the
frame is the right size.
When you
see "SOLD" besides a painting's title on my
website, it means that the painting has already been
sold and so it is not available for purchase any
more.
"RESERVED"
means that somebody wants to buy that painting and is
in the process of sending me payment for it (some
people pay by a check or by installment payments, or
a bank wire so it takes longer). Unless I don't
receive their payment, that painting will be sold. So
the only way that painting would become available is
if their check bounced or they did not wire the
payment etc.
I accept
payment by all credit cards, but only through PayPal.
Please DO
NOT email me your credit card numbers! You should
never send any sensitive information in an email
(unless the email is well encrypted), because emails
are not secure and can be intercepted, altered and faked by
hackers and criminals.
If you do
not wish to use PayPal, you can mail me a check (the
check has to clear bank before I ship the painting)
or use Western Union or bank wire trasfer (email me for details).
You can
phone me if you have any questions: (604)802-6942
(leave a message if I don't pick up and I will phone
you back).
I ship
all of my painting via DHL courier and the shippment
can be tracked online. It is safe, reliable and fast.
When I mail you the painting I email you the tracking
number of the package and you can follow it online on
the DHL's website. The courier delivers to your door
(home or office) and if you are not home when they
deliver, you can phone them and arrange delivery.
Delivery
takes about 3 business days within North America and
about a week overseas. There is no duty on original
art shipped to the USA. I fill out all customs
declarations for international shipping so that you
should not have any problems with customs (so far I
never had problems with customs).
I sell
and ship all of my paintings without a decorative
frame (the paintings on canvas are stretched on wood
support with a wire hanger on the back, so that you
can hang them on a wall right when you unpack them).
I have shipped hundreds of paintings all over the
world and so far none of them was damaged during
shipping, which means that I pack and protect them
really well.
The paint
colors in my paintings are vibrant and bright and
there are many subtle hues that may not be visible on
your computer monitor. The colors you see depend on
your monitor's settings. The painting's colors depend
on the color and intensity of the light that
illuminates the painting. Different color and
intensity of light (daylight, afternoon light,
artificial light) will bring out and emphasize
different hues of color in the painting so that the
painting's colors will appear to 'shift' a bit - the
effect can be sometimes dramatic which is the beauty
of an original painting and something you will never
get with a print. You achieve the best effect by
directing a spotlight on the painting.
I use
many different hues of pure, high quality,
professional artists' paint color (these paints are
expensive but worth it, in my view) with minimal
mixing, and I layer these colors, which ensures that
my paintings' colors are vibrant and jewel-like.
There is nothing like experiencing the original. If
you like the image on your computer screen, you will
love the actual painting!
I only
take commissions occassionally, depending on how many
other committments I have at the time. Commissioned
paintings cost a little more and you can choose the
size, medium (oil, acrylic), main color and theme.
Please note that I will not copy a painting I have
created previously. I can create a painting with a
similar theme but it will be a different painting,
not a copy. I paint freely and instinctively and let
the 'muse' move my hand. That for me is the only way
to create a painting that is alive and radiating with
energy and I am not interested in creating anything
less than that.
I
sometimes receive requests from people who want to
buy a painting I have already sold from the person
who bought it - in that case, I forward their request
to the person who bought that painting (I protect my
buyer's identities and will not reveal their email
address or name). So far nobody wanted to sell their
painting. I read an article about Damien
Hirst (you might have
heard about him -he got famous by displaying dead
animals pickled in formaldehyde). He is not only a
very creative and wealthy artist but also an art
collector. This is what he said about buying art as
investment: " Once you start trading it for
money, you lose the art and just get the money back
instead, which is crap - a bad deal. You buy a great
painting, you've got a great painting. If you sell
it, you're f-----."
I wrote
an article about the basics of experiencing and
selecting art for a local magazine a while ago, you
can read it here
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