Working with artists on commissions,Color Fields Series,This weeks "MAKE AN OFFER"painting

Leaning Palm
12x16 inches
oil on panel

This Week's MAKE AN OFFER painting:

You must make an offer of at least 10.00. You must pay 10.00 shipping or pick up painting from my studio, and .0625% Florida sales tax if you are a Florida resident. Send offers to lindablondheim@gmail.com Put OFFER in the subject line. This offer is available through December 7th at 6PM.

Current High Offer on the above painting is 50.00






Color Field
5x7 inches
acrylic on mat board
unframed
50.00
Free Shipping

The color field series is based on my admiration for Mark Rothko's beautiful paintings. I saw them at the museum in Montgomery Alabama a few years ago and the pictures in books don't do them justice at all. I am not an abstract painter, preferring the landscape as my subject, so I decided to experiment with the idea of color fields in representational work. These small studies are the result.


Working with artists on commissions

What should you expect from an artist you commission a painting from?

You should expect good communication skills.

You should expect to see representative samples of the artist's work.

You should expect to receive work by the deadlines agreed upon, or be advised of any unforeseen situation which will cause delays.

You should expect to be treated courteously and with respect.

You should expect to receive some documentation about the painting you purchase, with archival information, for future restoration if needed.

You should expect the artist to use professional quality paints and supports, to insure longevity of the painting.

You should expect a skill level which is comparable with the cost of the painting.
You should expect an invoice or receipt for the painting.

Most of my collectors are my personal friends. I go the extra mile for them always and do the best I can to please them. They are very important to me as clients and personal friends. They deserve no less than my best efforts.

Which Artists' Work Should You Collect?

Feed Shed
12x16 inches
acrylic on Birch panel
wired and ready to hang unframed
Purchase HERE


Which artists' work should You collect?

Well, Mine of course!! :>)

When you start out as a collector, think about it as the beginning of a long term relationship with your art. Take the time to think about what part of your budget you wish to use to purchase art. Will it be multiple paintings over a period of time? Will it be one special painting, hung in a prominent place in your home or office? Are you an art lover or someone who wants a memory of a special person, pet, or place in your life? Do you prefer bright intense colors or more subdued? Is your home contemporary with modern furniture and sleek lines or is it more traditional with classic furniture, drapery and rugs? How will your choice in art fit in with the environment you are comfortable with?

I collect art myself and have for many years. I love the landscape and so all of my paintings, and the paintings I have purchased have to do with nature in some way. My choices are thematic. I purchase art from painters who have a passion for nature and the landscape. I purchase from artists who love their process of work entirely. I believe strongly in the old saying "paint what you know and love". I don't want to buy paintings from somebody who lives in the big city doing landscapes. I want to buy landscapes from artists who live here in the South, who paint the places that are so dear and special to me. As a collector, I want to buy from artists I respect, who know the land I love, and who paint it with the same passion that I do.

Buy local and regional art because we are the painters who love your part of the world. I paint and travel all over the South, especially in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. When you see my paintings in a gallery in the South, you know I have a deep commitment to Southern Culture and the land. I haven't been flipping through magazines, guessing what the land looks like. That is why I don't try to be a western artist, though that is the most popular place to paint the landscape. I prefer to paint what I know, understand and love.

Wherever you live or travel to; whatever place you love and want a memory of, choose the artists who live and work there to start your collection. You will live the passion for it through their work.





This week's Make an Offer Painting

Ozello Marsh
12x16 inches
unframed
oil on Masonite panel

You must make an offer of at least 10.00 and agree to pay 10.00 for shipping, or pick up at my studio to avoid a shipping charge. To make an offer email me at: lindablondheim@gmail.com Put OFFER in the message line. I will notify you if you have the highest offer each Sunday night.

New Art Exhibit at Ice House Gallery McIntosh, Florida

See Linda Blondheim's New "North Florida Farms and Ranches" Series at:

Ice House Gallery
"New Beginnings"
Opening December 5, 2008
6 - 10 PM
Ice House Gallery
US 441
McIntosh, Florida
Through December 31, 2008

Vacations and Travels to St Augustine Beach, Great Restaurants and Art Galleries

St Augustine Light House
8x10 inches
acrylic on birch panel
wired and ready to hang unframed.
400.00
shipping 15.00 or pick up at my studio
Purchase HERE

I have fallen in love with St Augustine Beach. I was lucky to spend a few weeks there this fall. It is one of the best east coast beach towns. Small and cozy but large enough to have adequate shopping and businesses, so you don't have to travel to the mainland if you don't wish to. It is just a hop and skip from Jacksonville to the North, and South to wonderful Marineland and Washington Oaks State Park. Anastasia State Park is right in St Augustine Beach and it is one of Florida's loveliest ocean front parks.

I recommend several restaurants right on A1A:

The Oasis for an excellent breakfast and great seafood.

The Sunset Grille for great seafood and excellent service.

The Sea Oats Cafe, a tiny cafe with a great breakfast and outstanding biscuits and sausage gravy.

The Cafe' 11, a quirky menu which is good, and Wireless Internet.

The A1A Ale House, downtown in St Augustine with outdoor seating and view of the tourist and carriages as the go by. Very good diverse menu with excellent service.

There are dozens of galleries in the City but the two I like the best are both beach side:

Island Fine Art just north of the 206 Intercoastal bridge on the west side of A1A in the Island Center (You can see my work there through December in a group show)

Rachel Thompson Gallery in the Town Center on A1A.

St Augustine Beach has lots of condos available for rental. My favorite is the St Augustine Beach Racket Club 880 A1A. They are really lovely and very secure with a 24 hour security guard and a locked gate to the beach. Beautifully landscaped too with exceptional dunes.

There are lots of nice hotels along the beach including the Garden Hilton, Holiday Inn, Days Inn, Comfort Inn and others.

St Augustine Beach is a relaxed easy going lifestyle. There is a new library at the Town Center, a large outlet mall nearby, lots to do in the old city and lots of beautiful, very clean white sand beaches. You will never be bored there.

Collecting Art

Wood Farm
12x16 inches
oil on Birch panel
700.00
wired and read to hang unframed
shipping 50.00 or pick up at my studio
Purchase HERE

Here is some information for art collectors

Collectors of art fall into two basic categories. The first is the collector that to lives with art, buys it until all the walls are filled, and then stops. The second is committed in the experience of collecting, and like the artist, feels compelled to continue with this passionate relationship, regardless of the decorative or functional aspects. Then is the investment collector who buys art as a commodity like stocks or gold.

What many collectors don´t realize, is the process is not over once the piece is hung. It becomes more important to become a responsible collector if you are collecting museum quality artists. There are three basic areas that require attention from all collectors.

Documentation

It is important to document each piece of art in your collections. This could prove to be an invaluable resource for restoration, or damage. The best and most economical form of documentation is images on a CD. It should be properly labeled to include artist´s name, title of work, date of completion, media, and dimensions. Also, an indication of top and front is advisable. Remember,CDs are not archivally stable, so in most cases it is a good idea to follow up with hard copy prints.

Biographical Information

It is also important to keep yourself informed about the artists´activities and save related materials. Write-ups and reviews, as well as exhibition announcements should be kept on file for each artist in your collection. This will increase the value of the work as an artist´s career develops. Minimally, you should keep an up-dated biography or artist resume. Several collectors also ask the artist to write a brief statement about their particular work. This is not always possible, but if you have contact with the artist, it is an additional luxury that only collecting living artists affords.

Provenance

If you have purchased a piece directly form a gallery or the artist, the artwork doesn´t have a history of having been in prior exhibitions or collections. But, occasionally if a specific piece you own has been previously exhibited or owned, this should be recorded accurately, and is referred to as the "provenance."

Keeping accurate records regarding your collection will allow for immediate access to current information for future exhibitions and catalogs. It is necessary backup for insurance and tax purposes. As your collection grows, it is a good idea to get a periodic professional appraisal.

Finally, as a courtesy to the artist, it is always a good idea to contact them when you move or sell the art. Artists need to have access to their work for retrospectives or survey shows.

I make up a packet for my collectors which includes a bio/resume/statement, a COA with archival information and an image of the painting, and put all into a Manila envelope for their files.

The Wood Swink and Wood Farm

The Wood Farm
12x16 inches
oil on panel
framed
800.00
shipping 50.00
Purchase HERE

The Wood Swink Post Office is the oldest working post office in Florida. It is an icon for this part of Florida and we landscape painters know it well. It is a combination antique store, post office, and produce market. It is a complete step back in time. The center of the store has a wonderful old wood stove. Chairs are grouped around it, and a checker board is strategically located where anyone can start a game. There is one of the old large metal drink boxes in front. I always have to buy a drink so I can use it. Visitors from around the world stop to post letters there and to enjoy the camaraderie they find there. It is like a second home to me. I paint there in the back from time to time and at any time I will see other painters because we all love it so much. Wilma Sue and Freddie allow their artist friends to show small paintings there and I enjoy a sale now and then. This is not one of those fake tourist stores, or a museum. It is a real step back in time, a working country store from the 1800's.



The store and post office is run by Wilma Sue Wood and her friend Deb. Freddie Wood, Wilma Sue's husband, is a farmer in the little town of Evinston where the post office is located.




Freddie's farm is prime painting territory for me and the other lucky artists who know him. Freddie grows lush crops of vegetables, including squash, collards, field peas, broccoli,tomatoes, and many other yummy vegetables. All these are available year round in the store. Freddie raises fat happy cattle on the farm. The farm is beautiful beyond description, with tall graceful palms and giant Live Oak trees, which border Orange Lake. In the afternoon, the views are simply stunning, with the golden light and long purple shadows. This is a place above all others I am fortunate to paint. I have free access to all parts of the farm and can wander to my heart's content. It is magical and sacred for me. A part of the history and legend of north Florida.



There is a story that Mr Wood killed Mr Swink in a gun fight out in front of the store over a woman in the 1800's and that is how the store became the property of the Wood family. To this day it is still called the Wood Swink.

I have a mission and dream to turn Evinston into an art destination. Freddie has an old very large packing house next to the store which would make a wonderful art center/gallery. He has an old shack on the farm which could be made into a nice cabin for painters to stay in and use for workshops. I keep hoping that a cultural private foundation or private donor will come forward to help. This old historical town needs to be saved and made into a wonderful destination for art lovers and painters.

You will find the Wood Swink Post Office on County Road 225 which runs parallel to US 441 beteen the little towns of Micanopy and McIntosh, Florida. Traveling south from Gainesville on US 441 go past Micanopy about 5 miles and you will see a green sign for Evinston, Turn left there and the road will dead end at CR 225. Turn left on 225 and go about a block to see the store on the left. You can't miss it!! They close for lunch from 12-2 PM M-F Open Saturday AM, closed Sunday. If you go, tell them that Linda Blondheim sent you and be sure to look at my paintings in the store.

Hontoon Island, Florida, A historical site

Hontoon Island
8x10 inches
gouache on panel
framed
500.00

History of Hontoon from Lars Anderson. Lars is a naturalist here in north Florida. He leads canoe trips all around the rivers of North Florida and Prairie Walks here in Alachua County. I vow to go on one some day. I know you will enjoy this excerp I got from a recent email from Lars.

While digging a canal in the 1950's, workers brought up a carved wooden "totem" of an owl from the river bottom. Later, in the 50s, another totem was pulled up by a dredge being used to work on submerged cables - this one of a pelican. This brought a rush of archaeologists whose thorough search of the river bottom revealed a totem of an otter holding a fish. These are the only such wooden totems found anywhere in North America, aside from the Pacific Northwest.

The descendants of the totem artists enjoyed many more centuries, living and dying in their river side villages, before the first European explorers ever entered their world. That first encounter came in the 1560's, when Pedro Menendez led an exploratory mission up the St. Johns. After crossing Lake George, he met these people, known as the Mayaca and asked permission to pass. He did not get it. After passing a barricade of log spikes Menendez ascended deeper into Mayaca territory. As the river narrowed, he realized he could easily fall into an ambush set by these reportedly fierce warriors, and wisely turned back.

As the long arm of the Spanish mission system swept north Florida, the Mayaca region was at the southern fringes of activity and was therefore spared - for a while. Eventually, as the north Florida natives were decimated, the Spanish started looking closer at Mayaca. Several missions were estblished in south central Florida and the upper St. Johns. In the end, all that remained of the people of Hontoon Island were scores of shell middens and burial mounds and a few totem poles - whose somber wooden eyes look out from the glass encasements of the Florida Museum of Natural History upon a world and people they could never understand.

A century and a half later, after the last of the Mayacas and their successors, the Seminoles were driven out of the upper St. Johns, a veteran of the Second Seminole War named William Hunton settled on the Island. It is from his name, though skewed and tattered from the passage of time and countless lips, that the name Hontoon was derived. From that time to this, the Island changed hands several times and was used alternately as a boat yard and cattle ranch. The State bought the island in 1967.

Changes Here on the Blog

My Yard IV
12x16 inches
oil on panel
framed
800.00
Purchase HERE


Friends,
I have neglected this blog and I apologise. I have decided to change it into a collector's blog with stories about the rural South, tips for collectors on framing, hanging paintings, archival information, choosing a collection, how to work with an artist on commissions, and various topics related to art collecting. I will also feature small paintings with a rural theme from the ranches and farms I paint on here in the South. I will post about once a week. Enjoy it and share the blog with your friends.

The above painting was done in my yard last week. My home was once part of a large farm here near Lacrosse Florida. The entire farm was owned by farmer Earnest Bethea. He grew all kinds of crops, including Broccoli, potatoes, corn, beans ,squash and other vegetables. He would take them to the packing house down the road about 7 miles to Lacrosse. There are packing houses all over this part of Florida and farms in every direction. My neighbors have beef cattle and other neighbors have horses. Living in rural Florida is wonderful for a landscape painter. There is nothing like it. I have many fond memories of the fish camps and farms I used to roam as a child. I walk my dog each day through the fields of tall grasses and can hear the neighbor's cattle lowing in the dusk of the day. Many foxes, owls,turkeys,bald eagles,other wild birds and deer live on these farms.