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Matting/Framing, etc.
Hi Everyone --
This is *more* than a bit of topic, so pls accept my apology now (or hit
delete!!), but I thought you all could help me from your experiences from
when you were getting started with selling your work.
Here's my issue: I need to get some of my work matted if I hope to do any
selling this summer. HOWEVER, as I've noted before, I am a total newbie to
all this art "stuff" and am overwhelmed. . .
So, two things.
First, until I get a little more up to speed (see "Second") on how to do
matting and framing myself, any advice on what qualities to look for in a
shop -- aside from price and being nice to someone who will be asking a lot
of questions? Since I do sx-70 manipulations, most of my work is just "off"
square -- so pre-cut mats won't work for me. They either need to be done
individually or at least at done in batches at 4x4, 8x8, etc. I've found a
wholesale place in washington State (unfort I am in DC!!!) that will cut
whatever sizes -- they have a min order of $100 to do wholesale prices. The
website seemed to ofer reasonable prices though. See
http://www.matshop.com/. So, I am thinking of going with these folks. I am
also curious as to what you all might recommend as a "starter" set of pieces
to go out with -- say at a craft show or flea market. Is there a certain
number of certain sizes that I should consider doing? I would also plan to
take a portfolio with original manipulations that people could look at.
There are a lot of books about marketing and I've done some research on my
own, but first-hand accounts would be appreciated! I mean ANY advice on
getting started. (This is more than one thing, I know, I just got going and
couldn't stop!)
Second, I think I need to learn to do my own matting. SIGH. The only
workshop I found in the DC area conflicts with a weddning I am goin to (June
16-17). Any advice? I've checked out a couple of books on this topic, but
would appreciate recs for "first time" equipment purchases. I've seen
Logan, Alto(s), and Fletcher equipment on ebay. . .does anyone have any
input on these and their ease of use for a beginner?
Oh, one last thing -- I went walking aound DC's Eastern Market on Sunday and
looked at peoples' various presentations of their work to get ideas. I saw
that a lot of mats did not "fit" the work perfectly -- there was a border of
bare paper around the print -- so maybe I am being too anal retentive about
mat opening size. . .if my stuff is usually almost square, maybe as long as
I size it to fit within the square with a certain amount of bare paper
showing, that is ok?? Also, most folks had some work only matted PLUS some
work in very simple black plastic frames. . I wish I could recall what it
said on the backs of these frames. . .Anyway, EVERYONE had work in them. .
.I got the impression that they were a good way to present a work that could
be taken home and hung immediately by buyers who did not wish to be bothered
with finding a frame - at the same time, they required very little
investment on the part of the artist.
Thanks so much! Again, I know this is a long email and I am very sorry if I
have overstepped even the bounds of "off topic".
Patty
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