by Diane: How much money is my painting actually worth? Not the purchase price?

WANTED THESE SOLD PAINTINGS
The money received for a short time
made me feel good
but now these paintings would be
more valuable for me to study.
 

 

How much money a painting is worth depends on the person -  the artist or the buyer. Obviously the amount the buyer is willing to pay for the painting is how much the painting is worth to the buyer. Right? No! Some buyers like bargains and want to hear the painting is worth more for their self satisfaction.

 The first time I was asked was in 1965 by Hale Wellman who purchased  several watercolors of palm trees painted in Tucson, Arizona. For insurance purposes he wanted to list my paintings as his belongings.  Since his daughter was one of my best friends, and my husband and I were newly married living as students on a tight budget, the paintings were very reasonably priced to sell. Hale wanted to know their actual value that must be different than what he paid. It crossed my mind that they were not even worth as much as he paid. Putting a monetary value on art is a superficial construct of our capitalistic society. Paintings were like gold ingots to keep wealth. At the time I was dumbfounded by this question making me see art in an unfamiliar light.  I do not recall rising above being wordless.

Even if not including the sentimental attachment I have for the memories my paintings give me, the worth of all my paintings are priceless to me. The value I have for them can not be measured in dollars. The true monetary value of my painting is not something I usually have in mind. I should hope my work is worth more money than the cost of the materials. But is it worth a salary for the amount of time I put into living and working with each painting?  Figuring that way I am working for free even if I sell a painting now and then for hundreds of dollars and once a few times for $1,200. Does it pay for my education and experiences that went into painting? Not even close!

What I make in money is less and less important to me in my senior years.  In 1965 I was encouraged by all sales when I needed the income for buying more art supplies. The small budget years when my husband was a graduate student  at the University of Arizona, I enjoyed going to the student store and buying supplies for a small fraction of what they cost now. Knowing the money came from someone who wants to have my work was a boost to my ego. But the supplies did not last and neither did the glow from the sales. my patrons from the 60"s have either down sized and in many cases have passed away. Some work has sold on e-bay or the Portland Art Museum Rental and Sales Gallery for several paintings that were once part of the  First National Bank Permanent Collection.

These days all my older work informs my new work. I welcome my older paintings back into my collection. Some friends have put my paintings in their will to go to me or my family. I am willing to pay to get the work back.

Joy and Sorrow of Being a Prolific Painter in a Small Space

Interestingly my studio has all paintings that satisfy me and the rest of the house has more unfinished work that I  like seeing from many different angles and lighting before making changes.
I feel satisfaction and contentment and joy when I surround myself with work that satisfies me as comfortably completed. It need not be perfect. I like looking at work that over a long period time never says to me every time I walk by, "Psst, as soon as you have a moment, I need to be  touched up with a face lift. 

Being as prolific as I am, I  could quickly fill our home with art giving me the feeling that I am caught in an uncomfortable web. I  learned to withstand the sadness of destroying some of my work. 

Happy am I since I almost always keep space open.

To make space for both my husband and I to live comfortably, and welcome visitors, downsizing my collection of my own art is necessary even if it is like pulling teeth.  I go through my archives over and over again.

We need to keep space open for both of us to work and play. Conscious effort is made to display my art work,  improve storage. We keep only the stuff of everyday living that we need in addition to retiring some of my older work.  So various methods are helpful in reducing both excessive duplication in everything that surrounds us. Over the years I am always bagging stuff to donate. Many trips to the grocery store include dropping off a bag of donations. Last year I was lax and now I am back on track on donating.
Just working at  tackling  a little at a time giving me a feeling of accomplishment with each little step.  Happy am I that I have a few paintings that from the start all the variables fall in place.

Even if others do not like some of my alla prima paintings, they are among the ones that worked for me and I am fondest of them because I remember every time I look at them the experience of painting them.

Painted on a pea green background every color I put on was working with the whole right from the first stroke.  I kept the added patches of color open with the green threading through the entire painting.  Then just a few lines drawn  more from a muscle memory of a dance than thought out beforehand.  With the lines I decided the abstract was pulled together.

Hart Lake Creek  on a 1971 pack trip on our way to Lake Chelan, a sentimental painting! I treasure remembering our trips every time I look at these paintings. I do not care that some art critics would say this painting is two paintings, one being the tree trunks and the other being the creek.

 

I am a sentimentalist so my permanent collection is a diary of my life memories.

Part III: Diane Widler Wenzel on How I Hang the Pictures I Paint

A general description of a painting studio is a work place for painting fine art. I seldom work in my mostly storage for painting studio.

In Part III the bedroom storage studio contains a large selection of easy to find paintings. They are assessable whether I need them to hang in a gallery outside the home or for experimenting with   throughout my home. In the doorless clothes closet two storage bins are on wheels so I can pull them out to for the paintings on the sides and back.


The small studio work area gets messy but I know where my watercolors, acrilics, oils, brushes are more or less. Also some of my tools for hanging pictures are on the shelves below like the studfinder, hardware for aluminum frames, hooks and screw eyes. Sometimes the tape measurer is there or where I was last using it, but can most likely be found in the kitchen drawer which also contains the hammer, plyers, wire cutter and screw drivers. Behind the workbench not in the picture is a step stool which often is a neccessity in hanging pictures since I am short. The pictures on the wall with pictures is wall storage. The antique grade school first aid cabinet contains ceramic pieces and collage items.

The open  storage cabinet is also on wheels important for a small room. I have plenty of wall space for paintings and a bulletin board for notes on coming shows, inspiring quotes, and reproductions of favorite works by other artists.

The cabinet has doors that open to a top shelf with new and used sketch books. The middle shelf has my oils and some framing supplies. The lowest one holds a wooden box for hauling paintings currently filled with framed paintings under glass ready to take to the next venue.

 

 

The clothes closet is converted to storing two rolling open cabinets for storing paintings and other supplies. The metal shelves were purchased from a family who used it as a pantry. The top half has finished work of mine and other artists and below I sort whatever papers that are in process.

I feel blessed to have a husband who is not only supportive but provides for my life as an artist by building art stuff and giving me space in our home and time to paint. My working painting studio where I actually paint is any place on our property indoors or out where I can hang a painting and set up my painting stuff.  Often I look at a once finished painting and think of a new direction. So I haul out my paint brush and add a stroke or two of paint. Most often I paint on our patio or I roll back the tablecloth from the paint drop cloth underneith.

 

In conclusion to this three part series I hope to interest at least one person to be more adventurous. Fearless enough to ask what if and then follow their instincts.  Buying or making paintings, then starting to bravely pound hooks into their walls in places they hadn't considered as ideal.  Then leaving empty wall spaces to compliment their groupings of paintings. 

Being creative is natural, satisfying, challenging and never complete. The feeling when overcoming the frustration in learning to master a new skill is very much the feeling felt from being a fine arts painter with a rich creative development.  In addition, I have found that I can be a continuously prolific painter in a limited space.  The thinking behind collecting and hanging paintings can be just like the thinking process of a painter.

Part One: Diane Widler Wenzel on How I Hang the Pictures I Paint

This post is about hanging art in my home but first a brief announcement.
Everyone is invited to my painting exhibit, "Water Speaks,” opening tomorrow Sunday, October 22 at the Main Albany Public Library upstairs in the periodical area between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM. The library is at 2450 14^th Ave SE. The paintings can be seen during regular library hours until October 31^st.

I am Diane Widler Wenzel, a fine arts painter with a large collection of my own art. Over the past 65 years I have sold some of my art but still have a big representative collection of my own creations. I like to live with my paintings so I rotate them. I swithch paintings around every time I start to clean house. Revolving art gives me a lift in spirit like living in a newly remodeled home. A recent epiphany came to me while washing windows and hanging 114 works in my home to show to possible clients.

The way paintings are displayed in a home can change how we feel.   You bet they can.  Painting groupings can even improve how I feel about my spouse's habits and different likes.

My husband Don and I live in a 1950's vintage, 1,200 square foot, one story, ranch style house. The living room is long and narrow with a long gallery wall facing a large picture window providing north light.This gallery has expanded over the years to every available wall space in the house creating an uncomfortable, visual stimulation overload. Bright active paintings were jumping out at us everywhere. So I have come up with ideas on how to hang more and more paintings so they both energize and sooth us. My aim is to make our home beautiful for both of us.

When hanging my painting I consider the views of my work from the locations we occupy during our daily doings.

For 32 years on my living room gallery wall I have auditioned my latest work next to older pieces for comparison. Also, I view them here before choosing the final touches. Since my epiphany I understand Don and I view the wall differently from our different easy chairs, the computer, the coach and when we enter the house. Don and I gravitate to different places with different views of my paintings so I can select his favorite impressionistic works where he is most likely to see them. I place more abstract warm and active paintings in the locations I see them.

I didn't use to think as deeply of how my work was effecting Don. Now I understand that my husband and I want to live in a comfortable space for both of us where we can be free to spread out our activities without the confines of decorator magazine perfection. He can lay out his fishing gear and prepare for his next trip. I can paint in either the livingroom or dinning room when it isn't nice enough on the patio.

 The shape of space around the pictures in a grouping is very important in making an overall impact.
 

Intuitively I have hung the largest paintings at the entry into the living room creating the impression that the wall is longer. The spaces between paintings is larger at the entrance than between the paintings at the end. The stair stepping of heights, and different sizes create an interesting negative space around the paintings. This shape around the pictures makes an overall casualness that impacts our feeling about how we want to live.

 

The more active are the color contrasts,

the greater the need is for a larger surrounding empty space and order.

 

 

Hanging next to the window is a painting called “My Palette My Table” in which I, with an open bag, stand small, practically unnoticeably harvesting lushious color. This painting is energizing to me but also is orderly because of the repetition of squares. Repetition goes beyond the painting. Squares and rectangles in my chair space include the stacking of abstract square paintings on the white wall, the lamp shade, the Guatemalian tapestry and the picture window.

I view this island of energized order at our computer desk where I am immersed in an island of clutter, I am too close to the gallery wall to see the casually hung paintings but I do see Don's island of doings and an occassional hat or pair of sandals. For a rest I can turn towards the window and my corner chair with the energized large painting made orderly with repetition of squares within and surrounding the painting. Then beyond to the empty front door area with empty walls.

A balance of motion and rest is not a newconcept to me but now I can apply with love to my relationship with my husband. It is as true in a painting as it is true when considering how to hang paintings in the architectural spacet o make a home our oasis of activity and rest.

Coming in Part Two of How I Hang the Pictures I Paint will be about our dining area, kitchen and laundry room. I will share ideas on making better use of corners that get visually lost. Discuss museum wrap, frames and  framing pictures with the architectural elements in the room.  Part Three I will show my studio/storage with ideas for storing more art in a small space with easy access for making rotations throughout our home.

I believe every painting collector has a different living space and different needs that their collection can satisfy. Collectors not only own a part of someone elses creativity but they can embark on a personally rewarding, creative journey of their own in finding what gives them the most satisfaction in how they display their collection. Perhaps some of the principles I have discovered here and the ones in future posts will be adaptable to your own collecting process. I hope you will share some of your experiences here in comments. I am still learning.