Insane Imaginings, Random Reveries & Other Creative Cogitation

The lack of art production is incredibly depressing. What have I been doing?

I did get most of the tax class website up, all but 3 pages-but they are for part 3 which is not even going to be taught until October.  I have spend 82 hours on it so far.  I also did my preparations for the part of the class I teach too, which is a separate time investment.

I purchased an AC floor unit from Costco for 1/10 the cheapest  bid for a new heat pump.  After it arrived I had to wait 24 hours as they delivered it upside down; so much for the this-end-up markings.  The manufacturer recommend it be sitting upright for 24 hours before firing it up. Anyway, after 24 hours I finally got to turn it on.  It was not quite as simple as plug and play.  The exhaust hose that came with the unit was very short and not insulated either.  The power cord was also short.   The net result is I got the thing parked with great difficulty.  It’s up on cinder blocks to help the hose reach the window, and several feet from where I really wanted it (to improve air flow in the area) owing to the short power cord.  I also had to insulate the exhaust pipe & the window where the exhaust exits through as both were heating up the room, right next to the AC. Now that all that is done it works fairly well, keeping the air dry and in between 85 (in my studio) and 90 (in my office).  I’d like it to be a little cooler, but it is better than working in the rain forest by far.

Still no frames, still no travel plans for NYC.  I feel the need to start obsessing about that.  Fall show season is looming. I put in an application for the October Sunnyslope Artwalk already. Several people made noises about joining me on the NYC trip, but as the time draws closer, they have other plans.  It looks like I will be traveling solo.

the web, by Jake Beckman. A canary sings in tree branches connected with gossamer webs.

Yesterday I finally got back to painting and 7 of the 9 paintings I started 3 weeks ago got finished: six, seven, eight, nine, Hash, Splat! and the web.  Today I photographed them, did a bunch of Photoshop work, uploaded the result to my website, and scheduled posts on Daily Painters of Arizona. I realized today that I have about 20 paintings to register with Fine Art Registry, but that is not a priority at the moment.  Anyway completing six of these paintings allowed me to finally complete the cell phone composite.

Cell Phone Keypad Composit of 15 individual paintings by Jake Beckman

Tomorrow is another workweek with my day job.  I have to focus at least some time on getting ready for New York.  Toward that end I purchased several 24″ x 24″ gallery wrapped canvases and I have some ideas already.

It feels good to finally be painting again.  I was getting pretty crabby without it.

Anyway if you would like to find out more about the newly completed work, or would like to buy something, please check out their pages at my website: six, seven, eight, nine, Hash, Splat! and the web.

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

It’s been 13 days since I last blogged.  What have I done?  Not much to be perfectly honest.  I went up to Oak Creek again, this time with a raft of people including 3 kids.  It was 5 days and a lot of fun (for the most part).  I did enjoy taking the little ones on this or that adventure like hiking up Munds Creek or going to the deep hole; it is nice to see the unfiltered joy of discovery.

After 3 days the entertainment committee started to wear out though.  Kids had to rediscover the ancient Nintendo in the trailer, which was rather amusing, the joy of the ring game (kinda like horseshoes), Yahtzee and other such pastimes.  Most of the adults and one child left on Sunday afternoon, as they had to work Monday.

I got some painting done but I still haven’t finished any of the paintings I discussed in my last blog.  I was really hoping to get more done. Silly me.  Lesson learned.  If you plan a retreat that involves non artists, you are not going to get much of a chance to paint.  I am not upset really; I did need a little summer retreat and taking it in 2 5-day segments is better than not.  On the other hand part of me is bugged because I did *waste* this time-and I know I shouldn’t be bugged.

A group of children and adults hunt for crawdads in Oak Creek AZ. Photo by Jake Beckman (c) 2010

When I arrived back in Phoenix I discovered my air conditioner had busted again.  This time the compressor shorted out. $1445 to replace it and the AC/heater we are discussing is about 45 years old.  If I fix the compressor what else is going to break? It still has several other ancient parts.  In the mean time I fired up the swamp cooler, which only provides a little bit of relief as its monsoon season and the humidity means it just does not work well. I unloaded the van and put a few things away, but some things just got put away today-that is so unlike me.  The house is a mess.  I do not want to deal with it.

I got a few bids on new heat pumps.  Holy Cow!  Needless to say I do not have that kind of cash lying around right now.  That was last Tuesday afternoon.  I ordered a floor unit from Costco, which is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. That postpones the decision about what to about the busted AC indefinitely, I can handle that, just as soon as I feel cold air washing over me again. In the meantime it has been hot and sticky and it is very hard to get motivated to do anything.  In the heat of the day I feel like taking a nap directly in front of a fan.

In my *spare* time, (ha, ha, ha) I have been working on the tax class website.  The website is 40 or cross linked/indexed pages complete with Q&A and sample tax returns (there are probably100  pdfs attached to these pages).  The SEE study website is actually pretty big. I am updating the information to cover the 2009 tax year and there are all sorts of little bits that are specific only to that year that have be located and changed from the previous tax year. I don’t have time to do it.  I am doing this again, why?

The same group I am doing this volunteer work for asked me to take over their website to.  I said no.  I said no.  I said no.  I think I said no on the phone for about 3o minutes.  Finally they heard no.  As for the tax class web, I tend to be a person of my word so if I say I am going to do something for someone else, I generally do it, even if I discover I have bitten off more than I can chew.  I am not so good at honoring those promises to myself and as I sit here writing this I recognize this disparity is definitely something I need to address, quickly. I have got to say no a hell of a lot more often.

So the short version is I got back, melted, did my day job, shopped for AC options, met with at least 4 HVAC guys, and have been forcing myself to work in the *rain forest,* which is what I am calling my office right now and have not really painted in about 2 weeks.  The 100 painting thing has been on hiatus for 2 weeks and it doesn’t look like I am going to have time to pick up the thread this week either.

I have to make the bleeping time.  More later.

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

Hang Up by Jake Beckman. A Yellow Canary purchase atop the telephone icon of an "end call" cell phone button. The ASCII Binary arching over the top reads "Hang Up"

So it is day 23 of 100 paintings in 100 days.  I have completed 9 paintings and I have 9 others in various stages of completion.  With a good days work I probably can complete all of them, but my life is a continuous juggling act and I don’t know when I am going to get a moment to paint again in the next several days.

I came back from my trip to Oak Creek on Day 16.  I painted all day, then packed it in and drove back to Phoenix.  I decided I’d rather start off my short workweek refreshed in the relative cool of the Phoenix AZ morning rather than fried from driving back down the hill in the heat.  It was an uneventful trip home.  The usual stuff, my day job and all, awaited me.

In the last week I finished Vuvuzela’s, five, zero, Call Me, Hang Up & Do It!, photographed them and got the images up on my website.  I still need to register them with my provenance service.  I also blogged about Vuvuzela’s separately since it was directly related to the 2010 Soccer World Cup, which wrapped up last week too.

Do It! by Jake Beckman, a yellow canary angle flies before the "do it" button of a cell phone. The ASCII Binary reads, "Do It!"

I have found time to start 6 new pieces in addition to the three 11×14-inch paintings I started in Oak Creek.  The three inspired by my last visit to Oak Creek are tentatively named www (or web or net I am not sure yet), MySpace and My World.  The 6 new paintings are all 6×8 inch ones that will finish out my key pad: six, seven, eight, nine, Hash and Splat! I need to finish painting the Tweeties in 7 of these and overlay the binary.  My World and MySpace are somewhat less developed at this point.

As you can see, I am falling behind-I should have 23 completed and only 9 done with 9 more in the works-well short of my goal. And I still have a tax class website to prepare, tax class to teach, an artshow in NYC, a mess of art to frame, etc.  I haven’t even purchased the frames, nor have I solidified my travel plans for NYC.  OMG I am so far behind!

Breathe.

This weekend I am going back to Oak Creek canyon.  A fellow artist JChristi wanted to camp out and I suggested Oak Creek as it simplifies “camping” a little bit.  But unlike my last trip, this is more or less JChristi’s show, which means I am going to have to work around her schedule.  We are supposed to leave Friday morning.  Since it is a little after midnight Thursday has just started and I have many things to do before I can leave for Sedona.  I am looking forward to going back though; it is really hot here in Phoenix (112 at the airport today, 116 in some parts of the valley) and it will be cooler up there.  Also being unplugged does get my creative juices flowing.   JChristi told me to “bring my paints” so I am going to, but I am unsure how much painting I will actually get done.

DH is demuring about going with again, so our cats will have one of their people around.

Back to the subject at hand. Maybe 100 paintings in 100 days is not a realistic goal given all the other things I have going on in my life – after all I have missed my mark by 61% at this point-not counting the partially finished pieces.  Embrace the reality.  Maybe it will be 100 paintings by the end of the year (at this rate-even that is pushing it).  I don’t know, but I am going to keep at this.

In the meantime you can certainly check out the paintings I have completed on this project, and of course if you’d like to buy one that would be lovely as well.  Enjoy.    two, three, four, five, zero, Vuvuzelas, Call Me, Do It!, Hang Up

Also the cell phone keypad is approaching completion and I really think it needs a place to be displayed-in fact I have already laid out the pieces and had a look-see for myself. It’s definitely coming along.  So if you know of any place that might be interested in displaying it and perhaps selling it, please let me know.  I’ll post the entire work somewhere when its done.

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

Photo of Oak Creek taken by Jake Beckman on or about July4, 2010. Isn't it beautiful?

I think I last blogged Day 5-6 of 100 paintings in 100 days.  In theory we are now at Day 13. So in theory I have had 7 more days to work and I confess I have not.  Sunday started with the best of intensions, but I didn’t finish anything.  Monday was back to work day and I carried out affairs of my other business.  Sometime this week DH interrupted me with a computer repair that sucked up a day & ½.  Wednesday I did some bookkeeping and delivered it Thursday.  This week I also dealt with getting my AC fixed-so painting, which I did do, was squeezed in 30-minute chunks of time waiting for this or that to happen.  Another advantage of working small-you can actually *do* something with a 30-minute chunk of time. 

Traditionally my friend Mayna, who retired after 20 years in the Marine Corps, and DH would join me on this 4^th of July vacation break; we usually stay a week or more.  Some friends and family have a dumpy trailer in Oak Creek canyon, with a lovely little deck hidden in the trees next to the creek-when I say dumpy I mean it an affectionate way. It is better than “literally” camping out as there is a gas grill, a gas stove, restroom facilities and even a shower.  It also is stocked with things like sleeping bags, air mattresses, lights and lawn chairs.  Basically you need to bring your entertainment, food, drink, clothing, and shower supplies. There’s a country store within walking distance-their prices are high, but you pay for the convenience of being able to get ice in the wilderness. Otherwise Sedona is a short drive away; it has all the usual accoutrements of a town.  

I usually take a bunch of pictures, we build a dam to make a swimming hole, hike about and I really enjoy being in a place where there is no cell phone service what so ever. 

So this year Mayna is sticking to home as she is out of work and trying to conserve funds.  DH, I dunno-we did discuss coming up here-I cleared it with the friends and family, purchased supplies, the plan was coming together. Then he did the heel-dragging thing all day Friday rather than flat out saying he didn’t want to come. I ultimately decided I needed to get out of town, even if it was by myself, but owing to DH’s procrastination, I showed up here sometime after 9 PM, well after sunset.  

Fortunately for me some of those friends were already up here; they fired up the electricity and water for the trailer so I didn’t have to find those things in the dark. I really appreciated them doing that; they are in a different trailer so they didn’t have to do that, but they did because they knew I would be coming. I also remembered to bring some precooked chow so when I finally did get situated I would have something easy to make and eat. 

Last night I slept under the stars.  When the moon rose some idiot bird started singing waking me up, but I drifted back to sleep until sunrise when a squirrel demolish a pine cone began throwing its orts at me.  The umbrella is up now so that won’t happen anymore.

This is where I slept and painted. A "Deck in the Trees."

 I did notice when I turned my laptop detected 4 wireless networks including an unsecured one. One I recognize as belonging to a person who lives up here year round.  I bet if I asked nicely he’d let me use it.  But I don’t want to.  Mostly I do come up here to “unplug” but it is getting harder and harder to do.  You probably can find an unsecure network on the top Machu Pichu these days.  Anyway, I am ignoring those networks as if they do not exist-hey the signals are “low,” they might cut out on me in the middle of something.   Currently this blog is in a word document to be cut and pasted later.

I brought the computer up so I could work on a Special Enrollment Exam Class I am supposed to teach in August.  I am responsible for updating a website full of material on all three parts and I teach the sections on depreciation and basis.  So I turned the box on, dragged out the part one materials, and find I have absolutely no desire to do it. Instead, I spent a leisurely morning unwinding-made breakfast, drank tea and read half a book, The Tomb of Hercules, by Andy McDermott, which is exactly the delightful escapist trash it sounds like.  Finally I am thinking of doing something constructive.  I am here in all this reeking fresh air and stinking nature complete with the full complement of bugs and other wildfire so I guess I should get my creative juices flowing.  Instead of working on the tax class website, I decided to blog.  And now to paint-maybe. 

A bit later.  I wandered down to the creek, Blackberry and Lumix in hand. There is this one tree creekside which reminds me of a tree ent ala JRR Tolkien. Don’t know how I can turn that into a binary bird.  But three other images did come to me-in the morning as the squirrel was throwing pine cone at me, I noted an abstract pattern in the branches of the trees overhead.  It was almost black and white (and blurry because I was not wearing my glasses).  The second image came to me as I watched a sucker swimming in a relatively still part of the creek.  The third image came later as the shadows started crossing from the West leaving a shaft of light weaving through the thicket of trees to illuminate a single stone.  When I finish them at least one will be posted here.  I don’t know what the ultimate version of these images will be as they are barely drafted at the moment. 

Enjoying the peace of the canyon, being unplugged, and having a moment to read for the joy of reading. I wish Mayna and DH were here to enjoy it with me.  The weather is gorgeous.

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

Update June 23:  I came to realize I had a strong urge to cheat on my plan using my mobile (Blackberry) . I found myself reaching for it everytime I saw the red light flashing.  It was unintentional/automatic.  I have had to deliberately not touch it.  So right now it is sitting face down so I can’t see the red light flashing, although I know it is…  The experiment continues.  I think checking my communications 2 times a day should be enough. I have just read in a blog  by Lisa Baron ethat I may want to put off the morning check in until after I get some stuff done as part of a time management strategy.  OK… Maybe I’ll give that a whirl or not.

The first couple of days were bad.  I was definitely going through withdrawal.  I didn’t get anything done-I just sort of laid around and felt my way through it.  Like the urge to respond to the Blackberry, it felt odd not to enter my office even as the laptop beaconed and to limit the amount of time I spent doing the communications thing.  I mean there is stuff going on… you know?  But the world did not explode because I did not find out about this or that immediately; I confess, I love twitter-I find out about so much faster than the eye-witness newclones can relate it to me on the idiot box.

So yesterday I actually got some work done.  And my mind is now thinking in terms of priorities instead of letting this machine move me around my day.  I will be launching the project I started this weekend 100 paintings in 100 days soon.  But first I need to get some other stuff taken care of. 

(is the internet slow today or what?) Waiting for a page to load so I can copy stuff from it…

Cindy Lou Who, constant companion in my office, who knows she can always get random attention from me in here.

Anyway, you got any time management tips that can be assimilated by the artistic heart?  Have you made peace with your electronic communication junky monkey?  Love to hear from you. 

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

UPDATE June 21:  I survived a weekend of pushing myself away from the computer.  I wish I could say I got a lot done, but I didn’t-I felt like I was missing something.  It was hard-I admit it I am now a social networking junkie.  I logged in once on Saturday and then by Sunday I had a whole bunch of stuff that I had not seen before; one person complained it was hard to follow my tweets as they did not remember what I was responding to a day later.  But on Sunday I only logged in one more time and got off within 10 minutes or so.  I have decided 1 time per day is not going to be enough to keep up with my stuff.  Today its business as usual.  But I am seeing the possibilities…  So the experiment will continue.  During the week I need to work on my computer, but Iwill only check my social media and email 2 times at most and I will only be on the computer when I have to.  Of course all that free time gave me another idea about how to spend more time on my computer.  Eek.    More later. 

June 19: OK. I am in communication overload.  I find myself in front of this device all the time.  I spend so much time in my office that I grow cats who get very comfortable on me while I am working.  It is not easy to work with a 15 pound feline demanding attention, which I guess is their way of saying, “Step away from the box…”

Me, working at my computer with a helpful feline in my lap and another on my desk generally knocking crap over.

I have come to feel like my desk has a gravitational pull that stronger than the rest of the earth.  I am in orbit around it regularly and it is very hard to pull myself away from it-and I always seem to wind up right back in front of it.  Sure my day job forces me to be here at least part of the time, but more and more I find myself drawn into email, blogging, online marketing, social media and other electronic communication to the point where I believe it is taking too much of my time. 

Resolved, I will start budgeting (limiting) my time in front of the glowing screen so that I can get out  and do stuff in the big blue box too.  I was thinking I would try to stay away from the computer all weekend, but I think that is probably not realistic so I may just need to get a timer or something to limit the amount of time I sit here.

We’ll see how it goes.  Stepping away from the computer… as soon as I post this, link to it on my website and post it to social media-see what I mean?

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

So I am in the middle of a learning all sorts of marketing stuff, and one thing this one person keeps going on about is artists who show their art on a black background because it makes their art pop.  This particular marketer hates it.  She points out that galleries don’t display art on dark walls…  Her basic premise is black is a powerful color that can easily overwhelm art.  Black distracts from the art even as it draws you in.  I dunno about that but I will entertain the notion.

This marketer also says reverse type (white type on a black background) is harder to read than the converse, especially on the web.  That argument won me over.  I don’t want my visitors straining their eyes trying to read something. 

The problem for me is that I had designed both my prints area and my original art areas with backgrounds that were nearly black-they were at least 80-90% neutral gray.  I chose the dark color as I did intend to use reverse type, and reverse type becomes more visible the more contrast you give it from the background.  On the other hand I didn’t want to go absolute black with my original design, so the nearly black was my compromise. 

Fast forward to last week.  I did design my site with style sheets which meant I could easily make big color changes.  It turns out I set the font color as a page property so I had to find that line of code in all my pages and change it.  Fortunately software also allows a find and replace option for all pages in the web so that turned out to be pretty easy too.  The biggest hassle was with my images.  I have a lot of them set up as a swap image.  Swap images have to be the same dimensions, so I have filled out my images with background matching the website background; that meant I had to edit all those images.  But its all done I think; I didn’t check each page to make sure, but I did make sure all the images were updated. 

Demo of the old verses new website style

So instead of have 80-90% black its now 10-20%% gray backgrounds instead, nearly white-I just can’t bring myself to do pure white-its so boring.  All the type is black san serif (serifs are all those embellishments in certain kinds of type like Times New Roman and also make web type harder to read) arial/helvetica family. 

So what do you think?  I have changed over the art and print sections in their entirety.  Is Black type and colorful pictures on white better than White type and colorful pictures on black? Was all that dark gray detracting from my work.  This inquiring mind wants to know what her patrons think of the change.

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

I have been reading a Linked-In thread (lurking really) about art marketing; it headed off on this tangent that I found near and dear to my heart:  Charities that solicit art donations.  This topic brings up a very unpleasant memory.

I participated in a  juried art show/art market.  They required a jury fee, booth fee, and a donation of artwork to the silent auction.  They asked for the value of the artwork donated and required it be similar to what I would have on display for sale in my booth. Because they asked the artwork’s value I assumed they would use the information. It was my first time participating in such an event so I forgive myself my ignorance.

I was unaware they did not set a minimum price, had I known I would have purchased by big beautiful piece myself, or just donated something that I needed to clean out of my closet.  By the time I knew what was going on the auction was over; they sold a 18×24 inch matted and framed original painting for $15.00.  The value of materials alone was close to $100 and at the time I routinely sold pieces in that size for $400.  On top if it all, the organization did not want to give me the name of the person who purchased my art at that bargain basement price.

I didn’t sell much of anything at the art market either.  Why would somebody pay full price when they could bid on the equivalent silently and pick it up for a song? I was offended on several levels: first they severely devalued my artwork for me and my collectors by selling it at such a cheap price, secondly they competed unfairly with me, a paying vendor.  Ever since then I will not participate in a charitable event if I am not allowed to set a minimum bid, unfortunately a large number of charities will not allow an artist to do this.

So what’s the problem?

• When an artist donates their own art, they are only allowed to write off the cost of materials for tax purposes.  The taxman gives you, the artist,  no value for your time. And if your materials exceed $500 you will have to get extra documentation for your records from the charity to write off an amount greater than $500.  There is a severe inequity in the way art donations from artists are treated from other types of donations.  But most charities seem completely oblivious to this fact.
• Some say an artist gets exposure from charities, but in my experience, unless the charity lists the artists in  the brochure and in their marketing, something that rarely happens, the artist don’t get any marketing value for their donation.  Go ahead look at the spam email for the next black tie art auction – do you see the contributing artists’ names anywhere?
• Many charities will not give you a portion of the proceeds from the sale, so you are out your any income you might have derived from the sale of the artwork, but also time and materials as well.  You really are giving it all away.  Maybe you are better of just writing a check for $20 instead? Its probably a cheaper way to get a warm fuzzy if you feel you need one.
• Finally if the charity severely undercuts your standard pricing they are devaluing your art’s value for you and your collectors.  You must defend your reputation. You must be allowed to set a minimum price such that your art does not sell well below market value.

So how does this play out in the real world? When a charity does not allow a minimum price and does not share proceeds, some artists will supply something completely representative of the best that they have to offer, but other participants may chose to clean out their closet instead. This means the charity winds up with a mix of good work and kicked-in-the-corner amateurism, which will drive down auction prices.  Second the collectors that show for a bargain basement auction are not going to be forking over big bucks to the charity anyway. Allowing the artists to set a minimum price raises the bar. Face it, amateur work and black tie affairs are not a good match; when a charity sets a standard such that patrons know they will seeing quality artwork, the charity will develop reputation as a place to go to for great artwork, which is win/win for the artist and the charity.

Resist the urge to clean out your closet.  Remember you have a reputation to build and maintain.

There is a season when I am literally bombarded by requests to donate art.  Obviously you can’t give it all away for free, no matter how much you believe in a given charity’s cause.  Assuming you do decide to donate your art you should be very thoughtful about it-chose worthy causes that will play win/win with you.  If you donate 3 paintings a year and produce 50 – you are giving away 6% of your output and whatever income that represents as well as the materials and time attendant to the production, can you afford to give that much away?  You should never donate money or goods when you can’t afford to-you do not want to become a charity yourself.

Back to this forum thread I was reading on linked in… I ran across this canned response for charities seeking art and I found it to be perfect.  An artist named Drew Brophy who paints surfboards came up with it and I think its a perfect response for charities who want artists to donate art.

“<Artist’s Name> CHARITABLE DONATION GUIDELINES

Thank you for the opportunity to donate art to your organization.  <Artist’s Name> would be honored to have his/her artwork and his/her name associated with yours.

Due to the extremely heavy volume of requests from many important charities, we’ve developed guidelines that enable us to donate artwork at less than retail cost.

These requirements also help us reduce losses since current U.S.  tax laws are unfavorable to artist donations.  (There is little to no write-off for donated artwork.)

Please consider that by offering these terms for all artist donations, your organization will: Attract top quality, high value artwork and over time will become known as the go-to-organization for unique and valuable art.

Our donation guidelines are:

• The organization agrees to split the proceeds from the sale or auction 50/50 (50% to <Artist’s Name> and 50% to the organization). (You can require less of a percentage, but in general you should require something of the sale’s price be paid to you)
• We ask for payment within 5 business days of the sale.
• The name, address, phone and e-mail of the buyer will be provided to <Artist’s Name> for his/her “collector’s club” records.
• A minimum or a reserve price will be set and will be designated by <Artist’s Name>.  (This is required to honor the value of the artwork for our existing collectors and our partner galleries.)
• In the event the artwork does not sell, it will be returned by the organization to <Artist’s Name>’s studio City, State within 9 business days.

If these guidelines are agreeable to you, please sign below and return this form via e-mail to <artists email address> We agree to the above terms:

Signature __________________________________
Name, Title______________________ Date _______ ”

Together artists and charities can create a scenario that is win/win/win for the artist, the charity and the artist’s collectors.

What do you think?  Do you have a charity art donation horror story?  Do you know of a charity that “does it right?”  Speak up and be heard.

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

For a while I have been thinking Social Media Birds was not the best title, and then I am talking it over with someone at the Sunnyslope Artwalk and the phrase Binary Birds pops out.  At least its alliterative, so I think that is going to stick.

Technical difficulties distracted me from painting, as well as the end of tax season & some out of town company (which was fun, but not productive).  Then it was immediately back to doing Spring shows, but in Phoenix AZ USA it is starting to get pretty hot; yesterday was around 96 F & it was probably a lot warmer on the black top. I have one more show on May 20th, then nothing else scheduled until September in New York City.   Here is a picture of me schmoozing patrons at the Val Vista Lakes Community Market Saturday May 8, 2010.

Jake Beckman with patrons at the Val Vista Lakes Community Market May 8, 2010. Photo by Kristina Konen.

Yes, I am working it.  I used to say, “My art had better speak for itself, because I stink at it.” At this last show, one patron commented that I communicated my abstract subject matter very well. Even I can learn. 

I call my latest painting iPod Tweety.  It is such an obvious derivation I am surprised it did not occur to me immediately.   I think music sharing is one of the forerunners of social media.  Remember people creating and handing out CDs of their favorite tunes?  I know some people with hundreds of songs on their iPods, but these days an iPod is so much more than a music player, it’s and entertainment device,but my painting references the music usage.

iPod Tweety by Jake Beckman. One of Jake Beckman's signature Binary Birds dances to tunes on its iPod.

In addition to the title, iPod Tweety, which is the ASCII binary string at the extreme right, the code also reads: iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody, Napster, Amazon, MP3, Zune, download, Songs from right to left and top to bottom.  When I debuted this work at the April Sunsets on the Plaza a young woman was pleading with her parents to buy it, but they did not relent so it is still available-for now.

For more details about iPod Tweety see  its art page at AKAJake.com.

What do you all think? Do you like it? Hate it? Think it’s derivative dreck or haute pop?  Inquisitive minds must know.  I have two more Binary Birds in the works.  Stay tuned.

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

So a few days ago someone contacts me expressing interest in one of my new paintings, “Retweet.”  It’s not out of left field, when I showed it  a few weeks ago there was some interest in it.  This person says they want to buy it.

So I thank her for her interest in my art, I give them my usual spiel about how easy it is to buy using the PayPal button, give her a link, and then advise her that the shipping price quoted is for FedEx Home Delivery in the continental US.  If she needs it shipped elsewhere then the shipping rates could change, and that customs fees etc are her responsibility. I also tell her I will remove it from the stretcher bars and ship it in a tube if she likes (which can save a bunch on dimensional shipping weight charges), but that she will have to find and pay somebody on her end to re-stretch it.

She writes back saying she would like to proceed with the purchase for the original work (framed).  Also she would my address, phone number and name so she can pay me by certified check. She wants to use a local cartage company to ship the work from the US to South Africa.

Umm – she should have my name and phone number already. Its right there in my reply.  So already I am expecting that a scammer’s bot responded to me.

I do advise her the work is unframed as it is a gallery wrapped canvas painted on the edges so that it can be hung without a frame.

There are some people out there who do not realize the prevalence of check fraud including bogus certified checks (and I have done business with them) & who like to have information spoon fed to them. On the off chance a real art aficionado is on the other end of this communication, I respond with my next bit about check fraud, holding periods, finding a bank to write the check with affiliates local to the Phoenix Metro area (so I can complete the transaction at the bank the check is written on) and suggest if that all makes her uncomfortable that I am willing to work with a reputable escrow service or bank escrow service.  I thank her again for her interest in my art.

Because the second contact had all the usual elements of a common art & check fraud scam: The cartage company & a cover story as to why all of this had to be executed in the manner proposed i.e. husband’s company suddenly displaced them from their home in the US to someplace abroad-usually in Africa,  I really do not expect to hear back from her, and of course I haven’t.

The next stage of this scam would have involved me depositing her check at my own bank – the check probably would have been written for too much money and she would have wanted me to refund the excess to the guy who shows up for the painting.  Later on the bogus check would bounce and I would be out the money and the painting.

I’ve had to go find a painting and repossess it after a person purchased one with rubber check drawn on a local bank-it took 14 days for the check to bounce-she put a stop payment on it.  I don’t even want to think about how long it would take an international check to bounce.   So when one of the fraudsters makes me waste even 5 minutes of my time, I get a little aggravated.

Have you been approached by someone attempting an art or check fraud scam, are you the victim of one?  Do tell.  I am sure others would like to learn more about variations on this theme so they are better educated on what to look out for.

Yours in art,

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.