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Buying for art lovers can be daunting, but these tips and gift ideas can help.
At this time of the year, Elizabeth Moss, the owner of Moss Gallery, offers many suggestions for customers who want to buy art for friends and relatives but are afraid of the prospects.
She told them: Believe in yourself.
"Be confident in your own taste and be able to recognize things that your loved ones or friends will also like," said Moss, who sells original art for hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars at her Falmouth gallery. A second gallery will be opened on Fore Street in Portland later this month. "No. 1. Have confidence in your own taste. 2. Go to a gallery that fits your aesthetics. Before you go anywhere, have a budget and try to find something based on this budget."
Art is a great gift because it is personal. Although it may be expensive, it does not need to be. The gallery’s prices on its website have become more transparent, so people can browse and buy online. Moss told people that they can buy an original painting at her gallery for about $500 or less.
Kelley Lehr, co-owner of Cove Street Arts and Greenhut Galleries, said that original art is undeniably a luxury, "but it is a necessary luxury-a lasting luxury, because it has been used for many years. It continues to bring joy and maintains its mental health benefits and ability to cause joy," she said. "A piece of art specially selected for the recipient, whether it is based on the recipient’s known interest in a particular artist or genre, or purely based on the donor’s premonition that a certain piece of art will resonate, is unbelievable. Thoughtful, intimate and influential gift."
In Bristol, the owner of The Good Supply Catherine McLetchie (Catherine McLetchie) is a barn shop and gallery with 100 artists and manufacturers mainly from Maine. She believes in buying a local ecosystem, Because it can nourish itself.
"Supporting neighbors is what makes the world work," said McLetch. His physical store was closed this season, but his online business was buzzing. "When people support artists individually or through small businesses like The Good Supply, they are bringing economic and moral changes to their communities. It empowers people and it feels good."
The art and objects she sells range from $10 to $10,000. From her perspective as a business owner and a liaison between artists and buyers, McLetchie feels that people are interested in self-care that was not available before the pandemic, and are more willing to invest in art, because art is a calming The way to integrate into life and space. Since Maine is a refuge for many people who live here and elsewhere, art that evokes Maine or Maine artists is popular as a gift-now more than ever.
"The collective trauma of COVID makes people realize what is important, and I think that means supporting their neighbors and communities. This is not only about economic health, but also a search for peace and tranquility."
Feel at ease-don't worry about supply chain problems at all-here are gift ideas for art lovers in your life, from the low end to the high end of the price range, some can be taken home and packaged, and other things that can only be experienced in person.
Cards and stationery produced by Saturn Press, based on Swan Island, are available through Good Supply. Photograph by Catherine McClatchy
In the age of text, email, and TikTok, it is comforting for someone to take the time to send handwritten notes. The Good Supply sells cards and stationery from Saturn Press. The company operates antique printing machines at its home on Swan Island and produces exquisite letterpress stationery and greeting cards. We prefer the "Old Son" series, smiling faces down. The "Curve Fern" suit commemorates the miracles of Maine and spring more directly. Six cards and envelopes, 14 dollars.
The jeweler Kate Mess makes her jewelry inspired by the natural world. Photograph by Catherine McClatchy
Midcoast jeweler Kate Mess draws inspiration from the nature around her, using enamel and metal to create eye-catching wearable artworks. She folds the copper into a barnacle shape and fuses stained glass for her Bitty Barnacle earrings ($48). Inspired by her love of ice fishing, she creates the tide necklace No. 5 Bubbles ($785), one side Use yellow and green and the other sparkle in sea green and rust to look like bait.
Aidan Fraser's belly series, also known as the gloss liar. Courtesy of Aidan Fraser
Portland potter Aidan Fraser (also known as Lustre Hustler) created functional ceramics that focused on the image of women and conveyed the message of physical positivity and self-love. She is best known for her Lady Mugs, a full-body mug with 22 carats of golden luster, starting at $70. Working at her Running With Scissors studio in Portland, she also made the Belly series of shot glasses and glasses — from the belly down — starting at $24. Find her on Instagram @luster_hustler.
Louisa Wickard's July 2021 tea towel design features loons. Photo courtesy of Gillian Britt, courtesy of Eat Drink Lucky
The painter and printmaker Louisa Wickard from Cumberland is one of more than a dozen Maine artists who participated in the second year of Eat Drink Lucky's 12-month artist series tea towel subscription ($165). Each artist has designed one Customized towels shipped monthly. Wickard came up with this idea and participated in the first year of work. She is considering the design in April 2022 and is considering her options. In the 2021 series, she made a Brussels sprout for February and a loon for July. Other 2022 designers include Faithful Hound, Freckled Fuchsia, North Circle Studio, Pretty Flours, Sea Rose Studios, Tröskö Design, Erin Flett, Emma B. Garcelon, Allison McKeen, Zaz + Moe and Hearth & Harrow.
Artist Arnold Skolnick collaborated with master printer David Wolfe to produce a limited edition Skolnick poster series at the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival. Courtesy of Moss Galleries
For rock fans who like souvenirs, Moss Galleries in Falmouth sells limited edition prints of original Woodstock posters signed by artist Arnold Skolnick for $1,800. This summer, Skolnik came to Portland and collaborated with the master printer David Wolfe to produce 200 silkscreen prints for his posters, which represented both the landmark music festival in 1969 and A generation of music. Skolnick is an old friend of gallery owner Elizabeth Moss. She arranged a collaboration with Wolfe.
Tim Greenway, "Climbing Out Of The Blue Room", aluminum digital photos, available in a variety of sizes. Photo courtesy of the artist
The abstract images of Portland and its surrounding buildings taken by photographer Tim Greenway at the "Renaissance" exhibition at Cove Street Arts before December 11th, as they capture the beauty and beauty of the city and the region. The poetic ability of architecture has attracted much attention on the move. Cove Street sells 18 x 20-inch prints of all images for $825, and 40 x 60-inch prints can cost up to $2,500. Cove Street’s sister gallery, Greenhut Galleries in downtown Portland, will host its 27th annual holiday exhibition in January. Prices range from $275 to Alec Richardson’s exquisite hessian landscape paintings. The 1959 Maurice Freedman (Maurice Freedman) oil on canvas ranged from $22,000.
"Portrait of Racial Justice" by Robert Shetterly. Provided by Xincun Publishing House
For readers, this year’s must-have book on Maine art is "Portrait of Racial Justice: Americans Who Tell the Truth" by Brooksville painter Robert Shetterly ($34.95, New Village). Publishing House), a collection of his portraits. The courage to work hard for equality and social justice. These paintings are part of his ongoing series of "Americans Telling the Truth", which includes writer and civil rights spokesperson WEB Du Bois, tailor and civil rights leader Rosa Parks, and human rights activist and Penobsco Maurian Dana, the ambassador of the tribe.
"Relaxation: Portland in the 1970s" by John Duncan. Provided by Daogang Press
Another must-have book is "Relaxation: Portland in the 1970s", a photo collection of John Duncan, a long-time Portland photographer ($19.95, Islandport Press). When Duncan was young, he drove a taxi and wandered in Portland with his friends, always carrying a camera. His black and white photographs depict Portland as the city before it became a destination for food, beer, and shopping — before its exquisite revival — and as a bookend for the beginning of the current era of growth.
Waterfall Arts in Belfast offers glass blowing courses starting at $75 per hour. Photograph by Chris Battaglia, courtesy of Waterfall Arts
For adventurous do-it-yourself people, Waterfalls Arts in Belfast offers glass blowing courses in its newly opened glass blowing studio. Participants learn to make glass products in a hot furnace under the supervision and guidance of the lecturer. The studio has achieved great success-of course, this is a popular date night-and waterfall art continues to expand its courses. Prices start at US$75 per person per hour, and up to US$375 for a three-hour course for five people. Group prices are also available.
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