TO ALL ARTID ARTISTS:

Please be sure to send us an email to info@artid.com with a link to your blog post about upcoming art shows or exhibits. We will post it in our Member Art Shows blog so art collectors have one central place to look for information.

Thank you and Happy New Year!

Hello to All!

I just wanted to share with you the excitement of the art exhibit at the ICO Gallery in New York's premium art area of Chelsea. We had taken the sleeper train from Chicago to New York to take in the scenery and it was beautiful. We arrived Wednesday night at a wonderful bed and breakfast in Chelsea, which was a 1870's townhouse filled with incredible antiques, including an Ampico player piano and music boxes. Our kind of place!

Thursday, we went to the Museum of Modern Art, the Frick Collection and other galleries. New York is resplendent with cultural treasures. What a joy to behold!
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We went early to the Opening and were most shocked, and pleased to see my art work in the front room of the new gallery!!! The curator, Robert Berry, explained that he felt that it was the best place to feature it that he wanted my work to act as a magnet to draw people into the gallery. What tremendous support and acknowledgment.

The gallery is HUGE, especially for the Chelsea area. Many of the inner galleries had two story cathedral ceilings to show off the large art work. ''
The Opening was attended by 300-400 people and so it was truly a New York shoulder to shoulder cocktail party! Stephen exclaimed that no matter where he turned, people were excited and talking about my art work!
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The guests were all extremely engaging and uplifting. They
could not have been more complimentary of my paintings and style. They loved the color and texture of the pieces and wanted to hear more and more about the beauty of Cape Town!

The other artists in the exhibit were as beautiful as their paintings. I was honored to have my work shown with theirs. Many of the other paintings has price tags in the $14,000.00 to $28,000.00 price range, and these artists have incredible biographies and international recognition. ''
All in all the evening was one of the highlights of my life. I will forever remember the people, the joy, and the celebration of life that everyone there exhibited.

The exhibit is on until September 25th. You can see the entire exhibit on the Ico Gallery web site: www.icogallery.com I have been told that many of my paintings will be sold in the next few days, and the gallery has already asked me to submit more paintings for their exhibit in December entitled, "The Rhythmic Figure." Could I ask for more?

Thank you as always for your kind support. May all of us live our dreams!
Michael Durst


I wanted to share this wonderful video clip with the ArtId community. By way of introduction, Best Buddies is a non-profit dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by providing opportunities for one-to-one friendships and integrated employment. For the last 3 years, Best Buddies Springfield has paired local artists with Best Buddy artists to create art for auction at our annual Artistic Abilities Fundraiser.

This year, we were fortunate to have Fuzzy Clock Productions (fuzzyclockvideo.blogspot.com) produce a short trailer of the collaboration between two local artists in the Western Mass area, Steven Kennedy and Michelle Delicci. Steven is a student at the Riverside Arts Workshop studying with Denise Herzog, one of the founders of One Cottage St. Arts Alliance. One of the paintings produced over the three days the two artists worked together was auctioned at the Best Buddies fundraiser in Springfield, MA on October 23rd and sold for $450 ~ the remainder of the paintings will be auctioned at various upcoming Riverside Arts Workshop fund raising events.

On a personal note, my son Andrew is profoundly deaf and special needs. I have seen the power of healing and expression through his artwork. It is my profound honor to work with the Artistic Abilities Event and to be able to share Steven & Michelle's artistic collaborative process. This is a 10 min. trailer which gives a good flavor of what the finished program will look like and it's well worth the watch! Anyone who has ever taught art class or collaborated with other artists will be inspired.

Enjoy "Painting My Dreams"......

ArtId has been grasciously granted the right to reprint this comprehensive art forgery article by Joseph C. Gioconda from The New York Law Journal Mr. Gioconda is a partner at DLA Piper (US) specializing in trademark infringement litigation and anticounterfeiting strategy. Thank you Mr. Gioconda! Picture: Under the Canvas is the hidden portrait discovered underneath Vincent van Gogh's painting 'Patch of Grass' (1887)

October 14, 2008

For centuries, forged works of art have made their way into circulation, creating a host of problems for museums, artists, collectors, brokers and dealers. Forgeries always presented danger to commercial transactions in the art community, but repeat players maintained their reputation by managing the risk of inauthenticity through representations and warranties in standardized sale agreements. Contracts also typically provide for provenance, a detailed account of the work's ownership history, and this information gave buyers and sellers relative confidence in the art work's authenticity.

Capitalizing on the meteoric rise of the online art marketplace and rapid expansion of the global economy, art forgery is now booming.1 Similar to the counterfeit products infecting other commercial industries, forged art has become increasingly pervasive and now poses a serious threat to the art economy at large. Because the global and online art market has few barriers to entry and is difficult to regulate through contract law, fraud and forgery have increased on an unprecedented scale. These illicit activities can substantially devalue authentic works of art by eroding consumer confidence in the art trade itself.

Modern technology has also presented a double-edged sword in dealing with art forgeries. It serves as an asset to legitimate artists and authenticators, enabling them to identify, market and sell genuine works with greater ease, but the same technology simultaneously enables art forgers to sharpen their skills, and makes it more difficult for authorities to identify and prosecute them as they evade detection across jurisdictions. Online auction sites present criminals with unique opportunities to peddle their imitations to unassuming buyers around the world. Advanced forgers use cutting-edge software to mimic an artist's every brush stroke with precision and then sell their phony merchandise through fluid online distribution networks where quality control procedures are often lacking or non-existent. These sophisticated procedures of reproduction and distribution can make it next to impossible for buyers to detect forged works of art before making a purchase.

One forger - a lawyer - bragged in his autobiography that he "tricked people out of sizable sums of money in exchange for worthless works of art" on eBay.2 Even sophisticated collectors can become victims of these con artists, and eventually can become skeptics of the art community at large. Those who have purchased fine art on pleasure cruises attest that nagging concerns about authenticity quickly lead to buyer's remorse once that ship has sailed.3

Unfortunately, some victims are left with little effective legal recourse if they are duped by sophisticated forgeries. Civil litigation usually forces individual plaintiffs to become mired in Uniform Commercial Code disputes and fraud claims. Class action litigation has rarely been successful.4 Consequently, current legal theories do little to stem the rising tide of art forgeries and protect consumers on a global scale. The art community and law enforcement officers worldwide are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the limited options they have for combating this criminal activity through the current legal regime.5 Unfortunately, the best they can do is to remind art purchasers of what to do in an unregulated economy: "Caveat Emptor."

Short of throwing up its hands, the art community can learn from the actions taken by the luxury goods and consumer products industries as they face a similar threat from counterfeiters. These industries respond by demanding stricter penalties for offenders and stronger federal anticounterfeiting laws. They utilize these laws to fight aggressively against the growing epidemic of counterfeit auto parts, pharmaceuticals, DVDs and luxury goods. They collaborate on advancing aggressive theories of trademark liability. Members of the art community can begin to combat forgers using some of the same federal anticounterfeiting laws, but to date they have not done so effectively.

Strengthened Trademark Laws

Historically, trademark laws evolved to protect consumers in the commercial marketplace by helping them distinguish between similar but competing brands.6 But as the threat of counterfeit brands grew, further action was necessary. In response, Congress has strengthened trademark laws time and again, criminalizing the counterfeit use of registered brands. For example, to address concerns about lack of coordination, on Sept. 26, 2008, the Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan bill that would create a new cabinet-level position in the Executive Office of the President to coordinate enforcement of intellectual property rights across federal agencies and departments.7

The consumer products and luxury goods industries continue to press for stronger and more effective laws to curb counterfeit goods. In contrast, the art community has been relatively slow to participate in - or benefit from - legal developments in trademarks and anticounterfeiting. In fact, only comparatively recently did the art community successfully urge the courts and the Trademark Office to treat an artist's name as a trademark.8

Several respected art law commentators have observed that trademark laws are underutilized in the art world. They note that such laws are "not normally looked to for recourse by copyright holders of visual art,"9 and "much less attention (and litigation) has been devoted to trademarks in the art world than to other areas of intellectual property."10

One notable example of how the art community has failed to adapt to the evolving intellectual property regime is the continued use of the artist's own signature to identify works. Artists rarely use a federally registered trademark as a personal brand but instead usually use a quirky handwritten signature. Unlike a registered trademark, an artist's personal signature provides very limited legal protection, yet art schools still teach students that this outdated method is the preferred means of identification. In fact, most abstractionists never sign their work at all.

This flawed approach puts artists in a precarious position. Federal trademark laws generally frown upon the use of a word that is "primarily merely a surname" as a trademark.11 Under the Lanham Act, a surname is a protected trademark only if strict evidentiary conditions are met.12 For the law to protect a name from unauthorized use, consumers must readily recognize an association between the artist's name and the artist's work, thereby giving the name "secondary meaning."13

It is very difficult for artists to overcome these legal hurdles unless they are well-known. Courts have held that Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and others of their caliber have established secondary meaning in their surnames.14 However, the less-established artist or the artist with little or no resources to invest in the legal process will not be able to retain survey experts to demonstrate such acquired distinctiveness during litigation, or in the trademark application process.

The artist with a common surname faces an even tougher challenge when trying to meet this evidentiary standard. John Castagno, one of the world's leading experts in the analysis and verification of artists' signatures, says that "many hundreds of artists share common surnames."15 Since 1980 he has compiled more than 55,000 signatures and monograms, and published them in over a dozen volumes.16 His personal belief is that "unquestionably, registering a trademarked artists' logo is a good idea, since it also protects the artists' heirs."17

Artists who sell their work to the public (and their exclusive dealers) do not have to settle for inadequate legal protection against forgery. They can design and federally register a distinctive, stylized logo or unique monogram to identify their art and services, in addition to using their own signature. The more creative and "fanciful" the logo, the better, as creative marks are typically deemed inherently distinctive and are automatically entitled to protection because they naturally serve to identify a particular source of the product.18

Some artists, steeped in tradition, might object to this seemingly commercial approach and view it as a capitulation to the relentless forces of modern-day greed and commerce. But the practice of using unique artistic logos and monograms is actually firmly established in the East, widely accepted in the West, and evident throughout history in the world of art.

For example, in the 16th century, Albrecht D_rer used a distinctive monogram inside an Egyptian-style cartouche as his signature on his woodcuts.19 The famous American painter, James McNeill Whistler, often used a combination of his name and a butterfly for his personal brand.20 Many established artists use a diverse array of monograms including distinctive plants, fish, cranes, weather vanes, musical instruments as well as unique abstract symbols.21

Designing a distinctive monogram or logo is a creative act unto itself and contributes to the unique style and message of every artist. But more important, when an artist uses this method to identify his creative works with an inherently distinctive logo, he is entitled to seek federal trademark registration, and in turn is able to utilize effectively the legal protection that federal trademark laws can afford him.22 If a forger then uses a logo identical to (or confusingly similar to) the artist's registered logo, he may be civilly and even criminally liable under federal trademark law.23 Copying an artist's signature alone does not trigger the same potential liability under the trademark laws.

Benefits of Registration

Artists benefit in countless ways from registering a distinctive logo. For example, border patrol agents operating under the U.S. Customs Service can stop unauthorized imports bearing a federally registered trademark.24 U.S. Customs has the power to seize and ultimately destroy counterfeit art bearing a registered trademark.25 Federal Customs agents can also heavily scrutinize artwork imported from countries known for forgeries before allowing their goods to enter the United States. The U.S. Customs Service cannot take the same action against art bearing an unregistered trademark or signature.

Further, plaintiffs bringing standard fraud claims had to prove the subjective fraudulent intent of the seller. This requirement was their greatest evidentiary challenge. However, in civil trademark cases, a lower legal standard applies: Intent to cause confusion or deception at the point of sale is not a prerequisite for a finding of trademark infringement.26 If an artist has a trademarked logo and a party uses it without the artist's permission, the party is in violation of federal law and cannot legally sell or advertise that art object. An artist can even stop innocent sellers from using registered logos that are similar enough to their own to confuse buyers.

Other industries have taken creative and aggressive positions under federal trademark laws, and the art community would be wise to take advantage of some of the theories that have been advanced. For example, some fashion designers have employed the theories of vicarious and contributory liability with great success against landlords whose tenants continue to sell counterfeit goods on Canal Street and Broadway in New York City after receiving repeated warnings.27 Such theories of contributory and vicarious liability could help the art community combat shady art brokers, dealers and galleries who repeatedly sell forged works of art. Also, in light of the recent Tiffany v. eBay decision in the Southern District of New York, artists would be wise to take advantage of eBay's Verified Rights Owner Program when they encounter forgeries of their work being sold on the popular site.28

Federal trademark laws can assist the art community against the rapid influx of forgeries, but only if artists and their legal counsel aggressively use them. The art world has the unique privilege of creating a rich visual history of our culture and preserving it for generations to come. With this privilege comes a responsibility to combat forgery and maintain the integrity of works in circulation. Utilizing existing trademark law against forgers, collaborating with other industries affected by counterfeit goods, and keeping abreast of new developments in intellectual property law are some of the most effective ways for them to do so.

Joseph C. Gioconda is a partner at DLA Piper (US) specializing in trademark infringement litigation and anticounterfeiting strategy, resident in the New York office.

Endnotes:

1. See "Art Forgers: What Lies Beneath," The Independent (London), Sept. 3, 2008, available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art-and-architecture/features/art-forgers-what-lies-beneath-917067.html; see also Frank Wynne, I WAS VERMEER: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY'S GREATEST FORGER 1-3 (Bloomsbury 2006).

2. Kenneth Walton, FAKE: FORGERY, LIES, & EBAY 295 (Simon Spotlight Entm't 2006).

3. Jori Finkel, "Art Auctions on Cruise Ships Lead to Anger, Accusations and Lawsuits," THE N.Y. TIMES, July 16, 2008 at E1.

4. Id.

5. Bradley Hope, "Art Forgeries Are on the Rise, Testing Dealers, Detectives," N.Y. SUN, Aug. 25, 2006, at 1, available at http://www.nysun.com/article/38599; see also Claire Babbidge, Fighting Forgery in the Art World, BBC NEWS, Nov. 23, 2006 (quoting British police saying "art crime is extensive and becoming more and more prolific.").

6. J. Thomas McCarthy, MCCARTHY ON TRADEMARKS AND UNFAIR COMPETITION, _23:110 (West Publ'g Supp. 2007).

7. Joelle Tesler, "Senate Passes Intellectual Property Bill," BUS. WEEK, Sept. 27, 2008, available at: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D93EL7T00.htm.

8. Roy S. Kaufman, ART LAW HANDBOOK 43-44 (Aspen Publ'g 2000); see also In re Wood, 217 USPQ 1345 (TTAB 1983).

9. Ralph E. Lerner and Judith Bressler, ART LAW: THE GUIDE FOR COLLECTORS, INVESTORS, DEALERS & ARTISTS 1180 (3d ed. Practising Law Institute 1998).

10. Kaufman, supra note 8, at 39.

11. 15 USC _1052 (2008). See also Peaceable Planet Inc. v. Ty Inc., 362 F.3d 986 (7th Cir. 2004) (articulating the court's concerns for monopolizing a personal name as a trademark).

12. Boston Beer Co. v. Slesar Bros. Brewing Co., 9 F.3d 175, 180 (1st Cir. 1993) ("Proof of secondary meaning entails vigorous evidentiary requirements.").

13. J. Thomas McCarthy, MCCARTHY ON TRADEMARKS AND UNFAIR COMPETITION __13:2-13:39 (West Publ'g Supp. 2008).

14. See, e.g., Hughes v. Plumsters, Ltd., 1989 WL 418804, at *1-2 (N.D. Cal. 1989); see also Visual Art Galleries Ass'n v. Various John Does, 80 Civ. 4487 (SDNY 1980).

15. Telephone interview with John Castagno, Artists Signatures.com, LLC (Sept. 28, 2008).

16. See, e.g., John Castagno, ABSTRACT ARTISTS: SIGNATURES AND MONOGRAMS, AN INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORY (Scarecrow Press 2007).

17. Castagno interview, supra note 15.

18. McCarthy, supra note 13, at __11:4-11:91.

19. See, e.g., Small Horse (Engraving c. 1505) and Knight, Death and the Devil (Engraving c. 1514).

20. See, e.g., Village Shop, Chelsea (Painting c. 1883/1884).

21. Milton Esterow, "55,000 Signatures and Counting," ARTNEWS, December 2007.

22. 15 USC _1114 (2008).

23. Id.

24. 19 CFR Part 133, Subpart A (2008).

25. Section 42 of the Lanham Act (15 USC _1124) and _526 of the Tariff Act of 1930 as amended (19 USC _1526) prohibit the importation of goods that "copy or simulate" registered trademarks owned by U.S. citizens or corporations. Additionally, when art enters U.S. borders with entry documentation that is fraudulently and deliberately misstating the origin and value of the art, the importer is subject to penalties. 18 USC _542 (2008). The art object may also be seized and/or forfeited. 19 USC _1595a (2008).

26. McCarthy, supra note 6, at _23:110 ("liability [for trademark infringement] turns on the fact of likely customer confusion and not on the subjective mental state of the defendant. A mistaken, good faith belief will not excuse otherwise illegal infringement.") (emphasis in original).

27. See generally G. Roxanne Elings, "Landlord Liability and the City," WORLD TRADEMARK REVIEW, May/June 2008.

28. Tiffany (NJ) Inc. v. eBay Inc., F.Supp.2d, 2008 WL 2755787 (SDNY July 14, 2008).

In case any of you missed last night's joint appearance of presidential nominees John McCain and Barack Obama, they appeared at Columbia University in a forum called 'Service Nation' to discuss service and civic engagement in the post-9/11, post-Katrina world. They were interviewed by PBS News Hour anchor Judy Woodruff and managing editor of TIME magazine, Richard Stengel.

Here is one of the most important questions I think they asked....both candidates got it right....Can you???

What is THE most important civic responsibility for a citizen of the United States of America?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPLAoHPXG3o&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLuhC3ir8Mw&feature=related

On this day of rememberance 9.11.08 and on the eve of an historic election campaign, I can no longer stay silent on the topic of politics in this country. I emplore all intelligent life that exists to please help me understand and engage in a conversation about the Republican Party's 'adventure' over the last 8 years and the possibility that we may have another 4 years of the same...yikes!

I am giving away 3 Gold Memberships to ArtId for life to the most intelligent, well thought out and convincing argument (or just the funniest/most creative reason) that John McCain is the best possible choice for President of the United States. You must include and justify his first executive decision to elect Sarah Palin as his running mate and why she is the best possible candidate should she have to succeed him as President. I am a Democrat but can be convinced that it will not be necessary to move out of the United States should the Republican Party win in November.....

To get the ball rolling....WE SHOULD BE TALKING ABOUT THE ISSUES OF 1) Economy; 2) Education; 3) Taxes; 4) Foreign Policy; and 5) Health Care; 6) Executive Qualifications to name a few....

We have 55 days to our election of the next president of the United States. Is anyone nervous? I AM! We just spent an entire news media cycle yesterday talking about LIPSTICK ON A PIG! I don't know about you....but I'm a bit more worried about whether my daughter will be able to compete in a global economy in 10 years against China and India that is catching up rapidly. I'm worried my daughter won't have the opportunities that I did when I was younger. I'm worried I might lose my business after 8 years because no one can afford 'the extras' in our lousy economy. I have a friend that just lost their house. Why is John McCain the "change candidate" having voted with Bush 92% of the time over the last 8 years?

Does anyone care?

We currently have 85 live listings in the ArtId eBay Store and our hits seem to be growing. As administrators of the store, we've got this nifty tool where we can see what keyword searches brought people to our eBay store listings, so I thought I'd write to let artists see exactly how people found us on eBay in the past week. Here are a few of the art searches that brought traffic to our store:

- human skull paintings - decorative obi
- acrylic painting of guitar
- raggedy ann and andy paintings
- rectangle abstract painting
- abstract painting lime
- abstract painting ny skyline
- belted galloway painting
- watercolor of lilies
- painting row boats in oils

Notice how nearly every one of these searches contains the word "painting" followed by a description of either color or content or both. This should give artists a clue into the mind of their potential clients. People know what they are looking for and they are trying to find the quickest, most succint way of saying it in their searches. As artists trying to market art online, you need to make sure you've captured these same elements in your eBay listing titles.

Also, these keyword searches were not only made directly on eBay, but off eBay as well. The eBay title gets "googled" and ranked in the search engines, so putting your art on eBay also might give you more marketing exposure to the general art buying public.

Read Writing a Proper eBay Title for your Art to learn more about writing great eBay titles.

You may also want to read the Interview with Duane Keiser by Maria Williams-Russell, which discusses one man's art marketing strategy involving eBay and the Internet.

Become a member of ArtId and sell your art on eBay!(shamesless plug)

So here is Mike Volpe, VP Marketing for Hubspot, dragooning me and putting me in front of his video camera at the conference. He asked me about my experiences marketing my business over the past 8 years and what types of inbound and outbound marketing I had used.

Here are some quotes from Betsy:

"The traditional way of doing marketing that we were using back in 1999 and 2000 were things like tradeshows, art shows and festivals, full page ads in trade magazines, email blasts - we used to buy email lists at huge expense... you'd also buy trade magazine lists [for direct mail]. A great deal of our early startup money went to this outbound marketing."

"One of the best decisions I made for the company was to say STOP. We need to back way off on the print ads, the media, the traditional [outbound] marketing strategies. We started to see, even in the art industry the diminishing returns...now it's about SEO, Social Media and Blogging (publishing user-generated content)."

"Artists need help navigating the web and marketing themselves. It's a full time job to market a website in today's Internet environment. That's why they have an ArtId!"

Workin hard for you guys! Follow Betsy Davison's Blog for upcoming posts on how to optimize your ArtId and market art on the web.

So make sure you link, link, link when you are posting a blog on ArtId. And make sure you tell everyone else you know who uses the Internet to link to your website on ArtId!

There are two ways our site recognizes something as a LIVE LINK.

1. Type in a URL. When you submit the post live, our code will automatically convert it into a live link. For example, Come see my latest work on ArtId www.artid.com/mize The actual URL will become a live link.

2. You want 'words' to be the link without the URL showing. Then you need to type in some html around the words along with the URL.

For example, in my most recent blog post, I wanted to link to an article on Hubspot using the name of the article without the URL showing.

7 Reasons Why you Can't Trust The Webmaster With SEO

I'm going to break this down for you so you can see how I typed things (otherwise the site keeps turning it into a live link :))

You need to type quotation marks around the words you want to have as the live link "7 Reasons Why you Can't Trust The Webmast With SEO" then put a colon "7 Reasons why you can't trust the webmaster with SEO": then the exact URL .....Why you can't trust the webmaster with SEO":http://blog.hubspot.com/et.aspx?p=RrepeSZItRIIuzNrKAfVviuGSWRYjCLK

When the post goes live, the words will be the live link.

Let me know if you have any problems or questions. The more links we put into our posts, the better the traffic. Of course, Inbound Links are the most powerful for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). However, if we reciprocate by linking to other sites, then they will link back to us!

Go forth and Link Link Link

In my next few blog posts, I want to hear your thoughts about having a personal website, belonging to art community websites, and how having an Internet presence may have helped you with marketing your work. Here are some thoughts about personal websites and why they may not be working for you.

#1 No one is marketing your web site, including you....it's just sitting alone in cyberspace and you have minimal traffic. You're asking yourself why you're spending money on this electronic business card that just sits there and looks pretty. Why can't it do more for me? That begs the question....If I don't generate any leads or sales thru my personal website, do I take it down or just join another art website to help things along? (topic for next blog post)

#2 You are not a webmaster/techie and you have to get someone else to change the images and update text. Therefore, your personal website never changes and is never updated with new artwork. If you want to improve it's features to keep up with technology, well that's another significant cost. If your website sits there statically and you can't make changes, does it lose ground from a search engine point of view because nothing ever changes? (Good Article: 7 Reasons Why You Can't Trust the Webmaster with SEO)

#3 No method for taking payments from customers.

#4 You're socially disconnected from the online art universe. While it's nice to send your family, friends and clients to your personal website, you are not getting the added social advantage of having all the other artists online linking and connecting and having all of their family, friends and clients find you because you're part of the same web community!

#5 You don't have a blog. Now don't roll your eyes in the back of your head....this is going to be the topic of another blog post! However, you should begin the process of understanding the importance of blogging, content, and social connectedness on the web in terms of generating leads & potential customers. Blogging and the generation of your own content has changed the face of the Internet AND the way to market a person/place/product. No one is asking you to become an expert but I will tell you that in your line of work - artist and sole proprietor of your business - blogging could not be better suited for you. Your customers want to know you on a real time basis as they contemplate buying your work. They can talk to you directly about your inspirations and techniques. Ideally, your blog should be part of your website or online gallery so viewers don't have to jump back and forth between URL's.

Some final thoughts.....

If I am an art patron or art consultant, I am going to your personal website to look at your art -- not to evaluate how beautiful it is or how easy it is to navigate or how much of a personal statement it makes. It is a tool for me to look at art -- period end of story. Even if you want to register your personal domain name (www.creativegenius), it can point to any URL on the Internet -- even a web gallery on a community art website if that is the tool you want to use as your professional presence on the web.

There are some artists that have had success in building both an art business as well as a popular personal website (www.mattbates.net). However, do you feel your time is well served spending time/money with a webmaster/graphic designer trying to communicate exactly your creative vision for your personal website? Unless you know how to code, how will the final product ever be exactly what you wanted? Or is your creative genius better focused on your art where there is no middle man ...just you and your art supplies to create the next work of art.

There is a parallel to the point I'm trying to make about a 'beyond customized personal website vs. the virtue of the tool itself that is goal. Think of ordering a cup of coffee. If you want caffeine, you can buy a cup of coffee from Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. Where are you more comfortable and that may give you the answer. I am in NYC right now in the basement of 30 Rock....writing this post having just ordered a cup of coffee from Starbucks. I'm not kidding....just coffee...black. I was actually feeling a bit embarrassed because I didn't want some complex concoction -- just caffeine. Seems to me you are either Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks. Both will provide you with ample caffeine but one tastes better and it's A LOT cheaper!

An online professional gallery on a community art website may be just the right amount of caffeine!

One question we hear frequently from artists is about how they should price their art. Our in-house art consultant, Carla Santia, posted a blog back in November to help answer this question artid.com/members/carlablog/blog. I think it's important to continue to have this discussion and to learn from other artists from around the globe how they handle pricing their work in different markets. Below is a question posed by one of our members, Mary Exline, and ArtId Staff member Mary Lawler's answer. Please feel free to comment as it would be nice to post a follow up with guidelines based on an international artist audience point of view.

4.25.08 Mary,
I've been thinking about my prices and others' prices. It seems to me that my prices might be too high. In the area where I live, these prices that I'm charging do not seem too high. This was the measure I was going by. I look at the sizes of the works of others such as 26×36, etc. and the price is $100. Are they giclee's? They don't say. My pieces are smaller than theirs. I can't imagine selling so cheap. I had 2 that were $50 including the frame. My framer said that is way too low. Of course they are, but I was advised by a market person to ask low prices on some pieces, as this will encourage people to buy. Then they will be willing to spend more in the future. I've had that experience buying clothing.

Perhaps, here on this web site, I should lower the prices? Then if I have my own web site, I can raise prices. Another artist asked me one time regarding a piece of work, would I be happy to receive $400 for it instead of $600? And I thought, yes, sure.

What is your opinion?
Mary Exline artid.com/exlinem

4.25.08 Hi Mary,
Ah, the old price conundrum. I hear a lot of theories and methods and formulas but with art, there is no hard and fast answer. I would advise that you look at other artists that you feel are similar to your style and technical level. See what range they are charging. I don't put too much stock in geographical area anymore because people buy art from all over the place now.

I would absolutely make sure that if you want to sell some stuff off at a lower price, I would let it be known that it's reduced price (for whatever reason) and make sure you are at LEAST getting back fair market framing costs. I would also add that your prices must be consistent across the board, no matter where you are selling it, and that includes any galleries. You will have to forfeit half to the gallery but that's just the way it works. Clearly identify whether a piece is a print or an original, comes framed/matted or matted/unframed.

Stick to your guns. I know it's hard when someone asks you if you will take less money. It's tempting to go for it, but unless you are having a tag sale....say no. The price is the price. If you accept less, then the art is devalued and it sets a precedence.

$50.00 is too low for a framed piece. If something is 26 × 36 for $100 then it is a print and should be marked clearly so. Marketing strategy that works for other products (clothing) does not necessarily apply to art. Marking a couple of pieces down as a "lost leader" isn't a good idea. It's OK to have smaller pieces in a lower price range to make your work available to some that might love your work but can't afford the larger pieces.

Have confidence in your work and it's worth. That will translate to your customer and they will better understand and appreciate their purchase.

Mary Lawler artid.com/marylawler

People often wonder how I found my way to art with a background in science and technology and not a lick of talent when it comes to traditional artistic ability. Oh, I claim creativity in the garden or figuring out how to create new business opportunities where others can't see the forest for the trees....but often artists look at me and go huh? I rarely offer a personal point of view as my upbringing was.....always stay at arms length...remain professional...you are founder of ArtId but not artist yourself. However, I found a treasure today!

I found a note tucked into a book that belonged to my maternal grandmother. The note was written by her sister. My grandmother was very ill most of her life. She was by profession a nurse in the 1920's but had a love of art and wasn't too shabby an artist (image is a pen & ink drawing she did in 1916 at the age of 17). At the age of 17, she was stricken with rheumatic fever and spent an entire year in bed....which is when she began to paint! This note was written towards the latter years of my grandmother's life and is a snap shot of her sister's memories of my grandmother and all that she suffered throughout her life...

"Do you want to hear a story? About a girl with tremendous courage! If I hadn't had first hand experience with the whole story, I'd find it hard to believe.

It started many, many years ago, with rheumatic fever although at that time it wasn't recognized as such . The doctors said she had a heart murmur. Later in her early twenties while on her way to visit me, she was stricken with spinal meningitis. This long before the miracle drugs. After two long and shocking months in the hospital, most of it spent in rigid paralysis, an abscess behind her right eye -- the right arm rigid, she was able to leave in a wheel chair. Then came hard & painful jobs, exercising the arm, breaking up the adhesions, working with eye specialists to correct her vision left weak by the abscess. Determined and forceful, she worked hard and slowly regained some strength. However, the effort imposed tremendous strain on a heart already weakened by rheumatic fever. The next twenty years were spent fighting a losing battle: loss of breath, increasing paralysis, oxygen levels, massage sitting in a chair, unable to lie down, visits to doctors, clinics, specialists. One learned not to ask how she was feeling; one just assumed she was doing very well indeed.

And then, two brave and wonderful doctors began operating on hearts. Weak and so desperately ill, we went to Boston, where she underwent heart surgery. Two days later, she suffered additional pain in having again adhesions in arm & back broken. Then began the long and slow battle to rehabilitate a body wasted & wracked by disease. At this time, she took up painting, five minutes today, maybe ten tomorrow. Oddly, the paintings were full of golden light, sunshine.

Now, this should be the end of this story, but alas there is another chapter. Three years ago, she was operated on for breast cancer, a radical and extensive operation. Today, despite increasing need for digitalis, a most painful arthritic condition, she studies & paints & when her strength permits, she goes to school. Somehow, she has no time to feel sorry for herself. To wonder why so many evil things have come her way. Yesterday, she told me she is studying celestial navigation!"

My grandmother was the 100th heart patient in this country at Brigham & Women's hospital in Boston. Art was her method of healing and she taught me what true character was and the meaning of strength. I will forever be grateful to my grandmother, Babs, and her ability to live beyond her pain and open my mind to the beauty of art.

I like keeping up with art trends & how art sells around the globe. Whether you're an emerging artist looking for clients or just paint for yourself, I've always wondered if there truly is a struggle for artists between making the sale & paying the bills vs. connecting with the buyer to find a 'home' for the work. Clearly, this brief article in Feb. 2008 issue of Elle touches on this question and talks about an innovative way that one artist makes sales assuring a return on his investment!

WHY SOME ARTISTS WON'T SELL OUT, LITERALLY, TO DEEP-POCKETED COLLECTORS

Maybe it's the Gen-X Sense of entitlement, but young artists are becoming increasingly selective about who's allowed to purchase their creations, working with their galleries to ensure their pieces stay in the hands of those they deem appropriate. Take Damien Hirst, who was catapulted into the collective consciousness when London-based advertising legend Charles Saatchi commissioned 'The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living'--a shark floating in a tank of formaldehyde. In 2002, the two battled over how Hirst's work should be displayed in Saatchi's new London gallery, and the dustup culminated in Hirst buying back 12 of his pieces from his benefactor.

While Saatchi may be thought of as the art-world bogeyman (artist Matthew Day Jackson is another rumored to refuse to sell to him directly), he's not the only one. In 2002, the artist Barnaby Furnas reportedly sold a canvas of a Civil War battlefield, 'Heartbreak Ridge', to Michael Ovitz for $12,000, only to see the former Walt Disney Company president flip it at Sotheby's four years later for $520,000. (Furnas responded with a print edition entitled 'Effigy [Don't you love me anymore?]'---a man with dollar signs for eyes, a pig nose, and giant Mickey Mouse-like ears.)

!IMAGE192! In some instances, New York City--based artist Ryan McGinness sells a partial stake of major works, having the purchaser sign a contract giving McGinness and the buyer equal ownership. Both have to agree to sell it and split the proceeds. "I'm very proud of my work and concerned with where it gets placed," McGinness explains. "I'm not interested in selling to people who will auction it a year later."

With artists paying close attention to who's writing the checks, don't assume that something is beyond your budget. Jacob Lewis, the director of Manhattan's Pace Prints Chelsea, would rather see pieces in the hands of a bona fide enthusiast. "I'm more tempted to negotiate with a person who expresses an emotional attachment to the work," Lewis says. "If that's considered picky, so be it!"

Sell Your Art Using PayPal!

Minds Island has launched a new feature that enables Silver and Gold members to easily sell artwork directly from their studios, and accept credit cards or checks. The only thing our members need is a PayPal account.

What is PayPal?

PayPal is the most popular method for sending money online - whether it's to pay someone or for you to receive payment.

• It's private and fast
• The other party does not see your bank account or credit card details - PayPal acts as the middleman
• There's no waiting for checks to clear
• Sellers can ship immediately and buyers get their stuff quicker.

What Kind of PayPal Account Do You Need?

PayPal offers a variety of different accounts.

• Personal Account: This is the basic account, primarily for shopping online. You can accept bank account or PayPal balance-funded payments for free and up to five credit or debit card payments per year (with a 4.9% fee taken from each sale you make).

• Premier Account: With this type of account, the fees for selling your work when the buyer pays with a credit card are lower: 2.9%. You can also get a PayPal credit/ATM card which will give you easy access to money you receive.

• Business Account: Similar to the premier account, but adds some features that small business may appreciate (like multiple user accounts, etc.). Probably not useful for the solo artist.

We are recommending our members sign up for a 'Premier' PayPal Account. Click the banner below to get started:

https://www.paypal.com/us/mrb/pal=68RRWCVZUZSXG">

How To Get Started Once You Have Your PayPal Account

Once you have a PayPal account, log into your Minds Island Studio and click on the 'ACCOUNT' tab. Now click on the last tab in the row called 'PayPal'. You will see a blank space to type in your PayPal account name. Enter your account name (we will never ask for your PayPal password!) and click OK. That's all there is to it.

Now have a look at your studio: you will see 'BUY NOW' buttons next to every art item that is available for sale inside your studio. When you send clients to your MI studio, and they click the 'BUY NOW' button, they will be walked through the purchase process that automatically includes a shipping cost based on your artwork weight, dimensions, and the buyer's address (shipping rates are calculated via UPS).

Make sure you have filled in the shipping information for each of your art items (height, width, and weight). You can do this when you are logged into your studio: click on the 'Art Manager' tab and edit the information for each of your items.

Additional Things To Remember:

Please make sure your email address is up to date inside your Minds Island Studio. This is where you will receive emails about purchases made through your studio.

Another reminder, never ever give your personal information out via an email link. If you think you have received an email from Pay Pal asking you to update your personal information by "clicking this link"...*DO NOT DO IT*. Pay Pal will ask you to go directly to www.paypal.com for anything you will need to do with them. If you are ever confused, CALL US. Don't click on links in suspicious emails. Whenever you are on the PayPal site, the beginning of the address should always be https://www.paypal.com.

See How Our Members are Using PayPal Now!

If you would like to see a couple of member studios currently using our Pay Pal connection, visit Kitti Scibelli and Duane Gamble. Duane is a very savvy "PayPal user" if anyone wants to ask him questions.

ArtId is about you - our members. How refreshing!

Tell us what's going on with your art career, art sales, publicity articles, marketing ideas, art shows, commissions, how you use our site, who have you met on our site, have you made any sales, do you have a great story to share, have galleries been treating you well, what do you think of ArtId compared to other art Internet services, do you get personal service......we want to hear it all!

Critical thinking is welcome. But unless we have been in contact with one of you via email or telephone, we rarely hear the positive comments. Since we aren't involved in your sales, we never hear how things are going. Case in point is the first comment I am going to post from Jose Acosta. I almost fell off my chair when he sent me this email.

Don't be strangers...