Zatista The premier source for original art online

Steven Tyler Study by Tracy Burke on Zatista.com

Painter Tracy Burke lives in Orlando, Florida and is accomplished in both abstract and figurative work. Her style is unmistakable, and her large, colorful canvases exhibit a mastery of composition and attention to detail.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to ask her about her process and her experience in the art market:

You are one of the few painters I know who has success with both figurative and abstract work. Why do you choose to do both?
In college, my full attention was figurative. I wanted the emotional eye-to-eye contact of the subject to engage the viewer. My abstract work came much later as an exercise in expanding the backgrounds of the figurative work to be just as engaging as the people.

Verdun #20 by Tracy Burke on Zatista.com

In what direction is your work going?
I’m working on a new series merging both styles – I want to capture what needs to be said from the figure and push back the rest into pattern, shape and color.

How’s business?
Business is good, but has taken on a huge transformation over the past couple of years. I’ve had to adapt and try new avenues.

Billie Joe Armstrong by Tracy Burke on Zatista.com

What are your ideal working conditions?
I like lots of light, space and good music. Sunlight is motivating, and I find that my productivity slows to a crawl on rainy days. I blame it on the drying time for paint layers, but I’m sure it’s more than that!

Do you have any advice for someone just getting started as an artist?
It’s all mileage. Don’t concentrate on showing or selling, developing your style or finding your niche. Just log the hours and put in the mileage. Everything else will fall into place.

Tidal by Tracy Burke on Zatistsa.com

What other art medium would you like to attempt / not attempt?
Encaustic. I’m so drawn to so many encaustic artists and works. I’d really love to learn more about it as a medium.

You are married to the very talented painter, Ralph Verano. How is it having two working painters in the house?
We have very different styles, but the work situation couldn’t be better; I have a like-minded sounding board on what I’m working on at any time. We work in the same studio, and benefit from each other’s feedback and support all the time.

Jim Jarmusch by Tracy Burke on Zatista.com

More and more, collectors looking for original art are turning to online venues like Zatista. What can you tell our readers about your experience?
I’ve had great success with Zatista! They have a great website, an aggressive marketing campaign that has targeted the right art buyers, and a flexible platform that has allowed me to sell to my collectors seamlessly, including custom commissions. I’ve been with them for over a year now, and have been fortunate to enjoy great sales and a great relationship with their team.

Brian Sylvester is a guest blogger on WallSpin, and an artist on Zatista.

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Spring Mirrored by Shawn Nelson Dahlstrom on Zatista

Hang in there. Just twenty more days until the vernal equinox. If you’ve forgotten what spring is like, let us remind you:

Spring Thaw by Nina Fuller on Zatista

It’s green, it’s dewey,

Thoughts of a Spring Pond by Jacquie Gouveia on Zatista

it’s light, bright, and sunny.

I Like Birds by Prints by Peskimo on Zatista

Birds are chirping and people are smiling – some may even be skipping or laughing.

Exploding Heads by Azur Mele on Zatista

If you live in California or Hawaii you’re probably wondering what all the fuss is about, since it may not be dreary where you are.

Matador Beach, Malibu California by John Kilduff on Zatista

Even though this winter hasn’t been harsh or dramatic for the rest of us, I think we’re still looking forward to spring. Its freshness and promise are irresistible.

Spring Rain by Susan Ulrich on Zatista

If you find yourself dreaming of spring year-round, consider bringing a bit of the season home with you. Zatista’s invigorating selection of original works is like a breath of fresh air!

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2012 The Munch Museum/The Munch-Ellingsen Group/Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Get your bidder numbers and paddles ready because it’s happening again – an extremely popular original work of art will be up for sale at Sotheby’s in New York on May 2nd. Apparently, this 1895 version of Edvard Munch’s celebrated painting “The Scream”, which has been merchandised up the wazoo on mouse pads, hats, t-shirts, tote bags, inflatable dolls, and plush toys, is expected to sell for more than $80 million.

Scream Plush Doll by Unemployed Philosophers Guild on Amazon.com

According to Arts Beat at the New York Times, “Munch made four versions of the composition, which has become the embodiment of angst and existential dread. Three are in Norwegian museums and this one, pastel on board, from 1895, is the only “Scream” still in private hands. It is being sold by Petter Olsen, a Norwegian businessman and shipping heir whose father, Thomas, was a friend, neighbor and patron of the artist.”

Homer, The Scream Covers & Citations http://search.it.online.fr/

Arts Beat continues, “Besides being one of the most recognizable images in art history, “The Scream’’ is also one of the most often stolen. Versions of it have been taken twice, first in 1994, when two thieves entered the National Gallery of Norway and fled with an 1893 “Scream” (it was recovered unharmed later that year), and then in 2004, when masked gunmen stole the 1910 version as well as Munch’s “Madonna” from the Munch Museum, also in Oslo (both works were recovered two years later).”

Ghostface from the Scream movie series created by Wes Craven. Based on The Scream painting by Edvard Munch, the mask was originally created by Fun World employee as a Halloween costume prior to being discovered by Wes Craven for the Scream film.

Simon Shaw, who heads Sotheby’s Impressionist and modern art department in New York, said in an interview with Arts Beat, “The Scream is unique. Everybody knows it, but paradoxically few people have ever really seen it in person. When you stand in front of the painting it’s really quite scary. It has the power to shock.’’

"The Scream" inflatable doll

Indeed, that kind of price tag often shocks me. How about you? More importantly, tell us the truth – have you ever purchased a t-shirt, poster, or coffee mug, etc., depicting Munch’s “The Scream”?

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cafepress.com

We all know that artists create fads – they’re notorious trendsetters. But these days trends come from all over and spread at an alarming rate, thanks to the Internet. A simple thing can turn into a national or even a global obsession, seemingly overnight.

Take the mustache for example. An interesting thing happened last year; one second they were an unpopular (at least in the current era) form of facial hair. Then, relatively quickly, they turned into some sort of icon. Now they’re everywhere! Especially the swoopy, robber baron kind.

Image: etsy.com/thetangledweb

I don’t remember the point it went from “funny ha-ha” to “whoa.” Forget about t-shirts and coffee cups, Etsy exploded with knit mustaches of all kinds – lip fur prostheses, if you will.

Image: Carstache.com

It got even crazier when someone started making mustaches for cars.

flickr.com CandyManGreg

Then there was a brief wave of mustache finger tattoos – get it?!

My question: In this brave new mustachioed world, does a craze like this help artists sell art? The question occurred to me as I was paging through illustrator Elizabeth Graeber’s work, whom I’ve written about before on Zatista. Does the fact that this piece includes a mustache make it marketable to a wider audience?

It’s kind of like trend chaos theory – Is a guy who gets a finger tattoo in Denver the same as the butterfly that flaps its wings in Kenya, unknowingly causing a hurricane in Florida? OK, that’s a little far-fetched, but  if silly fads help talented artists get more exposure, I’m all for them.

"Chester Arthur" by Elizabeth Graeber on Zatista.com

Long live the furry lip.

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Andreas Gursky/Christie's Images, Ltd., 2011

What you’re looking at is Andreas Gursky’s photo, “Rhein II”, which sold for $4,338,500 at Christie’s in November of last year, breaking the record for the most expensive photograph ever sold at auction. Yes, you read that right. Four million dollars. The buyer was anonymous.

Barry, Baker, Brookline, MA by Joel Degrand on zatista.com

According to NPR’s Claire O’Neill, “The photo comes at the mammoth proportion of about 6-by-11 feet, and that’s got to count for something. Plus (sorry all starving photographers), that price tag is nothing unusual for Gursky. Until the purchase of Cindy Sherman‘s Untitled in May, Gursky’s 99 Cent II Diptychon had been the most expensive photo, which sold at Sotheby’s for $3.3 million in 2007. He has photos in major museums like the Museum of Modern Art and London’s Tate Modern and studied under the renowned Bernd and Hilla Becher in Germany.”

Byron Bay by Daniel Grant on zatista.com

The good news is, we don’t sell $4 million photos here on Zatista. We sell affordable photographs, like the two above and this one:

Sheets on a Clothesline by Norman Lerner on zatista.com

And this one:

Shadows by Jeffrey Hummel on zatista.com

And this one:

Negatives #18 by Klaus Rossler

And that’s barely the tip of the iceberg. So make yourself a pot of tea, grab your lap top, sit back in your easy chair, breathe a deep sigh of relief, and enjoy the bounty of budget-friendliness that we have to offer. It’s art that’s fit for folks with fabulous taste and a budget like you and me!

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