I dug out photos of the paintings that I donated in previous years.
Since the organization sends high school students to do volunteer work in Latin America, all of my paintings for the auction have been landscapes of Mexico.
The first time that I donated a painting was in 2010. I did this street scene of Guanajuato.
My friend Jane (my former teaching colleague who was with me in Yucatán this winter) accompanied me to the auction. No one was bidding on my painting, so she put in a bid. Someone else then bid on it, and Jane thought, "Now we've got the ball rolling!" She bid again... hoping to raise the price even more... and she was stuck with the painting. Well, not really stuck, since she liked it, and now has it hanging in her dining room.
This was the painting I donated in 2012. It's a street scene of the beautiful town of Malinalco.
Another friend had accompanied me to the auction, and he won the bidding on the painting. He however really was interested in purchasing on of my works.
Last year I donated this view of the ancient ruins of Cantona, in a remote area of the state of Puebla.
That time the painting was purchased by someone I didn't even know!!
Wow, Bill! Those paintings are all AMAZING!!!! It's kind of baffling that they aren't going for a LOT of money. Maybe you should find a real gallery to sell them, and then donate the proceeds to your charity instead of the painting. I suspect you'd end up raising a LOT more money.
ReplyDeleteSaludos,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Where recent adventures with paint haven't had such happy endings.
Well, thank you, Kim. Unfortunately... the people who have a lot of money to spend on art are looking for something more avant garde or by a more recognized artist as an investment. My work is very traditional... and appeals more to a middle class audience that isn't about to spend big bucks for a painting. And you know what they say... the price of a painting goes way up after an artist is dead. Hopefully that doesn't happen for a long, long time! lol Also, I have heard that Cleveland is not a major art market. Even people with money are more likely to hang family photos on their walls rather than original art. (But just to make it clear that Cleveland is not a cultural backwater, we have one of the best art museums in the country!)
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