Gather and see the music
with original portraits on vinyl.

Home | About | Press | FAQ | Gallery | Shop | Custom

Friday, August 28, 2009

(Pre)mature

One thing I've learned while making a go of Vinyl Art as a business is that there are a lot of things starting with pre which are good and important. Preparedness, presentation, preference...

"Affordable and portable" is the catch phrase that Shelley at Wild About Music likes when deciding about work to consign and sell. That applied to me for sure. I had to figure out how to present my pieces. There are options out there for framing records, some fancier than others. I do like the frames with the mats that partly reveal the record coming out of the sleeve. I could use those and have the record on top or coming out if the portrait wouldn't be covered. But they're expensive to buy, to ship and take up more wall space. So I opted for the simpler square frame I can get as a kit.

Now, I'd like to offer fancier frames. I can get them special if desired, but I'd need to charge a premium. There are those who will prefer that though, something special. Premium options are what will bring a price higher than $175, things like framing, color tinting and inscriptions. I've just started playing with both color and inscriptions along the inner groove.

But the main thing I've learned is preparedness is key. So they need tweaking. I offer them if you're interested, but you'll be learning with me. They do look good, all 3 options. As I've gone along, being prepared at different stages has meant being able to say 'yes' much more. That's what all these pre words do, allow me to say 'yes'.

With my new venture, Liter(art)ure, I'm not prepared yet. I don't have options sorted out, much less presentation. Do I freeze the book open to the drawing with glue so it can be hung or propped on a shelf easily? Or do I affix it somehow to something so you can show it or still read it? Do I mount it under a plexiglass box for protection? Lots of questions to be answered, so offering them for sale would be premature. But I'm still learning!

Peace.

6 comments:

Ryan said...

I vote for a shadow box display with the page open to the art.

Similar to the vinyls -- we can't play the vinyls again, nor would we be able to read the book again -- unless we wanted to damage the presentation.

Kind of like this: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PNlgrdHEy4U/SlQp-xM9qYI/AAAAAAAAAZs/Sgu8os-KDdg/s1600-h/0147.JPG

Daniel Edlen said...

Hey Ryan! Thanks for learning with me on the color tinting!

You're probably right about people not wanting to read the book and possibly damage it simply with oil and stuff. I'm thinking the shadow box'll be the way to go if I can make the cost reasonable.

Ryan said...

I'd be way into a shadowbox display -- kind of like the way Hugh frames his moleskin pieces.

Dave Eggers, Nick Hornby, Roddy Doyle... another trio!

Daniel Edlen said...

I haven't seen a shot of Hugh's in the box, just what's in his gallery online. Maybe we'll get him to jump in here...

Would you pay upwords of a $1000 for one of these in a box? I could maybe do all 3 if I could find good photos and have them all in one box. But then shipping...

See, this is why preparation is so important, especially for presentation preferences! :)

Ryan said...

Try the photo here:
http://www.moleskinerie.com/2009/06/commissioned-moleskine-gapingvoid.html

I don't think I'd be able to afford $1,000. But it's certainly worth a discussion.

Daniel Edlen said...

Wow! Okay that is fancy. We'll see what I can come up with along those lines.