Reproductions

Reproductions
Hi folks, been awhile do to projects and festivals. I had a booth at the Loganberry Festival in Greenbank on Whidbey Island this past weekend and the weather was great and the music and food fantastic. Local and creative with lots of artists and musicians here on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound (now a part of the Salish Sea).  these festivals really are not a great venue for selling fine art whether originals or reproductions but they can be fun and good exposure for your art (I had follow up emails requesting reproductions after the festival).
Let us clear up one important point: Giclee reproductions are high quality pigments on archival watercolor paper, designed to last a long time (over 100 years) and be collectible art work. These reproductions cannot be called "prints" as a print is a reproduction that has been added to, altering the original image (adding another medium as an overlay, for example).
 A significant problem for artists is that most lay people do not understand the difference in quality between Giclee or fine art reproductions and copies (ink jet copies of watercolors on bond paper or even watercolor paper). Why? they are comprised of INKs and not PIGMENTs for one. inks will fade rapidly.  Talking to other artists at the festival, one laughingly told me of a friend who came over and said "look at the neat signed watercolor I bought for $20."  Ouch and we all laughed and cried. He bought a digital copy, made with ink and signed--cheap and fragile and not a fine art collectible. Many artists now are discontinuing the "giclee" label and using "fine art reproduction" instead.

Have fun and keep painting. Ron K