I am all about the DIY art, folks. ALL about it. (Check out some of my DIY art projects below if you don’t believe me.) BUT – I also think it is nice to own beautiful, interesting pieces of art created by others.
My budget is limited, but I have found that if you know where to look, you can discover amazingly talented artists who offer original pieces and limited prints of their work for truly affordable prices. If you are interested in finding unique, affordable art, here are some techniques and sources to check out.
1. The Jealous Curator
This is definitely my favorite way to discover artwork and artists. Many of you are probably familiar with the Jealous Curator and her amazing site. The Jealous Curator is a site dedicated to sharing beautiful and interesting art. Not all of the pieces are for sale or pieces that would fit in your home, but many are. And many prints and even original pieces are surprisingly affordable. I found Hollie Chastain, an amazing collage artist, through the Jealous Curator and bought a print I just love for my son’s nursery.
(Be warned: Once you start at the Jealous Curator, it may be a while before you are able to drag yourself away.)
2. West Elm’s Etsy Picks
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| Source: West Elm |
Did you know that last fall West Elm started including Etsy artists’ work in their catalogs? I just love this idea. It is a great way to get exposed to new art and artists AND see how a piece of art can be incorporated into a space (like Eden Some’s abstract ink drawings in the room above) . See a piece you like, and go straight to the artist’s Etsy page to purchase. Awesome!
3. MintedÂ
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Minted.com sells some cool limited edition art prints, but the thing that is really fun about the site is that you can become a curator and create your own virtual art gallery to get an idea of how the prints would look in your home. You can also check out galleries others have created, including the creative minds behind One Kings Lane and SFGirlByBay. Fun, right?
4. Find a Favorite Pinner to Follow
Pinterest can be a great source for finding great stuff, including great art. Here are some suggestions to find pinners with tastes similar to yours:
- Try clicking on either the Art or Illustrations and Posters category in the menu at the top left of your home page.
- Find an image you like. See who pinned it and what board it was pinned to.
- Take a minute or two to scroll through the board and determine if your tastes are similar to those of the pinner. If they are, check out the pinner’s other boards too. (When looking at the board, be sure to look at the links under the pins. If a lot of the images are pinned from image searches or sites like tumblr and flickr, you may want to keep looking. While those sites are great for eye candy, they can make it difficult to track down the original artist or source.)
5. Zatista
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The art available through Zatista may not be as “affordable” so some of the other sources I’ve discussed above, but the difference is Zatista is not a site for art prints, it is a site that sells all original artwork, like actual oil on actual canvas. That kind of original artwork. The site also has a neat art explorer tool, that makes suggestions based on pieces you like.
(Bonus!) 6. Vincent Serritella
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| Vincent Serritella |
How about one more? This is a good one too, friends. A source for FREE original artwork, folks. Yes. It’s true. I just love this idea. Artist Vincent Serritella shares a new drawing or painting on his facebook site every day, and then just sends it to the first person to comment on the image (for free!). Isn’t that amazing? I must be feeling really generous, because sharing this with you all makes it more difficult for me to snag one of Vincent’s pieces, but he deserves the love for his work. And, good news, if you miss out on the free piece, you can buy a print of the 25 most recent pieces through his shop.
I hope these sources are helpful for you all and will help you fill up your walls with art that you just love. If you want to keep up with my latest finds, be sure to follow my Art Gallery Pinterest board.
Did I miss any great sources? Please share!
Linking up at some of my favorite parties.