Beautiful Pet Portraits

I do portraits and custom paintings of all types.

To see examples of my work please visit my website at www.blazerartgallery.com

Custom paintings are $0.75 per square inch (ex. an 8x10=80sq in x .75= $60 for your commissioned painting)Payment due upon completion of painting.

They're all done on stretched canvas with the staple free sides painted so there is never a need to have it framed, comes ready to hang on your wall.

Paintings are done in acrylic paint and coated with a protective varnish.

Paintings are finished and ready to hang within 14 days.

All you need to get started is a pet snapshot. Order a one of a kind custom pet portrait for your loved ones today.

Email me if you have any other questions.

Here are some examples of my work:

I came up with an idea I am going to try. I am going to create a site that does monthly art contests. Each artist will be able to submit up to 5 works into the online show, the entry show will be $5 per art work and the winner will receive a cash prize, first place will also get a one month one-man show on the site where they can post even more of their work. Visitors will vote on the works to choose who will win. This will not only make me some money, but it will also help artists get their work out there. And the only investment I have to put in it is some time and $ for the webspace and domain name. The great thing is that there will be no merchendise to ship and easier to market. Of course I will still be marketing my own art too. What do you think of this idea? I am scheduled to launch on Feb. 4th

I have been trying to figure out how to safe guard the voting process on the site, I'm still pretty new to this though. Do you think people will actually pay to vote? If I have to, until I get the whole system perfected, I figured I would have a voting form on the site where people have to enter their name and email address to vote, and I would just have to tally up the votes manually. This would also allow me to gather info for marketing the site by sending e-newsletters. I think doing a weekly competition would be better, but since I won't have the whole process automated I will still have to do things like updating the exhibition page manually until I figure out how to streamline everything so I don't have to do so much. After I get it all figured out and streamlined I will have more competitions. It won't be perfect when I launch on the 4th, but i can make changes as I go. I already have a huge list of collectors to send some promotions to, and plan to open a myspace account just for the gallery and getting as many friends as I can for more advertising, not to mention making classified ads on craigslist and myspace and placing an ad on artist deadline, which is a site with information about juried shows and art fairs across the country.

The vision is basically to get artists on there by giving them exposure and the cash prize, and get buyers on there by giving them something fun to do, vote on their favorite pieces. This would hopefully result in sales for the artists and more people signing up as time goes on to make me more money. I'm trying to create a win/win situation.

Yet another painting, hope you like it.

This is a three piece painting. Please email me if you would like some information on it.

Today's Painting: Random Thoughts 3

Acrylic painting on flat canvas panel

(1) 12x16in canvas

(2) 9x12in canvas

Total size= 12x34in

$102

Painting of the week Jan 21, 2008

Thank you to everyone who emailed me about the painting of the week. The vote is in and the public has spoken. The painting of the week is...

Family Portrait



Acrylic Painting
(2) 16 x 20in canvas panels
(1) 12 x 16in canvas panels
Total size: 52 x 16in
Dated 2007
$208

For more information about me or to see more of my art visit www.blazerartgallery.com

Hanging Flat Canvas panels

Often times, when I am browsing through the many beautiful paintings here on ebay, I come across something just magnificent. I click on it and start to read about the wonderful piece of art only to realize that the artist opted to use canvas panel. There is nothing wrong with that, many good artists use canvas boards from time to time, I even use them for some of my own artwork. But nether the less, I have many times clicked my "Back" button in disappointment. I didn't want to pay such a high price to have the piece framed. That is, until I discovered some new ways to hang paintings that are not gallery stretched.

First I would like to point out that you will want to find out if the edges of the canvas panel are painted. When you are not going to hide the sides of the painting behind the edges of the frame you want to make sure you will not see any exposed canvas on the sides. Many artists would be happy to paint the sides for you if they haven't already (All my paintings already have the sides painted.), or, if you already have a painting you would like to hang without framing you can opt to touch up the sides yourself.
Here are some of the ways you can hang a flat canvas panel:
1) Attach picture hardware to the back with a glue gun.

2) Buy stretcher bars from an art store, or get a wooden frame. Paint it the color of your choice, and then use a hot glue gun to affix the painting on the pieces of wood so it looks like a stretched canvas.

3) You can also get a piece of wood that’s larger then the painting, drill hole on the back so you can hang it on a nail (kind of like a plaque) paint it and affix the painting on the wood. This method gives the painting a nice border.

4) Buy mirror hangers. They are clear plastic pieces that let you hang a flat mirror.

5) My favorite way to hang a flat piece of art is to get some nice ribbon. cut it to the size I want. Glue both sides of the ribbon to the back corners of the painting. Then, you can hang it on a nail. You can also tie a bow in the top of the ribbon to make it even more decorative. This makes a nice wall hanging.
Well, I hope you find this to be a helpful and fun way to hang your paintings.

Tracking my sales and expenses

Ok, I am so excited. I have created a spreadsheet for my art business. Over the last two weeks it seems I have PROFITED. Not much, but it is a start, and at least I am making a profit!

My spreadsheet is great, I just put in what I sold and for how much, what I bought for art supplies, how much ebay and paypal charged, the shipping costs and anything else I need for business expenses. The all I have to do is put in the numbers and magically it tells me my profit, total expenses, and I even have it telling me my profit PER PAINTING, not just my overall income!

I think this is something most artists I have see online lack, you have to keep track of everything your business is making and speding. Soon I will need to apply for a business license and get a business bank account, then I will be able to cut myself a check each week LIKE A REAL JOB!

Starting a studio gallery

So, I have been wanting to buy or rent a space for a studio/gallery for some time. And finally decided to stop thinking and start doing.

My idea is to get a space that is big enough to seperate into studio's for several artists and have a gallery to show all our work, as well as have everyone's work online and on ebay. I'll be able to pay the bills with the money I make off renting out studios and then the artists can make a name for them selves by my marketing efforts, and selling their work in the gallery. I have this dream of helping young artists make a living off their work, because I believe this is something that can be done.

What I need? More art sells. With every painting sold 25% is currently going to a savings account that I do not touch so I can get this started. The rest goes to more supplies and ebay fees. I will give updates on how much I need and how much I have at regular intervals. I have lowered my painting prices to help make more money for this. So Please take a look at my work and if you like it please bid.

Favorite painting of the Week

Every week I would like to show off one of my favorite paintings.

This week it is......

Mona Van Dali!








This is a mix of three of my favorite paintings: The Mona Lisa, Starry Night and Dali's mealting clocks.

The Painting is 11 x 14in

The painting is on flat canvas boards. The sides are painted and picture hanging hardware is attached to the back so it is ready to hang.

To read more about this painting or to purchase it visit my website by clicking on the picture or go to www.blazerartgallery.com

I hope you enjoyed this painting