COLLECT COLLECT COLLECT

photo by Harry Benson - http://www.harrybenson.com

Purchased a copy from The Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe New Mexico

For years I've been trading and collecting photography. My love for the fine art print has only seasoned as the prints have increased in price! My collection ranges from Harry Benson, Ernst Hass, Judy Dater, Margret Burke White, Sally Mann, David M Kennedy, Norman Mauskopf, Ansel Adams, Toni Frissell, Edward Curtis, Elizabeth Opalenik, Raymond Meier, Carlan Tapp, and many more...all silver prints. Color by Jodi Cobb, Bruce Dale, Chip Simons, Nick Nichols, Art Brewer, hang on my walls. I love being surrounded by art and inspiration by other artists.

(copyright Judy Dater, 1974)
featured here with her gracious permission.
photo by Judy Dater of Imogen and Twinka
purchased in New Orleans at the Joshua Mann Pailet Gallery

An example of value in print collecting I can share with you was one print I owned for two decades by Helmet Newton. A personal favorite image that I sold to lighten my load. I purchased the print of the girl with the saddle on her back for 4 thousand dollars. I sold it as the market shifted downward four years ago. Prior to the market this print was selling for over 100,000.00. I sold it for approx. 88,000.00. Capital gains tax was about 12,000.00. Still a great investment.

photo by Helmet Newton purchased in New Orleans at the Joshua Mann Pailet Gallery

Collecting is tricky but I'm always collecting images, it never mattered who it was by but how it made me feel. All the images I have are personally inspiring regardless if it makes a frame and the wall or not! I like to live with art by other creatives. When I had a loft in NYC my bed faced a wall of rotating images....I would awaken and see them all and just allow that space to fill my heart with amazing iconic imagery. I would read at night before slumber and allow those images to let me ponder and inspire me to make more profound imagery not only for me but for my client base as well. Always thinking timeless and evokative as goal.

photo by Toni Frissell purchased from the Library of Congress

Supporting the artists is key to me. I have made a life of it. Trades and purchases always a story behind every piece. I have all kinds of art, sculpture, prints, 3d pieces. I often move them and gift them to other friends as my life seems ever changing. Nothing stays the same if your a creative thinker. Nothing ever gets stale in my world when inspired by the arts.