Dear Friends,
Small businesses need you this holiday season. It feels impossible to compete against same day deliveries, outsourced products, free shipping, as well as marketing costs and time.
By choosing to make your gift purchases from a small business/artist, you’re not only giving them crucial financial support but it’s a guaranteed boost of energy and confidence. While I may not physically move my very stoic and expressionless body, you can be sure that I’m doing a little internal dance with every painting order. In fact I bought a little bell specifically to ring with each sale.
Not only that, but I’m pretty sure the recipient is going to treasure this unique and thoughtful gift more, and it will (HOPEFULLY) be less likely to end up in a landfill. Nobody throws away art, right?! RIGHT?
Here are a few of my hand-picked favorites, although the actual list is huge and this is just what I could think of at the top of my head right now. I can't feature everyone's due to lack of hours in the day, but there's a few that deserve some special attention. Also, YES they are all friends 😂, but they are genuinely some of my favorite painters too.
https://www.kristiantaylormatthews.com/
I love every single piece that Kristian Matthews paints. He's been winning awards left and right so it's nice to see him getting the recognition he deserves! You need to buy a piece now before everyone finds out about him and they sell out though...
I'm fortunate to own a few of Sergio's paintings, including one very special one which was a pet portrait of Coconut that he gifted to me (it won the Trekell Pet Portrait Contest, too~). I love his work, it's so vibrant and thoughtful. He's also a very prolific painter and has many beauties to choose from of various price points.
https://christophergrecofineart.com/shop
He doesn't know I'm sharing this here, so I don't know if his website is 100% up to date, but omg you all NEED TO BUY Chris' work!! It gets better every time I look at it, honestly. He gifted me two gorgeous oil paintings and I swear everyone that comes in to visit makes a beeline straight to them. This is a painting I'm honestly hoping to buy some day.
https://www.nancytakaichi.com/
Nancy's work is another you can't miss out on. While she doesn't have an online shop, her work is available in galleries and I'm sure if you see one you like she can find a way to get it in your hands if it's still around! She DOES have a beautiful 2023 calendar that you can buy if you want 12 of her paintings at once! I love her colors and moods.There's such a softness to her work, she can make anything and everything into a beautiful painting.
https://www.instagram.com/cleo.vilett/
Cleo is such a bold, curious and passionate artist and it shows in her work. She has a great studio space in Oakland at Studios 11 where you can see many of these beauties up close. I recommend reaching out to her if there's any specific piece you'd like to know more about!
Here are some other favorites, many which are on my wish lists!
https://www.nancyrobertsstudio.com/works
https://fieldwork.bigcartel.com/
https://www.charityandersonfineart.com/shop
https://www.umakelkar.com/shop/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ApplePine
https://www.studioumbralux.com/
https://www.chrislongpainter.com/
https://www.nancyrobertsstudio.com/works
In addition, I’ve reached out to Instagram and friends to share their links to their own shops for you to peruse. They didn’t disappoint!! So much great work all around the world. There’s definitely favorites in this part too that I plan to be a customer of.
https://www.facebook.com/SarahLorentzArt/shop/
https://bringasartdesign.square.site/
https://bluethumb.com/au/emily-bowen
www.sheilalongerbeamstudio.com
https://rhineart.storenvy.com/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/shelleysartworks
https://www.nataliebrooksstudio.com/shop
https://www.etsy.com/it/shop/LizasBookpainting
HANDMADE GIFTS