Distinguishing scammers from real patrons

Lately I've had a number of enquiries from people overseas interested in purchasing some paintings...in the end they turned out not to be real. Luckily no one took any money from me. I quoted my work exclusive of the shipping costs. When they said they had a shipper they used I started investigating if the shipper was real...when I found nothing to corroborate the shipper's identity. I made it clear that all costs for shipping would be paid by the buyer directly. Once I said that, they were no longer interested.

Looking outside the norm to find the right tools

A few years ago, a friend, whose wife is also an artist, shared with me that she was using these metal trays as her palettes, so that she could cover them, in between with saran wrap to keep the paints moist. She works in acrylic, while I work in oils. While my palettes don't dry out as quickly since I work in Oil, they still do dry out. I've been looking for something to use to hold the linseed oil I work with, turp etc in containers that I'm working with that can be closed up so the liquids don't vaporate as quickly...as well as finding something to hold my palettes so they also can be covered. Today I found them, in bed bath and beyond. A couple of cookie sheets, and spice containers with tops and magnetized bottoms are perfect.

The Artist's Experience Purpose

I started this blog as a way to communicate the experience of an artist. What happens, what it's like, what it takes to promote your work, spotting the scammers.