Choose it.

Frame it.

Display it.

If you’re keen to buy a Limited Edition Art Print for your home you need to give equal weight to these three things.

Here’s a few tips…

1. Colour
   When choosing your print check out your home decor and if you’re rocking all greys and browns then maybe it’s time for some colour.
2. Exception to the rule
   Check out the pics below of my client’s prints, which are exceptions to this rule.  All the natural colours look so good together.
3. Matting size
   When framing your print give it more impact by putting a large matting around it.  For my prints (as in pics below) I suggest an 8-10cm matting.
4. Matting colour
   When choosing a colour for your matting, if in doubt go for white-white. Chances are, off-white or some other colour you think could be a bit of fun won’t be classy enough to last the test of time.
5. Home decor
   Display your print with complementary decor… furniture, plants, ornaments and couch pillows that aren’t too loud and distracting.

Limited Edition Prints can be a good choice because they’re cheaper than original paintings and they’re still a collector’s item since they’re signed by the artist. The value of your print will grow over the years with the profile of the artist.  Also, ink-jet giclee prints on acid-free paper can last up to 120 years before any colour change is apparent to the human eye.

I was so impressed with how one of my clients displayed their prints that I had to go around for a photo shoot!  Hope you can get some inspiration from this:

Prints below: Ko Aoraki Te Maunga (left) and Matawhaorua (right), both images 40x40cm with 10cm matting

Click here for more on Sofia Minson Prints
or
Click here to view all artworks with available prints

The Wallace Gallery in Morrinsville has brought over 21,000 visitors into the town. Their exhibition space for local artists is always booked out 12 months in advance and they house a revolving exhibition of Sir James Wallace’s collection of contemporary New Zealand art.

…And their working grant has been cut this year by local council.

What?!

Over 120 of us New Zealand artists are having none of that and we have donated works for a silent auction to save Morrinsville’s Wallace Gallery.

Sofia Minson - "Waka Pacific" 20x20cm oil on museum paper $95 reserve

All works are 20 x 20cm with a reserve of $95. Artists include myself, Dick Frizzell, Otis Frizzell, John Key, Mary McIntyre, Peter Madden, Annah Stretton, Fats White, Leafa Wilson, Adrian Worsley and many, many more.

What can you do?

Place a bid in the Silent Art Auction either via phone 07 889 7791 or in person on Thursday March 8th from 7 – 8:15pm!

VIEW THE 135 ARTWORKS FOR AUCTION HERE

Wallace Gallery, 167 Thames Street, Morrinsville 3300
Tel: 07 889 7791, Email: info@morrinsvillegallery.org.nz

Last night in Wellington the prestigious $15,000 first prize award was taken out by Stephen Martyn Welch from TVNZ’s ‘The Sitting’ fame with his self portrait entitled 3 Nights, A Mirror & Loads of Coffee.

My oil portrait of my sister Tessa entitled The Other Sister was chosen as a finalist.

Sofia Minson's "The Other Sister" 850x1800mm oil on canvas

I’m so impressed by the standard of entries this year and my personal favourites are Nick Cuthell’s Alexandra Chan, which was commended by the judge Dr Christopher Chapman, senior curator of the Australian National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, as well as Peter Miller’s John – Ko Ora, Ko Mate ( I Live, I Die).

Head along to see the Adam Portrait Award finalists for yourself:

NZ Portrait Gallery
Shed 11, Wellington Waterfront
Exhibition runs from 22 February until 10 April
Open 10:30am – 4:30pm daily

Watch this I AM TV show feature of my art that aired 10th Dec on TV 2 in New Zealand.

Earlier this year The New Zealand Portrait Gallery commissioned me to do a painting of Dame Joan Metge to be part of their permanent collection and their current exhibition entitled The Makers of Modern New Zealand 1930 – 1990.

The show is on until 12 February 2012 at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Shed 11, Wellington Waterfront, so check it out this summer if you get the chance.

"Dame Joan Metge" by Sofia Minson 85x180cm oil on canvas

Have you heard of Joan Metge? I hadn’t when I was first asked to do her portrait and now I’m so glad to have met her and learnt about her contributions to Maori/Pakeha relations since the 1950s.

Click here for more about Dame Joan Metge and this Portrait

Click here for Wellington exhibition “The Makers of Modern NZ 1930-1990″ and photos of Opening Night

Curator Brian Easton with Minson's painting "Dame Joan Metge"

"Alison Holst" by Freeman White

"Ian Cross" by Harriet Bright

The opening last week of my exhibition of new works at Parnell Gallery was a great success. Click here to view pictures from the exhibition.

Thanks to all of you who’ve seen the show, if you haven’t it runs until December 6th so there’s still time to check it out.

It was a genuinely special moment when Tiki Taane got to see his two large-scale portraits with full-face moko for the first time in the flesh.

Watch this interview with Tiki Taane and I from opening night…

Exhibition Dates: 22 November to 6 December 2011

Gallery Hours: Open seven days
Monday – Friday 9:30am – 5:30pm
Saturday 10.00am – 4.00pm
Sunday 11:00am – 4:00pm

Parnell Gallery: 263 Parnell Rd, Auckland

I’d like to invite you all to my exhibition of new oil paintings at Parnell Gallery…

“Connecting Threads”
A joint show with Matt Gauldie and Sofia Minson
Exhibition Dates: 22 November to 6 December 2011
Venue: 263 Parnell Road, Parnell, Auckland
Check out the details here

Come to the exhibition on opening night to enjoy a glass of wine at 5:30pm on Tuesday 22nd November 2011.

Click here for full story and pictures of my new paintings

See you at the exhibition!

Taster of paintings to be revealed in the show:

"Freedom to Be" by Sofia Minson, 178 x 107 cm, Oil on Canvas

"Toia Mai Te Waka" by Sofia Minson, 150 x 55 cm, Oil on Canvas

"Tiki Taane" by Sofia Minson, 180 x 85 cm, Oil on Canvas

"Korihi Te Manu" by Sofia Minson, 158 x 84 cm, Oil on Canvas

You should click this link to view more information about the exhibition.

Check out the article… Orakei School Art Exhibition and Sale is less than a week away!

Click here for Orakei School Art Exhibition and Sale details

It’s been a total joy collaborating with 8 to 12-year-old kids from Orakei School.  I think we’ve managed to create something uniquely kiwi.

These three artworks entitled Papa, Moana and Tane are individual strips of canvas painted by the children that I have woven and framed with driftwood from Ohope Beach.

The concept of weaving evokes unity, with all of the children’s diverse, vibrant strips of canvas coming together into an indivisible, complete artwork.

The kids’ paintings are inspired by anything that is special to them – Maori and Pacific patterns, their favourite sports teams, video games, friends and family.

The children I had the honour of collaborating with are smart with great senses of humour and even though they come from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds, a sense of unity has been cultivated at the school, a sense of whanau.

Click here to find out about the November 4-6 Orakei School Art Sale, where these three works will be exhibited and auctioned off.

What’s the latest creative activity you’ve done with kids? Share your experience below or email sofia@sofiaminson.com and I’ll add it…

[Show as slideshow]

Darcy Nicholas - Artist, Writer, Curator

Kim Hill interviewed respected Maori painter, sculptor, writer, and curator Darcy Nicholas on Radio NZ National and brought up the concept of the dancing bear in relation to indigenous people creating art out of their traditional culture for a modern audience.

Darcy said “what you have to do is know the difference between the dancing bear and the real bear, because the real bear is going to eat you.”

Anyone know what that means?!

SEE RESPONSE TO THIS POST FROM DARCY NICHOLAS HIMSELF!

“If we liken it back to Maori culture” Darcy continues, “we have to understand the difference between the real thing and the entertainment thing.  And quite often people get confused.”

Sounds fair, but I’ve got to say that being an entertainer (i.e. visual artist) myself, there is noooooooo clear line between what’s ‘real’ and what’s ‘entertainment’.

Kind of like our previous conversation about whether creating something new out of Maori designs is legitimate borrowing or appropriation, all of you had so many different views.

Is Kapa haka real or entertainment?  Are my paintings real or entertainment? Was the beautiful, moving opening ceremony for the Rugby World Cup real or entertainment?  It felt like both to me.

So no, I don’t think we’re dancing bears.  When I paint, the spirit in which I create is real because the artwork is an extension of myself.  Plus my art looks good on a wall therefore it’s also entertaining.

What do you think? Please leave a reply below or email sofia@sofiaminson.com…

"Russian Bear" by Sofia Minson, oil on canvas, 850mm high x 1800mm wide

If you have 36 minutes to spare, which may seem like an eternity for some, but not for us painters who spend hours in the studio, you should listen to the interview…Kim Hill interviews Maori artist Darcy Nicholas on Radio NZ

SEE RESPONSE TO THIS POST FROM DARCY NICHOLAS HIMSELF!