Looking for a great gift this holiday season? Trying to find ways to support independent businesses on Small Business Saturday? Looking to avoid the malls and big box stores as you do your holiday shopping? May I suggest some art?

N.C. is having his annual holiday sale on everything in his shop, from now until January 1, 2012. Enter code “FESTIVUS” at checkout in his online store, and receive 25% off your entire order! Originals, high quality prints, and custom vinyl toys–it’s all eligible for the discount!

Here are just a few of my favorite pieces in the store (all but ONE of which are under $100 before the discount!), to whet your appetite.

Zelda Endures Print

Persistence (this one is actually in a gorgeous frame to boot! $115 pre-discount)

Down the Rabbit Hole print

Emerge

Iconic

Perfect gifts, the perfect things to hint to others that you’d like for yourself, or, heck, the perfect thing to buy for yourself if you REALLY want it.

Domestic buyers: make sure to order by December 16 to ensure you and your loved ones receive their artwork by Christmas. International buyers should purchase by December 9 if you want to try to get the art in front of the holiday rush.

So you’re at that stage in life where you want to start getting “real” art for your walls, instead of the Monet poster you got when you were in college. Or you’ve found an artist you LOVE and you really, really want to have a piece of theirs. Whatever the reason, you are interested in buying art–but you worry that you don’t have the funds to make it happen.

Well, after 11 years with my artist husband, I’ve found that there are sometimes ways around the money issue involved with buying art. And I thought I’d share some of those with you today. Let me put the caveat that not all of these work with all artists or galleries–you really have to do your homework and figure out how each individual artist or gallery operates, but these are some of the ways that we’ve begun to fill our art collection.

1. Buy direct from the artist.You see an artist you love at a local gallery. It’s WONDERFUL if you can buy from the gallery–this helps the artist further their career by helping the gallery see them as a profitable part of their business, and helps a local gallery stay in business. But sometimes, I know, gallery prices are out of a budget. So if you like an artist’s overall STYLE and not a specific piece, you can sometimes go direct to them and see if they have any other pieces that aren’t being shown at any galleries that are for sale. Those pieces can occasionally be at a slightly lower price point because gallery commissions aren’t being included. Additionally, many artists have their own online or Etsy stores where you can buy directly. You might find an artist that does sales, or special offers if you buy direct. It’s worth checking!
2. Haggle with the gallery. A little known fact–some galleries will work with a buyer a little on the price. ESPECIALLY if you’re looking at buying more than one piece or if you’re a regular buyer. Now, we’re not talking massive discounts, but you might see a 5%-10% reduction. This is probably less true of very very high end galleries, but it’s something that is worth asking if you’re serious about buying.
3. Buy prints. Many artists these days are doing prints, either through a gallery or on their own. Prints are a wonderful way to get your foot in the door of collecting art! They will likely be signed and numbered by the artist (if they’re fine art prints), at a significantly reduced price from the original. For example, my husband just did prints of a piece where the original is priced at $750…and the prints are priced at $50. You still get the beauty of the work, in a different format, at a lower price. Good prints will be on high quality paper, and printed with professional level printing. If you find an artist you like, look on their website or their store site (if they have one) to see if prints are available. If you can’t find any listed, it never hurts to contact the artist to see if they have any prints available. 
4. Start small. I know. You want a big piece to take up ALL that white space on your wall. But, like most things, bigger pieces of art tend to cost more. Smaller pieces can be the perfect way to start a collection without spending crazy amounts of money. The additional bonus of buying smaller works? You can buy more of various artists to see what really works in your home and with your personality!
5. Trade with other buyers. Maybe you have a piece or a print that you don’t want anymore, or you want another artist instead. There are buyers out there that will do trades. There are even forums and websites devoted to doing art trades. This can be a way to keep your art collection up to date with your current tastes even if you don’t have the cash to buy all new. (As with all things, please do your due diligence here. Don’t trade if you think something is off about the other party, or if you have any doubts about the validity of what they’re trading, etc.).
6. Barter with the artist. This is truly going to be a case by case by case basis. BUT. There are artists that will barter work for services or goods, especially if it’s things that might not be an artist’s strong suit. Say, for example, you’re a tax professional. Maybe you’d be willing to do an artist’s taxes in exchange for a piece. Or you’re a web developer and you’d be willing to do an artist’s website for a piece. Those types of barters CAN be successful. Now, my caveat here is: only offer what you’re willing to part with, and understand that an artist is going to do the same. You don’t want to come out of the deal feeling like either of you lost.

Creating an art collection is a fun way to express your personal style (no more mass market posters!), support the arts and help small businesses. It can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to break the bank!

We interrupt our usual *fascinating* blog posting to bring you this VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

We have art for sale.

In case any of you are new(ish) around here–my loving husband is not just Stay At Home Dad extraordinaire, he is also a working artist. As in, he makes pretty pictures and then puts them on walls (galleries, homes, bars, you name it).

Stuff like this:

Or this:

Or one of my all-time favorites, this:

Well, anyhow, we’ve finally gotten around to getting him his own online store, where you can buy art and stuff. Woot! To celebrate this momentous occasion (seriously, it’s been in the works for a while now), he’s offering 20% off all purchases between now and July 31st. Use code noodleknob and you’ll be all set. Oh, and shipping’s free in the U.S. So, you know, that rocks.

Also, he’s having a contest on Twitter. All you’ve got to do is retweet this tweet before midnight PST tonight (7/20):

and you’ll be entered to win an original piece of art. (Value $100.00 in dollars, priceless in its coolness).

Cool, right?

Disclosure: I’m married to the artist. I have a vested interest in his art selling, because, let’s be honest, I want him to become famous enough that he can sell art and I can become a lady of leisure. Help a girl out folks.

Shameless plug time:

N.C. has Christmas cards up for sale in his etsy shop again this year.

10 cards, 12 envelopes, free shipping until December 14th. You get some kick ass cards and the knowledge of supporting independent artists. There are 3 different designs for your holiday pleasure. Even if you don’t buy, enjoy!

I may have mentioned before that it can be tough being married to an artist. Once or twice, perhaps. He spends a lot of time with his art, there’s the whole money thing, not to mention the weird ego/self-worth thing that happens with artists (and that I’m sure artist’s wives throughout history have had to combat). It’s bizarre at times, hard a lot of the time, and can be tough to deal with at times for those of us who aren’t possessed by that kind of passion.

However, occasionally the stars begin to align and things all seem to work out and it can be amazing to watch all the good things that befall the husband/artist.

Like when a tweet from a real-life celebrity said this last week:

gonna buy this NC Winters piece. for the fam- this is exactly how it feels to be gone from everyone.

(referencing this piece, created for a group show in LA). True enough, come to find out that piece did sell to said celebrity, not to mention the publicity that N.C. got from said celebrities 1 million plus twitter followers plus however many follow his blog.

Or when, the night of the show, N.C. was interviewed for a show on a cable network available nationally.

Or when, a few days later, someone contacted him wanting to buy the other piece he had in the group show.

Or when we found out that a piece in another gallery sold.

Or when he picked up another two comic strips, bringing his weekly total to 5 separate strips (one of his key gigs).

Or when he got invitations to 3 more shows in the next 6 months.

I don’t say all this to brag–because really, I know that this is a feast portion for the feast/famine part of an art career–but to say that the last 2 1/2 weeks have been really inspiring to watch. It’s not about the money (though, with a baby on the way, of course that’s a great and helpful thing). Instead it’s about seeing these moments where my husband’s star shines a little brighter than it did the day before. About living in the moments where my husband comes one step closer to his goals and dreams. In THOSE moments, it’s a reminder that I believe in him for a reason–not just because I’m his wife, but because I believe he’s talented and destined for great things. And while it can be tough a lot of the time to be married to an artist, watching him as he gets closer to his dreams is pretty damn inspiring.