From the 1950’s through the 1980’s a group of twenty six self taught African American artists known as the "Florida Highwaymen" painted the Florida landscape and sold their paintings out of the trunks of cars. These artists used vivid colors to depict Florida’s natural beauty. The Florida Highwaymen painted palm trees, sunsets, the blue ocean waters and colorful tropical plants. On the weekends the Florida Highwaymen sold their paintings to local hotels, businesses and tourists for around $25 per painting. They can be found occasionally in online art auctions and galleries.
These talented artists used oil paint on upson board – a material similar to drywall – to create their original landscapes. The Florida Highwaymen were able to finish a painting in an hour or less. The paintings were often sold before the paint was dry. The frames were homemade out of crown molding, painted with house paint and gold paint. Online art auctions are a new way to purchase art.
The Florida Highwaymen are currently receiving national acclaim. Collecting Florida Highwaymen art has become an expensive hobby. Some can be found in online art auctions. Although many of the pieces were originally sold for around $25, they now fetch prices upwards of $5000. Some of the Highwaymen are still creating new works of original Florida art.
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| artwork by n!satterfield |
Artists have to be creative people in order to be successful. Now more than ever, you can get creative with your marketing strategy by putting your art business online. Online art auctions can help the artist because they offer a convenient way to make sure that your art is seen by a large number of people. Also, gallery fees for online art sales tend to be considerably less than with brick and mortar galleries. If you are an artist, jewelry maker, craftsperson, artisan, or crafter, you have probably struggled with the marketing and sales portion of art.
Putting your art pieces on the internet in an online art auction can be a great way to get noticed and a convenient way to sell your products without having the added expenses of gallery fees and booth rentals. Consider an online art auction for selling your products. You can set the starting bid and then see what the final outcome is. You can have the buyer pay the shipping costs so that you see more of the profit.
That translates to being able to spend more of your time and money on creating new art pieces to sell at the online art auction. You can be a more prolific miami artist and produce more art quickly. The more productive you are, the better your sales will be. People who decide they want to follow you online will be excited to see your next piece. It's a great ideal to open Facebook and Twitter accounts and post your latest piece with a link to your online auction. Before you know it you will have a thriving art business from home.
