Saturday, February 2, 2008

inexpensive original artwork

If you are a music lover and looking for cheap artwork to frame, consider concert posters. No, I don't mean those flimsy, glossy band posters you used to pull from Teen Beat magazine. I am talking about screen printed originals created by artists commissioned to render something eyecatching including the band's name, venue and performance date. For around $20-$40, you can purchase one of the prints featuring your favorite bands. I have only just started my collection and have five prints. The neat thing about this being so inexpensive is that you can buy like four or five posters and simple frames (typically sized 18X24ish) to start, then rotate out based on colors for the season, to coordinate with a change in your decor, or to spotlight a new favorite band. Chris and I got going on this at Flatstock at Seattle's Bumbershoot two years ago. There we discovered rows and rows of these high quality prints and were truly inspired. I think we spent about $40 and got three posters. Later, when JoAnn Fabrics was having a half off sale, I got three frames for around $60 and got the prints up on the wall. The prints required a little trimming with a straight edge and exacto blade, but it took just a few minutes and I had started a fun art gallery in my living room. A few artists to try: Furturtle, Strawberry Luna, and Delicious Design League. Most of them also sell other great art prints.

Ben Harper by Furturtle; Spoon by Strawberry Luna


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Band posters are a great idea! High design style with indie cred. Perfect for newlyweds trying to blend their two styles. You can tie different colored furniture pieces together with a poster that contains the colors you are working with.

Anonymous said...

Where can I find these posters? Especially, if I live in a place where we pretty much don't have concerts?

Betsy said...

You can go online to the links that I provided: furturtle, strawberry luna and delicious design league all have websites that you can purchase their posters on. Although the bands you like may not have played in your area, it is the art work and band name that count! Just click on any of the aforementioned artists within the text of that blog, and it will link you to their website.

Anonymous said...

I l-o-v-e this idea. And I know it is something that my guitarist boyfriend will love as well... whenever we finally have a shared space to decorate together. :)
-Carrie