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I recently ran across this article and it was just too good to not share. This article was written by Peter Hort. Mr. Hort is a part-time judge and attorney, and, with his wife Jamie Cohen Hort, a passionate contemporary art collector. He is heir to the Hort Family Collection, and he is a founding member of the Rema Hort Mann Foundation, which awards grants to emerging artists.

The most important tips for any new collector:

 

1. Figure out what you like. The better education you have, the better collection you’ll have.

I suggest going to museums and art galleries and trying to familiarize yourself with different periods and styles.This is also where the internet, and specifically Artsy, can be a wonderful resource in figuring out what your taste is, and discovering artists you didn’t know exist. For example, you might come across emerging artists on the Artsy network, through galleries organizations like The Rema Hort Mann Foundation, which supports the careers of emerging artists in New York and Los Angeles.

Very often you evolve from what you originally thought you liked—sometimes it’s before you buy your first piece, because you did a little research. But unfortunately sometimes it’s after you buy your first piece; this could be because your taste becomes more sophisticated or you find that you like abstract or conceptual work better, which is often tougher to take as a first piece.

 

2. Determine what you’re buying: Are you buying something that you love and you want purely because you think it’s great? Or are you buying something that you love but you secretly want to be an investment? There are different types of purchases in the art world.

If you’re buying it because you love it, it’s much easier. All you have to do is figure out if you can afford it, and if the price is something that you think is worth the passion you have for it. If you’re buying with an eye toward investment and you want it to actually have long-term value in the future, it’s a little bit more tricky. It’s very important for a first-time collector to know that there are various factors that affect the price of the work, for example, a work on canvas is generally more valuable than a work on paper by the same artist; or if it’s an edition versus a one-of-a-kind piece.

 

3. Set a budget. In your mind you really need to set a budget in terms of what you can afford, and I would say you have to be prepared to spend a little bit more. The things that I regret in purchasing are not any works that I purchased, at least so far, but the works that I didn’t purchase. They were things just a little outside my price range but, man, I loved it and I didn’t buy it. And then I lost the opportunity. If you really love it, trust your instincts. As my grandmother used to say, true love is forever. Set a budget and be prepared to spend a little more, A, because there’s shipping and insurance and things like that; but, B, because if it’s the something you really love and it’s a little bit over your price range, I would say “stretch”. Life is short and you want to be inspired.

4. Do your research. The art world really can be overwhelming, so you should talk to people. I suggesting talking to other collectors, or appraisers, consultants, or other gallerists (but be aware that gallerists are trying to sell you something). When you learn a few things about the art world, you’ll learn that the listing price is always the sale price. Galleries will sometime give discounts to collectors because sometimes they’re rewarding a collector who’s been loyal or sometimes they’re trying to build [a relationship] with a new collector. So do your research.

 

5. Understand that size does matter. You want to be sure that this [work] fits in your apartment or home. I can’t say how many times people I know—especially early collectors—fall in love with a piece, buy the piece, and then they bring it home and it doesn’t fit over their mantle. You must have a pretty good idea that you have the right wall space for an artwork before you buy it.

6. Track your purchase. There should be a clear, traceable path from artist to owner, and it should be documented: save emails, invoices, and receipts. If you eventually want to valuate or sell a work, it’s important to have this documentation.

Find The original article at

https://artsy.net/post/peterhort-7-tips-on-buying-your-first-piece

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6 Tips for buying your first piece of art was originally published on Rafi Was Here Studios

This piece is called metamorphosis. With the beginning of the New Year, I find myself reflecting on my life a lot. As an artist who creates pieces based on my reflections, emotions, and experiences it is pretty darn awesome that I can fill a sketchbook simply by reflecting on my year.

I love looking closely at circumstances that caused me to stress out a bit. Hindsight the “stressing” was unnecessary, in fact in most cases, what ever was going on didn’t resolve itself until I decided I was done stressing. Funny how that works.

A long time ago, well, what feels like ages ago, I was typically stressed out about something. You would usually find me depressed, angry, overwhelmed, and complaining about something. A few years ago, I walked away from that version of me. I decided life was too short to spend every day, every year. Every moment, repeating the same drama over and over. I realized it wasn’t any of the myriad of things I was blaming… It was me, my perspective was whack. I held on to so much drama and blame, that I lived it over and over every day.

Things are very different for me today…

Every day, I try to think about things that make me feel good. Things that make me feel empowered, beautiful, awesome and any other fantabulous word I can think of. I was done talking down to myself and became my biggest cheerleader.

I decided I was done feeling guilty about stuff. I realized that things just kept adding up. I was punishing myself over and over because of mistakes I had made 20 years early and adding them to things I felt guilty about now. I realized I wasn’t going to move forward if I couldn’t forgive myself. Along with guilt usually comes regret… You can’t go back and change anything, get over it and move forward.

This piece is based on letting go and moving forward. Changing your story and emerging from the old story like a butterfly, taking flight in your own destiny.

Metamorphosis By Rafi Perez was originally published on Rafi Was Here Studios

I pride myself in the fact that I believe I am extremely different than anybody else. Of course, the truth is that everyone is unique and nothing like anyone else.

I did however spend a good deal of my life trying to be someone else. At the time, I didn’t see it that way, I called it normal. “I just want to be normal” I would say, and feel the frustration that comes with trying to achieve something that doesn’t exist.

I eventually realized that there was no such thing as normal. “Normal” was this boring concept where life was predictable, you were predictable and nothing really exciting happens. True, some people have so much of the wrong kind of excitement in their life that they look forward to a little boring… or at least they think they do.

I think we all want to lead exciting and happy lives. I think we all want to be genuine about who we truly are. The problem is that a lot of people are not sure how to reach the person who they believe they are meant to be. This person is usually under years of posturing, white lies and people pleasing.

When I had my realization years ago, I started a process that helped me find me. By paying close attention to what I was saying to other people, I was able to examine if I was being genuine. For a brief period of time, I’m sure folks thought I had lost my mind. It went something like this:

Them – “Hey, you going to meet me later at the bar for a drink?”
Me – “Sure, yeah… That sounds good.”
Them – “Cool, see you later.”
Me – “Wait, I didn’t really mean that. I don’t feel like going out drinking with you.”
Them – “Why not? we always go drinking after work.”
Me – “Well, honestly I think you are a good person, but kind of self destructive.”
(Silence)
me – “Well, actually, I lied, I don’t think you are a good person for me to hang out with. You are angry, self destructive and honestly you’re a bully.”
Them – “Fuck you man, too good to hang out with me all of the sudden?”
me – “No, that’s not what I’m saying… Actually, I think we wont be hanging out any more, you take it however you want.”

This conversation took place after a six year relationship with a friend who was a self destructive alcoholic.

I was self destructive by proxy and all we did was sit there, get annihilated, complain about how unfair the world was, bitch about women and blame everyone else for our misery.

 

When I was honest with myself I knew that the only reason I was doing it was because I needed to blame other people for the misery in my life. My friend was the perfect sounding board and he was such an aggressive individual that I felt special that he chose me to be friends with. I don’t know, things get all funky and distorted in your mind when you are not yourself. Later, I realized that everyone I surrounded myself with was pretty much the same… This was a reflection of me and who I believed I was. I was part of a group that criticized the things that make me who I am today… Love, hope, empowerment, laughter, and being who YOU know you are, not just a product of your environment. Being different and embracing it is awesome!

I read a story once about Arnold Schwarzenegger that was quite enlightening for me. When he decided to go into acting, he was told that he would never succeed as an actor. He was too big, Had a terrible accent and didn’t have the “Hollywood” look.

He responded with “I am going to be the biggest box office star of the year.”

He then made a movie that bombed terribly. They overdubbed his voice for the movie and it was a disaster. Instead of giving up or taking voice lessons so he could speak like a “Normal” person, Arnold kept going.

He then made a movie where his voice was not dubbed over and eventually became the icon he is today. Imagine a world where you did not have catch phrases like (in best Arnold Schwarzenegger voice) “I’ll be back” or “Get into the Chappa!”

In my opinion, if you embrace what makes you different, life becomes exciting in a very good way.

Be Different was originally published on Rafi Was Here Studios

You may be shocked to hear that you are beautiful. Yes, you, the person reading this right now is beautiful, amazing, unique, wonderful and totally awesome.

I always find it interesting how many people don’t realize how fantastic they actually are. How wonderful their unique
point of view of the world is and how amazingly sexy they are. Yes, I called you sexy…

See, you may look at yourself in the mirror and see that weird birthmark, or your crooked teeth, or the hair in areas where it doesn’t belong. Maybe you notice back fat, a muffin top, small breasts, too big breasts, skinny legs, weird physical features, scars, too fat, too skinny, too tall, too short or whatever other word may follow “Too” when describing yourself. This list can sometimes be long enough to fill shelves with countless editions of “Why I suck today” books.

The truth of the matter is that the person you’re with (or others) don’t actually see what you see in the mirror. What they see is someone they would like to strip naked with and get busy, like right now… or sooner than now if possible.

In fact, when most people get together, the beginning days are all about that… getting busy, a lot. I think the reason this happens is because you take a momentary vacation from your usual habit of breaking yourself down, you see yourself instead through the eyes of the person that finds you amazing, so for a brief period of time, you find yourself amazing. Eventually, you go back to criticizing yourself and then reminisce about the way things used to be.

If Klee (my wife) asked me what physical attribute I find attractive about her I think immediately my dude brain goes to “I like your boobs and your butt”… Yeah, well, I like them, a lot. Now, after my initial caveman response, I love her shoulders, her hands, her eyes, her smile, her snaggle teeth, the way she walks, her neck, her button nose, her freckles, and the list goes on.

For the most part, she feels good about herself but there are days where neither one of us may “feel” sexy or beautiful… Interestingly, no matter how she feels about herself all I see are the things I love and that list grows every day.

The fact of the matter is that if I ask her the same question about me, she would list off a billion things that I didn’t even think of… and most importantly, she wouldn’t even notice the things that I criticize about myself.

The people around you will eventually see what you constantly draw their attention to. This is where you have the power to rock or ruin a relationship. No worries though, it can be easily turned around if you take control of the way you talk about yourself.

See, when you constantly complain about your own body, the person you are with will have their desire to enjoy and love you erode a little at a time. In other words, you’re rejecting them by rejecting yourself.

Here’s an example:

They say, “I could touch your body all day, I love everything about you.” and you say, “I’m too fat, I need to loose weight.”

You just tore yourself down, and tore down how that person feels about you. Their desire, excitement and thoughts about you… rejected. Eventually, the rejection will add up and the relationship communication can become mundane and not very exciting.

No worries though, this is easily turned around by doing the opposite. Talk about the things you love about your body, talk about the things you love about their body. Talk about how sexy you feel, trust me, the person you are with will appreciate it.

For the longest time I felt insecure about my gap between my front teeth. I would smile a ridiculous closed mouth smile that made me look slightly disturbed. As it turns out, it’s one of the features that Klee finds attractive.

You see, people love what makes you unique. Hair color, curly hair, wavy hair, thin hair, thick hair, chipped tooth, body type, clothing style, crooked smile, and anything else that makes you completely unique. These are your features, things that make you unique and are truly beautiful.

This piece is inspired by the beauty and perfection that is you. The fact of the matter is that no one is as perfect at being YOU as you are. It begs to ask, if you had a choice, what would you say about you when you look in the mirror? There is magic in reaching out a hand and remembering that you have a choice… always.

http://www.rafiwashere.com

I created this piece based on something that I believe is very powerful. Word have a certain power that can sometimes get overlooked in day to day exchanges. Many times we relate to each other by talking about the most mundane and torturous experiences we are currently wrapped up in. We talk about how terrible our week has been and usually the other person will commiserate and top your story with an even worse story about their week. This exchange can take place for hours and at the end of it neither person feels better, but they do feel like they got something off their chest and call it venting.

I believe that by talking about the things that are going wrong in your life or the problems you are running into just perpetuates it further. You will keep experiencing what you are focused on. In other words you get what you think about over and over again, you talk about it over and over again and you keep seeing evidence that it is true because you keep experiencing what you talk about. Interestingly enough, this can change by changing the pattern by speaking the opposite.

When you are focused on your problems, it is impossible to find the solution because your thoughts are not solution oriented. Unfortunately it is really hard to hit this head on and simply try to focus on the opposite because even if you try to think about the opposite you are still thinking about the problem.

I found that it was simpler for me to focus on the things I loved, the things that worked, and most importantly the things that I was passionate about. It seems that when you speak your passion, you mind orients itself to find more of the same. In fact, when you are focused strong positive emotion it changes everything. It changes your chemical makeup, your outlook, your problem solving skills become powerful and your over all state of being becomes one of optimism and hope.

This piece symbolizes the power of speaking your passion and the freedom that come with it.

Speak Your Passion was originally published on Rafi Was Here Studios

So, Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what the real meaning of happiness is. When you look it up online (because everything you read on the Internet is true) it says “Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.”

This caused me to ponder the complexity of this description. I agree that Happiness is a mental or emotional state of being. The interesting part of this description (bare with my nerdom) is that the “being” part.

Being vs doing… You can try to do things that will instigate happiness within you, but in all honesty I’m pretty sure you don’t find actual happiness in those things. So, where do you find happiness? Obviously, you can’t find it in anybody’s pocket or in anything outside of you.  I’ve been in situations where everything came together perfectly to create a situation in which I should be jumping for joy, yet my emotions almost felt muffled… So, I’m pretty sure it’s not situations or other people that make you happy… It only stands to reason that happiness must be a choice… But what is it?

I wondered about this as I thought about the little insignificant moments in my life that I can remember vividly. Staring at an inchworm for a long time fascinated, studying the colors in an autumn leaf, laying under a star blanketed sky loosing myself in the infinity of it all… The small moments of curiosity and absolute love with the world around me.

I think as adults we tend to allow ourselves to get consumed by the everyday role we are supposed to play with the myriad of people in our lives, forgetting that natural ability to fall in love with everything around us… In other words, we know too much about how we think the world works, we know what an ugly tree looks like vs a beautiful tree, so we overlook the amazing miracle that the tree exists in the first place. I think the simplicity of happiness is to just allow yourself to understand that you ultimately don’t know anything and allow yourself to experience everything in life as if it was the first time you have ever experienced it. Imagine experiencing your first kiss over and over, or feeling the wind in your hair as if it was the first time, seeing the ocean for the very first time and taking in every single detail… So, for at least this moment in time in my life, I believe happiness is experiencing all of life, fully and not allowing yourself to take even one second for granted.

-Award Winning Contemporary Artist Rafi Perez

http://www.rafiwashere.com

 

This piece shows the strength and dedication when you leave everything behind you and head towards an unknown future.

 

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“Ignited” Mixed Medium on Canvas 20″ X 23″ – Passion rebuilds the world, it brings dreams and dreamers to life, It makes all things alive and significant, it burns with desire to move forward no matter what the odds are… Passion, true passion is a powerful thing 😀 – http://www.Rafiwashere.com