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in getting you coverage on the internet... for a fee of course! I checked this one out and found it to be quite a classy site with some very good artists. Your spot consisted of one of your pieces of artwork and a write-up of your choosing with a link to your own web site(s). It turned out that you had to be juried before they would accept you but this was good as it suggested a certain standard of quality. I especially liked their black backgrounds (impact and short pages (no endless scrolling), easy, clean set-up and of course the flags!. The fee of $50.00 US seemed a bit steep but I was new at this and willing to give it a go so when I read the Canadian mailing address (Yeah Canada!!!) that clinched it. So what happened? Well nothing for two years and just about a month ago it was time to renew again and I was having second thoughts as I have been on the web for some time now nd one can find me quite easily (if you know what your are looking for and you remember how to spell my name :-)). Still...more is better and when I read their email informing me that my rate would now go down yearly for the next 3 years and after that I would become a Gold Signature member (sounds impressive to me) and thus my link would then be free, I reconsidered and bit the bullet once more. Now it gets exciting!! 5:15 am lying in bed on a Friday morning one week later and the phone rings. Its a customer (yeah), obviously from a different time zone (or possibly planet) than I am as she is fresh as a daisy while I still have only one eye open and have not yet figured out who I am let alone what zone I am in. "Hullo? She simply stated with no preliminaries that she wanted to purchase two of my paintings and proceeded to list them off. This got my attention rather quickly and I graciously asked her to hold while I groped for my other pair of eyes while slipping in my teeth. Things got immediately down to business and I was instantly disappointed to learn that one of the paintings she wanted was "The Omelet" which sold at our Kariton show (always keep your web site updated). This did not discourage her greatly though, as she and her husband had alternates in mind and still ended up ordering two with a firm promise on my behalf to send them immediate notice of any future similar works. Well what the heck, I had one sitting on my easel and the next day I thought I might as well post it to the net and let her know....its worth a try right? I will now be shipping off all three paintings once I have this new one framed!! This couple spent over $2,400.00 Can without ever seeing the original work....not something that I would do but never look a gift horse......etc!! The ensuing phone calls and emails established that these people in White Plains, New York had discovered me on this Artspace 2000 web site and one does not have to do the math to figure out that one call made it a very worthwhile investment. They felt that the high quality of the work as a whole led them to really take a good look at the artists featured within it. So... if you are interested, the web address is www.artspace2000.com There are many other sites that one can list with that are free such as a wonderful space put out there by Merike Lugas and Rod Anderson. A huge undertaking done purely out the goodness of their hearts. It is called www.canadianartistsontheweb.ca and well worth listing on or checking out. I thought I would jot this down and pass it along just to let others out there know that some things really do work albeit they take time, the web being one of them.
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