Well this past Saturday (June 13, 2009) I headed to downtown Miami with my friend Angela to Art Walk Miami. She mentioned it was a good place to go and look at different galleries and a good plan to do for FREE!. Some of the galleries served wine and cheese while you look at their art. Hey, with paintings going for $5,000 or more, they’d better give me some wine! At the galleries most art pieces are for sale but who has a minimum of $1,600 to get an original piece?
It seems like unique art is only available for the rich. I mean, if you have $1,600 to spend on a painting 5 x 7 then I consider you rich. Don’t get me wrong, the pieces are fantastic, I mean these people are just truly amazing, but me? a middle class girl could only ever hope to own a piece like that. Well I didn’t have to dream for long, because while walking down the streets of art walk, I met a man who is a true inspiration and has a true love for art. He is not a gallery owner but a graduate from FIU who took the initiative to grab a few of his paintings, head down to the art walk, place them on the side walk and offer them to the public.
His paintings were really good. I specially liked the one with the cats and he said his inspiration was the Mardi Gras. Oh my, what a wonderful painting it is!
I was very curious to know more about the painting and about him as an artist, so I decided to sit with him for a few minutes and what I discovered was amazing.
He told me the story of this rich guy who buys his art for very cheap. I mean this guy even asks for discounts. Then turns around, puts it on the gallery and sell them for at least $7,000. I mean, I know his art is worth that, but why is it that the artist that does all the work, creates a masterpiece and is the one that gets a few dollars for his creation? I mean he is doesn’t even sell it to the gallery for half the prize!
With that in mind, he asked a few other artists friends to come and join him and show their art on one of the sidewalks of the Art Walk Miami. Like he said ” it is freedom of expression” and we all should be able to express art and enjoy it.
He was asking only $300 a piece, I mean, if you know something about art or if you don’t you can definitely guess that 300 bucks barely covers the cost of the canvas, the painting and who knows how many hours he spent creating it. The paintings are big, so they must’ve taken a long time.
I’m the #1 supporter of local Art, local artists and this guy and his love for art was just truly an inspiration. Not only the rich and famous should be able to afford unique art, anyone can. And with guys like this little by little society will change that way of thinking and soon we will all be able to afford unique pieces and not settle for just poster copies.
here is a short video we took of him explaining his pieces and the inspiration behind them.
If you are interested in any of his pieces or would like to contact him to see more of his art, you can reach him at: 305-542-7259 or email him at inkakeystone@yahoo.com
Please post your comments and show your support.
To learn more about Art Walk which happens the second Saturday of every month, please visit
Want to see a few other pictures we took at the Art Walk? head over to my Flickr account and enjoy!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the video of the young artist in Fla. at the Art sidewalk sale. I also think what a great idea he had to just show up with his art. I especially love his Cat painting and am thinking of getting in touch with him. I am an artist to self proclaimed and love to paint ” cats”. You have a great blog going on here and I’ll be back for more. Thnks JJ
Thanks for your comment! I love the cats painting too.
buy art online
Promoting your art directly online allows you to simultaneously get your art in front of a much larger audience of potential buyers, and miss out on the need to pay hefty commissions to the galleries.