We're thrilled to begin a new series of blog posts written by our artists! This week, we invited painter Elisa Valenti to talk about the joys of sharing her art with collectors. 

“You are not entitled to a book of patients” is something I would tell my preceptor students. Each patient that walks into your pharmacy is earned and each interaction is a chance to build trust. It takes years to earn the trust and respect of your community. The same holds true for my art collectors. With each work, I share a bit of myself, I welcome them to listen to my message and to bond with my work. I have now transitioned my life from working as a clinical pharmacist to a professional artist and I feel this sentiment when each piece of art sells from my collections.

There is a rollercoaster of emotions I experience as an artist, from the inception of an idea, through the process of creating, to unveiling the work, and finally to it making its way to a collector.

Inspiration: The moment that vision appears in your mind can be as fantastic as it can be stressful. When I experience grand moments of inspiration, I want to do nothing more than get all that energy down on paper. Time cannot go fast enough. I want to experience in front of me what I see in my mind. It can be stressful because I fear the moment will be fleeting and I will lose that spark.

Joy: The sense of accomplishment and growth from seeing your vision realized is incredible. You can see right in front of you how you have changed and matured as an artist with each new work you put forth. The work reflects your evolution and development.

Appreciation: The feeling of hearing how your work touches a person’s soul is unreal. An artist puts themselves into the world and the work can either be accepted or rejected. It can cause indifference, or it can spark joy and inspiration. I feel a great sense of awe and humility when I receive feedback like, “I want to thank you for being there for me, someone you don’t even know, in times you don’t even know about. You reach much farther than you think”. We put our art into the world blindly, unknowing of its power, unknowing of the emotion it will evoke in others. I do not take for granted the gift I have been given and pray I can continue to shine a light on those who need it.

A Bittersweet Feeling: Artists spend hours laboring over their creations, days, weeks, years consumed by the thoughts of their work. They obsess over the countless details it takes to bring their work to life. They live with these works as though they live and breathe, sharing their space. When an artwork is purchased, it is a joyous event and yet bittersweet - like sending your child off to college! :)

Gratitude: In a sea of artists, your heart, your instinct, your eyes, chose mine. There is a certain magic involved in that moment you see yourself in a piece of art. That moment of emotion that lets you know that piece was meant for you, is special. I enjoy that gleam in the eye of the viewer the moment they connect with my art, equally as much as I enjoy the moment of my own initial inspiration. The artwork is the link between the artist and the collector. The message in the work is the connection. The purchase is the daily visual reminder of a person’s dream. 

Thank you to my collectors for appreciating my art, supporting my vision, and believing in my passion! I hope you enjoyed me sharing my thoughts with you. Follow along with me on Instagram @elisavalentistudio and shop original works on my website or see selected works available with PxP Contemporary. 

-Elisa

We signed, join us! Here is the link.

"We demand a disavowal of the murder of Black people.

We stand with the movements for Black lives and demand an end to state violence against Black and Brown people.

We demand the Mayor and City Council acknowledge that the systemic violence against and oppression of Black people, people of color and poor people of all ethnicities comes in many forms – including the intentional deprivation of shared resources.

We demand the defunding and re-distribution of police funding toward human services.

We demand all arts and culture organizations in Philadelphia sever known ties with the police. We demand a re-imagining of safety."

We invited Svitlana Martynjuk, an artist as well as the CEO & founder of All SHE Makes to select the next round of Curator Picks from our anniversary show "ONE." 

About Svitlana:

"I was born and raised in the beautiful western capital region of Rivne, Ukraine. I am an artist, founder and CEO of All SHE Makes - an online directory increasing visibility for women artists worldwide.

I moved to the United States where I completed my education in Fine Art, Psychology, and Strategic Management. Inspired by the human mind and with a fascination for nature, I am a traveler at heart and appreciate experience through interaction and exploring the complexities of diversity in people. Currently, I work and reside in Michigan."

About All SHE Makes:

Women artists remain drastically underrepresented across the world. Founded by artist Svitlana Martynjuk, our goal is to offer a curated space to locate women artists from any corner of the world.

There are many places to find talent, but none where professional women artists can be discovered by discipline or location. Since women artists are extremely underrepresented in galleries and museums, talent searches leave an alarming majority of women artists undiscovered, unless organizations are committed to bringing equality into the art world.

It’s extremely difficult finding a community if you are new to the area as well, and we promote our directory to an array of global art organizations that might or might not already support visibility for women in the arts. Our most recent collaboration involved WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and their campaign to promote love for nature through art, where millions got to see amazing work by our artists. 

Visit the organization's website to learn more about joining! 

Her picks!

"Jessica's technique undoubtedly draws my attention to her paintings. We get to experience pet portraits in a much different way than what we are used to. It almost feels like looking at dogs through a Genieve Figgis lens because of the loose and unconstricted brushwork. Her paintings feel soft and bold simultaneously."

About this artwork:

Jessica Alazraki
Puppy on Gray
14 x 18 inches
Oil on board
2019

"We all love dogs. They're our companions – we share with them our lives and most intimate secrets. They have become symbols of emotional support and represent something cute and lovable; they're iconic to us.

In my paintings, I recreate dogs without much description. I'm looking for something raw and bold to capture their essence. I limit drawing and use paint to do all the work. The texture comes from a messy surface, and color choices are always intense and dramatic. I try to achieve the most painterly look possible. My dog portraits are charged and have a unique energy that creates character despite destroying their standard anatomical form."

Buy this artwork.

"Erika's work feels very intimate and personal. Her pieces allow us to peek into the vulnerable spaces and most intimate settings we don't often get to explore. These interior pieces are perfectly capable of standing on their own or being grouped together on a gallery wall."

Erika Stearly
Angela's Seattle Apartment No. 101
12 x 9 x 1 inches
Watercolor and acrylic on panel
2019

"Named using the street address of the residences depicted, I make paintings of the spaces where people live. Convinced that multiple approaches to painting are valid, the imagery in my work balances an impulse to faithfully render household objects against the emphasis on the hand of the artist. The combination of abstraction and representation romanticizes these spaces in a way that invites the viewer to construct their own narrative of the scene. 

Over the years, I have developed a mixed media technique that allows me to combine the characteristics of watercolor and acrylic paint. Delicate shapes can quickly be sketched in or large blocks of color can be refined with watercolor pencils. The heavier bodied acrylic paint can fully cover existing passages and retains its brushstrokes. Using both types of paint together produces a more nuanced range of painterly effects."  

Buy this artwork.

"Juliana's work expresses the vulnerability hidden in acknowledging the weight our past carries. It's a gentle reminder that it's possible to mend the faulty foundation that's been built while honoring its existence. We all come from different backgrounds and carry different luggage with us, but this piece reminds us of possibilities that lie ahead of us."

Juliana Naufel
Vulnerable World
2.5 x 2.5 inches
Embroidery on photograph
2019

Juliana Naufel is a mixed media artist and educator with a BA in Visual Arts by São Paulo’s State University (UNESP). 

"I create my pieces because I am on a healing journey. By stitching new stories on long lost forgotten photographs, I found my voice and discovered how to use my own power to overcome trauma and take better care of myself. This is something that only I can do; I may not have chosen to experience trauma throughout my life but I now have the choice, the power and the responsibility to heal myself and forgive what happened in my past. I am passionate about things that take strength from their own fragility; the understanding that what society usually considers as a fragility is in fact the quite opposite intrigues me greatly. Portraits showing vulnerability, tenderness and affection are my favorite ones to work with. Embroidering photographs might seem subtle and delicate, however, to me, it is a powerful and healing practice.  I am poking holes and suturing through forgotten memories, an act that cannot be undone."

Buy this artwork.

One of the reasons that I launched PxP Contemporary (and enjoy running the business) is because I love the experience of acquiring new art for my personal collection. Whether it reminds me of a special moment in my life, helps me support an artist who I truly admire, or adds personality to my apartment, each piece tells a story or evokes a certain mood. Both Kat and I wrote more about how we each got started with collecting in a blog post on Create! Magazine last year, but essentially, we both agree that building up a budget over time allowed us to make investments on the pieces of art we truly wanted to own. That said, even now, we don’t always choose to pay for artwork in full right away. We understand being cautious with spending in uncertain times, which is why PxP offers payment plans to help collectors be able to continue buying the art they love.

Depending on which work or works you’re interested in, we offer several options for payment plans. For pieces that are $1,000+ or multiple pieces totaling $1,000+, you can take advantage of our partnership with Art Money. You’ll pay an initial deposit for the artwork to the gallery and then split the rest of the balance evenly over a ten-month period interest-free (these payments will be handled by Art Money). In order to proceed with this option, you’d simply let us know the work(s) you’re interested in and then create your account with Art Money. Once they’ve verified you, we’ll get the initial deposit squared away and you can have the artwork sent to you immediately! 

For works under 1k, we offer something similar, but the payment plan would be directly with the gallery instead. So, if you want to purchase a piece that is $800, for example, you could put down $200 as your deposit and pay $100 over the next six months, $200 over the next three months, or $300 over the next two months. We can either send you a new invoice for each installment payment or if you’re comfortable with sending us your card information, we can process the payments on our end and simply send you the receipts. We always try to be flexible with whatever works best for you.

The main difference between the two options is that by working with Art Money, you’ll get the artwork immediately, whereas with us, we won’t be able to send the piece to you until it is paid in full. Please reach out with any additional questions! Drop us a line at info@pxpcontemporary.com if you’d like to discuss payment plans further.

Cheers!
Alicia 

*Pictured artwork: Hothouse Jellyfish by Jenny Brown, Plastic III by Scott Hutchison, and Bouquet 3 by Seth Remsnyder

Create! Magazine is thrilled to invite visual artists to submit their work for an online exhibition in collaboration with PxP Contemporary. 

This open call is an opportunity to submit your work for consideration for a curated virtual group show. If chosen, you’ll have your works listed for sale through PxP Contemporary and be promoted to our broad audience of international readers and followers. Select artists will be invited for exclusive online interviews which will be shared via Create! Magazine’s online channels. 

Submit here.

On this episode of Art & Cocktails, Kat talks to collage artist Jenny Brown about her journey and how she discovered her artistic voice, overcame adversity, let go of the shame surrounding her dreams, and gained clarity in her art career. 

This episode includes conversations about:

• Discovering your creative calling

• Student loan debt and financial struggle

• Overcoming depression and more

Listen here!

Alicia was recently interviewed by Anisa Benitez, founder of More By Her. Read the full feature here. 

More by Her serves as a platform and community to highlight women & non-binary people shaping culture. We are dismantling the ‘starving artist’ stigma one story at a time. Here we feature people across a spectrum of creative careers, in addition to their work. #ThrivingArtist

Our intention is to:

• Strengthen the pipeline of womxn in the arts and creative fields through storytelling that provides others, especially girls, transparency into what a creative future could look like.

• Shift unequal power structures and cultural beliefs by promoting creative womxn and supporting their work.

• Show the diversity of creative paths and thriving womxn following them.