Limited Edition Prints Have Arrived

After much too-ing and fro-ing the first of the limited edition prints have arrived and will be available at the Fair Trade Cafe from this week onwards. We hadn't appreciated quite how long or how expensive it was to ship a few prints to Nicaragua and back. Ultimately, they arrived back in the USA, having been signed by artist Luis Varela, via a relative living in Miami! All's well that ends well and they did arrive safely on Friday.

These, we hope, will be the first of many sets of limited edition prints by a variety of artists from around the world. It is a great way for collectors to acquire some very fine works of art at a price far below that of the originals. The first in our series, as I said, is by a Nicaraguan artist, Luis Varela Aguirre and is entitled 'Cascada'. I have to say that Luis' work is among some of my favorite - the detail and the vibrancy of his works are truly remarkable. There is a great 'vibe' to his paintings.

Luis, originally from Grenada, has exhibited both in Europe, Israel and the USA, as well as Nicaragua. We hope soon to have our limited edition prints available online through this blog. The blog is currently being redesigned, so watch this space. The print run is limited to 500 copies; each 28" X 20" in size, are all signed and numbered by the artist, and cost $250 unframed.

Progress with Limited Edition Prints

After several months of organising I finally picked up the first batch of limited edition prints yesterday. We are hoping to expand this range in the future and are currently working with three artists from Nicaragua. The first print is of a painting called "Cascada" by artist Luis Varela. His works are stunning in their colour and detail and have been exhibited as far away as Israel and Spain, as well as in the U.S. and have won numerous competitions. We shall be offering a limited edition of 500 prints, each signed and numbered by the artist, and selling unframed for $250.

Our newly designed blog will be up very soon, courtesy of Dave Kellett of Dude Blog Your Business, and we are planning to have these prints available online through the blog as well as through the Fair Trade Cafe. For those of you local to Phoenix, you can also get a 15% discount on framing through our friends at The Art of Framing, on Central and Camelback - just ask for a coupon when you purchase Karuna Village Fine Art at the Fair Trade Cafe.

Nicaraguan Artist Lius Varela

Some progress this week from Nicaragua with an email from Carmen Garcia to say that she has found a printer locally who can produce the Giclee prints. This is good news as we at Karuna Village always prefer to support the local economy of the artists from whom we purchase our art.

A further piece of good news came in the form of an email from artist Luis Varela from Nicaragua who is also interested in offering some of his superb paintings as limited edition prints. The painting above is called "Beautiful View" and is one my particular favorites. The quality of art from Nicaragua is exceptional and I am sure there will be great demand for these prints when they are released. Don't worry - we'll be sure to let you know as soon as they are ready!

Negotiating a Deal with Nicaraguan Artists

With greatful thanks to Dolly at the Nicaraguan Cultural Alliance (NCA), we have been contacted by 3 artists from Nicaragua interested in exhibiting their art on the Karuna Village website. I had seen some truly outstanding paintings on the NCA website and approached Dolly with the idea of seeking to do a limited edition print series of selected artists works.

Subsequently I have received an email from Carmen Garcia, a Nicaraguan artist of 25 years standing who works in the primitivism style, (an example of her work is shown above), who, along with two of her colleagues, Santos Medina and Luis Verela, are very interested in the idea. The sizes they are working on are 120cm x 80 and 60 x 50 cm, and mainly oil or acrylic on canvas.

Currently, Carmen is looking for a printer locally who can undertake Giclee printing. The idea is to create a limited edition print run of selected paintings, with between 100 - 250 prints, each signed and numbered by the artist, and selling for around $250 per print. These are stunning works of art and certainly deserve a wider audience. I think there will be a lot of interest once these prints become available. Watch this space, as they say!