So, one of those secret projects (though not THE Secret Project) that I keep alluding to here on the blog finally came to fruition this week!

I give you our brand spankin’ new company: Blank My Walls.

Many of you have asked where you can buy prints of some of my fine art photographic work, and I finally have an answer for you – at Blank My Walls!  And, you can get the work of other artists as well!

Hubby and I have been trying to solve the problem of getting my artwork out of our basement (and my hard-drives) and into the hands of those who love it for, well for years.   I’ve had it in galleries, in art shows, and sold it via other venues, but honestly – doing so is all a ton of work, for very little return.  And we know from talking to friends and others that from the side of someone who wants unique and REAL art for their home, this solution wasn’t great either.  Galleries can be intimidating to those not educated in the arts, and their reach is limited.   And yet, buying art from a big box store feels so, well, generic.  The question was, how do we get REAL artwork into the hands of everyday collectors, and how do we make it unique?

Thumbnail previews of work by Kara Schultz, Jake Rohde and myself, part of the “Original 20″ on Blank My Walls.

Working off of another entrepreneurial idea we had – we hit on the solution to this problem late last year.  We would sell limited edition photographs on the web.  This gave us a wider audience than any gallery ever could, and it gave us the ability to offer unique art in a way that was accessible to everyone.  Once an edition has sold out – that’s it – it’s gone.  There won’t ever be any more for sale, ever.

Blank My Walls will have a constantly evolving collection of work.  Each week, two new images will be released for sale – one each on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Each image will be offered in a number of different sized prints and editions.  To start the site off, we have put together a collection called “The Original 20″ - a collection of 20 images by me and other artists.  The weekly releases will start on November 9th.

Thumbnail previews of work by myself and Heather Cook Elliott, part of the “Original 20″ on Blank My Walls.

We hope you will check out the new site, and we hope you will find something for your home there too!   Art makes a fantastic gift, and you can even buy gift certificates for your friends and family.

Thumbnail previews of work by myself, Alicia Swedenborg and Melissa Schollaert, part of the “Original 20″ on Blank My Walls.

You can keep up with our latest releases and our other news on the website, The #$!@?* Blog, our facebook page, or our twitter.   We’d love it if you became a fan or tweeted at us too!  We’d love it even more if you would share the work you love on the site with your friends! (Each image on the site has a facebook, stumble and twitter button right there for you to use)

Thumbnail previews of work by Heather Krakora, myself, Scott Webster and Heather Cook Elliott, part of the “Original 20″ on Blank My Walls.

Putting this company together has been a true labor of love. It has taken three times as long as we had planned or anticipated for it to be complete.  It has been a monumental investment in time, resources, relationships and money.  There have been times when we doubted ourselves, when we weren’t sure it was the right step.  But those times were far outweighed by our belief that this is a need in the market, and more so, it is a need for artists, specifically photographers.  Art is about personal expression.  And while we may undertake more commercial endeavors to pay the bills; in order to keep that artistic spirit alive, an artist must continue to create personal work.  Blank My Walls was created to serve this purpose as well.  We hope it gives artists an opportunity to earn an income on what they create for themselves – their art.  (If you are a photographer interested in submitting your work to the site – click here)

Thumbnail previews of work by Melissa Schollaert, myself and Michael Krakora, part of the “Original 20″ on Blank My Walls.

We’ve given up a good chunk of our social lives over the last several months to spend time on starting this company. Hubby and I are both entrepreneurs at heart, and anything outside of owning our own company was never going to be the ticket for us.  We want to express our gratitude and deep thanks to everyone who has supported us in this journey, believed in us and helped us in our work.  We are humbled by the artist friends that have submitted their work for the site and entrusted us with it.  We are touched by the family and friends who have tolerated our absence in your lives and loved us anyway.  You can’t know how much we appreciate you simply believing in us, much less offering your support and help.  I won’t even try to name you all, in fear of missing someone.  You know who you are – Thank you!