[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Hi and welcome back to the Interior Collective. Today we are talking about one of the most intimidating and misunderstood layers of an interior design project, Art. My guest is Sarah Hurt. She is the founder of Seattle ArtSource, an art advisory that has worked alongside interior designers across the Pacific Northwest since 2017.
Sarah's entire business exists to remove the hesitation designers often feel about specifying art and to help them position it not just as an afterthought, but as a strategic and emotional anchor within a home. In this episode, we're getting practical. We're talking about when to introduce art into the project timeline, how to speak about it with authority, what your role is versus an art advisor's role, and how art can actively elevate your client experience while protecting their financial investment. If art has ever felt like the most mysterious, mysterious line item in your design proposal, this one's for you.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: This season is presented by Laloy, the family owned home textile brand known for its innovative craft and meticulous design. At High Point Market this spring, laloy just debuted Rain, a rug collection with a new and rare construction along with a fresh season of rugs, pillows and wall art in collaboration with Rifle Paper Company. See everything new at leloyrugs.com that's L O L O I rugs.com and follow Loloi Rugs on Instagram and TikTok. Today's episode is sponsored by DesignAssist, the staffing solution built for interior design firms. Starting around $12.50 an hour. It's professional production support with full time overhead. Scale smarter with designassist.com IDECO that's design
[00:01:41] Speaker A: with a Z.
Hello again Sarah. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much. We were working out some technical difficulties the first round, but we are back and ready to dig in.
[00:01:53] Speaker C: Yes, we're going to do this again.
[00:01:57] Speaker A: Sarah, I'm so excited to chat with you about art and how to really be a steward of art to both our artist community and to our clients. You excel in this space and you work with clients, both artists and designers all over the world, but particularly you're based in the Northwest. So talk to me about how we can work with you, what your background is and what your service offering really is.
[00:02:23] Speaker C: Yes, that's many questions. So thank you for having me. For one thing, I get to talk about my favorite thing, which is art and design are a huge part of our clientele is working with interior designers and this is a huge joy for us because like you suggested earlier, it's kind of a mystery how to get these two communities together, and it shouldn't be this hard. You know, interior designers are creative people. They love art, and artists love to put their work in interiors. And Seattle Art Source is just all about that bridge and connecting those two communities. So we've been around for 10 years this year, and that bridge just gets stronger, and our community of connecting artists and the design community just gets stronger and stronger.
[00:03:17] Speaker A: Amazing. And are you working with designers on residential and commercial side of things? Where's, like, your real skill?
[00:03:23] Speaker C: Yeah, we do both, actually. I mean, the bulk of our clients are residential designers, but our commercial projects are growing and growing. And some of that is because our design clients are growing into the commercial space. And so we follow our designers into the needs that they have, which is really exciting.
But we represent about 40 artists, most of whom are in the Pacific Northwest, not all, but a lot of our clients. If they need something that we don't have, we act as a broker. And so we go and find those. The right art for your projects. And a lot of commercial projects need art that's specific, so commissioned for that job specifically, or it's reproductions, which is not something that we do specifically. So we act as a broker, and we go find those work specifically, their value, or engineered for those multifamily projects that have really tight budgets. So we manage scopes on a variety of scales.
[00:04:26] Speaker A: I'd love for us to start with this concept.
Why do you think so many designers are fully confident when it comes to designing this space, but pause and feel a little bit intimidated when it comes to specifying art for a product?
[00:04:44] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a great question.
I think some of it is our industry's fault. You know, we want this kind of rarefied veil around things, and my real passion is around making art, buying friendly and approachable. I think. Come with your questions. There's come. Come with, you know, a lack of knowledge. I don't have a degree in art. I didn't start this business because I knew a lot about art. I became. I came into this industry because I really wanted to buy art as a normal person with a normal budget. And this. I wanted a friendly place to buy art. And I think a lot of designers and a lot of residential clients feel the same way. So Seattle Art Source is a real approachable way to bring your approachable place to bring your questions.
And so we are here to kind of educate designers, show them kind of the basics of commissioning pieces for their clients, which happens a lot. They need something specific.
But, yeah, we're here to answer those questions in a way that feels really easy and really approachable and lowering that barrier, making sure that buying original art feels doable no matter what your budget too.
[00:06:04] Speaker A: I feel like I hear from designers when we're talking about the concept of art, that clients already have art that they've selected or just art is so personal, it's not something that we should be touching. And I find that such a fascinating concept because I'm like, well, nothing's more personal than your home, and you're stewarding that. And so what do you have to say to designers who feel like, oh, that's something that the client should get to do specifically, and I'm not the person to help them get.
[00:06:34] Speaker C: I think some of it depends on the client. You know, if you have a client who is trusting you with all these other decisions, you as a designer and I, I fall back on my designer's kind of judgment and the intimate relationship you have with your client, they trust you on all these decisions, the rugs and the square footage and the layout of your kitchen and these very nuanced, intimate decisions that you spend years making. Right? And sometimes those clients want your input on the art, and you need a professional in your back pocket to help you make art decisions. That's where I come in as your professional third party, you know, liaison, basically. You don't have to be the expert at everything. You've got your tile guy, you, you've got your marble guy, you got your rug guy. They bring samples to your place of work to present at your meetings, right? Same thing with art, right? I bring art to people's design studios so that they can present it at meetings. I'm your art lady, and so you don't have to be the expert at everything. I can kind of. I come alongside my design clients to help kind of bolster their knowledge if their design. If their design or if their clients really want to rely on the designer to be that main source of that conduit of knowledge?
Sometimes the designer's like, I'm going to bring you Mr. And Mrs. Indecisive and we're going to work together as a team. Because I don't have the time to go through all the art decisions. It can be very time intensive. And considering all the walls in a home and at the length of a project, sometimes it's not worth the time for a designer to go through that process. And so what I do is I come alongside as a trusted, almost like subcontractor, and I make sure that the art we choose honors the design, honors the work that you guys have put into these really lengthy projects and make sure we don't end up in the weeds and put art in there. That's not gonna honor the project. But I still take care of your clients as a subcontractor and save you guys the time. It's not really gonna be something that's worth your, you know, another year sometimes of your time to do.
[00:09:08] Speaker A: Okay, perfect. So I'm working on a full service project.
What time in the process is the sweet spot to be introducing art into the conversation with our client?
[00:09:19] Speaker C: My recommendation is at the very beginning. I think we want to start enculturating clients to expect art right at the very beginning. From thumbnails into the, you know, the design deck. Have art in your meetings, on the wall, real art. You can buy, borrow them from us. You can borrow them from a gallery, your neighborhood gallery. Make friends with a local art professional where you can have. Have art in your meetings. Just like you have samples from your rug purveyor. Right? Feel it, touch it, have it part of that early, early conversation so that you're enculturating your client to have the expectation that art is part of that process and a line item in the budget. We want them to know that they're going to spend some money on the art. How much is really up to them. Right. Just like anything else, it's part of that valuation of priority. But a project is not going to be done if there's no window treatments or if there's no floor coverings. Right, but. And the project is not going to be done if the walls are blank.
So we want early, early on to set that expectation that art's there. And we offer our design clients thumbnails of real art from our. In our gallery image we present, we let them borrow actual paintings to bring to their meetings so that there's something to present.
Now, that painting might be sold by the time the client actually comes around to making a decision, but we're starting to enculturate that client into the fact that real art is going to be a part of their project, and Seattle Art Source is going to be a part of that project.
[00:11:09] Speaker A: How do you feel bringing art into the project so early helps define the actual design process from a designer's perspective, not just from a client understanding. Okay, art's gonna be included. This is a vibe check. We're seeing this. How does it also help shift the design process in your clients that you've worked with?
[00:11:30] Speaker C: Sometimes the art, it becomes a pivotal part of kind of the scope. You know, we can fall in love with a painting and then it becomes the maypole to some of the colorways that we use or some of the inspiration points I've seen that take place.
Art is emotional. When we fall in love with a painting or some special piece of art, it really can become kind of the focal point of a room and everything else can fall into line with the art.
I've seen that happen multiple times, but of course, I'm working with art forward clients and art forward designers. I've also seen this happen with really amazing, you know, rugs, which are beautiful and pieces of art in and of themselves. Somebody falls in love with the colorway of a really gorgeous hand woven rug, you know, that can inspire, you know, textiles and paint color and all sorts of things. And so it.
The springboard can often be a painting and then, well, it can change the direction of a lot of decisions from there.
[00:12:46] Speaker A: You already mentioned that budget for art depends on the client. I'd love to dig into that a little bit more because I want to understand how we can talk about art with more confidence and how we should position it within the scope of work. Because I know those designers listening are like, I am fighting tooth and nail for budget for the dining chairs that they need to sit on. How am I also going to get an art budget? Yeah.
[00:13:13] Speaker C: And chairs, dang it. Are so expensive.
[00:13:15] Speaker A: I don't.
[00:13:16] Speaker C: I understand.
I think it is surprising to people what you can get for the money for art. I think it's not as expensive as people imagine.
And when you want to. And when my designers come to me and we're like, this is what we've got.
Show me what we can get for this. Or this is the percentage of the budget. What.
[00:13:41] Speaker A: Where.
[00:13:42] Speaker C: Where can you take me with this kind of money?
My challenge is to show them something that's real. So I want to support real art working artists. This is my job.
And so there's a challenge for me there in making sure that we can help them find the middle ground.
And we work hard to do that. I have art ranging in the hundreds all the way to the tens of thousands. But the majority, the median price in our art is still in the two grand 1800-2400 rang.
And for most of our clients, that's really approachable. That's a real doable price point.
And so we make sure to work with framers that also can offer a range of price points. Framing can be really, you know a budget conscious element in our clients work. So all of these elements are things that we're really aware of and we really try and present options that work within the scope of our designers projects because we want to show them that yes, reproductions are available out there and there's a place and a for that for those in a lot of projects. But once you start adding in freight to a lot of those, you could almost buy an original painting.
[00:15:08] Speaker A: All right, let's talk about language in, in selling art or the concept of even bringing art into our budget with our clients. Do you. I feel like there's this stigma that like, oh, if you're going to be using an art advisor, like it can be hyper academic sounding or just feel like completely sort of out of touch for someone who's really still just stomaching, oh my God, we're doing $200,000 on a kitchen. So do you have advice on introducing it as a design element, an emotional layer, an investment strategy or a combination of all of the above?
[00:15:49] Speaker C: That's a really good question. I think some of it is introducing the client to Seattle Art Source and me. I mean as soon as we meet they know for sure they're not talking to somebody who's getting into the weeds on the academics of the art. Right. There are usually three main reasons why people buy art.
One is an investment strategy. And if that is something somebody's interested in, I have colleagues I'm very happy to refer them to.
2 people buy art because all their friends have this artist and it's hot and they want to collect this guy and you know, it's about the ego. And the third reason is because they really want to live with something that makes them happy, that's beautiful, that provides them with the energy in their home and that enhances their surroundings. And it's usually one of those three buckets.
The majority of my clients fall into that third bucket. And so the majority of my conversation is around that third qualifier for our clients. Sometimes you get all three, sometimes you get two out of the three.
So when I'm talking to clients, it's really about what makes you happy, what moves you emotionally.
The language is really about the emotional connection with the art and what is what is going to enhance their everyday life. If the art happens to increase in value and happens to make them money, then we're going to all be super excited about that. And because we work with mostly emerging artists early in their career and this off this can happen. Right. But it is not the main reason to ever Buy art that you want to live with. Buy the art that makes you happy. Buy the art that you wake up and you're happy to see that when you enter your home, you're excited about it. This is the art that, that we love to sell and this is the art that people should be buying.
[00:17:47] Speaker A: Okay, let's talk about protecting clients investment so we can get this out of the way.
I would love to talk about the financial side of things because that definitely is a big portion of it when people think about investing in art for their home. How does working with an art advisor help protect a client's investment compared to buying from a big box retailer or, you know, a quick online source?
[00:18:14] Speaker C: So having trusted reputable art purveyors is critical when it comes to the authenticity of the art.
There's a reason why we have certificates of authenticity. If you're buying something online, you never know the exact source of the authenticity.
It could be from anywhere. And in most of the time, art purchases are non refundable. This is a huge danger. So make sure that when you're buying any kind of art, you are buying it from somebody you can trust that has a good reputation, preferably it's in person or that has somebody you can track down that has a brick and mortar location in person.
We provide certificates of authenticity with all of our art purchases. Yeah. And we also have, you know, just like we are one resource to our designers, I have a bevy of resources for my clients. So we have all sorts of professionals to back up what we do and can kind of lend to our authenticity as art purveyors. But yeah, buying art online, if they're buying reproductions, you know, from a big box store, then it's, you get what you pay for. It's it and it's there to be something that's pretty, but it's not going to be worth very much.
And that's fine, that's what people are going to get. But, but if you're getting something original, you certainly want to buy it from somebody who's reputable. Yeah.
[00:19:51] Speaker A: Obviously, as you said, the goal and who you primarily work with are people who are looking to just love the piece that's in their home.
And so buying a piece that you love is the most important. But what are some of the common mistakes you see designers or clients making when they're purchasing art without a bit of guidance?
[00:20:13] Speaker C: So that's such a good question. I think one of the, one of the things that we do a lot for our clients is help navigate Commissions. Designers require custom commissions a lot for their clients. And what this is, is there's a painting that they love from one of our artists, but it's not exactly the right orientation or not the right size.
And we work with our artists to create a new original piece of art under supervision from us and to make sure that the designer gets what they need.
And without our communication and our process supervising that, it's a little bit of the Wild West. Because we do this so much and we know which artists are very good at this and which artists are not great at commissions, we can make sure that that commission process is super successful all the time.
And if without our participation in that, that commission process can be nerve wracking for everybody. You are asking designer who has never commissioned a piece of art before, or an individual who has never commissioned a piece of art before to ask an artist to do something. And that communication can have breakdowns. Those expectations cannot be communicated very clearly. All sorts of things can break down in that process.
And that art is non refundable, that deposit is non refundable. Sometimes those pieces are very expensive, thousands of thousands of dollars. So that mistake is either going to be the artist or the designer is going to eat it.
So we've seen those go sideways a lot outside of our purview.
So that would be one thing I would caution people to enter into outside of a professional kind of supervision.
And art purchases are without getting a sense of scale too. When you're out in a gallery or you're out buying art and just in a big white box, right? A lot of galleries, just the lighting is really bright, that you're in a big white, you know, dwelling or white store. It's really hard to imagine what that's going to look like in your space over your couch with your rugs and your dog and all, you know, all your stuff. So what we do is we do tons of mock ups, tons of drafts. We bring the art to the house a lot of times to make sure that the lighting works with our clients before the anything is paid.
We really, really take this, the art purchase to the very finish line before any transaction is taken. Because we want to make sure that our client is 100% positive that this painting is going to work because there's, there's no refund on the, on the purchase.
And it works this. We, everybody's confident with the purchase at that point, right.
And that's not the case when you just are going to walk a little store or major art galleries like we can buy this and have it shipped home, but we're just kind of taking rolling the dice on this.
[00:23:39] Speaker A: You're winging it.
[00:23:40] Speaker C: Yeah, but as an at an art advisor, we'll do digital mockups, we'll do renderings.
We'd really go the extra mile to make sure that we've really exceeded expectations in envisioning what this art is going to look like in someone's home before they make that final decision.
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[00:24:42] Speaker B: This year, Laloy is pushing beyond what's familiar. Each new textile collection starts with an exploration of materials, craft, textures and pattern and is championed by passionate family led teams. A new season of rugs, pillows and wall art is in stock now, a testament to Laloi's belief in the power of original, enduring design. See them all and connect with your local Sales
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[00:25:44] Speaker A: That makes so much sense I am curious. I feel like I know the answer to it, but just being able to use you as a resource, I imagine that galleries or artists are much more willing to loan you pieces for clients than just a designer walking in for the first time that they've never worked with before. Do you find that to be true? Or can we ask can we ask our local galleries or artists? Is that something that's commonplace in the art world to get to borrow stuff before paying any money.
[00:26:15] Speaker C: I don't know.
It is standard practice for Seattle Art Source this. I can't answer for anybody else. I don't know what other people's practices are.
And so I think it's kind of a case by case basis and I think it's kind of based on the relationship too, if art handling is dicey. And so I know a lot of galleries are not super excited just to let people have art in their home overnight without some kind of, like, assurance. But yeah, to me it's. It's a critical part of the element. You lighting is also super important. What the lighting does to the art in your home is going to affect how it looks. And we've had clients really fall in love with a piece in our showroom space and once it gets to their house, it really changes and it would have affected that sale. So, yeah, it's important.
[00:27:14] Speaker A: Hmm. I'd love to talk about the concept of vintage art as well, because it's very much in vogue right now in common practice for designers if they are dipping their toes in art, that they're sourcing vintage. And, you know, I love an original piece over, you know, a reproduction as much as possible. And sometimes that means vintage. As someone who represents living, breathing artists, can you talk to us about reframing our thought process on always going with vintage art versus buying from a working artist?
[00:27:48] Speaker C: Oh, I love vintage art. I mean, this is not something we dabble in at Seattle ArtSource, but I love it. I mean, if you can find a purveyor in your town that sources vintage art, that has the patience to go to Paris and cull through those flea markets and bring back the best of the best. I mean, more power to you. It adds charm and authenticity.
And you know what, what we are all trying to do by adding real original art, vintages, real original art. Right. Is elevating and distinguishing our design.
We, the field is full design. There are a lot of designs out there. There are a lot of designers. And what my designers are trying to do, what my clients are trying to do, what everyone who's listening to this podcast is trying is distinguish themselves.
And a very easy way to do that is by adding art and vintage art, art by art, by living, working, breathing artists, local artists in your communities. These are really easy ways to distinguish yourself from the crowd. And the luxury market is part of that. But it doesn't have to just be allocated to the luxury market. You can distinguish your designs by adding art to it, and it will set you and set your designs apart from the crowd. Vintage art being a wonderful way to do that, for sure.
[00:29:28] Speaker A: When a client asks, is this art worth the investment?
How can we responsibly answer that question?
[00:29:43] Speaker C: I think my job and the designer's job is not to convince anybody to do anything that's outside of their comfort zone.
But just like we are there to cultivate a palette of quality, buying original art, supporting a living artist, cultivating the eye for art turns somebody on through art in a way that we then start to create a collector and not just a customer.
So my clients then don't just go and buy more art. They now get are just seeing art everywhere. They're at the coffee shop. Then when they travel, they're actually going to galleries and they're looking at art. When they're traveling, they have become collectors because they have started to buy early, early original art from me.
And this is really exciting. Most of my collectors are early collectors for by the very nature of who I am and what. Who we work with and what we sell, we're working with early collectors. And so they're not just customers consuming. They're collectors now. And most of the designers, they're, like, designing their first homes, their first real homes. They're appreciating what it means to buy a silk rug and not just, you know, something from Costco.
[00:31:18] Speaker A: They.
[00:31:19] Speaker C: We are cultivating the taste level of our clients.
And so, yeah, it is an investment, but it's turning them onto something that they can now appreciate, and it can, you know, changes the way they look at the world.
So, yeah, it's.
I think it's worthwhile. And they are coming to us because they think it's worthwhile, too. They are our customers. They, you know, they hired us, so they're there for a reason.
[00:31:50] Speaker A: Sarah, I could listen to you talk about art all day.
That's so amazing.
I love the concept of. It's like once you first invest in that first piece, it's now something you care about, and it's now part of your plans. When you travel, it catches your eye when you travel, when it maybe didn't before.
And I do think that there's this responsibility to culture that we can hold by making those first investment pieces from a living, breathing artist. I love that so much.
I would love to clarify roles for our listeners. Where does the interior designer's role end and the art advisor's role really begin?
And obviously, you can only speak to how Seattle ArtSource works, but where do you See, that kind of starts and stops because to me, it feels like there's a lot of gray area just the way sometimes there can be with an architect.
[00:32:46] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a great question. Some of this depends on the project and some of this depends on the client. And just like, you know, every project is different and every client is different. And so even with some of my longest term design clients, I have come alongside them in different capacities and different scopes depending on what their, what their client needs and so forth.
For instance, some of my designers use me like a store. They come to Seattle Art Source. I have an online gallery. All of my inventory is online. It's all public facing pricing.
And they are like, I know we need this. I'm going to come by and pick it up, send me an invoice. All my designers get 10% off and you know, we wrap it up. I have no idea where this painting goes. Right. They feel confident in their choice. They know exactly where this painting is and they leave. And it goes in the back of their Subaru. So that is the least involvement we have. We have some designers that feel super confident and that is basically us as case makers just having a really strong collection of art for our designers to choose from.
All the way to the other end of the spectrum where we have.
It's 12 months after a whole house remodel.
The designer's like, they are fine, are. The homeowners have finally recovered. Their decision fatigue is finally over. They finally have the money left. We told them, you're going to go talk to Sarah in a year after you, you're finally not exhausted and you want finally have time to talk to somebody else after these big, huge, full house remodel. Sometimes they're just like, I don't want another person in my house for a whole year. Like, we're done. And they need to recover financially. They just spend all the money. And so it takes a while for them to have the wherewithal to want to talk to somebody again. So a whole year goes by, I come in on the project as a referral, basically. And the designer's like, I know you're going to be taken well care of. I know the art you're going to put in this project is going to honor the design and the work we've put into this project. I come into the project as an independent person, an independent company. They hire me and depending on the scope of the project, I can either come alongside them, just sell them art, or they hire me and there's a fee. Based.
And it really depends on what I'm doing for them. And I help put them art in the home.
And so that whole spectrum and things in between. Right.
Is how I work with my design clients. And so if my design clients need me just to white paper something for them, I'm really happy to do that. If that serves them well. Because those designers come back to me over and over again over the years and they. Whatever serves them best, I'm happy to do.
[00:35:57] Speaker A: Hmm.
So let's say we're working in the ideal situation. The client says, great, we're gonna include art in the budget. We're gonna bring Sarah on board, you know, at the very initial design concepting phase.
How do I maintain creative control and like a cohesive vision while still bringing in an art consultant? Because I. From when I look at editorial spreads of a project, you know, I'm talking about an AD or Lux or anywhere. It kind of seems like art falls in two categories. There's art that like, matches the room and is, like part of the whole vision. And then there's art that you're like, whoa, that's totally from left field. It's so standing out in this room. It's amazing. But it also is like, did that.
It didn't necessarily match the rug. And so how. How do I maintain some control in that without stepping on art consultants toes or without, I don't know, compromising the artistic vision from the art sense?
[00:37:02] Speaker C: I mean, my job is to listen to what it is you want.
I mean, if you want the thing that is going to stand out and be museum quality art and, you know, be the rock and roll piece above the couch, then I. That's what I look for.
And this is a conversation between you, me, and the client.
And it's a lot of listening and it's a lot of asking questions.
Yeah, I'm there to serve all of those parties, and it's a little like a therapist.
I'm really there to listen and try and find the thing. That is the unspoken request.
Because we're there. Everyone's trying to describe what they want with words. And it's a visual medium. And so a lot of times it's presenting things. Presenting things. We're getting close. We're getting close at taking clients shopping. It's to different galleries. We're going to, you know, gallery crawls. So it's a process and it's a lot of asking questions, a lot of listening.
And just like designers know, some of this is, you know, our role is a little bit like being a therapist.
[00:38:22] Speaker A: Mm.
Can we talk about the pricing model concept?
You know, we work with interior designers all the time who have one way of ordering slabs. You know, maybe it's always through the contractor. Other people are like, well, I have, like, a markup on what the contractor bids or. Or the contractor's buying it from me. There's lots of different ways, but obviously markup is a big portion of a designer's fees and how they actually make money when it's not just trading hours for dollars.
So how does it work? I know you said that designers get 10% off what they see, like, in your gallery or online. How does it work? And how do you see designers typically pricing art when they have received it from a consultant or bought it from a gallery? Is there a markup on top of that? Is that. Is there, like, kind of an unwritten rule that we should go by?
[00:39:21] Speaker C: This is the million dollar question. I mean, every design firm does it a little differently. And so early on I was like, oh, my gosh, how do I maintain consistency with all my clients? It's just every.
Every designer does it differently. And art is even an outlier in this because some homeowners want to pay for it themselves for some reason. It's like the one thing at the one line item they want to put on the credit card for some reason.
So I give all my designers 10% off, and if the designer then has this as part of their bulk and, you know, it's another element of their design and they mark it up, I don't know. I don't know what happens after that point. But this. That's what I offer as a professional courtesy to all my design clients. I'm happy to bill the designer directly if the. If the homeowners want to pay for it, I bill the homeowner and then I remit the 10% to the designer. So both of those methods work for us.
[00:40:25] Speaker A: Is there any, like, legality or warranty is not the right word. But, like, is there any reason why a client, a homeowner, should be the one purchasing the art or the designer? Like, a lot of designers, like, you buy the appliances so that the warranty is under your name, not ours.
[00:40:44] Speaker C: Not really. Only except that when we submit the documentation and the certificate of authenticity, it will include the paid invoice with that for their insurance. And so that's a little bit cleaner when it's submitted in the homeowner's name.
If we ever have to dig through records for insurance purposes, you know, God forbid, there's a fire or something. If it's in the homeowner's name and it's not in the designer's. If the invoice is not in the designer's name, it makes it a little bit easier for everybody to do that research.
But that would be the. My only thought on that.
[00:41:23] Speaker D: So.
[00:41:24] Speaker C: So, yeah, it's a little bit more straightforward for tracing provenance if it's in the homeowner's name.
[00:41:33] Speaker A: Okay, that's super helpful. Thank you.
Okay, let's imagine we're talking to designers who are three to five years in business and, you know, they're really starting to get full custom home projects or complete gut renovations.
Do you have a sweet spot of saying, okay, you're going to end up with 25 pieces of art of all varying sizes in this home? What percentage or what number of those should someone really aim to be original works versus supplemented with quality reproductions from living artists? Like, we're just trying to get someone's feet wet. Is there, like, go for one killer piece or start a collection. Start with some smaller things that you can spread throughout?
[00:42:26] Speaker C: Yeah, I think there's the potential to do a larger quantity of originals. We have sizes for all those intermediary points, like the water closet above the keys in the kitchen.
So those little itty bitty spots in. Even for a few hundred dollars, you can get an original.
So I always loan my designers a fair amount of those medium to small sizes just to challenge their preconceived notions that there's nothing available in those itty bitties, as I like to call them. So get some itty bittys in there that are original even. We have the, you know, the marquee piece that's over the fireplace or over the couch. Of course, those are the. The challenging ones because those take usually the big line items, those are the pricey ones. But they're also the ones that feel like the big decisions.
[00:43:23] Speaker A: Right.
[00:43:23] Speaker C: So they're. They're the gravity of those decisions feel big. They're going to take up the big and the big part of the budget and the big part of the space. But those itty bittys, we can throw a bunch of those in there, and they're really not that much more expensive than prints a lot of times.
So, you know, if you're getting 75 of those originals in there and a few smatterings of prints, it's usually not that much more expensive than the high quality prints.
[00:43:51] Speaker A: That's so helpful.
If we are looking locally, can you Talk us through just some of your tips for like things to keep your eye out for what catches your eye, questions to ask the gallery just so we can feel like we have a bit more confidence in it.
[00:44:10] Speaker C: Yeah. So when, when designers are shopping locally, I say, you know, make sure to hit up your art walks. Those art walks. I'm, you know, Seattle's got a bevy of neighborhood art walks. I'm, I'm going to encourage all the designers who are listening to check out what your neighborhood art walks are in your town.
I'm in Boulder this weekend for the, the holiday weekend. They have some really fun art walks in this town.
Check out to see what those early emerging artists are doing. See if there's signatures on the art. See, start following those artists on Instagram, see what else they're selling.
See if they're selling them in, you know, those small pieces sometimes that are just for the pop up for art walks. Sometimes they have other outlets that maybe are larger pieces. If you start getting your feet wet with you find a piece, oh, I really like this little guy. Maybe they've got bigger works that are available.
So that's a really fun way to just start seeing what's out there in your community. And you never know, there might be a gem out there that you find a little itty bitty that could be a bigger purchase that's in a larger outlet that's available.
So those neighborhood art walks are a nice way to start and those price points usually are low stakes.
So. And in your neighborhood gallery designer, you know, hard working gallers galleries out there really do a great job of bending over backwards to start relationships with designers. So Seattle has great galleries and they're, they're treasured colleagues of mine. Most towns will have hardworking galleries that will do a good job of wanting to accommodate the needs of gallerists. So have discounts for to accommodate your budgets. We'll try and do deliveries for you guys.
So make friends with your local galleries.
They are hardworking professionals that really want to make connections with your communities.
[00:46:25] Speaker A: You mentioned looking at signatures and following artists on Instagram. Can we talk about this signature concept?
Is that something that we want to make sure whatever we're purchasing has a signature shown on front? Can a signature be on back? Like what when we're buying from an art walk, what are some of those authentication cues we should be keeping an eye out for?
[00:46:48] Speaker C: Signature can be on the front or the back. Sometimes I prefer it to be on the back actually. That way there's kind of an uninterrupted scope or on, you know, the front, depending on what style the artist likes their signature.
Sometimes there'll be a little certificate that's glued to the back or available if you purchase the art that will give you some a little bio information about the artist for sure.
And following the artist on Instagram is a real easy way to kind of, if you need follow up paperwork from the artist, they usually should be accommodating of those kind of requests for sure.
[00:47:27] Speaker A: Okay, so helpful. And then lastly from these like logistical questions, you had mentioned framing and how that can be a place that Seattle Art Source really helps to guide to, you know, help keep something within budget.
Should we be looking for pieces that are already framed or looking for things that we then take to a framer? Talk to us about framing and how that can value add to a piece of or help keep us in our budget.
[00:47:56] Speaker C: Yeah, framing is really an important part of what we do. A lot of our art comes from our artist studio directly. So it's not framed. We don't require all of our art to be framed. We have over, you know, 500 pieces of art in our inventory. Not all of it is framed. Oftentimes we don't do that because the designer wants to change the frame. So we off over the years we've just decided we'll let the framer, the art, the designer choose the frame because to match the scope of the work. But we do help the designer pick framing with a couple different trusted professionals that do framing. Depending on the style and what is required for the job, we will then offer, we'll send pictures next to the art and offer pricing. And so it's very clear what they're getting. It's very clear what they need to pay for. And we work with our, our local framers, a couple different vendors to make sure they're getting a really high quality framing for a really good price. But framing is a really important part of making sure that the art is supported and looks finished. If you're going to go through the trouble of buying original art, put a nice frame on it.
[00:49:16] Speaker A: Can we talk about hanging real quick? You mentioned that the light can change things like so drastically.
Are there things, you know, when we're working with original art in our projects that we should be taking into consideration to protect our art? I mean, I know that sun damage can happen and things like this. So are there any kind of like quick tips you can have for us that'll ensure that our investment on just beloved pieces, you know, helps them last?
[00:49:42] Speaker C: Yeah, sure, getting something professionally installed is always preferable, especially if you're hanging it over where anybody is going to be. You know we have professional installers we work with especially we're in an earthquake zone up in Seattle. So I'm always like paranoid of anything going above anybody's bed. Just terrified.
But use a professional installer. There's Ask your if you don't know where to find one, ask your local frame shop. Your local frame shop will generally have a go to installer that they like to work with. They're usually a good source of referral for that kind of thing. But if it's framed from a local framer, then it will be a pretty sturdy and will have a nice hook on the back and be really easy to hang. If you feel adept at putting holes in your own wall and your framer will give you hardware to frame it, hang it yourself. If you feel like you want to put holes in your own wall.
[00:50:48] Speaker A: Okay, great. That's so helpful.
Real quick, can you break down your team? If there is a team, are you doing everything completely yourself? And like if someone reaches out to Seattle Art Source, who should they expect? Expect that they'll they would be working so that.
[00:51:03] Speaker C: I love it that you asked. I couldn't do it by myself. It's way, way, way too much for me anymore. I have a great team of just spicy young ladies.
Harmony Hasbrouck is my director of operations. She started working for me last year. MacKenzie has been with me for over five years now.
She is my design lead and manages a ton of the details in the back end. You will often hear from her in conjunction with me if you are a client. So she works on a lot of client projects with me and I have a part time social media person and she came to me via interns an internship at the UW University of Washington. And then I have a new intern that's working with us.
So there's a. It's a mighty team of four.
Yeah. And it kind of fluctuates over the years. We love interns. We have interns that flow through us through interior design programs and art schools and different programs at our local universities. And the young ladies that come through through our internship programs spread their wings usually after they graduate and go on to do wonderful, wonderful things. But over the last 10 years we've had wonderful interns come through Seattle Art Source.
[00:52:27] Speaker A: Okay. And lastly to wrap things up, I'd love to know if you have any upcoming exhibitions, collaborations or exciting projects you have in the works that you can Share with us as we close out the show.
[00:52:39] Speaker C: Yes, I'm glad you asked. Robina Radcliffe, one of our artists, has a Show opening on February 21st. We have opening reception for her happening at Seattle Art Source. And the doors will be open. Champagne will flow from four to six. So if anyone's in the neighborhood, they should definitely come down and raise a glass with us. That show will be open for four weeks. We don't do a ton of shows. We're often open by appointment only. So this is a great opportunity for people to come behind the curtain and see what it looks like at Seattle Art Source, see what's behind the curtain, and to meet Robina. Robina is from Vancouver, bc. She's coming down to Seattle for the event.
So this is a great opportunity to meet her. She's delightful and the show will be up for a month.
[00:53:33] Speaker A: That brings up one last question. I promise I'll let you go.
Seattle Art Source typically open by appointment only. For us who are intimidated. When we see a gallery that says by appointment only, coach us through not being intimidated by that.
[00:53:48] Speaker C: You shouldn't be intimidated. So we put the sign out when we're there. We're generally in the office 9 to 4, Monday through Friday, but we're there by appointment. I have an appointment only because I'm. Sometimes I'm on site, visits in people's homes, taking pictures of their walls so I can do those mock ups we were talking about earlier. Or somebody's made an appointment. So I'm back in the, in the stacks of the art and we're pulling stuff out and we're looking at stuff together. And when someone's made an appointment with me, it means they get my undivided attention for two hours or however long they've booked my time. And all those questions we were talking about, you know, what's a diptych? What's an abstract painting? Do I like paintings with face? All those things we are getting, they're getting my undivided attention for two hours and we're just getting into the weeds talking about what they like. So when you book an appointment with me, that's what we get to do.
Wander in, come on in. There's always somebody there that's going to be able to take care of you, even if it's not me. But when you book an appointment appointment, you get my undivided attention. So look forward to that. If you want to have an hour with Sarah at Seattle Art Stores, it shouldn't be intimidating. It's a fun, low key conversation about art. Just come test the waters.
[00:55:04] Speaker A: Amazing. Sarah. This was so informative, so inspiring. I cannot wait to just go buy some more local art and to know that that's me starting my, starting my collection.
[00:55:16] Speaker C: I want to hear what you buy, so make sure you tell me.
[00:55:20] Speaker A: I will. I definitely will. Thank you so much, Sarah. Best of luck with with another 10 years of Seattle Art Source Blast.
[00:55:27] Speaker C: Thanks for having me.
[00:55:29] Speaker A: Thank you for more in depth analysis
[00:55:33] Speaker D: of this interview including exclusive downloads, examples and more. Don't forget to subscribe to the Interior Collective on Patreon. We are building an amazing private community of interior designers and interior industry experts open to candid conversations and answering questions. Join us on Patreon in the show notes or at patreon.com/forward/the interior collective thank you so so much for tuning into this episode. Producing this show has truly been the honor of my career and I cannot believe I get to have these conversations. A big huge thank you to our production team at IDCO Studio and Quinn Maid. Your contribution literally truly makes this podcast feasible and the biggest thank you to you our listeners. Your sweet notes, DMs and reviews mean so much to us as we work to keep our show free and always accessible.
Until next time, I'm Anastasia Casey and this is the Interior Collective, a podcast for the business of beautiful living.
[00:56:30] Speaker B: A very special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Laloy, the makers of beautifully crafted rugs, pillows and wall art, and to our episode sponsor and season partner, Design Assist. The staffing solution built specifically to support and scale interior design firms.
