It seems obvious to me that most here on A&P have very definite views about what “they think” good art is (though their work is not earth shattering, and they have not been sweep away as genius’just yet), though some are quite talented.

Viewing art through one’s own eyes only, with hardened and ingrained philosophies makes it hard to view art objectively (like the experts that refuse to except Mary Magdelene is sitting next the Christ in the Last Supper). It is very hard to remain objective when one dedicates their life to a particular style of artworks, or one hardened philosophy, refusing to see past their own beliefs of art, while thinking they are somehow superior in their views, or better qualified than others for some reason. Sad as it is, it will be the public at large who will decide who is great, by their reaching into their pocket books and proving through their purchase actions. One would be considered great if they had a five year waiting list of folks who want their work.

Yet, we are all in the same pool here on A&P, and it becomes somewhat of a competition of intellects trying to prove something. The truth is that no one here is internationally acclaimed as great at what they do. In fact, it appears to me, some seem to find their niche and support groups calling that success,(perhaps it is for some), but that is not great, and it does not make one great. The missing ingredient here seems to be finding a way to see how others perceive our art, and to destroy our own egos in the process. A handful of selfproclaimed experts will never get too far, but a handful of internationally acclaimed experts certainly would.

thanks

On my end, all that’s required when I ship via USPS Global Priority Mail (which is what I did with Karl’s print) is fill out the appropriate customs declaration. I fill it out, the post office affixes part to the package and keeps the other part on file. I have a copy in my files as well.

Beyond that, it’s the responsibility of the delivery agent (I presume it’s the postal service in the Netherlands in this case) to collect whatever duty is appropriate.

Enforcement of import duty always seems to be hit or miss regardless of country. I’ve bought equipment from the UK and been quite certain I would owe duty when it arrived and ended up paying nothing.

On the other hand, DHL tried to charge duty on the package when we shipped our bike gear from back Florence to Seattle, despite the fact that the contents were declared as ‘personal items originally purchased in the US’.

You are saying, it takes magic, beyond the artwork itself. That extra magic is the ingredient that we are missing so far.

From the label on the package it is clear that Paul filled out the necessary customs form. It would be up to the Dutch to request the customs payment, no? Perhaps it fell below some threshold where they don’t bother. On other occasions they have required payments at delivery.

Yes – but is this really legal? Or should it have been declared as a commercial transaction and taxes paid?

Three or 4 years back I shipped a bunch of work to Canada for a show. Huge headaches with doing it the official way and in the end they screwed up my paperwork and I paid a whole bunch in taxes (I’m thinking around $100 for 3 or 4 pieces) “just in case I sold something”. In theory I think I coudl have gotten it all back but never got around to filling out the forms.

This was a group show and all our paperwork went through the same customs broker (who is the one that told us how to do all of this) but for some reason mine got flagged (everyone else had no problems). I ignored all their letters asking for this money – until they turned it over to a collections agency.

I should have just boxed it up and sent it to her and put “gift” on the customs label.

I belong to a group that has done a few shows in the US and it is always a hassle to get the artwork from our international members here legally – so often it isn’t always by the books.

Laws – they didn’t really mean for them to apply to artists did they?

Leslie,

You just asked the BIG QUESTION.

It is Hanneke’s great good fortune that she loves still life painting, along with all sorts of other subjects that might be less marketable.

I want to learn about marketing Hanneke’s work because it is less “challenging” than some other topics. With a better understanding of marketing, I could apply the lessons to my own work and to Hanneke’s other work.