Get your best photo and order a canvas prints from Costco. Be warned though - they can ask for copyright release from the artist (kudos, Costco!).
I second the recommendation to check out show or sales at local art schools or artist’s associations. These places will have many young/new artists showing their works; you may find something you love. Also, you might be surprised by the work in art galleries. Not all of it is hugely expensive. You just have to go in and look around.
Thank you all, I have some work to do! I do want one large piece and it doesn’t have to be an original.
Check out some of the auction houses. I second @mycupoftea’s suggestion to check out Clarke NY – it looks like they have some great stuff coming up this week; Doyle New York often has some nice pieces and fairly reasonable prices. Most of the things will be framed already, but you will have to pay for shipping unless you are local.
My husband and I collect art and have done so for quite some time. While I understand the preference for seeing the art in person, you can get a very good idea about a piece by asking for a condition report and close-up photographs. I would advise not to spend money on framing a poster / blown up photographs / reproductions and encourage you to think about getting original art. It’s often more affordable than you might think.
I think Ballard Designs has some interesting prints in their catalog (also website) and I also like some of their artistic objects for hanging like the tobacco baskets in their current collection. As well, if you like botanicals and are open to a grouping instead of just one large piece, sometimes frame shops will have old books of botanical prints that they will tear apart to frame. I have a group of three in my living room that came from an antique book. My framer is also an artist, so she hunts for those kinds of things on a regular basis.
If you live in or visit an artistic community on a regular basis, you could have fun shopping for something. Columbus, Austin, etc. I know Nashville has an art crawl once a month where they have local artists show in galleries. I live in a smaller community that has an arts focus and I’m lucky to have a few original pieces that didn’t cost big bucks because I used to frequent one local artist’s studio frequently. They are stretched in such a way that they didn’t have to be framed which makes them even more of a bargain.
There is likely an auction house in your neck of the woods as well. They might not focus solely on artwork but most auction houses will have art as part of estate sales.
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/
Auction house ( check reviews before bidding) or from the best local art college near you ( They all have a gala every year and you can bid -often online from students with talent). Artful home ( artful home is pretty good though maybe more than you budget). Don’t buy a print, it looks cheap and they never have resale value. Better to buy smaller and something original. Or find a local artist you like and contact them. Many will make the size you want ( and often at a low cost since they don’t have to pay gallery fees etc.) You can also buy a really nice original silver gelatin or other ORIGINAL photo. When they print on aluminum, it can create a really nice look. Also, if you want to keep the cost down have the artist/photographer print in a standard frame size ( IKEA has the cheapest non plastic frames around).
Most of the art pieces in our home came from art fairs, primarily juried art fairs. Back in the day, we went to the Old Town Art Fair in Chicago and usually came home with something. But we’ve been to fairs all over - they always have some artists with large canvases and lots of variety. Plus prices can be more reasonable when buying directly from the artist.
We were in the same situation as you when we came to San Diego - ended up with a big blank wall over our couch in the living room. None of our existing art pieces worked - too small, wrong colors, etc. We tried a collage of smaller pieces but were on the hunt for something large and not outrageously priced. At one juried large fair along the waterfront, we found several pieces that we liked. Some were in the thousand $$, but others were more reasonable.
We ended up loving a glass triptych by this artist: http://www.michaelkbarnett.com/ But the piece we liked was a bit too small for the space and had too much green for the room. We ended up commissioning a piece - the artist suggested playing around with cardboard templates on the wall so we could knew what size and dimensions we wanted. We sent him that info along with a few pictures of the room and he created a unique triptych just for us. He brought it to us when it was done and hung it with special cantilevered hooks. All for $705.
I changed my avatar to the art piece. It’s a rippled glass that really catches and bounces the light.
Good suggestions…except I find it odd that you think a plastic frame from IKEA is OK…but you think a print is cheap looking.
Those plastic frames at Michaels that really end up looking just like a thin edging are inexpensive and nice too. With nice matting, they don’t detract from the print or photo you put in them.
We have some quite gorgeous framed nicely, signed and numbered prints. We got them because WE liked them…not because we wanted them for resale. But some signed prints are actually valuable.
I think a nicely framed print is nice. I also move my art around a lot…so I’m not much inclined to spend a fortune on something because really…it’s next move could be to the upstairs hall.
I have a number of watercolors that we’re purchased at craft fairs. I was recently at a crafts fair on Sarasota FL, and there were a LOT of nice things there in the size and price point this OP posted.
Since it’s approaching Spring/summer…keep an eye out for crafts fairs @conmama . You just might find something you like at one of them.
@Happytimes2001 suggested Non-plastic frames from IKEA
IMO, a piece that will be in a major place in your home – above the LR couch – is not something you go out to buy one afternoon as if it were a mattress pad or a throw rug. DH and I have a lot of art in our house – some worth a couple of thousand dollars – but we’ve collected it over the years, from galleries while we were on vacation, from auction houses, from antique stores. I also inherited some pieces from my parents. We also have numerous photographs that a professional took, in the place we used to vacation a lot, and that he framed. Each one is unique and worth pausing to look at. These are all over my downstairs.
I am also a huge fan of hanging quilts, rugs, kimonos (if you’re into Asian things), plates, other objects. I have three European fans (you know, for ladies who faint) that were my great grandmother’s. I had them framed in shadow boxes, and they make an interesting arrangement on the wall.
And then there are mirrors.
@Bromfield2 's icon reminds me that my mother really like Mondrian, so she painted one herself! She said it was more difficult than it looks to try to figure out how he made the decisions he did about colors, grid placement and where lines stop.
Most of the art in our house comes from my parents, and a fair amount of it is stuff I painted. Our libraries have many shows with local art work at very, very reasonable prices. The local galleries (suburbs not NYC) are generally cheaper than NYC, but more expensive than the library shows. You might have a local art center that shows art as well as offering classes to the community. They are usually good places to find local artists. Outdoor arts and crafts shows often have nice work at reasonable prices.
You can sometimes get nice frames at consignment shops and garage sales.
@Marilyn I love that piece.
Thanks @GRITS80
I missed the non-plastic part of IKEA!
Still…I do think decent matting and framing can make or break how a piece of art looks!
If second the idea of going to arts shows. Within a few hours, there is one every weekend. I was helping my friend furnish his apartment, so we went often and took pictures. Often, we’d meet the same artists at various shows. It gave my friend time to think things thru.
Buy art? Heavens, I wish. My FIL is an artist (and was chairman of the art department at a large U) and “gifts” us more than I could ever want. The idea that our home is not his personal gallery seems foreign to him. He draws and paints, but he also does bronze casting and is known for a particular type of bronze work. He gave us one of those for a wedding gift and I wouldn’t mind a few more of the bronzes, but he never parts with those, just the pieces I have to keep in the back of the closet until he and MIL visit. Thankfully, in the 19 years we’ve lived here, they’ve only visited five times, so it’s not a huge effort to swap a few things around.
I’m not a big fan of art for art’s sake. Just not my thing.
That said, when I do buy, it’s from an art fair or local artist. I will pay significantly more than a mass produced printer picture but I try to support artists whenever possible.
I like art from Minted https://www.minted.com/art
The Ann Arbor Art Fair. Some of it’s pretty pricey, but much of it is gorgeous…and unique.
I have art pieces that were my parents and grandparents but have also purchased pieces at every place from galleries to art fairs to garage sales. My mom also paints and I have a few of her pieces and a painting my grandmother did.
@scout59 literally 80% of the pretty things I own are from there.