How to Take Up Antique Collecting as a Hobby

By: Allison Thompson

There are many things that people are now able to collect such as baseball cards, 1950’s magazines, silverware, old bottles, old milk cans and pictures, which are all considered to be antiques. It is simple enough to become a collector of antiques and you will eventually find something that you truly love.

Antique collecting is certainly an exciting hobby especially those that find something that they truly love. If you were say a collector of matchboxes ask your family and friends to keep an eye out for new ones to add your collection, you could even offer them a small cash reward for finding ones for adding to your collection. You may even get lucky and be presented with it as a gift.

But you now want to decide on what you are actually going to start your collection on. This is simple, just find something that you love and start your collection. Some people may decide to collect antique silverware picture frames while others may decide to collect something as obscure as Mcdonald freebies. At the end of the day the choice is yours as to what you collect.

However, once you have made the decision on what you are going to collect then the real fun starts. You will soon find yourself always looking where ever you go and constantly your eyes will stray to the windows of the little antique shops that you pass. Certainly, this is a big part of the fun of collecting.

Not only is there personal enjoyment to be had in collecting, but another reason for collecting antiques is the possible potential value of the items you have. Just think if you had kept those small Dinky toys with their boxes that you received when you were a child, you would be amazed at just how much they can reach at an antique auction today.

About the Author: Allison Thompson webmaster of several sites a work at home Mom now living in Spain. For further information on this product please go to http://www.antiqueadventures.info

Collect Coins for Fun-A Guide to Coin Collecting for Beginners

By: Tania Penwell

Work, work, and more work is the global mantra these days. As you get caught up in the rat race for power and pelf stop awhile to think whether too much work is making you a dull boy! If you are constantly jittery or anxious, its time you had some time just for your self. A hobby like coin collecting could become an exciting and a competitive sport and do you a lot of good by diverting attention from mundane tasks. So hoard interesting coins instead of dollars for a change!

A coin collection usually starts from modest beginnings. For example, you may have coins in your wallet from a trip to another country or you may come across old coins while rummaging about in an antique shop. You can base your collection on country, year, period, or subject. If you or a friend or family member travels a great deal globally, you would find it easy to collect coins of different countries. You may also choose a particular foreign country that interests you, say France or India, and collect coins of that country. In contrast, collect your nation’s coins if you want to know more about it!

Collecting by year involves collecting a particular coin every year of its manufacture. For example, if a certain coin was produced first in 1900 you collect from that year to the present. If a certain monarch’s reign interests you, collect coins from that period. Alternatively, you could collect ancient or medieval period Roman, Indian, or Greek coins. Subject collection would include coins on a particular subject, for example, maps, flowers, or ships.

Some coin collectors collect by error! I mean they collect faulty coins. These include clipped coins, off center coins, and coins with over dates. These coins are very rare as automation has reduced the possibility of errors. This makes them even more interesting and desirable. You can also collect by material, say gold or silver.

Apart from picking up interesting coins during international travel, you can get them at local antique shops, flea markets, coin shows, and auctions. Some coin collectors say that rummaging through charity boxes kept at local stores also leads to interesting discoveries. But, don’t forget to inform the shop owner before embarking on such activities.

It’s great to collect coins, but where are you going to store them? Many people keep their coin collection in a box, but keeping coins all together can lead to scratches on their surface. It’s also difficult to locate a particular coin when required. To begin with, you can consider storing coins in separate paper envelopes, label the envelopes and, then, keep them inside a box. You can also opt for small plastic bags to store your coin collection. This way, in contrast to paper envelopes, you will be able to see your coins without touching them directly. However, ensure that the plastic bag is not made of PVC, which could harm the coins inside. When you develop a large collection you can choose a cardboard or plastic coin album. All these storage devices can be purchased from hobby shops, coin shops, or online stores.

Before you start buying expensive coins for your collection invest in a price guide, magnifying glass, and desk lamp. You can also join local coin collection clubs and read up books on this hobby.

About the Author: Tania Penwell is a regular contributor to The Coin Collector- http://thecoincollector.org – a guide to coins and coin collecting.

Landscape Painting

By: Elizabeth Morgan

Many of us will be tempted to think that landscape painting is an exact replication of the landscape an artist sees right before him. The exact numbers of physical features such as hills, the exact number of living features such as plants or humans, and the exact character of abstract elements such as sunlight or rain. This, however, is never the case. Just like any other painting, which involves the artist’s personal intuitions, a landscape painting is an expression of what the artist wants to see. And contrary to the popular belief that landscape paintings are made outdoors, artists usually prefer to do their work indoors. They usually make rough sketches outdoors, and then fill out the painting more slowly in their studios.

No matter where they choose to paint, there is one issue they all need to deal with while painting landscapes: depth. How does one show depth on a flat canvas? You will find the use of a winding path, a change in the size of things to make them appear closer or further, the use of overlap, a change in the sharpness of images, or the use of diagonal composition.

George Catlin, Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran were three famous American painters who used the above techniques to paint magnificent American landscapes. Catlin made two paintings of the same landscape, and called it River Bluffs. He said that these were the toughest paintings he made, because there was nothing in the landscape to arrest the eye, there were just hills hundreds of feet high, covered in green, for about twenty or thirty miles.

Thomas Moran’s The Chasm of the Colorado is a huge and very famous landscape painting of the Grand Canyon. One look at it, and we might be tempted to think Moran actually saw this site before him. It was, however, the result of a quiet, relentless effort in the artist’s studio, of Moran putting together several small sketches he made while on a trip to the Grand Canyon.

Painting provides detailed information on Painting, Decorative Painting, Interior Painting, Landscape Painting and more. Painting is affiliated with Garden Sculpture.

Marketing for Local Artists; Poetry, Art, Sculpture, Photography or Paintings

By: Lance Winslow

As a freelance marketing consultant in my retirement often small business people will approach me and ask my advice to help them market their art business. One thing I find interesting is most are very Internet Literate and have some marketing savvy as well. This sure helps when we sit down to discuss things they might do to market better and sell more of their art, sculptures, paintings, photography or artistic creations whatever they might be.

Do you own a small business, which produces art? I would say that you should put your efforts in any business where it will do the most good. So in the case of a local artist; Loaning art with price tags and business cards on the frames to Hotels, Time Shares, Restaurants, travel centers, airport lobbies, visitor bureaus, real estate offices, chambers of commerce; makes sense.

Plus writing articles for print in Tourist information material, newspapers, magazines, also post them online. Collections of poetry or articles in eBooks compilations, in various categories; Seasonal “Holiday Poetry,” “Local Poetry,” “Best Poetry of 2007″ mix and match compilations to give away and perhaps Illustrated eBooks with poetry for each picture. Consider also a weekly or monthly Ezine with the latest sculptures, progress, art, etc.

Grass roots; Fliers on Pizza Boxes, Art Exhibits, fliers at Chamber, visitors centers, inserts in visitor information, A-Frame Signage, Roadside signs with web-address “this highway adopted by YourWebSite.com, etc.

What is so great is there are many sources on the Internet to find other ideas such as Judy Cullins website on marketing online and her advice is great and she is right. Everyone should invest in reading her articles or reading her books in my opinion. It sure beats the hard way. And well I ought to know having built my business from scratch. I hope this article will propel thought into 2007.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs

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