Portofino, Italy IV, Italian Landscape Painting

The internet has allowed us artists to reach virtually all over the world. I, for one, have done business with many people, in the last few years, who are more diverse in nationality, geographical location, profession, age, and financial means than I can write in one blog post.

Communication with them is usually by email. While some prefer keeping it strictly business, many tell me a bit of their background information - who they are, where they live, why they like a particular painting of mine, who they buy a painting for, etc. Each of their stories is so uniquely different, therefore special, I don't know if I will ever be surprised to hear even the one beyond my wildest dreams. What I want to say is, these stories bring me such a joy as they give my paintings a special meaning in a way I can't possibly do.

There's also a downside to having an internet presence, such as being targeted by art scammers. I just had an unpleasant encounter with one through email last week and was made aware that having seen them and heard about them for years doesn't prepare you 100% against them. Just as we artists become more familiar with their typical tactics, scammers invent a cleverer approach once their old tricks stop working. Good news for me was that I didn't lose money or paintings to this scammer but he really wasted my time. I was mentally exhausted and I felt I needed a vacation. So I painted a beautiful villa on the Italian Riviera, overlooking the deep blue Ligurian Sea for a little escape.

Art is a way to express yourself and through that you can escape a bad situation. - Russell Simmons

Portofino, Italy IV

Media: Original watercolor on paper
Image Size: 8.25 x 11.5 inches (21 x 29 cm)
Mat/Frame: No
Purchase: Sold

Comments

7 Responses to Portofino, Italy IV, Italian Landscape Painting

Cool thanks for sharing. I've only read about art scammers. Do you have any tips on how to spot them and how you've dealt with them?

Posted by John Stone · via ktanabefineart.com · 190 months ago

Hi John, thank you for your comment. I think any artist will be delighted that someone wants to buy your artwork but there are two kinds of "buyers" out there; those who are genuinely in love with your work and those whose interest is your money. How to distinguish one from the other can be tricky sometimes as the latter becomes more sophisticated. From my experience, I can tell you, when you get a suspicious email, most likely it is. Trust your instinct if you have any doubts. Search the web for sites that show typical emails scammers send to artists. Some sites even have a list of known art scammers' email addresses (which needs updating, though). If you decide to proceed, use utmost caution, and never, ever ship anything until the payment has cleared. They are known to avoid PayPal but this one mentioned in my blog did use PayPal - it just turned out he and his friend disguised themselves as PayPal. Always read everything including notifications from what appears to be a legitimate business such as PayPal. I think we artists should help each other by reporting each fraud case and spreading the word. Happy drawing!

Posted by Keiko Tanabe · via ktanabefineart.com · 190 months ago

Keiko, Lovely painting! I hope that it provided the escape you sought. The painting certainly makes me want to go explore that area. I am sorry that your time was stolen from you. May it not happen again. You are right in identifying scamming as one downside of our virtual communication network.

Keep well,
Poppy

Posted by Poppy Balser · via ktanabefineart.com · 190 months ago

Keiko, you have taken a bad situation and, in your gracious way, you have made it better - and shared more information with all artists out there who may be targeted. I wish all spammers and scammers were exiled to an island where there was no internet access :) I'm glad you didn't lose a painting or money.

Posted by Rhonda · via ktanabefineart.com · 190 months ago

Hi Poppy, Hi Rhonda, I appreciate you chiming in. No matter what we alert artists do to protect ourselves, they are not going away, I'm afraid, and they keep moving from one artist to another, looking for the easy prey. Let's educate ourselves and help fellow artists as much as possible, and just say NO to all suspicious email senders. Rhonda, I think your idea is the only solution, but let's not pick an island in a pretty place like the Ligurian Sea :)

Posted by Keiko Tanabe · via ktanabefineart.com · 190 months ago

You know, Keiko, I remember when you sent me three paintings so I could look at them full size - all without me paying in advance. I was so appreciative that we could work things out that way, but now that I see this scammer thing, I see how abuse could happen. It seems there's always people out there willing to wreck good things. Thanks again for playing more than fair with me.

Posted by Mike McMillen · via ktanabe.fineartstudioonline.com · 177 months ago

Hi Mike, you are more than welcome! About the arrangement we had, I had known you already, for one thing. I don't really know why but those with ill intentions use a certain type of "language" that gives themselves away. In fact I received another email from one of them last week. The same old tactics - they don't seem to learn - and I said good-bye immediately.

Posted by Keiko Tanabe · via ktanabe.fineartstudioonline.com · 177 months ago

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