Gordon Sellen | Contemporary Canadian Artist

As an artist I have been represented since 2012 through large Online Art Galleries. As one of a hundred thousand artists your art can get lost in the crowd. Fortunately after being featured several times on Saatchi Arts home page I enjoyed many successful sales in the USA and the United Kingdom.

As a result of my experiance I am now excited to transition to directly offering my paintings through my website with the benefit of signifcant discount to art collectors. 

I invite you to contact me directly online via social media or the contact page on my website.

So after painting in a rather minimal modern style for the last two years or so, I find I have come full circle. Back to landscapes with a new and  refreshing enthusiasm. I am painting in a open impressionist style. I believe it is also refered to as negative space painting. Anyway I will post some new work shortly. Regards Gordon

 There  is much talk about the artist process, here is a glimpse of mine. Time spent in the studio is quality time for me. Even if nothing comes of it. I mean I paint and sometimes I don't produce a painting.

 The stresses of life just melt away in the studio and six hours seem like fifteen minutes. My work has naturally evolved in the last five years and I am now drawn to more minimal modern art.

 I find it relaxing to have these paintings in my home. I am usually overstimulated by all the images, noise and events around me so quiet reflective minimal art is good for my well being. I admire painters such as Rothko and lately Christian Hetzel. The less is more approach.

I rarely sketch out my ideas on paper but prefer to get right to painting. It's trial and error really,  adding layers of paint and perhaps scraping away again. I just paint and look for a direction to go. It's a very intuitive process.

There you have it. Until next time, Keep Painting. Regards Gordon

How to pack your art for shipping can be found on the Saatchi website. However now that I have done it  couple times I thought I would add these pic's to clarify the process.

The painting is 24" x 60" x 1.5' so the shipping crate translates into 30" x 66" x 6"

1/2 inch plywood and 1" x 6" lumber.

Next line the crate with 1/2" foam board.

Then wrap the painting in archival acid free paper. Then wrap in heavy plastic. Then wrap in bubble-wrap. Then use heavy cardboard corner protectors. Tape everything to secure.

OK we are on the home stretch. Pack the top with more styrofoam and screw down the top. Mark the screws so the purchaser or customs don't have too much of a struggle to open. Mark FRAGILE and DO NOT LAY FLAT. As this is how most things are broken in shipping. Cross your fingers and now have a drink. You earned it. :-)

There is a shitload of paperwork to do. I would not even attempt this without the help of Saatchi Art. They take 30 to 45% on a sale but when you have to cross International borders you will need the help of a broker or Saatchi. Best of Luck. G

Ok fun seekers here's the New's.

After much thought and procrastination I am moving in a New direction with my painting.

I am going to explore minimal, modern, urban, colourfields.  Well you get the picture. I removed my facebook profile as I found it a waste of precious time and also constantly annoying. So I find after several weeks of peace and calm and the absence of the constant barrage of images and nonesense, my paintings are reflecting the results. Who Knew???  Please watch this space for new paintings. I really feel great about this change. My first impulse was to delete all of my old paintings but realize some people actually like them and some have even bought a few. lol. So calm will prevail and the old paintings are here to stay until they all find homes. In the mean time I hope my New paintings will bring you some joy and a moments peace in this hectic life.

So this will be my first crack at blogging. Being that I am somewhat of a reclusive introvert,  I haven't felt the urge to communicate my thoughts on painting before. So here's the thing. It seem's to me that galleries

like or want you to paint in series. Also the other kind of unwritten rule is paint BIG. Now I am ok with both of those requests. The only thing I have trouble with is being put in a catagory. They (The Galleries)

want to label you. Such as Impressionist, Abstract expressionist, Landscape artist. etc.  I want to be all of those things. I really just paint whatever grabs me at the time. Lately I am really taken with rather modern,  minimalist, Rothko style paintings. So there is probably a series there for me. But that mean's that I am not really building a portfolio of paintings which are all in the same genre. Which may translate into less sales. If my art isn't embraced by people I always feel better when I think of other painters in history such asVanGogh who sold very few if any paintings in his life time. Painters infinitely more talented than I will ever be. When I see other painters on Saatchi on line who have sold 60 or 70 grand worth of their paintings they all have a portfolio of paintings pretty much in one style or theme. Money isn't the motivation behind my painting, but is a factor to continue painting as canvas and good quality paint's are expensive. So that's my observation for what it's worth. If anyone out there has any comment's I would love to hear from you. Thank-you G.