Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
August 23, 2007 issue
Purveyors of Art & Design and Wildflowers Fine Art Publishing—Helping High Country Artists Make a Living
Story by Sam Calhoun
When Mike Hill—co-owner of Purveyors of Art & Design Materials Inc., 699 King Street in Boone, and Wildflowers Fine Art Publishing, 58 High Country Square in Banner Elk—graduated from ASU in 1988 with a degree in commercial arts, he wasn’t worrying about becoming a starving artist. He was worrying about how to help other artists from starving.
“I’ve always thought and always worked thinking, ‘How can I help artists make a living?’” said Hill.
A year after Hill graduated, he turned that thinking into a reality by opening Purveyors of Art & Design Materials Inc., the Boone-based art supply store and framing shop. Four years ago, he took the thinking a step further by purchasing Wildflowers Fine Art Publishing, the Banner Elk-based mini-frame shop, mini-art supply store and one-stop shop for giclée prints and artists’ publishing needs.
Today, Hill spends most of his time at Purveyors where his only employee is his dog Mazie. Hill’s fiancée Becky Serine—whom Hill describes as “the very best” giclée technician around—is a co-owner of the company and runs Wildflowers in Banner Elk where her only employee is her dog Sully.
“In a town with art stores on every corner, we really are a little different,” said Hill. “It’s more than just a product to us.”
An artist himself—working in pastels, mixed media and graphics—High Point-born Hill jokes that he spends more of his time working on other people’s artwork than he does on his own. But when he left college, he wasn’t trying to become a famous artist himself; he was trying to help others achieve that rating.
For years, Purveyors has earned the respect of High Country artists for the materials it carries, the speedy service it delivers, the knowledge that Hill has and is willing to share and the camaraderie within its walls. It’s as much a town meeting place as it is an art supply store.
But it wasn’t until four years ago that Hill was able to help local artists in ways that others could not. With the purchase of Wildflowers—a one-year-old business given up by its owner because of health reasons—Hill is now able to help artists make more money and help consumers get more quality art through the production of giclée prints.
Giclée prints are high-end digital prints that match original pieces of art exactly and cost less than offset lithograph prints—the old way of reproducing two-dimensional artwork. Giclée, if you’re wondering, means “squirt” in French.
“These days, artists have a hard time selling originals,” said Hill, who blames the slowdown on heightened gas, grocery and insurance prices.
Giclée prints make artists more money because they are cheaper to produce and look the same as originals when they are put on canvas or watercolor paper and coated with acrylic. Plus, artists can purchase them individually whenever they need them. There is still an upfront cost for the prints, but once the image is in the computer, all the artist has to do is call and have more made.
With offset lithograph prints, artists must buy an entire run of the prints, costing thousands of dollars. Sometimes, artists selling offset lithograph prints must sell 400 to 500 just to make their money back from the print run, according to Hill.
With giclée prints, artists take a painting to Wildflowers, Hill or Serine takes a picture of the artwork and then puts it in the computer to make a digital image. The image is then color synched through trial and error until the artist agrees on the finished product. Then, the image can be reproduced at Wildflowers as many times as the artist wishes.
“With giclée, the color is spot on. It looks like the real thing and you can hang it side by side [with an original] on a wall and never know the difference,” said Hill.
All giclée paper prints carry a 200-year lightfast rating and all giclée prints on canvas carry a 165-year lightfast rating.
Most giclée prints sell for hundreds of dollars less than offset lithograph reproductions because of the ease and lower cost of printing—and it’s all done in-house at Wildflowers.
Most, if not all, of Hill’s customers come from western North Carolina and Upper East Tennessee. He does some business nationally, but because of logistics and shipping concerns, most of his business is from within 100 miles of Boone.
Dozens and dozens of local artists choose Purveyors for their art supply and framing needs and Wildflowers for their printing needs. His list of what he calls “professional grade clients” is huge and they keep coming back because, thanks to Hill, they can make a living being an artist in the High Country.
“Artists make a living in this town, believe it or not,” said Hill, who gives each artist that uses Wildflowers for his/her printing needs a page on his website for free. Hill makes a living making the prints, framing the prints and then, through both of his stores and his website, selling the prints.
But Hill isn’t just about helping artists—he’s also into helping the Avery Humane Society. On Saturday, September 15, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., at the Art Cellar Gallery in Banner Elk, Hill is presenting the third annual Heavy Petting art fundraiser for the Avery Humane Society.
Three years ago, when Serine told Hill that all the dogs at the Avery Humane Society had to be kept on a bus at different times of the day, he felt that something needed to be done and Heavy Petting was born.
Three years later, the bus is gone, but help is still needed.
Heavy Petting is an open hanging of artworks from any age and skill level that feature any sort of pet or animal theme. The artists’ pet portraits are featured in a silent auction where 100 percent of the proceeds—and 100 percent of the $15 artist entry fee—are given to the Avery Humane Society. Attendees can also drop donations for the Humane Society in a large fishbowl also is located by the door during the event.
Winners of the fundraiser receive Wildflowers prepress packages that allow them to transform their paintings or artwork into giclée prints.
To enter the contest, bring submissions by Purveyors in Boone or the Art Cellar Gallery in Banner Elk by 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 8. Anyone is eligible to enter.
Purveyors of Art & Design Materials Inc. is located at 699 King Street in Boone and is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Wildflowers Fine Art Publishing is located at 58 High Country Square in Banner Elk and is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information about Purveyors of Art & Design, call 828-265-0209 or click to www.artpurveyors.com. For more information about Wildflowers Fine Art Publishing, call 828-898-3423, 1-888-275-1660 or click to www.wildflowerspublishing.com.