A few words get used loosely in art listings. Here is how they are applied to every piece in this studio, so there is no guessing once a work arrives.
An original is the single painted surface made in the studio — oil, cold wax or acrylic on linen, board or prepared paper. A giclée print is a reproduction of a finished work, produced on cotton rag and issued in a fixed edition. Originals are one of one; prints are one of forty, or whatever number the listing states.
Edition size is the total number of prints struck from a file before it is retired. Each sheet is numbered in the order it was printed and signed by hand below the image. Once an edition closes, it is not reopened, and no unsigned or unnumbered sheets leave the studio.
Measurements are given in centimetres, height before width, and refer to the painted or printed area rather than the frame. Where a work is sold framed, the outer frame size is listed separately. Linen, cradled board and prepared paper each take paint differently, and the surface is named on every listing.
Canvas originals can travel either stretched on a wooden frame or rolled in a tube. Stretched work arrives ready to hang but costs more to send; rolled work is lighter and safer over long distances, though it needs restretching by a framer on arrival. The choice is made at checkout.
Photographs are taken in daylight without colour correction beyond basic exposure. Monitors vary, and the ochres and deep teals in these series sit close to the edge of what most screens render accurately. If a specific tone matters, ask before ordering and a plain photograph in flat light can be sent.
Commissioned work is not part of any series and is not editioned. The studio opens a limited number of commissions twice a year, and a commission is only confirmed once a view, palette and size have been agreed in writing. Small collectible studies are finished works in their own right, not sketches or trials for larger pieces.
The studio runs on a slow, predictable rhythm. Below is the order things actually happen in, from the first study to the parcel that arrives at your door.
January to March
Small panels get painted on location along the coast and in the Karoo. Most never leave the studio shelf, but they set the palette and the light for everything that follows.
April to August
Selected studies are scaled up onto linen or cradled board. Layers are built and scraped back over several weeks, which is why a finished canvas carries visible corrections rather than a flat surface.
September
Giclée prints are pulled from the finished files, checked against the original, then numbered and signed by hand. Edition sizes are fixed at this point and never reopened.
October to November
Commissions open twice a year, and this is the second window. Collectors bring a specific view or palette; work is scheduled in the order requests arrive, and the queue usually closes within a fortnight.
Year round
Canvas originals leave stretched and varnished, or rolled in a tube if you prefer to frame locally. Prints travel flat between board. Orders combining a painting with a print or a pack of cards are packed together.