My New Painting That Started in A Lobby Bar

This is a story about how the connectivity of the Internet changes how we buy things, and I present it for your amusement and entertainment…

A few months ago I spoke at Blogworld Expo in Los Angeles and, like many others, stayed at the Sheraton Los Angeles. As is typical for a conference, evenings would find a group of us hanging out in the lobby bar, sharing a drink and talking about what we learned, what we’re doing and generally socializing. You know, the real value of a conference!

While sitting at the lobby bar, I couldn’t help but notice the great 70’s retro cinematic paintings on the wall, and was particularly taken with this one:

I was so struck by it that I asked the hotel concierge about the painting and artist. He asked me to email the manager, so I did, attaching the above photo I’d taken with my iPhone:

Hello Ian. I was just staying at the Sheraton for the last few days as part of a conference and was very interested in one of the paintings in your lobby bar. My question: can you please either put me in touch with the artist or tell me their name / where you purchased it?  Thanks!

His response:

Thanks for the interest, Dave. I am copying your message to the owner of the gallery that provides us with this artwork, and I am sure he will be pleased to contact you directly and answer your questions.

The gallery owner then contacted me with more information on the art piece:

Thank you for your interest in the artwork we provided for the Sheraton Downtown LA. The artist you saw at the Bar of The Sheraton is Sean D’Anconia. You can view more of his art here [[ link ]]. If you are interested in any of the works please contact me and I can help ensure you get the piece you are looking for. These pieces are hand painted Giclee prints on Canvas, and are one of a kind. If you have any more questions about his style or the art please do not hesitate to ask.

We went back and forth talking about sizes, prices, etc, and I also connected with the artist, Sean D’Anconia directly, through his Danconia Creative Web site. Sean responded asking for more information about whether I was looking for an original print or a giclee print. My answer:

A Giclee print would be fine (I don’t have a ton of $$ for investing in art) and I didn’t see any information at all about pricing, artist, gallery, etc at the Sheraton.

His response was a good dose of reality about the price of a unique piece like this one, which I learned is called “Majestyscope”:

The actual piece at the Sheraton ranges in price quite a bit, depending on if you seek an original painting or a print, framed or otherwise. Let me know your budget and I can get you some quotes on other options (paper print, etc.) as needed.

To cut a long story stort, we came to an agreement on a giclee print, signed and numbered, and I even joined Sean’s fan club on Facebook (which you can find here: Sean d’Anconia on Facebook). The print arrived in a stiff tube and, of course, I used social media to identify a good framing shop here in town — Silverleaf Framing — thanks to a recommendation from my artist friend Steve Lowtwait.

Finally, after spending almost as much on the frame as the print (frames are expensive if you want to do something cool! In fact, my first choice for frames, a really cool retro acrylic custom frame, priced out at over $950. I picked something else), it’s on the wall in my house:

So not only do I have a cool new piece of art in my house — thanks, Sean! — but I have quite a story behind the piece too. Oh, and Sean does too, on his blog: Shoot it in Majestyscope!