THE

 COLLECTION

"BEGINNINGS"

There are 6 prints total in this portfolio. All Signed. All roughly 12x18 inches. The entire Collection of 6 is only $200 if ordered before Dec. 15th. After that (if they haven’t sold out) the price will return to $600.

*Limited Edition of 50 Portfolios. 

*300 gsm acid free archival paper: silk finish

*This collection only comes in the set of 6. They will not be offered individually. Maximum of 3 portfolios per order.

*Each signed print is individually packaged so you can keep your favorites and perhaps give the others as gifts. 

*First 10 orders will also receive a free copy of my 224 page art book “The Wax Onion.”

As I wander through the archives of artists that inspire me, I’ve always loved discovering their preliminary sketches, under-paintings, and unfinished works. These open windows that reveal volumes into the creator’s process, and remind me that even the most masterful works at some point, had a beginning of a little more than a few stains and an idea. They then had to run the gauntlet of craft, adaptation, and endurance before they produced the museum icons we are all so familiar with today. 

I recall how captivated I was when I first stood in front of Da Vinci’s “Virgin and Child” cartoon in London’s National Gallery. I still wonder how he got from those loose charcoal lines to something like “Lady with an Ermine.” Similar wonderment also strikes me when I look at simple ink drawings of Rembrandt and Van Gogh. 

I believe there’s inherit beauty in these beginnings. It often leads me to the question, “How valuable is a beginning?” Perhaps they hold more currency than the “middles,” or even the “ends.”

This rings truest as I sit in the cloudy intimidation that only a blank canvas can bring. Knowing that if these first marks don’t inspire, there’s a high probability that they will evoke profanity and float right into the trash. 

My “Beginnings” collection is a series of six oil sketches I did this year that I feel have the potential to evolve into more refined works, (some already have). I enjoy their cohesive simplicity as their waiting image quietly suggests, “Can you make me any better?” 

I offer this collection for those that appreciate the beautiful and delicate nature of beginnings. 

-Sean Diediker