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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Artist Will Match Color of Your Couch

By Emily Van Cleve
For the Journal
    If Trent Edwards has his way, buying a piece of art specifically to match your couch will no longer be considered a sin against high culture.
    Four years ago, Edwards, a Santa Fe artist, began a series of large oil paintings that featured a swing hanging in space.
    In most of the pieces, the swing was painted red or yellow. The last painting in the series had a white swing because Edwards felt that white was the appropriate color choice for this particular work.
    "The gallery director told me she could have sold the painting to five or six different people who wanted to match their décor if the swing had been red," he said. "I know a lot of artists have heard this kind of comment before."
    During an art fair in New York two years ago, a similar situation arose when Edwards watched a woman carry two couch pillows from booth to booth, checking out which paintings contained the colors that would match her couch.
    "Many of the artists at the show were snickering, but I felt compassion for her," he explained. "It gave me the idea for my new Internet business, Match The Couch."
    Matchthecouch.com makes art affordable to collectors who aren't in the market to buy an original work of art but want a high quality giclée print that has colors which match their couch. After several years in the planning stages, matchthecouch.com launched a 200-page Web site two weeks ago.
    Currently, there are 27 images of photos and paintings by Edwards that can be made into prints of different colors. In the future, Edwards wants to include the work of other artists who feel their art would fit in.
    Artwork is digitally printed with top quality inks on archival watercolor paper using a state-of-the art printer. Prints range in size from 8 inches by 10 inches for $89 to 24 inches by 36 inches for $280. Framing is available for an additional charge. All editions are open-ended right now, but limited-edition prints will be available in the future. Beginning May 15, clients can pay an extra $50 per print to have every detail of the image color customized.
    "Not every painting would be a good candidate for matchthecouch," Edwards said. "Some paintings are extremely personal and shouldn't be taken down the road of altering them. Whenever you change a color, the emotion of the work and what it is saying also change. A painting of a girl in a blue sky feels very different from a painting of a girl in a red sky."
    Matchthecouch.com is the next step in Edwards' personal artistic journey that began more than two decades ago. He graduated from college with a degree in photography and embarked on a successful career as a commercial photographer in Atlanta in 1980. By 1985 he felt he needed to grow in other artistic directions and began painting.
    "I realized the power of paintings," he said. "Energy and thoughts are transferred through paintings. They can have a profound effect on people. Artists spend a lot of time in isolation, but art doesn't completely happen until it is communicated to and received by others."
    In 1987 Edwards left the world of commercial photography but continued painting while working day jobs. He managed a 15-screen movie theater with 100 employees in Tucson and a Starbucks in Los Angeles. He built fine furniture and learned the art of custom steel welding. "I've always liked finding new ways to expand myself as a person and an artist," he said.
    Edwards continues selling original oil paintings at a Santa Fe gallery but sees matchthecouch.com as a way for him to reach a new audience.
    "These aren't souvenirs, but they also aren't works that are meant to be hung next to museum-quality paintings," he explained. "I'm targeting beginning collectors who want more than a poster. They may connect to the image through the colors at first, but I think the door may open to an increased interest in art."
    Edwards hopes that matchthecouch.com initiates a dialogue about art and welcomes feedback from artists and clients. "I've got a beginning point, but I want to see where the business develops and goes," he said. "I'm going to let it evolve."
    To reach Edwards by phone, call 699-5817.