Susan,

A friend of mine told me about etsy.com and I have been thanking her ever since. The site is basically the e-bay for sellers of homemade items and art. It's a good place to find unique gifts, or to decorate your walls with original works. The site does have a search engine that makes it difficult and time-consuming to navigate around for what you want, but if you're the type (like me) that knows what you like when you see it, then this site might be worth a visit.

I have found certain artists that I like, and I periodically visit the site to see what new works they might have.

Don't order framed jobs from art.com. We made this mistake and had a terrible time. They shipped board-mounted prints (very pricey) in padded envelopes, with NOTHING protecting the edges at all. Of course, they all arrived damaged. So I called to complain about the packaging and request replacements. This was a large order of 6 board mounted prints and a large, double-matted framed print. We had to return all six board mounted prints 3X (on the third, we just gave up and used black paint to touch up the damaged corners). Every time, I called to complain about the poor shipping. Every time I was told this was an ongoing problem they were having and was assured that special instructions were being placed on the order. Every time, the prints arrived in the exact same fashion. Not once did they offer any type of refund, rebate or even a coupon for future purchases as a compensation for the hassle.

Susan, depending on the style of art you are looking for, you might want to think about doing it yourself. I have a few friends that have copied the style of a favorite artist with great results. If you don't think you could do this maybe you have a friend or child that would love to try. Child as in teen or young adult. There are quite a few art styles that are popular now that should be fairly easy to copy.
Good luck whatever you do.

I'm surprised to hear about the above experience with art.com. I have had a very different experience. I had ordered a few prints from them in the past, both framed and unframed, without any trouble. A few weeks ago I ordered a large framed print. It arrived in a huge box, VERY well packaged, took me forever to even get it out. When I did, I noticed that one corner of the frame was coming apart slightly. I called art.com, they asked me to email them a picture of the damage. I did that, and they immediately sent me a new print, and told me I didn't have to return the old one. (And the old one is not so bad that it can't be fixed, so I'm giving it to a friend!). I was very impressed with their customer service.

I second the vote for Etsy. I just ordered 3 photo/prints from an artist in Paris!

You can also buy a large coffeetable book of your liking (flowers, birds, photography, etc) and use your favorite pages, framed.

I buy antique architectural etchings at antique stores. Some are framed. Some not. I recently had 8 sepia toned (very old) architectural photographs of France framed. Inexpensive at $22 each. Framing was quite a bit more. They are now hanging as a grouping in the lower level hallway. Down the staircase, I have random sizes and add as I find them.

Here is a link that might be useful:

The prints often look a lot better than the online pics. I would suggest going to a local museum and checking out the prints they are selling and then looking for them online as they will be a lot less money. The online sites load pics to come up quickly and the quality isn't very good. I think they should have an option where you can then click and see it in full quality but they don't. I'd suggest ebay for lower prices. I got 5 nice prints for about 1/2 of art.com prices. Good luck!

I know of the greatest store in Kirkwood, Mo named Brandons (on Kirkwood Rd) that has reasonable oil paintings. I have several of the larger ones, and get so many compliments. Call Michelle Tue or Fri, Sat or Sunday(10-4pm CST). They can email you pics of pics. Good luck
314-909-8290
Brandon Liquidators S T L
211 S Kirkwood Rd
Saint Louis, MO 63122
ask for michelle

Allison0704, I like what you did with those photographs. They look great.

Look for an artists co-op in your area. You can often get very good quality original art and prints for reasonable prices.