Knobart.com Presents \"Eye Of The Beholder\" Art Show

    KnobArt.com - Eye of the Beholder Art Show

/24-7PressRelease.com/ - Toronto, Canada - May 09, 2005 - Is it possible to reconcile Art and Commerce? Can artists work commercially without 'selling out'? And how can they support themselves while trying to establish their creative practice?

Four years ago, Toronto artist and entrepreneur Sharin Barber tried to answer those questions in an inventive and intriguing way. It is a remarkable story:

For years, Sharin had subsidized her own artistic practice by working as a mural artist for a variety of commercial clients. Eventually, this business grew into a store that specialized in custom-painted rooms and furniture. That store, the Barber-Sachs Collection, became the foremost business of its kind in the city. In 2003, Toronto Life profiled the store and advised its readers to "follow the convoy of Land Rovers and Volvo wagons to the corner of Av and Dav. Inside Barber-Sachs is a fairy-tale land of irresistible furnishings."

But success brought its own share of problems. The conflict between Sharin's artistic and entrepreneurial ambitions intensified when she found that an increasing proportion of her time was being taken up in the mere management of the store and in the painting of the furniture itself. Her private practice was beginning to suffer and without an outlet for her own creativity; Sharin began to lose her drive. So, with new resolve, she reconfigured her commercial practice to free up time for her purely creative pursuits.

Sharin knew that within her circle of friends and colleagues were a number of artists who also needed to make a living while expanding their portfolios. She realized that these contacts could provide a way to reconcile her ambitions as both an artist and an entrepreneur. She would create a web-based business that allowed artists to do commercial piecework at their own convenience, often in their own studios, but that also provided an online gallery as a forum for their purely personal and creative work. That collaborative project became both a web site and a midtown retail outlet: KnobArt.com.

Over the last four years, the new business has thrived, serving thousands of commercial clients and employing a stable of more than a dozen diverse and talented artists. Sharin currently employs five people. Collectively, they are known as KnobArt.com, and their job is to realize the visions of their clients. Individually, they pursue diverse and divergent visions in their private, creative practice. Being part of a community makes it easier for them to cope with the demands of commercial work and serves to make their individual art stronger and more interesting.

Twice a year, however, the commercial enterprise of KnobArt.com is put into storage and, for a brief, blissful, magical week, the store transforms itself into an art gallery dedicated to honouring its artists' personal visions and achievements. Known for realizing their client's dreams, these artists now invite their clients and the public, to support and celebrate their own.

Their group show, Eye of the Beholder, opens May 15th showcasing four artists who work in very different styles yet have in common a passionate commitment to their work:

_sum_ Sharin Barber creates works in unusual media, combining images from Art history with representations of everyday objects.
_sum_ Natalie Ross creates collages using beautiful, hand-made Japanese paper.
_sum_ Adrianne Kulling creates funky objects with a nostalgic flair and a 1950's aesthetic.
_sum_ Rob Farmer works in oils and copper, and is inspired by things as diverse as abandoned buildings and fairy tales - wherever reality and unreality intersect.

You know us as KnobArt.com
Our job is to realize your vision.
Now, help us celebrate ours.
Twice a year our store becomes a gallery dedicated to our artists' own work.
Four artists, eight eyes, four distinct visions:
Eye of the Beholder

Opening and Reception: Sunday May 15th, 2:00 -7:00 p.m.
Gallery Showing: Tuesday May 17th to Saturday May 21st

ICompany Profile - KnobArt.com

1994 - The Barber-Sachs Collection, a custom painted furniture service and storefront came into being with co owners Sharin Barber and Susan Sachs.

1994 - Segment made for City Line

2000 - http://www.barber-sachs.com web site is launched offering custom painted knobs and furniture.

2002 - Segment made for House and Home on HGTV

2002 - Guest appearance on 'In the Workshop' eps #6329 for HGTV

2003 - Sharin Barber bought out her partner and renamed the store KnobArt.com. KnobArt offers the same custom painting services but now also organizes art shows twice yearly for it's talented artist staff.

2003 - The http://www.knobart.com web site was successfully launched offering full shopping cart ordering for it's over 500 different hand painted knob designs, 250 custom painted furniture pieces, unique wall murals and online gallery space for it's artists.

2004 - KnobArt joined forces with interior decorator, Evelyn Barber of Barber Design and Consulting and now offers a full design package for it's clientele.

2004 -Saw the beginning of the twice annual group art show for the talented KnobArt crew.

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