Making art is fun. But selling it can be a whole other matter.
The annual print sale took place yesterday in the Fishowl Gallery from 4 to 6 p.m.
The concept behind yesterday's print sale "is multifold" said Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Meggan Gould.
Gould said the yearly sale is intended "to expose the campus community to some of the art that is being made in studio art classes, and to, hopefully, facilitate the experience of selling work for the students."
The art department organized the annual sale for students in printmaking and photography classes to sell their work.
"Photography is an expensive class to take, so it's nice to be able to earn back a few dollars to help pay for the endless paper and film," said Gould.
Photographs, both black and white and color, etchings, collagraphs, monoprints, and woodcuts were all sold at the event.
"Our printmaking professor encouraged us to put prints in the sale," said Tori Guen '13. "But we chose to participate or not."
The prints offered at the sale were not specifically created for the event.
"We didn't know about the sale until about two weeks ago, so the art that we'll be selling wasn't really created with the intention of being sold, which makes it all the more interesting," said photography student Peter Kringdon '14.
Kringdon successfully sold black and white prints from his Photography I class.
Guen, who sold copper etchings and a large woodcut, said her favorite piece at the event was "a large printed woodcut headboard."
The piece, which features a Bowdoin sun and two sleeping polars bears, "has a little Bowdoin flavor on it, but still remains personal," she said.
The student work hung from wires strung across the gallery's windows. The work of different artists was mixed together, which made the process of looking at the prints more hands on and visually stimulating.
First year Lily Harriman said she "liked the variety of the artworks" and that she was able "to look at them all at once."
"I was really impressed with the woodprints and etchings," added Harriman. "Also, the works were reasonably priced. I was glad to find out that the works were by students because it gives students direct experience in selling artwork."
According to Assistant Professor of Art Carrie Scanga, the prices for the artworks ranged from about $5 to $50.
Photography student Basyl Stuyvesant '13 said that his work was even more affordable. His "most expensive piece is $2, while most are $0.50," he said.
The print sale is a great way for students to demonstrate all the hard work they have put in this semester well as the new skills they have learned.
"We spend a lot of time in the darkroom printing and printing again until we get that perfect print, so to be able to sell some of those other prints really substantiates all the hard work put in," said Kringdon.
The print sale provided a great amount of artistic variety, from portraits to landscapes to abstract images. There were also many different size prints available, which expanded the sale's assortment.
"The sale was a really exciting way to share our art with the Bowdoin community at large," said Guen.