FAQsFraming & Shipping
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I‘m a newbie with online shops and shipping, so please be patient with me. Yes I try really hard to make my work available internationally. Right now I do just offer local and EU shipping.
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Right now, tehre are a couple of pieces which are framed but only available for studio pick up or personal delivery. This is for various reasons. First to make watercolor art perfectly secure, it is the best choice to get work framed with UV blocking glass which is more expensive than normal glass. And glass itself is very likely to break on international transport.
Another reason is that I started out with framed work about 20 years ago, and my experience is that I did buy expensive frames and almost every customer did want a different frame then the one I did choose. Because they had different tastes or wanted the frame to fit not only the painting but also their home environment and furniture.
The third reason is that I would love to see you supporting your local galleries, carpenters and framing studios. We are so used to buying all goods online that we tend to forget about our own hometown or the people who live and work there. This is part of the slow art process my husband and I decided to commit fully to with this new website. We try to work as often as we can with craftsmen and carpenters here in our hometown. And we tried to support as many artists and craftsmen on our travels abroad in the past and we will in the future. We have a huge collection of glass- and woodwork, as well as textiles and ceramics from lots of different countries.
Last but not least it’s so much more fun to have a piece especially tailored for you and your beautiful home. For more information on how to prep for an appointment in your framing studio see: „how to get your work framed“ in the shop section.
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Please go to the shop section: “how to get your work framed.“
About Commissions
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I would love to hear from you! See more information on commission in detail here: commissions & portraits. Right now I just work in watercolors with a few added tweaks. I do portrait commissions, portraits with a period or historic vibe and I do commissions like landscapes or other things which are dear to your heart.
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Finishing a painting usually takes from three weeks to three years. But don’t worry. The moment we start a commission together we will decide on a set time frame. Usually I need about three months to have enough time to provide you with the best work possible. It usually means that all necessary materials should be here in my studio beforehand. So getting in touch with me four to five months prior would be the best option.
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Please go to the commission page and read the provided information.
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There is always an option to first talk about your budget, so I can make sure the portrait is within your price range. For more information on prices, please go to services - portrait commissions.
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First of all, nobody ever canceled a commission before. So most likely this will not happen. If there is the slightest risk that the work will not turn out properly I usually turn down requests. In the very rare case that you want to cancel a commission, you can do it within 14 days, before I start with the painted version.
Then you will be charged for the time I did invest in the selection and composition process. After I have started with painting, there is no way back. So please take your time, to choose good material you feel really happy about.
About Collections
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Right now I’m in the exploration phase of selling work online. So I did stick to painting sizes which would be no problem with international shipping. But there is more work in stock, especially larger scale work.
If you are interested to see the complete range of work of past collections available send me an email and I will be happy to send you a pdf with all details. I will add information about which work is currently available for international shipping.
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To be notified in time about a new collection and the sale start, make sure to get on my email list.
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Usually I do work in collections. I come up with a topic which sparks my interest and then I get to work. Usually I do a phase of research, from two weeks to one month, depending on the project. Then I gather material. This is usually a mixture of media finds, movie inspirations, own photography and input by text or literature. Then I do drafts in Photoshop to explore topics and work in color versions. After that I start painting. I use projection technology and collage techniques to layer my work. The finishing usually takes a lot of time. Some paintings need three to four years to be finished. That’s why I love to work on multiple pieces at the same time. After the presentation or show, the whole process usually starts all over again.
Commissions are sprinkled in between.
About Max Ernst
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Are you really a relative of Max Ernst?
Yes I am. My grandfather and Max Ernst are cousins.
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Did you ever meet Max Ernst in person?
No, I haven’t. My grandfather had, at an age of six or seven, he told me, at a huge family gathering when Marx Ernst was a very young man. But I met Peter Schamoni, a German film maker & one of Max Ernst's good friends. Read more about that in my blog - here.
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Do you possess Max Ernst paintings yourself and would you like to sell them?
The short answer is no. And there is no need to contact me, or anybody else in my family. This form of inquiry is not welcome.
About Galleries & Exhibitions
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I run a gallery / I am an art consultant, would you like to work with me?
Thank you so much for taking my work into consideration. But most likely not.
You have to understand that I am an artist with chronic health issues and although I do dedicate as much of my life to my creative process as possible, experience has shown that my health does not take appointments and timelines into consideration. To avoid disappointing people and steer clear from financial disaster in terms of fixed show dates, I decided to most likely not return to working with galleries.
Except for a very rare case where I am to decide for myself if this is going to work or not. I am sorry. Another important factor is that I am not able to provide enough work for gallery sales. To get it straight - for most galleries I’m not worth the marketing effort. I am sorry.
If you are an artist run space, or a company interested in licensing, feel free to contact me. I would love to hear from you and I will get back to you, as soon as possible.
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Why do you not give information about your exhibition timeline & gallery representation?
The moment I realized I have to deal with chronic illness and will not be able to return to the pro art market, as I formally intended, I started to shift my point of view. Nowadays customers use exhibition and gallery information to decide if their money is worth spending on an artist or not. Which basically means that this sort of information attracts a specific kind of customer. And I decided that most likely these customers are not the ones for me. You will have to decide for yourself if you like my work and want to buy it.
A quick note on that: there have always been financially successful contemporary artists, through all ages, which did get lost and were forgotten again after they died. Just because the artist is exhibiting on a regular basis and is successful in showing their work in exhibitions is no proof of quality or meaning.
What art is will be upon the generations to come. So I finally decided to let go of that concept.
About Buying & Selling Art
How do you price your art?
I am a slow painter and therefore my output is very limited. By respecting my work pace & my health restrictions I have to make decisions for my pricing. In addition I offer very high quality work. You will find unique genres of paintings here, nothing you can find everywhere. And you will be provided with lovely and complex layered paintings, as well as with high quality art materials, like the best watercolor and paper brands.
As often as I can I will include craftsmen and carpenters into my process, to make sure products do stand out even more. For more on this question, see my article on pricing and rebuy in the shop section: here.
Is there more artwork for sale than in the shop?
Yes there is and there will be.
Do you sell just watercolor art? Can I commission you for acrylics or egg tempera?
Right now, yes I only offer watercolor paintings and works which include colored pencils and oil chalk. These art materials do compromise my health the least. You might still find work in egg tempera or acrylics in my shop, but these are paintings from older collections which are still available. All new work will be painted in watercolor, also all work commissioned.
I can’t afford an original piece. Do you sell art prints?
I tried drop shipping art prints. But: I worked a lot on my identity and brand while pausing on IG in 2021 and I realized I don’t want to be a part of this huge worldwide printing machine any more, as I know how much damage these printers and their inks do to my health. And I don’t want other people to risk their health for my art, that’s just not who I am… so I decided to have a different approach on that. If you go to the shop section there is a small collection of affordable artwork: young collectors art edition. There will be a few limited pieces in every collection to make sure that art lovers starting out with collecting originals can afford my work. Go also to the shop section and: young collectors art edition.
I am a Tanja Maria Ernst collector. Do you rebuy your art?
Please go to the shop section: pricing and rebuy.
I have no clue of the pro art field. I do not know anything about art history or contemporary artists. Can I buy from you anyway?
Yes of course! I would love to see you own an original painting! The only thing you have to know is if you like something or not. Pretty easy! Isn’t it?