Contemporary Art for Sale – What is different about this site?
Hello and thank you for visiting.
If you are searching for art that relates to quiet beauty, peace of mind and de-stressing, then you have come to the right place! That is precisely what distinguishes my work from most other sites.

The Giclee art prints for sale here, plus my other contemporary art – original pastel paintings – fall into the genre of  ”quiet art” and are for a clientele who love elegance and understatement, space and simplicity.  Quiet art is what I love to have around me in my home, and it’s what I do best.

Subtlety and Inherent Beauty
My painting palette is composed of subtle pigments or pigments of high contrast but reduced range.  This contributes to a sense of space and harmony. The work is based on the Japanese ethic of “wabi-sabi” – simplicity, the inherent beauty of the object, and slight nuances or marks reflecting the creator’s input.

Please visit the Prints for Sale page for limited edition prints and the Pastels for Sale pages to browse available artworks.  You may buy the art prints and pastel paintings shown on this website by clicking on the images and going to a special page dedicated to each print. Prints will take approximately two weeks to deliver, and original pastels will take approximately one week.

My Guarantee – I want you to love the work!
If, for any reason, you are not delighted with your purchase, as long as you return it within 30 days of purchasing it, in the same pristine condition that it arrived, I will happily fully refund your purchase.  My work loves to be loved.

Both my original pastel paintings and my limited edition Giclee prints are on museum standard, acid free archival paper.  It is always best to handle the prints with cotton gloves (easily purchased from a pharmacy) to avoid marking.

If you would like me to let you know as soon as I have new work available, please do not hesitate to drop me a line by going to the contact page on this website.

The above image was completed in Malaysia when I was the selected Australian artist for a one year residency. It will give you a feel for my work.

If you are interested in seeing more of my work, you might like to visit my larger website:  http://www.margotwiburd.com.

Warmly,

Margot Wiburd

The museum-standard medium of limited edition giclee fine art prints truly captures the rich, velvety essence of pastel like no other. The specialized “giclee” printing process is one of the highest print qualities available, producing archivaly sound prints that are almost indistinguishable from the original work. Giclee prints are one of the finest contemporary art choices available.

Each of my limited edition giclee print runs is numbered, individually signed and printed on premium quality 308 gsm archival cotton rag paper. The prints are unframed and unmounted and able to be safely posted to any part of the world.

Giclee contemporary art prints briefly explained…

Inkjet Giclée print technology is believed to offer the most accurate method of reproducing original artwork. It is also regarded as one of the most stable colour printing processes available today – a perfect contemporary wall art choice. The Giclée printing process delivers a fine stream of ink on archival paper, resulting in vivid, pure color and exceptional detail that is most suitable for museum or gallery display Giclee fine art prints are often available with genuine certificates of authenticity, thus enhancing their value as true artworks.

The three key steps to a successful Giclée print are:
1) High end digital capture of the original artwork
2) File setup, colour match to the original
3) Print output High quality print output at or near original size requires professionally produced high resolution files.

All the art prints for sale on this website are printed by Code Ice in Sydney, Australia. Code Ice media have blue wool scale certification by the Fine Art Guild, UK. This is an internationally recognised standards specification for pH and lightfastness. Giclee art prints should be handled with care, preferably while you are wearing cotton gloves (easily purchased from a pharmacy).

Waiting yesterday to get the results of an MRI was one of the scariest moments of my life. It occurred to me I might not have much of a life left, or at the very least, one of quality. Whatever the outcome, at least I was not going to be one of those tragic people who looked back with regret and a litany of “what ifs” . At the age of 39, I (thank God!) found the courage to abandon my advertising career and pursue my burning dream of becoming an artist.

In the early days of my art studies, it was clear that I was raw, green and pretty naive, but years of working to advertising deadlines had taught me that focus and hard work were a sure way to move forward – and the rest would take care of itself. I was now working for a deeply personal ideal: a career in art and with it, a life of independence.

From the moment I stepped away from the slick, glossy world of advertising and immersed myself in the world of color, freedom, line and feeling, I felt myself come alive – quite deeply so.
The trajectory my new career was to take was one I could never have imagined, taking in art college, jewelery design, exotic film sets, painting studies in France, and overseas residencies. I relished every moment of my extraordinarily new life and freedom – and I shudder to think how my life would have continued had I stayed in my high-pressure job and let my dreams slip by!

At times I have lamented the extreme lack of money…and the loneliness of the artist’s way can be challenging, but the feeling of personal accomplishment and wonder that my art lifestyle has brought me has far outweighed those setbacks.

My MRI results? All good news – and the promise of wellness soon.

Oops! 1.30 am and time to get some beauty sleep. Tomorrow I leave for Exmouth (W.A.) to swim with the whale sharks! Life just gets better!

Margot

I did it!  Swam with sharks – whale sharks – the biggest living fish in the ocean in fact, in one of the most gorgeous, protected marine areas of Western Australia: Exmouth. Over two days, my partner and I drove to Exmouth from Perth, armed with a tent, snorkels and heaps of enthusiasm! We stopped at Monkey Mia on the way and joined in a dolphin feeding. Monkey Mia’s calm, wide bay is one of the most serene places I’ve seen – a symphony of blue-greens, greys and silver…all the tonalities I love to put in my artist prints.  Haunting, especially in the early morning light, when we fed the dolphins. But the whale sharks were our true goal and off we went the next morning, northward bound.

In Exmouth, after setting up our little tent, we sailed out with Captain Bill of Kings Expeditions on a magnificent boat, the Magellan. We were lucky enough to sight a whale shark early on – and plunged into the ocean with about 18 other people of every age to snorkel with it, in two very respectful groups. The wellbeing of the marine life is always a prime consideration on these eco tours, and we were instructed to stay 3 metres away from the shark and behind its gills.

Seeing the whale shark loom into sight just feet away, was an experience unlike any other! I felt no fear – just awe and wonder. Humility and a kind of bliss at actually being there in that place at that time. What a privilege!

The first shark was about 4 metres (12 feet) wide, and we were thrilled when the day proceeded to bring us four other sharks, the largest being over 8 metres. We swam twice with the largest, which was particularly friendly and slow swimming. Wow! They were massive creatures that were far more beautiful than I’d anticipated – stunning rows of white spots on a blue background. One of the sharks was a fast mover, but most were amazingly slow moving, and allowed us to snorkel by their side for a good five or ten minutes. Time stood still for me during these swims – the same as it does when I am gazing at an amazing painting or print in a museum.  It was awe inspiring to be so close to the sharks’ extraordinary beauty, and know that these gentle creatures would do no harm. I would do this again in a heartbeat. (And let us do all we can to see there are still whalesharks around for many, many years to come. There are already so few left. They are non-aggressive giants, and easy prey for unenlightened, greedy humans – ugh!)

During the excursion we stopped twice to snorkel outside of Exmouth’s reef, taking in the extraordinary coral formations and marine life. Apparently a 2.5 metre tiger shark was cruising peacefully nearby during one of these stops, which the organisers told us about only once we were safely on board in order to avoid a panic. (Good call.)

We encountered two pods of humpback whales, and stayed very close to one of these, until one of the whales dived, flipping his magnificent tail, just as you see in photographs.

The water in Exmouth was even warmer beyond the reef than in-shore – some five degrees warmer – due to a warm current that travels from the north. There was no need to wear wetsuits.

Coral Bay was our next port of call, where I was again moved almost to tears as I snorkelled with several 3 metre (9 foot) manta rays – enormous, graceful rays without barbs, that were happy to perform their underwater ballet for the small group of snorkellers next to them. I have never seen such grace! It was a magnificent, humbling experience to watch their dance. I know I am overusing the word ‘magnificent’, but such was the experience.

The coral “gardens” of Coral Bay were extraordinary, and even though the water was a little churned, snorkeling was still fantastic. We saw turtles, dolphins and many smaller rays. I also saw a large reef shark, which set my pulse racing.

One of the revelations of this holiday was seeing how closely many of the wildly coloured fish we snorkeled with resembled Japanese kimono designs. One fish I saw (enormous, I might add), had an all over design of black and yellow polka dots, and a big set of mauvish lips. It was my favourite fish, by far! On shore I researched those fish I’d seen that looked like something straight out of a Japanese design book, and sure enough, those very fish were also common to Japanese waters. So – a design revelation!

I am by nature a minimalist artist and prefer subtle colors, but I could be persuaded to experiment with new color combinations after my snorkeling experiences on the W.A. coast. I totally recommend it to artists, designers and non-artists alike. It is a truly awe-inspiring experience.

If you live in, or are coming to Australia, make it a plan to have the adventure of your life and swim with the sharks.

Margot.