bio.

Becca Mulenburg is a fine artist who specializes in painting birds from personal experience. All of the birds she has ever painted, she has seen and photographed in person, the vast majority from the wild. She has been juried into the prestigious international “Birds in Art” exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum of Art, has sold internationally, and has won numerous awards. She is an avid birder, photographer and wildlife enthusiast.

Personal Data | Resides in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. Spark bird: Eastern Whip-poor-will. The Eastern Wood-Pewee is a close second.

Education | Bachelor of Science, Journalism, Honors, University of Wisconsin at Madison. As an artist, self-taught.

Hobbies/Interests | Birding and photography. Environmental interests include controlling (best case eradicating!) invasive plants and planting natives. Over 450 native trees and shrubs planted to date at her residence since 2015 including white and jack pines, northern red oaks, silver maples, peach leaf willows, butternuts, false indigo, highbush cranberries, pin cherries, elderberries, milkweed and more. Concentrated reading on the scientific study of birds. Supporter of dark skies, unkept lawns, ditches, weeds, and pollinators. UMD women's hockey fan.

Thoughts from the artist | I would like to thank my collectors, I appreciate your support. If you would like to schedule a private showing, please contact me. Serious buyers only.

This website doesn't show my work in its entirety, so please ask if there's something you've seen but isn't shown here. My prices are the same, whether purchased through me or through a gallery. You have a choice where you want your money to go. Galleries play an important role in communities and without them, some of my work would never be seen. Always purchase directly from the artist when you can. Miniature oils start at $975. All else, please inquire.

If you'd like to be on my USPS mailing list, send me an email with your address.

A LITTLE DITTY ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF ART

I thought it might be helpful to explain some intricacies about the business of art from the perspective of an artist. Whether you're a collector, first-time buyer, or just someone who's interested in knowing my opinion, the following might be of interest to you.

When an artist enters work into a show, whether in-person or virtual, they are almost always charged a submittal fee, whether juried or not. Juried shows are those whereby artwork is judged by a juror or a panel of jurors and are typically harder to get in to. The artwork either makes the show or it doesn’t. If the artwork is not accepted, the fee is still collected. Even small shows can charge submittal fees, but they stand a better chance of waiving commissions. (More on commissions below.) These shows are often found in less populated towns and frequently benefit high school art programs.

If a person walks into a gallery and purchases a painting, the gallery owner collects a certain amount of the sale and gives the rest to the artist. This is called a commission. Many galleries collect 30-50% of the artwork price. This is very common. The gallery has a business to run, promotes foot traffic, and allows better chances for the artists’ works to be seen and purchased by collectors. It's easy to see the benefits of galleries. They promote art which is a worthwhile cause in my opinion, but I'm biased. When considering a purchase, think about asking the gallery how much the artist will collect. Savvy collectors may successfully negotiate a lower price, but the considerate collector will insist the artist receives the same amount from the initial asking price. This way, the gallery is offering the sale, not the artist. If you feel the gallery's commission structure is too high, shop elsewhere or wait until the artwork has been rotated out. Then, contact the artist.

Maintaining my website and my etsy store has been a relatively more affordable venue for me to showcase my art, although both still cost money. Every individual item listed on etsy costs money. After a sale, etsy takes a portion but it’s not nearly as much as a gallery. Etsy recently made changes to collect more from the sales of items if they're purchased through an etsy advertisement or promotion. If a person goes directly to my etsy store without clicking on an advertisement to get there, I don’t lose out on that extra chunk of money that etsy wants.

And of course, all artists compete against the big box stores' insanely cheap scrap made by machines and produced by the millions.

The business of art is challenging, no doubt. It’s the very reason I shy away from art galleries and don’t enter a lot of shows. I'm certainly not made of money and don’t like negative balance sheets. Who does? I wish more artists were better at math. Always purchase directly from the artist when you can. And if you can't, that's okay, too. I realize there are many ways to shop and if one works better for you, then go for it.

Note: The only internet presences I am affiliated with and whose contents I am personally responsible for are beccamulenburg.com, beccamulenburg.blogspot.com and my etsy store. Any other site, whether FB, Pinterest, or the like, is not affiliated with me in any way. Please be aware.