Your Locally Owned Source for Fine Art Materials, Custom Framing & Printing

Matthew Smith has been mixing art and business since the ‘90s when he graduated with degrees in Fine Arts and Advertising.

In 2010, he opened The Starving Artist and has been serving and supporting the artists of Hendersonville and the rest of Western North Carolina ever since. Matthew thinks of The Starving Artist as a one-stop-shop for artists of all levels. Some artists have said they think of The Starving Artist as an artist’s support team…or sometimes a support group.

The Starving Artist offers a large variety of art materials. From paints, canvases, and brushes to printmaking and mixed media materials, we trust that you’ll find The Starving Artist one of the most diverse and well stocked art supply stores in Western North Carolina. Matthew likes to brag that they have canvases from as small as 2” x 2” to as big as 48” x 60” and most sizes in between. That variety goes for most of the other supplies as well. And the best part is many items are discounted every day. Canvases are usually 40% off, professional grades of paint are 15-40% off and most brushes are 25% off. With prices like that, you don’t need to wait for a sale, but they do that too. Every couple of weeks different product lines or brands are discounted even further. In early February, for example, Golden Acrylics will be Buy 3, Get 1 Free and at the end of the month, brushes will be Buy 2, Get 1 Free.

For the not-so-common materials, they also offer a fully stocked web-store located at www.StarvingArtistCatalog.com. There you can find over 45,000 items. Of course, like any on-line retailer, they can ship direct to your door but, being a local business they also offer free shipping for in-store pick-ups. So, if you only need one brush or tube of paint, you won’t have to worry about shipping costs or meeting high minimums just to get free shipping. Just one of the perks of working with a local business.

When it comes to framing your masterpiece, The Starving Artist is happy to do as much or as little work as you need. Of course you have a full service custom frame shop at your disposal. Their framing department is experienced with all types of archival framing techniques for all sorts of mediums including pastels, needlework, shadowboxes and antiques to name a few.

But for the do-it-yourselfers they also offer frame molding, either assembled and ready to go, or in lengths if you want to cut and join it yourself. They also offer a full line of Crescent and Bainbridge mat and backing boards by the sheet or custom cut. If you need glass or any of the little bits of hardware to finish your piece, they have that too.

The Starving Artist also offers a wide range of custom printing. If you are looking to promote yourself or your art, they print business cards, post cards, rack cards, brochures, banners and more. If you are looking to reproduce your art, they also offer a Giclee printing service with three different types of canvas and three different finishes of paper available in any size up to 40″ x 60″. To go with these printing services, The Starving Artist also offers graphic design and photography services. Whether you need fliers for an upcoming show, or photos for your website, they will be able to help out when you need them.

To hear more from The Starving Artist, or to keep up to date with their sales and promotions, you can sign up for their e-mail newsletter at www.wncStarvingArtist.com. Matthew doesn’t like to send too many e-mails, so he makes the ones he does send count. Each month he gives away a free $20 gift card to an e-mail subscriber just for playing the “Who’s The Artist?” art history/trivia game. The first e-mail of the month will contain a piece of art with a question about it. Sometimes it’s classical, sometimes modern, sometimes a local artist. Just reply with the correct answer and you could win that month’s $20 gift card.

Above all, The Starving Artist is focused on meeting the needs of our local arts community and more importantly you, the artist. Residing in Western NC allows Matthew to see and feel the artistic winds that blow through our mountains and touch your canvases.

Contact The Starving Artist, at (828) 693-3191,
by e-mail to wncStarvingArtist@gmail.com,
or stop by 814 Kanuga Road in Hendersonville, NC.
www.StarvingArtistCatalog.com, www.wncstarvingartist.com