Spotlight on Maui Giclee

Art Business News, August, 2003 by Susan Seiling

KIHEI, Hawaii -- Staff members at Maui Giclee enjoy the good life in today's global economy. They live and work in a premiere tourist destination while business comes in through FedEx from around the world. General Manager Kuulei Nakagawa estimates that 70 percent of the company's fine art giclee printing business comes from outside Hawaii.

"We have a very high standard and high quality. We are also very competitive, as far as pricing goes--we're just farther away," Nakagawa said.

The process of making a giclee print starts out the same for virtually every painting Maui Giclee reproduces. First, they capture the painting digitally so they can work on it in the computer. This involves either scanning a transparency of the original painting or photographing the artwork using a high-end digital camera. Maul Giclee prefers to digitally capture the original paintings, since having the paintings on-hand helps ensure accurate color and detail.

Once the painting has been scanned, a technician works to make the color of the reproduction come as close as possible to the actual painting. Then a set of proof prints is sent to the artist to review.

When artists are ready to make a final print, they can choose from Maui Giclee's arsenal of printers, including six Iris printers, an Epson 10000 and an Epson 9600. Each printer uses different technology and different types of inksets, which gives a distinct look and feel to prints from different printers.

"We usually look at the color and the color gamut of the original painting to see which printer would be best, and then we see if the client needs longevity," Nakagawa said. The life of a print ranges from 55 to more than 100 years depending on the printer. But the trade off for longer lasting prints is often a narrower color palette. That's why it's important to consider the colors of the original painting before deter mining which printer to use, said Nakagawa.

When it comes to choosing what type of substrate to use, Maui Giclee stocks a range of canvases and watercolor papers, and they work with clients to decide which is the best for their paintings.

"Canvas is 90 percent of our business, said Nakagawa. "We're printing more acrylics and oils than watercolors these days."

Maui Giclee's staff of 12 is split between the giclee production studio, and a retail/wholesale gallery, Image Station. With more than 600 flamed images on display from 70 artists, the gallery allows Maui Giclee to help artists market their work.

"That's one of the things artists lack: How to market themselves," Nakagawa said. "With us, they are on our Web site, on TV and in the gallery. The more the artist sells in our gallery, the more printing orders we'll get."

The business makes individual compensation arrangements with each artist prior to reproducing their artwork. Compensation ranges from 25 to 50 percent of the sale, depending on whether the artist or Maui Giclee pays for the printing costs.

Most visitors to the gallery are Maui tourists. For this reason, it focuses on Hawaii-related artwork. "About 75 percent is local, and 25 percent is other types of artwork," Nakagawa said.

All of the artwork is signed and editioned, and some of the artwork is hand-embellished by the artist. Everything in the gallery is available for wholesale purchase to other galleries and interior designers. Generally priced at 50 percent of the retail price, dealers simply need to call the gallery and sup ply a tax ID number, and Image Station will ship the prints directly to the dealer.

Jim Kartes, owner of Maui Giclee, also owns a local tourist television station and is no stranger to marketing. He took a previously unknown company and put an aggressive marketing plan in place. Maul Giclee now employs a full time telemarketer and is increasing its presence through advertising. His aggressive marketing campaign has grown the business tremendously, and Nakagawa predicts the company will continue to grow into the future.

"In the future, we'll be expanding, keeping up with the technology and buying new printers," Nakagawa said. "And we're hoping to reach more of the mainland clientele."

FACTS & FIGURES

* Founded in 1995, the company, which was once called Bishop Street Press, became Maul Giclee in 1999 when Jim Kartes bought the business.

* Clients include Vladimir Kush (Hawaii), Burkhardt Museum (Europe), Michael Gorbon (Israel) and Gallery Essence (Japan).

* For more information, visit www.mauiaiclee.com.

THE EXHIBITORS

3M Company

A.D. Lines, Inc

A.W.C. Custom Carved Frames

Aaron Ashley

Access Fine Art Ltd

Accuwrap Profiled Components

Active Sales Co Inc/Cassese

Aetna Frame Supply Inc

Aflex Extrusion Tech, Inc

Africa World Museum & Center

Alaniz Studios Inc

Albin Products Inc

Alpha 1 Marketing Ltd

Alres Reproductions-Div Sutton Technologies

Amazing Art Images, LLC

Ambar Art Inc

AMCI Ltd

America Arts Inc

American Car/David Wendel

American Specialty Adhesive Products

AMPF Inc

Andy Mathis Art Co

Animated Animations Company

Applejack Art Partners

Arakawa Hanging Systems