Gauguin, Amsterdam, and summer reading on my porch!

Check out my summer reading nook! The porch transforms during the summer; it's typically shut off during the winter because it's not insulated and of course, just naturally becomes a mud room.

But during summer, it becomes my little hub for reading and relaxing. When the sun is out, and there's a breeze, I can also neighbour-watch from my comfy chair! (It's an old, old chair made of rattan and canvas, and I put some extra cushioning, in purple flowers nonetheless!)

Thanks to the lovely folks over at Fulcrum Gallery, I got a chance to spruce up that blank wall in my reading nook. When I picked Paul Gauguin's Three Tahitian Women against a Yellow Background, I didn't really think where it would go, but I love how the colours all come together bringing a bright spot to my otherwise very blue porch.

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I don't usually do these type of reviews but when I took a gander at Fulcrum Gallery's website, I was impressed with the range of artwork available. In fact it took me hours just to make my selection because there were so many I liked!

I considered getting a book cover or a vintage magazine cover. There were classics and some contemporary favourites.

 
I also considered getting something Alice in Wonderland-themed. I love the book, love the old Disney animated movie, and just about anything Alice. And those artwork by Arthur Packham in the original books looked very very tempting!

But then I realized that all my existing artwork is mainly folk art with vibrant colours and a very rustic feel to them. That helped me narrow down to  the category "Cultural Art" and I eventually selected this piece by French post-impressionist Paul Gauguin.

Three Tahitian Women against a Yellow Background by Paul Gauguin, 1899.
Details:
22.88 x 21.88 inches
Framed Fine-Art Print Print
Cropped to 16.5 x 15.5 inches
Frame: Petite Flat Front Espresso Walnut
Top Mat: Tablet White
Bottom Mat: Egg Shell
Non-Glare Acrylic Plexiglass

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Using the Fulcrum Gallery website was extremely easy! After I had finally chosen my print, I selected my finishing including the frame, the canvas, the matting, the laminate, the glass, and more. A thumbnail updated when I was making the selections so I could see exactly what I was going to get.

I then put in my order. It was shipped within a few days based on tracking and it eventually made its way to my front door within two weeks from shipping. Now there was bit of a hold-up in Customs since this company is based in the US but other than that, I was impressed with the turnaround time. The careful and well-though out packaging is also worth noting -- although I had selected plexiglass because I hate the risk of having something break in transit, I probably shouldn't have worried.

Price-wise, I found this company quite competitive. The cost of the print and frame was $97.49, shipping at $16.99 (the print alone was originally $26.99, on sale at $16.99). Then I had to pay close to $25 for taxes and duties. As I know that custom framing can get pretty expensive, I consider the print plus its framing running at $100 highly competitive. 

Quality-wise, I am happy since the finished product looks fantastic and the framing is very cleanly done. If there was one thing that I could point out is that I was under the impression that the frame I selected was actual wood based on the description and the photos but it feels like plastic! This is a minor detail that I suspect I would only notice since I did the ordering.

Lastly, the customer service is top-notch. The representative was in constant contact with me during the entire process.

I received framed artwork from Fulcrum Gallery in exchange for an honest review of their product.