Artist Spotlight – Robert Hooper

Not only is this artist totally talented but he is also a generous and kind person. I’ve forgotten how I stumbled across his work on Etsy. I’m thinking that it was while looking through someone’s favorites or from viewing a treasury in which one of his awesome images was included. When I clicked on his shop I realized that I might have a difficult time narrowing a purchase choice down to just one image. I spent some time revisiting his shop before making my choice.

The images in Robert’s Etsy shop are predominantly southwestern, Asian, Native American or equine themed. This seemed like an unusual combination to me until I found out that he was born in Japan and currently lives in Arizona. In his Etsy shop you will find unlimited edition, approximately 8x10 reproductions of his work along with 11x14 limited editions. The only small criticism I have is that his work is underpriced IMO. (During further communications with Robert, I now think this is because he genuinely wants people to enjoy his artwork and uses his Etsy shop as a way for people to purchase beautiful artwork at below market prices.) Now pricing is many times a very personal thing to an artist, so I don’t want to insult, especially when he was so generous helping me out when I managed not to pay close enough attention to the listing details to note that the 8x10s were only approximately that size. You can find his original work for sale online as well, and it does seem to be priced much more fairly for the artist. He also participates in art festivals.

Back to that generous bit of help that I received. I wrote to Robert after receiving my lovely print and leaving him positive feedback to let him know that the only disappointment that I had was that I was going to have to take the time and extra funds to get a pricey custom sized mat cut since the image was too narrow to fit in a standard cut 8x10 mat. I thought I was being helpful so that he might update the exact dimensions in the listing so other customers who might not be so understanding wouldn’t leave him a negative. His work and customer service are way too good to have that happen IMO. (I had planned to go through my stash of mats that I mat my photographic art prints with to find a color that I liked and then purchase a premade 11x14 frame in order to hang his print in my house. And yes, I should have been more careful and noticed the approx. in the description, but I only focused on the 8x10 part in the title.) I had not written with any intention of Robert doing anything about this except possibly update the listing for future customers. The response that I got was a very generous offer to cut a mat and send it to me. I asked a couple of times what it would cost, never got an answer but I did get a perfectly cut mat that complements the print perfectly. Since I never could get him to name a price, I sent him a check and told him to make sure to cash it and let me know if I did not send him enough.

Now all I had to do was find a frame. I found one whose detailing reminded me of lotus flowers that was on sale and really showcased the print. I highly recommend this artist to anyone looking for beautiful watercolors of horses, koi, southwestern vistas and more.