So I don't know if I'm just a weirdo, but I have a serious thing for gorgeous mat board. It really does something to accent art show pieces, or even just prints you sell off your table. And generally, it doesn't cost much more than normal, boring colors.

. . . if you can find it.

Therein lies the difficulty. I've spent the last year hunting around for interesting mat board scraps, stalking ebay auctions and being rejected by the folks at Specialty Matboard on more than one occasion. The fact is, big distributors just don't have much interest in selling to an individual artist.

Well I've found one that does.

I've recently put in an order of my own, and I can attest that the mat board I received was excellent, and very unique. Even the standard colors we purchased from this distributor were higher quality than Crescent, tore less, had a wider color variety, and were far less expensive than I've been able to find anywhere else. The issue, as it always is, is that you have to order in bulk. But I see this as a boon. I figure there's got to be a lot of artists out there like me who'd be interested, and if we combine orders into one large shipment, this becomes affordable and doable for all, and we can all get a wider variety of colors.

I'd like to meet with any artists interested in this venture. The samples here are just a few, there are something like 500+ combinations of colors and patterning that can be ordered, not to mention suedes, metallics, and standard colors. So if you want to get in on this and you're gonna be at FC, here's what to do:

Quick and dirty, I'm going to be chilling at the bar at the San Jose Marriott at 8 PM on Sunday night. Look for black hair with red highlights, for all those who don't know what I look like. Or look for my badge. I shouldn't be too hard to find.

For now, we're just going to take inquiries from folks and put down a 'wishlist' with contact information for each artist. Essentially, tell us what you want, give us a way to contact you, and when time comes to order in a month or two following, I'll contact you. We'll try and fill everyone's orders as best as we can. There'll be no obligation. . . we'll contact you before we put in the order, so if you've changed your mind, no biggie.
I'll have a general idea on price and shipping, but those values can change depending on where you live, what you've ordered, and whether or not the prices from the distributor shift before then. So don't expect a hard number.

All orders will have to be shipped out in pieces no larger than 16 x 20. If you want full sheets, I'm afraid I can't accommodate, the shipping would be insane. I'll be cutting the matboard into quarters before shipping it out, and I have a professional mat cutter, so you won't be receiving bad cuts.

Small orders are probably doable, but shipping is a minimum of $15 within the US, so VERY small orders aren't the best idea.

Even if you're not certain if you're interested, come on by and have a look. I'll have some samples of the stuff we can order. And besides that, I'm told I'm fun to hang out with when I've had a little to drink ;)

This is not a profitable venture for me. I am doing this purely so that we can all mutually benefit. I'd love to order this stuff, but I can't afford to do so in massive quantities, and beyond that. . . I'd run out of space in my house! This is a way for all of us to get a huge assortment of neat mat board by ordering as a group.

If you AREN'T going to be at FC but you'd like to get in on this, that's totally doable! I can't show you the sample pack, is the only issue. . . but feel free to contact me at rukiscroax[at]hotmail.com with requests, and I'll see about getting you down on the list.