Studio Profile

Studio of the Month March 2008

Simply Canvas is proud to announce the March Studio of the Month, Stacey Granger of Life Art. Stacey has always been interested in photography but was convinced to pursue it professionally when she had an appointment with a nationally known studio and the photographer only took five shots of her children. She realized that if she wanted her pictures done right, she would have to do them herself.
           
Stacey enrolled in a local college and studied Visual Communications for three years, specializing in photography and digital imaging. While attending, she did portraits to help pay for her equipment. Her initial intention was to go into commercial photography but friends told her she seemed happiest when she was working with children, so she took their advice.
           
Stacey’s first studio was in her garage and worked in it for five years before she moved to Cigar Factory Lofts in Philadelphia. She said the wide open space with an open kitchen gave her studio the “boutique” quality she was looking for and the warm, relaxed atmosphere “where children can truly be themselves”.  
           
Stacey’s studio has fourteen foot ceilings, but does not have a lot of wall space because of the openness of the loft. Even though her wall space is limited, the images she does have on display are large. She said when you have a 40x60 inch canvas of a baby, and the baby is larger than life, it is going to make the impression she wants.
           
Stacey had been using her regular print lab for canvases but had always been looking for a way to “finish” the canvas. She found Simply Canvas this past October at the Photoplus Expo in New York City. She was drawn to Simply Canvas when she was walking down an isle and a Floating Frame caught her eye. She thought the Floating Frame was the finishing product her canvases needed. She spent a good amount of time talking with Simply Canvas owner and CEO, Adam Fried, who convinced Stacey to try Simply Canvas. 
           
Stacey replaced nearly all of her display pieces with canvases in a matter of months. She said it was not the products, the low pricing or the easy ordering that convinced her to try Simply Canvas, it was meeting Adam, and finding that if the owner took that much time to talk to a potential client and showed genuine interest in her concerns, then the rest of the company would probably have the same ethics and service. 
           
Stacey was surprised when she received a call from Adam after the show, asking how she liked the Floating Frames. She said she even convinced him to sell her a Floating Frame before they were released in January.  She was also impressed when she received a call from the printing department about a black spot on the subject’s foot, which turned out to be a mole. She said that is the kind of detail she wants her printing lab to pay attention to.
           
As far as selling gallery-wraps to her clients, Stacey said the canvases market themselves. Almost all of her display pieces are gallery-wraps and she tells her clients that they are not taking pictures but creating art with canvas. She also discusses lighting and canvas care with her clients, so they get the most out of their work of art.
           
Stacey said one of her proud moment was when she recently had an open house and one of her clients bought his image right off her wall. She asked what size he wanted, but he said he wanted the exact one on her wall and gave it to his fiancée for Valentine’s Day.
           
Stacey is the perfect example of showing big to sell big with canvas. She makes each of her clients realize that they are not just purchasing a photo on canvas, but a work of art to display at their homes. Congratulations on being Simply Canvas’ March Studio of the Month.