21st July 2005
Website sells top Cornish artist’s works.

A FINE art company has launched a website selling limited edition reproductions of Cornish scenes by popular artist Andrew Giddens.

Mr Giddens, who is based in West Cornwall, has been painting professionally for three years and in that time his work has become highly valued with paintings selling for up to £4,500 to collectors in the UK and America. One of the first collectors and champions of Andrew’s work is Sir Tim Rice.

Mr Giddens’ father-in-law Godfrey Higgins has now set up www.deogloriafineart.co.uk – selling the first ever reproductions of Mr Giddens’ work of Cornish seascapes and landscapes for buyers including private homes, hotels, guest houses, restaurants, businesses and interior designers. The high quality digital prints range from £350, to £550 and can be mounted or framed.

Mr Higgins undertook a New Deal Preparation for Business Course via West Cornwall Enterprise Trust to help establish the business after having recovered from ME. An application for funding was made to SWIG (South West Investment Group) via the Objective One Lizard Pathways Project.

Mr Higgins has a background in engineering design and manufacture, which is serving him well with many of the practicalities involved in running the business. It operates from a workshop at his Helston home and is already generating sales from outside Cornwall from adverts in Country Living magazine and elsewhere.

He said: “I am grateful for all the help given in order to set up this little business and encouraged by recent responses to our national advertising. Although these are early days we have an excellent, unique and desirable product and the key to success will be in wise marketing.

In August we will have a quarter page advertisement in The English Home Magazine which sells some 44,000 copies in the states. We hope that this will be the beginning of interest ‘across the pond’.”

John Peters, SWIG spokesman, said: “I am delighted that SWIG has been able to assist this family enterprise, which has taken a very professional approach to selling these beautiful images of Cornwall far beyond the county.”

The project has also received support via actnow, a scheme that has also received Objective One investment and is successfully aiming to give high speed Broadband access to all of Cornwall’s businesses and residents.