Lightroom says I have 5022 photos so I hit my 5000 by 2018 goal. There's plenty of crates left, I estimate another two or three thousand negatives. I just found a whole box of sailing ships, for example.

Last year I went to galleries in England, Scotland, Singapore, Sydney, on cruise ships and in Melbourne. More recently, I took a walk through Salamanca Market and also visited some local galleries. Special mention to Wild Island. And of course, I've been to MONA a few times. When we're away, it's a bit of a running joke between me and the Boss - "Oh Walshie's got one of those." (Props to MONA when I was referring to an exhibit in the British Museum.)

I'm no art expert and my art budget is basically zero. But I think I have a bit of a feel for how it's done. The business of art. And here in lies that elusive business plan I mentioned last blog post. I noticed that I wrote in 2016 that I would be developing products and making the collection more accessible. I think I said watch in the coming weeks. I suppose 2 years is only 104 weeks...

My digital recreations now come as a full featured piece of art. Each one is printed and inspected, then sprayed with a clear coating to protect it. It is “T” hinge mounted on acid-free foam core backing board and window matted with 4-ply cotton museum board. The image and paper is estimated to resist fading or deterioration for over 100 years. Framing options have been carefully selected to make the best presentation. Prints are wrapped in crystal clear viewing bags for transport.

But wait, there's more. (I always wanted to say that)

Included is a certificate of authenticity listing the details of the image, its history and as much information on the scene as we can find. Each certificate has a unique serial number on a tamper evident hologram sticker with its matching sticker on the back of the signed print. There will be no doubt that you have an original Beattie's Digital Studio print.