Art consultant Amber Boswell is eyeing Asian opportunities from her Hong Kong base

Amber Boswell wanted to change careers from finance to fine art. Identifying Southeast Asia as the global “hot spot” for her planned business venture, she moved to Hong Kong and founded Canvasia as a showcase for the region's emerging artistic talents. The company now has a worldwide clientele and is sourcing art for major commercial projects from the United States to the Middle East.

'I was working in finance in San Francisco, but had always been immersed in art. My dad was a collector, and my mom an artist. During a trip to Vietnam I visited galleries and met some artists. I became captivated by some of the bold new works I was discovering, and started to think of the wider possibilities.

Canvasia was set up in 2002, and the next year I partnered with Michelle Gladwin, of Kaleidoscope Kreations, who was similarly fascinated by Asia's artistic flowering. We sought out and began building relationships with the most gifted emerging artists, planning to introduce them to a wider Western audience who had previously only been exposed to well-established masters.

Our idea was to create a global exhibition space – which means taking works out of Asian countries and exhibiting them in Europe. Hong Kong seemed to be the ideal base because of its business-friendly environment and many other advantages. One word that sums up Hong Kong is efficiency – it is very easy to do business here because people work around the clock if necessary to get a job done. Hong Kong's low taxes, and its proximity to China where most of our framers and accessories suppliers are located, added further incentive.

Perfect host

It's easy bringing clients to Hong Kong because they are always so pleased to come here. The city is such a good host and in terms of the quality and breadth of entertainment – hotels, restaurants, bars – Hong Kong is limitless. People enjoy doing business here.

We began our sourcing in Vietnam, then added art from Burma and the Philippines. From there we branched into identifying and sourcing artworks for private investment, and this proved to be a big growth area. Increasingly, art is being viewed as an investment vehicle and we now have a worldwide clientele ranging from Hong Kong to London, Zurich, the US and Spain.

Another growth area is hospitality art, and some of Canvasia's current projects include casinos in Macau and Las Vegas, a library and a school in Qatar in the Middle East.

With the economy booming, people are spending more on art for investment and pleasure. Hong Kong as the region's art hub is spinning from what's happening at auctions and the unheard-of prices consistently being achieved by Sotheby's, Christie's and Bonhams.

Next big thing

While these record sales are mainly of contemporary Chinese art, my clients also see opportunities in other parts of Asia. The next big thing? I would say that there are some amazing artists coming out of Burma and the Philippines – and both these markets are under developed – while Hong Kong and Singapore also have some very good emerging local artists. But with art there's an emotional attachment, and I always advise clients only to buy if they absolutely love it.

At the moment we are exploring some exciting opportunities in the Middle East.  Again, from Hong Kong, it's easy to source (art) and easy to ship, and so convenient to those parts of the world. For so many reasons it's just a great place to base myself.'

Related links
Canvasia
Kaleidoscope Kreations