FAQS

Frequently Asked Questions

Explore answers to commonly asked questions about my services, process, and collaborations below. If you don’t find what you’re looking for feel free to reach out directly — I’m here to help clarify any queries you may have!

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Painting & Commission Questions

Absolutely! I’m super honored you would consider me for something as special as a commission. If you have an idea you are interested in having me create for you I would love to hear it.

Send me a message in the form on my contact page with the details of what you have in mind and we can figure out the details!

Generally, clients invest a 50% deposit initially, with the remaining balance delivered upon completion (I firmly insist on not investing 100% upfront – it helps me stay motivated 😂).

In an effort to keep my work more accessible, I am open to discussing additional installment plans.

I have a courier here in Florence, Italy, who specializes and is highly experienced in safely shipping original art all around the world.

Each piece is protectively wrapped with care and then placed in a sturdy crate before being shipped.

Due to the quality of my work in most instances additional paperwork needs to be filed with the Italian government (I will handle this), before the paintings can be sent. Typically, it takes 5-10 days to process.

At a world-renowned atelier here in Florence, Italy. The curriculum stems directly from the leading ateliers of nineteeth-century Paris, and the methods can be traced directly back to John Singer Sargent.

My paintings are most often oil on canvas.

My drawings are typically Roma paper with either pencil or charcoal.

Website designs are made lovingly with pixels. 🐛

I currently reside in Florence, Italy.

Portraits created from life are made to the same scale. Accordingly, classic portrait paintings are made to be 50x60cm, and upwards. Drawings are generally drawn on 66x48cm (26×19 inch) Roma paper.

Standard sized portrait drawings usually take 5 days of poses, with afternoon sittings from 1-4pm (there are breaks, please do not worry :)).

Standard sized portrait paintings take twice as long.

I sure do! I have a framer here in Florence that provides frames for some of the best artists in the city and offers many styles. If you’re comfortable, you can even furnish me with photos of where it will be hung so I can select a frame that will compliment not only the painting but the space it will reside in.

Shop & Print Questions

When you view your cart at checkout you may notice a ‘tax stamp’ – this is a ‘marca da bollo,’ a 2 euro fee that’s applied to orders over 77.47 euro. The Italian government requires it. On a quarterly basis my business pays it to the Agenzia delle Entrate.

Yes absolutely – if there is a printed item you have in mind and don’t see it listed in the shop please reach out to me (Katrin) at ciaokatrins@gmail.com.

LifewithKatrin.com collaborates with a vast network of production and logistic partners to ensure efficient order fulfillment and delivery for print materials. These partners are present in over 200 countries and locally produce in 32, to expedite deliveries, reduce costs and carbon emissions, and support local businesses.

Despite occasional international routing, LifeWithKatrin.com maintains a high rate of local production, with 95% of orders produced in the same country as their delivery destination.

Different shipping methods are available dependent on the destination country, which may influence final shipping cost. LifeWithKatrin.com uses live shipping rates which are reflected at checkout.

Below are average delivery times*

Economy Shipping: 4-6 days
Shipping Price: 8 EUR

Express Shipping: 3-4 days
Shipping Price: 13 EUR

*Delivery time includes receiving your order, production and delivery to the customer. Delivery times and shipping costs are estimates and are not guaranteed. You will see the live costs and delivery times at checkout.

I want you to be satisifed with the quality of the products you order through LifewithKatrin.com. If you are not satisfied with the quality of a product (such as damage or poor print quality), please get in touch with me (Katrin) at ciaokatrins@gmail.com within 30 days of receiving the item.

Tax Codes

If you’re looking at this you probably stumbled upon that curious field in the checkout form, my apologies for the goose chase. It turns out, accounting is a lot different in Italy than the US, and I need to gather a bit more info from you in order to remain complaint with Italian authorities. If you don’t have an Italian tax code, please use one of the following that correlates with your country of citizenship:

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Chad: TD0000000
Comoros: KM0000000
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Côte d’Ivoire: CI0000000
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Djibouti: DJ0000000
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Gabon: GA0000000
Gambia: GM0000000
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Guinea: RG0000000
Guinea-Bissau: GW0000000
Kenya: KE0000000
Lesotho: LS0000000
Liberia: LR0000000
Libya: LY0000000
Madagascar: MG0000000
Malawi: MW0000000
Mali: ML0000000
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Mauritius: MU0000000
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Mozambique: MZ0000000
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Nigeria: NG0000000
Príncipe: ST0000000
Republic of the Congo: CG0000000
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Tanzania: TZ0000000
Togo: TG0000000
Tunisia: TN0000000
Uganda: UG0000000
Zambia: ZM0000000
Zimbabwe: ZW0000000

Afghanistan: AF0000000
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Bhutan: BT0000000
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China: CN0000000
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Indonesia: ID0000000
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Laos: LA0000000
Malaysia: MY0000000
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Mongolia: MN0000000
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Tajikistan: TJ0000000
Thailand: TH0000000
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Turkmenistan: TM0000000
Uzbekistan: UZ0000000
Vietnam: VN0000000

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Antigua and Barbuda: AG0000000
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Dominican Republic
Grenada: DO0000000
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Trinidad and Tobago: TT0000000

Belize: BZ0000000
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El Salvador: SV0000000
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Panama: PA0000000

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Finland: FI0000000
France: FR0000000
Germany: DE0000000
Greece: GR0000000
Hungary: HU0000000
Iceland: IS0000000
Ireland: iE0000000
Italy: Please use your codice fiscale.
Latvia: LV0000000
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Lithuania: LT0000000
Luxembourg: LU0000000
Malta: MT0000000
Moldova: MD0000000
Monaco: MC0000000
Montenegro: ME0000000
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Vatican City: VA0000000

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Suriname: SR0000000
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Venezuela: VE0000000