Hi, Kenny,
The Epson 3880 is probably the "sweet spot" for a starter desktop photo printer -- it can print on 17 inch paper, which means a 16x24 inch print is easy; it's not very expensive to purchase; the ink carts are large enough that the per-milliliter cost is reasonable; and the actual size of the printer is small enough that you can put it on your desk. It can make prints down to about 4x6 inches on cut sheets, as well as small notecards and the like. Finally, the 3880 is very forgiving about not being used, and can sit turned off for weeks or months without clogging.
The downside is that it doesn't take roll paper, just cut sheets, so I don't know how it would work with canvas. However, I know several photographers here who have a 3880 along with a larger printer, to take advantage of being able to print much smaller sizes without waste. (Try printing a single 4x6 from a roll -- there's a lot of waste and work involved.)
Printing is one of those things that looks like it should be very easy -- open a digital image in Photoshop, hit Print, and out comes a beautiful print. And sometimes it does work that way
However, most people who are serious about printing find that it takes a fair amount of setup and testing to be able to make consistently good prints. (Just search here on LuLa for "my prints are too dark" to see what I mean.)
For me, the best way to start was to get one kind of paper (Epson Luster, in my case), and start printing a lot of different photos, tweaking my settings until I was happy with the results and could get consistently good prints on the first try. Then I started testing other kinds of paper, like the fancy expensive stuff that everyone here seems to love
But sticking with one paper to start meant that any consistency issues were something other than the paper, which helped me figure it all out.
Good luck. It can be an addictive hobby
Ken