15th November 2009 - Who's made a mark this week?

This week I've been having a bit of a botanical and gardening flavour to my activities. For a start I've been writing about my visit to Giverny last month and also producing very long videos of the two parts of Monet's garden which took ages to get on to YouTube. But I finally cracked it!

Jardin de L'Eau, Giverny
9" x 12", coliured pencils on Arches HP
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Here's:

• Making A Mark - The garden behind the paintings - Giverny
• Travels with a Sketchbook - The Water Garden at Giverny - with some tips for if you're planning on visiting Giverny
• YouTube - A walk around Giverny - #1 The Water Garden - a non-stop walk around the perimeter of the water garden at Giverny and A walk around Giverny - #2 The Close Normand (the flower garden) - this is the walk back up to the house through the Clos Normand (flower garden) to the door into 'la maison' plus a view of the nasturtium carpet in the Grand Allee.

I thought I'd start by showing you where I've got to with my drawing. I think I'll probably try this again in pastel - and a few more besides!

What I'm also enjoying about having done the videos is that they add to my resource material and help me to remember back to being there - albeit it helps me more if I was the HD versions on my computer rather than the ones on YouTube!

Art Blogs

Drawing and sketching

• Check out Sarah Wimperis's new Illustration Blog - very impressive work - and I love the project! See Illustration by Sarah Wimperis
  
• Thanks to Roz Stendhal for:
• tackling Journaling Superstitions #12: All Your Visual Journals Should Be the Same Size
• highlighting Diane Wesman post about her Utah Journal
• A couple of posts from me:
• Tea at The Kew Greenhouse
  
• Sketchercise strikes again! - the Sketchercise group continues to be active and provides great mutual support in terms of getting out to exercise and sketch. Plus it pays off - I was able to get into another pair of jeans I haven't worn in years this week!

More blogging about trips to France

• Lots more posts from Joan (Watercolors by Joan). This week in the Loire and Provence - and she's going to places I've just visited in the Loire valley or visited on my very first trip to Provence! see
  
• Loire Valley - Part I includes Amboise - which I saw too but didn't have time for a sketch
• Loire Valley - Part II - includes the Château de Chenonceau which I've also got a sketch of (towards the end of my trip)
• Mas Saint Antoine, Provence, France
• Le Beaux & Roussillon (she's doing the exact same route as I ddi on my first trip to Provence - it's quite uncanny!)
• This is today's - Sketching Rouen Cathedral - from my hotel bed! Next up is Mont St Michel

I'm enjoying seeing and reading the blogs of people who have been leaving comments on my blogs for the first time this week. These include:

• Carole Baker (Carole Baker's Journal) in Alaska - provides a very helpful step by step post about producing a Nasturtium Print. Carole also has a second blog called Watercolor Postcards
  
• I was was particularly interested in Newfoundland artist Margaret Ryall's (Painting On) post Why floral art ? plus posts about Composition - Compose: Selecting a Subject and Compose: Selecting a Subject 2
• I also came across Nigel Fletcher's A Cotswold Sketchbook for the first time after he wrote to me. He produces very nice paintings - but I do like to scroll through a blog quickly and miss that facility.

Coloured pencils and pastels

• Richard McKinley on The Pastel Pointers Blog writes about The Problem With Green, Part 1

Painters

• Vivien Blackburn - with feeling - writes about Working plein air - the hazards

-spectators - running commentary from behind when a family, with miles and miles of dunes on an empty beach to choose from, chose to sit just above us. 'Look she's using her fingers now' - 'what bit is she painting?' - 'she's using a knife now' - ' you could do that ....'

Photography

• I've always had great regard for photographers but have only just discovered the Guardian's Camera Club and their monthly assignments. This is the associated blog. This month's post about how to photograph a river provides lots of good compositional advice for any artist tackling a similar subject

Art Group Blogs

• I liked a bit more of Autumn . . . Vicky Williamson on the Sketching in Nature Blog

Art Business and Marketing

• I noticed that Duane Keiser was using Flying Cart as e-commerce software for selling prints of his work. It's been featured by Business Week
• Have you read the Google Merchant Blog?
• Artinfo writes about The World’s Most Dangerous Places to Own Art

Art Collectors - and the art economy

• The Times has announced that film director Lord Attenborough sells 51 paintings for £4.6 million

• Bloomberg: Basquiat Flops at Christie’s N.Y. $74.2 Million Art Auction the explanation seems to be that agressive estimates did not fool collectors with money to spend. Or possibly that a reappraisal of certain artists is happening?

There is zero tolerance for overpriced or overestimated work now. There is interest in buying, but it is more disciplined.
Lucy Mitchell-Innes, president of the Art Dealers Association of America.

Art Competitions

• The Philly Inquirer has an interesting post - Art: Serious flaws in prize paradigm - and makes some some very pointed remarks! Do you agree?
  

  For all but a handful of the chosen, the prize ethos is corrupting. Pitting artists against one another as if they were gladiators is inherently insidious. And every year lots of artists waste lots of time applying for prizes they have little or no chance of winning.

  More disturbing, the prize ethos subtly promotes naked careerism. A prize certainly dresses up one's resumé........But embellishing resumés, while creative in its own way, can become a substitute for genuine achievement.

  Art: Serious flaws in prize paradigm

• The results of the Lyn Painter-Stainers competition promoting figurative art is to be announced at the Private View tomorrow evening. I went to see the exhibition on Friday and there will be a post announcing the prizewinners and providing a review of the exhibition (and what would have been my shortlist) on Tuesday morning. They opened the exhibition early especially to catch the people in the City of London for the Lord Mayor's Show - and what did we have yesterday? Only a horrendous storm with torential rain and high winds which brought down branches outside my home two miles east of the where the exhibition is being held.
  

Art Education / workshops / Tips and techniques

Art television
The Modern Beauty Season examines the perception of beauty both in modern and classical art forms through a collection of films on BBC Two and BBC Four, starting Saturday 14th November 2009. This is Matthew Collings and a slideshow of the 10 principles which explain what is beauty in art. This is the link to the BBC iplayer for what is beauty in art? There's a page all about it - but it doesn't explain when it's all on except for?

• one programme on Monday when Sue Perkins looks at The Art on Your Wall.
• Where Is Modern Art Now? is on Wednesday
  
• But when is School of Saatchi on???
  

School of Saatchi. Six people are selected to attend an Art School established uniquely for them where they will develop their work under the tutelage of some of the most innovative names in the art world today on BBC Two.

• There is also a Daily telegraph article about the notion of what is beauty? and a slideshow - which is better than the BBC's about What is beauty - the 10 qualities that make art beautiful (although their image of the Madonne del Parto is simpled dreadful). It explains the basis behind each of the 10 principles
• Plus an article in the Sunday Times What are you calling ugly? in relation to the programme on BBC2 tonight

While a repeat of the Art of Eternity series is very late night viewing

• Art of Eternity - Painting Paradise
• Art of Eternity - The Glory of Byzantium
• Art of Eternity - When East Meets West

Workshops

• Anybody interested in learning how to create handmade paper AND how to create paper paintings in Florida should refer to the workshops advertised on Paper Paintings

Tips and techniques

Margaret Ryall (Painting On) has a set of posts under the heading Talking About Art which are about critiques - a topic which doesn't often get an airing so it's nice to see somebody who's taken the trouble to explore it as a subject

• Pursuing art critique
• A process for art critique
• Critique etiquette
• Critique groups

Richard McKinley has an excellent post about A Painterly Approach to Drawing

Art Exhibitions

Exhibitions involving artist bloggers

Yesterday I announced that I would in future be regularly featuring a selection of exhibitions featuring artist bloggers - see How to highlight your exhibition (artist bloggers only) for more details

During this ongoing recession I would like to be a bit more constructive and systenatic and do more to highlight the exhibitions of artists who have a blog.

So today's post features my very first artist to respond with a dedicated post on her blog and details as requested!

Buttercup #1 & 2
30x20 | collage on panel
©2009 Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson

• Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson's (Paper Paintings) truly wonderful paper paintings have previously featured on this blog. I'm pleased to highlight that she is one of three featured artists in a small group exhibition at the Katharine Butler Gallery in Sarasota, FL, USA which runs from November 18th to December 12th, 2009 - see Featured Artist Exhibit for more details

So - who's got an exhibition coming up?

Exhibitions elsewhere

• Exhibition Review - Royal Institute of Oil Painters - restrospective because I saw the exhibition on the last weekend. However it was fascinating looking up all the websites of the prizewinners
  
• Exhibition review: The Art of Plant Evolution - my recommendation is to make sure you visit if you're at all interested in botanical art
  
• At the Royal College of Art in Kensington Gore - there's an unusual exhibition of paintings on postcards - RCA Secret 2009: postcards by well-known artists included in Royal College of Art sale. If you fancy taking a look this is how to find the RCA.
  

Art Museums and Galleries

• Prizewinning architect Zaha Hadid's new project - Maxxi Roma, Italia (the National Centre of Contemporary Arts Rome, Italy)- is unveiled in Rome. This is the very first national museum for contemporary art in Italy.
  
• This is the English version of the museum's website
  
• this is a link to selected works from the art collection.
  
• This is the blog of her architectural and design practice - Zaha Hadid. She's a very impressive lady!
  

• Two articles about brand new Nottingham Contemporary (Art Gallery) and its opening exhibition David Hockney - 1960 – 1968: A Marriage of Styles (14 Nov 2009 - 24 Jan 2010) - The Guardian: The pleasure principle: David Hockney at Nottingham Contemporary and the Observer: David Hockney 1960-1968

• the virtue of this show is that it concentrates on what are arguably Hockney's greatest – certainly his most inventive – years, following his life story from the Royal College of Art in the early Sixties to Los Angeles, Africa and Europe and ending, fittingly, on the crest of A Bigger Splash.

• This is one of my posts - Marianne North Gallery reopens at Kew Gardens

Art Supplies

• I've been doing some product testing this week - but I'm sworn to secrecy until next Spring!
• Kate Johnson provides us with a video of what she packs into her purse for sketching - Art supplies - in the bag! Oh dear, that's given me another idea for my newly developed and quite manic videoing habit!
  

Book reviews

On Making A Mark reviews...... you can find:

• Book Review: The Art of Plant Evolution - this is Highly Recommended for both emerging and experienced botanical artists, especially for those who can't get to the exhibition.
  
• Book review: Private Lives of the Impressionists - a recommended read for those interested in Impressionism
• Marion Boddy Evans (painting.about.com) paintinghas done a book review of The Printmaking Bible
  

Opinion Polls

• The responses are totting up on this motnh's opinion poll (in the right hand column). Have you answered the question yet - What makes a good art teacher? Try reading what Robert Genn has written this week about The art of teaching art for his perspective.
  

in its best sense, the teaching of art is guidance away from the bad habits that come so naturally to many who struggle alone. In my experience, the best teachers are often mature part-timers who live in the real world.

Points of view

• Damien Hirst says anyone can learn to paint like Rembrandt. But does the art world agree?

Social Media, websites, blogging and webware

• Kirsty Hall (Up all night again) has written today about Finding Your Blogging Style
• Lori Woodwood implores us to Socialize Responsibly
  
• You'll note that I've added the new Google search widget into Blogger (see top of right hand column) which allows me (and you) to search my blog, blogs in the blogroll or the web in general. I'm finding it very useful as it produces a list rather than a selection of complete blog posts which is what you get if you search (top left) within the blog at present . You may do too!
• Blogger is also improving Communication of Blogger Service Interruptions - you're recommended to follow Blogger on Twitter (because of course the Blogger status blog goes down when Blogger does!)
  
• I find I use Google Docs more and more for my jottings - especially as it means I never ever lose a document! Apparently it's now possible to Export your Google Docs data

and finally............

How to Survive a Bad Day by Christine Kane (on Lori Woodward Simons Blog) - we all need blog posts like this from time to time! :)

PS On a more optimistc note, for those of you who are still keeping up with my friend, author and one time artist Maggie Stiefvater's incredible story - her novel Shiver has now made #2 on the Amazon Top Ten Best Books of 2009 for Teens!