This year I got rather more anxious than usual when I didn't see a "must have" art calendar soon after they started to be published in the late summer.
So this year I actually sat down and created a website - just to make sure I knew what was on offer this year! Except when I got started I actually ended up with two (prompted by Painting Canada: Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery - see my blog post on The Art of the Landscape)!
Click the links below to see the two websites I created.
Which artists do you like for your calendars?
I think you can tell a lot about the art you like by the calendars you choose. I have to confess I hoard my old calendars because of the quality of the reproductions. (Did I say I refuse point blank to have a calendar with poor quality reproductions?)
TWO QUESTIONS for you
- Who are your favourite artists for your art calendars?
- Which artist will be gracing your walls in 2012?
- 2011 - John Singer Sargent
- 2010 - Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh
- 2009 - Vilhelm Hammershoi
- 2008 - Monet Waterlilies and The New Yorker Cats
- 2007: Georgia O'Keeffe and Leonardo Drawings (I was a very happy bunny with these two!)
- 2006: Charles Rennie Mackintosh (my absolute favourite - watercolour landscapes and couple of flower studies from two exhibitions held by the National Galleries of Scotland - I've been trying to hunt down similar calendars ever since!)
 |
| Klimt's Landscapes - 2012 Wall Calendar |
 |
| Railway Poster Art Calendar 2012 - available from the National Trust |
Here are some tips for researching art calendars. These are based on experience and lots of research - I look at an awful lot of calendars before I buy!
- In general I find museum calendars to be pretty good quality - but this is not always the case.
- The publishers who almost invariably produce a good quality product - in terms of choice of image and quality of calendar - are Pomegranate Press, Taschen and Brown Trout . (Is there anybody else you'd like to recommend?)
- Anything which is produced for the European market and includes translations into German is invariably good - otherwise it wouldn't sell in Germany!
- ALWAYS check the size when ordering online - a decent wall calendar is invariably around about 12" square. Some which you think might be wall calendars are actually quite a bit smaller - but left out the important word "mini"!
- Those which have the notes on the same page as the image are 12 pages; those which have a separate page for the notes (ie two pages hang vertically) are referred to as being 24 pages. I always get the latter for my study.
- If ordering online check out the images on the reverse of the calendar to see whether it's a choice you're happy with.
- The final criteria is does the calendar have a nice image for my birthday month!
- Are any of you producing your own calendars this year?
- Do you have any tips to share with others who might be thinking about doing this in future?
I can see why you would want to look at Klimt every day, Katherine but I am amazed that you can live without a diary. Where do you write the bits that won't fit in the little square your calendar provides for each day?
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing much that won't go on the calendars I get. I always get one which has one page for the image and one page for the calendar and I find there's lots of space for details! I couldn't cope with a smaller calendar and less space though.
ReplyDeleteI do the reminders to "get off butt and go somewhere" on the computer calendar.
I forgot my kitchen calendar for next year - now added.
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the ones where the image is on the same page as the notes - and that's fine where you just need one line prompts. I think this is the sort Robyn was referring to - but this 12 page type doesn't have the space I require in the study. I've added to the notes to make this clearer re buying calendars online.
I actually was tempted the other week by that railway poster, I love those images! But I don't really use a big wall calendar (we have a 3-person one in our house to write down commitments, and I use a pocket diary for my art appointments).
ReplyDeleteAnd since you asked, I've made a calendar this year! Was prompted to try it by an illustrator friend. And yes, it's a "mini" I guess. Oops! I'll add that word to my descriptions. :) My top tip is actually for selling it - try a pre-order special (I did 1/3rd off) for your mailing list or social media followers. I actually covered the cost of printing with pre-sales. http://www.etsy.com/listing/83776404/2012-wall-calendar-fine-art-calendar
Many thanks for the tip Tina
ReplyDeleteAnybody else with any more?
Feel free to leave a link to your calendar if you've got a decent useful tip!
I just bought a beautiful calendar from Tracy Hall
ReplyDeletehttp://watercolour-artist.blogspot.com/2011/10/2012-calendars-now-available.html . I usually look for anything with watercolours but there is rarely one with really top quality work available on the high street. Tracy's calendar features lovely farmhouse scenes - tea and cake, dogs by the fire, chickens in the yard - the sort of idyllic life I'd love to be living!
I look for quirky things, I find those mass produced 'famous name artist' calenders a bit boring. It seems to be the same few on a loop every year - I wouldn't mind if it was say, Edmund Dulac or Kay Nielson!