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Thursday, December 20, 2012

A delayed Who's made a mark this week?

At a time of gift-giving Lisa Call posted this quotation on Facebook this week - and I noticed it particularly because it is the celebration of the efforts of others which was the original driving force behind the Making A Mark Awards
"The finest gift you can give anyone is encouragement. Yet, almost no one gets the encouragement they need to grow into their full potential. If everyone received the encouragement they need to grow, the genius in most everyone would blossom and the world would produce abundance beyond our wildest dreams."
Sidney Madwed
There's still time to nominate art blogs and artists for the Making A Mark Awards.  You can see which topics are covered by which post at the top of the column on the right hand side.  I explained how the awards work in Best Pictures and Best Art Blogs 2012 - a review

However - here are some quick links for NOMINATIONS
Also it gets a bit busy in December with preparations for Christmas and getting the Making A Mark Awards underway!  So this is a delayed Who's made a Mark - and it will also be the last one until early-mid January as I'll be taking a few days off to in the early New Year.

Skaters at the Ice Rink and the Natural History Museum
Urban Sketchers 3rd Sketchcrawl December 2012
© Katherine Tyrrell

Artists and Art Blogs

Yesterday RIP - artists who died in 2012 reviewed artists and those associated with art who died in 2012.  They include somebody who got me back into art after more than a decade of doing nothing.

Botanical Art
Drawing
Painting
The restoration will be long and difficult, not least because Rothko often used unusual materials, including eggs and glue, to create his works.
  • The Year of the Boat is fascinating - 'it shows you the work of artist Rob Pointon produced whilst living on board a narrowboat and travelling the UK.  He seems to find some unusual vantage points
  • It's always good to see when an artist creates art about something they feel strongly about. In this instance it's Artist and canoeist Lindsay Olson (Non-Linear Arts) whose creativity stems back to her canoeing in Cook County and developing an interest in urban waste water.  She's recently been getting press coverage for her task of creating wastewater-based art. Her kickstarter project is called Manufactured River - see Wastewater enthusiast makes an impression with art.  
  • I did a double take when I looked at Strung Out by Jeanette Jobson on Illustrated Life and thought it was a classic washing drying in the wind painting - but it's not!
  • Jana Bouc (Jana's Journalpainted 12 Things on 12-12-12 at 12:12 - which was rather neat!
Pastels and Pencils
Sculpture
  • The furore caused by my local council trying to sell a Henry Moore statue which was gifted to the people of London - and originally located on a housing estate in Bethnal Green - continues.  Nearly 3,000 people have signed a petition to stop the sale and a number of prominent people spoke out against it. According to the Museums Association a Legal challenge threatens sale of Moore sculpture which may yet see the statue both return to London from the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and be on view for the public to see. The Minister has also stepped in and said the legal ownership must be resolved before it is sold.  I don't think he needs to worry on that score as the auction houses won't touch it without proper paperwork which establishes ownership.
Who painted this?
  • "Who painted this #7 - was indeed Leonardo da Vinci's Study of a Woman's Hands - part of the Royal Collection.  Masses of you recognised it as being a drawing by Leonard da Vinci - so I've set you a much harder one for Who painted this? #8
  • The Art Institute of Chicago is running a project called "Unwrap a Masterpiece on Facebook - it's much more obscure and much easier than my challenge - these are the rules! See https://www.facebook.com/artic
Art Business & Marketing

Art Fairs
Branding
At some level he realised that merely being a prodigiously talented painter was not enough. At first, it was his art that fascinated the public, but later his wealth (his brand value) became the fascinator itself. Cleverly, he dumped his given-name of Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso. He became simply “Picasso”, a brilliant bit of brand management.
Copyright
Galleries
  • CultureGrrl sums up the current situation re Gagosian following the defection of Damien HirstGagosian Commotion: Cracks in the ÜberDealer’s Fortress?  It reproduces an email which is so grossly offensive I can't imagine any seller wanting to do business with him in future.  She contrasts his habits with those of Leo Castelli, known as the artist's dealer.
Art Collectors
Art Competitions
  • This is my annual post about the BP Portrait Award 2013: Call for Entries. This year the first prize has been increased to £30,000. The Second Prize winner will receive £10,000 and the BP Young Artist Award winner £7,000.  Changes have also been made to arrangements for getting work to London and there will be no organised regional collections.
  • I'm sure all of you have had those emails which invite you to become part of a publication which you've never heard of.  By and large they are mostly spammy and/or aspirational stuff by entrepreneurial individuals.  However Thames and Hudson is a reputable publisher in the UK and one which has a good range of art books in its portfolio.  Hence why it might be worth taking a look at their art competition which aims to find 100 Painters of Tomorrow.  You can find out more information from this download on their website 100paintersoftomorrow.com when it launches on 15 January 2013. Plus there's a Facebook page | Twitter. Closing date for applications  will be 15 March 2013
Art Education

Tips and techniques
Art Books and Magazines
Art Exhibitions

UK - Major Galleries
Sketch of The Royal Institute of Oil Painters' Art Event Evening at the Mall Galleries
17th December 2012

pen and ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine Sketchbook, 11" x 16"
© Katherine Tyrrell
UK - Art Societies
North America
Art Bloggers
  • Robyn Sinclair (Have Dogs, Will Travel) is having joint exhibition with Peter Bartlett, Rebecca Ghezzi at Bastiano Contrario Restaurant-Gallery in Vallone, Cortona. It opened on 9th December and is up for three months.
Artist Studios
Techies
  • There's been a major faux pas by Instagram this week.  Amid a lot of bickering between Instagram and Twitter, Instagram announced changes to its terms of service which clearly suggested that they would be able to sell people's photos for adverts - see Instagram wants right to sell photos. Big mistake - people started to kick up a fuss and/or leave in droves.  Instagram is now trying to find a way back - but will have damaged its brand reputation forever.  They've now reverted to the old terms - but some of those who dumped Instagram - like National Geographic, have not yet gone back.
  • Google's Webmaster Central blog this week identified new tools and a small list of tips & tricks for those wanting to verify their website with Google - see Webmaster Tools verification strategies
  • Mashable provides a guide to Facebook Rolls Out Privacy Shortcuts in Plain English
and finally......

Wishing you all a good and safe journey if you're travelling to be with friends or family over the Christmas festive season.  Mind the ice and don't drive through those fords!  (It's raining again in the UK!)

Ai Weiwei's Christmas screensaver: let his Door Gods protect your home
click the link to read the explanation and the comments
The Guardian has very kindly arranged Artists' Christmas screensavers 2012 - here's links to three:

Please note subscriptions only become live after you have verified the link in the email you will receive

8 comments:

  1. Katherine, I always love visiting your blog. It presents so much of interest to me. I hope you have a fabulous Christmas and I am sure you will enjoy your blogging break.

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  2. There's a lot to come before then. That's why i need a break afterwards!

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  3. thanks for another fantastic post - enjoy the holidays!! :)

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  4. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

    Hope to meet you on the 19th, assuming London has a SketchCrawl :)

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  5. Have a great Christmas Katherine, thank you for your brilliant blog this year!

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  6. Thanks for the mention of my unique washing line :)

    Have a wonderful Christmas and thanks for all you do.

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  7. Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your sketches in this post. Your style is so unique--instantly recognized as yours. Their is such warmth towards people that shows in your drawings. Also, glad you liked my 12-12-12 piece. I was pleasantly surprised to see it noted here. Thanks for the many ways your wonderful blog contributes to my art/life.
    Jana

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  8. Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your sketches in this post. Your style is so unique--instantly recognized as yours. Their is such warmth towards people that shows in your drawings. Also, glad you liked my 12-12-12 piece. I was pleasantly surprised to see it noted here. Thanks for the many ways your wonderful blog contributes to my art/life.

    (and sorry for double posting if that happens, but Blogger just doesn't seem to let me leave a comment using Open ID or WordPressID.)
    Jana

    ReplyDelete

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