She's an Easter lamb (literally) being born at 21.20 on Easter Sunday in the Netherlands.
Her breed is a very old and rare Dutch Native Sheep Breed called 'Drenthen Moor Sheep' and her colour type is known as 'spotted blue fox'.
You can read more about Lamb #12 MakingAMark on Titia Geertman's website about her Lambing Season 2013.
I have to say I've known that a lamb might possibly be named after my online name for a while - but I've still got a big beaming smile all over my face as I type!
Nothing to do with art I know - but I'd wanted a lamb for the feature pic for this post but hadn't quite reckoned on it being one called MakingAMark!!
Variations on a theme of "Who's made a mark this week?"
I've been experimenting during March with different ways of doing a "round-up" post on Sunday. Thanks for all your feedback which was very helpful. I'll probably continue to experiment for a bit until I find the right balance.
So we had
- 10 things about art this week #1 - which was promising BUT supposed to be short! Hah! FAILED! I like the idea but need to work on the execution!
- Last Sunday, I wrote the first of a NEW series of monthly posts highlighting Art Exhibitions in London: March - May 2013. If you know someone coming to London you might want to share it with them. I think this is a 'keeper' as a "once a month" post - but in order to reduce the effort I think I may well in future create a page and then update this as exhibitions change - with the post being a one liner with some highlights of exhibitions to watch out for.
Artists and Art Blogs
Drawing and sketching
- Introducing The Pencil Art Society is my post about a major development in terms of art societies for pencil artists which is The Pencil Art Society.
- The Society were also pretty pleased with my review - see "We've made a mark!".
- Plus How we chose the official pencil media for the PAS
- More on the interviews associated with Danny Gregory's new book - and your chance to see real live talking sketchers!
- This is Roz Stendahl (Roz Wound Up) on her Video Chat with Danny Gregory and this is Danny on A Conversation with Roz Stendahl from an Illustrated Journey and this is the video
- More videos include: Nina Johansson, Tommy Kane, Lapin and Liz Steel (who I've already featured) as well as other people who I don't know.
Other posts or announcements related to drawing and sketching include:
- I should have five sketches of gardens in this book Sketch Your World: Essential Techniques for Drawing on Location by James Hobbs (Hobbs Blog) which is due to publish in January 2014. Then there's the other sketches in another book........ (of which more at a later date)
- Some moments that I've had is Andrea Joseph's account of the kit she took with her on a mini-holiday. I always love looking at other people's drawing and sketching kits!
- an article by Kevin McPherson - Drawing: The Foundational Vocabulary to Paint an Idea
- Plus Roz again on the topic of Some Quick Sketches—Let the TV Keep Running!
Painting
- Do NOT read the blog of Haidee-Jo Summers unless you're prepared to feel you're not quite hitting the mark when it comes to packing in the painting - including painting in Morocco under an umbrella!
- The artists chosen for Splash 15 have been announced
- Banksy does the Pope - or does he? Urbi et Orbi from Shoreditch – The Pope vs Banksy
Somebody has created a Facebook Page for all the BP Portrait Award refusals. There's some very salutary advice from David Eichenberg whose work was not selected this year and it can be found at 28 March.
"The beauty of the BP Award is not the the awards IMO. It is the close network that you become part of once you are in the show. I have made a lot of friends both from within the show as well as from association with the show. It is important that everyone also remember to not base what you create around the show. Meaning do not wait for this show to be your end all. Never try to guess what the jurors are looking for either. Get out their and paint paint paint and enter and compete as much as possible. I would also like to share a really important bit of advice. If you are entering shows like the BP Award make sure you have some good representation or it will all be for naught. Who knows you might just get in and win an award or win the whole thing. Winning the whole thing sounds good right? Although if you do not have the reps or right people to capitalize on it, ouch!!!
Sculpture / Installation / Conceptual art
- Here's another animal - but this time it's a sculpture! The White Horse by Mark Wallinger is a scaled-down version of a proposed 50m-high (164ft) sculpture he plans to build for the Ebssfleet Landmark Project in Kent which would be twice the height of the Antony Gormley's Angel of the North. This smaller version has been commissioned by the British Council Collection, and will be looking down The Mall for the next two years.
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| "The White Horse of Whitehall" according to some of the newspapers life-sized marble and resin sculpture of a horse by Mark Wallinger Located outside the British Council and next to Admiralty Arch. |
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| My very first Labyrinth - #63 at Embankment Tube |
- More Mark Wallinger! This is my post about Labyrinth - Art on the Underground by Mark Wallinger - his Labyrinth series of graphic labyrinths in vitreous enamel being 'hung' at 270 tube stations in London to mark the 150th anniversary of the London Undergound. This is the Evening Standard article on the same topic Where's Wallinger? Turner Prize artist hides a labyrinth of paintings underground
- The Art Newspaper has reprinted a 1993 interview with Marcel Duchamp aka R.Mutt
We have a bit of a backlog of posts for "Who painted this?" so I've posted them in the order they were published
Artists Communicating (on Radio, Television and Video)
Keep an eye on my Facebook Page for links to good pieces about artists on radio (usually Blog Talk Radio), television (usually BBC iPlayer) or video. These were recent highlights
BBC iPlayer
- Norman Ackroyd on iPlayer - The documentary What Do Artists Do All Day?: Norman Ackroyd was absolutely wonderful - and an awful lot of people agreed with me if the comments on the post on my Facebook page are anything to go by.
- The Pre-Raphaelites: Episode 3 How the Pre-Raphaelites outgrew the avant-garde and began to embrace fame and fortune.
Blogtalkradio
- ArtistMentorsOnline have an AMO Chat slot on Blogtalkradio and have just celebrated their first birthyday. I have to confess I haven't heard of some of the people listed for interviews - but had heard of others such as
Happy Birthday AMO Art Chat! Our first show in March of 2012 we had 716 listeners. In a year's time we grew to average over 8300 listeners a show. Total number of listens to our show as of yesterday--101,015.
Art Education
- Jackie Simmonds has written an excellent post about Thumbnail Sketches - Why bother. Plus How to Use a Thumbnail Effectively by Karen Margulis about a Doug Dawson tip on how you USE thumbnail sketches
- Kevin McPherson (who wrote Fill Your Oil Paintings with Light & Color affiliate link included) has developed a new approach to marketing his workshops which I think is rather neat. He's doing
- a free paintout on June 22nd
- a free critique on June 29th
- both events top and tail a week long workshop in New Mexico with Kevin which is not free and is also aimed at those who would prefer to paint independently with demonstrations and critique available
- Luann Udell has done a series on Advice on Getting Advice for Fine Art Views
- Advice on Getting Advice Part 1 - contains three excellent pointers about people who give advice (which I would like to endorse!)
- Advice on Getting Advice Part 2 - three more pointers - again well worth reading and recommended for those seeking to develop their careers
- Advice on Getting Advice Part 3 - so much truth in this one!
- Advice on Getting Advice Part 4 - focuses on note-taking
- Advice on Getting Advice Part 5 - about the need to ask for advice early and to understand what is required to take effective action
- My post about pencil sharpeners and the fact that Derwent announces NEW helical pencil sharpeners
- Richard McKinley (Pastel Pointers) has written about five of the newer surfaces for painting with pastels - see Painting Surfaces for Pastel | The New Kids
- Winsor & Newton have a page on their website about Choosing the White that's right in Oils
- Art competitions in Australia are rather different to the UK. I really like the Archibald Prize - a major art competition for portraits of eminent Australians. You can read my posts about:
- the winner of the the Archibald Prize - Second Archibald Prize for Del Kathryn Barton. Plus my comments on some of the reasons I like their choice.
- Plus the selected artists 9and their websites) chosen as Finalists for The Archibald Prize 2013 + The Packing Room Prize
- Similar to the Archibald - but this time focused on the Australian landscape - this is my post about The Wynne Prize - Finalists 2013 + their websites
- Jerwood Open Forest is an art prize which provides a a call for bold, broad–thinking proposals that explore the potential of forests as sites for art.
Major Exhibitions in London
- I paid a quick visit to Lichenstein: A Retrospective at Tate Modern last week and this is my review Lichenstein at Tate Modern
- I reckon the Pompeii exhibition at the British Museum is going to be something of a blockbuster - see The Guardian's Life and Death: Pompeii and Herculaneum exhibition at the British Museum - video preview plus the BBC perspective - Pompeii exhibition is a critical hit. The Museum advises that booking is essential.
- Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration is at the White Cube South Galleries in Bermondsey until 21 April
- Tate Britain has a display about how Basic Design was taught in art schools
Major Exhibitions in the USA
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| Das große Rasenstück / The Large Piece of Turf (1503) by Albrecht Dürer Watercolour and body colour, heightened with white body colour Collection - Albertina in Vienna |
- “Albrecht Dürer: Master Drawings, Watercolors, and Prints From the Albertina" has opened at at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. It includes “Praying Hands,” and “The Great Piece of Turf” - and The Renaissance Followed Him North is the review by the New York Times
Albrecht Dürer had it all: the eye of a Raphael, the brains of a Leonardo, the looks of a cleaned-up Kurt Cobain. He produced the earliest known self-portrait drawing in European art when he was 13, and some of the first stand-alone landscapes.
- These are selected highlights from Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- The 16th Annual Exhibition of The Figure in American Art can be seen in New York until April 20th
- I particularly enjoyed the display wall of artwork by paintings by Leslie Worth OBE PPRWS RBA NEAC Hon.RI (1923-2009) during my visit to the Spring Exhibition of the Royal Watercolour Society this week. See Review: RWS Spring Exhibition 2013. The exhibition continues until 21 April at the Bankside Gallery.
- It was also good to see the watercolour paintings - see David Firmstone wins Turner Watercolour Award 2013 - this includes a video of him painting. Those who like to paint with brushes might like to take a peek at the video........
- The Mall Galleries has a preview of the artwork in the upcoming Annual Exhibition by the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour. The exhibition opens to the public on 5 April and continues until 18 April 2013 - 10:00 to 17:00 daily
- The Manchester Academy of Fine Arts is holding an exhibition which opens at the Portico Library & Gallery in Manchester on 4th April and continues until 30th April.
- This was my Review: Royal Society of British Artists - 296th Annual Exhibition
of 537 artworks - both paintings in all media and sculpture
- Bridget Hunter (Bridget Hunter's Paintings) had a very successful Open Studio - during the first ever Ayrshire Open Studios
- On 1 July 2013 the Metropolitan Museum of Art will open on Mondays and will be open seven days a week for the first time since 1971. To be honest I'm simply amazed that it has had the luxury of not opening seven days a week all this time!
Art History
Techies
- The Art Newspaper - How and why taste changes by David Ekserdjian, Professor of history of art and film at the University of Leicester. He asserts that while an artist’s popularity can wax and wane, there are very few genuine rediscoveries
- The Financial Times focuses this weekend on Houses Built for Art Collections - it puts a whole new spin on building an art studio in the garden......
Art Economy and Art Collectors
- These were the Top 10 Art Auction Prices in February according to artnet
- The Art Newspaper's article Nicole Klagsbrun to close gallery after 30 years in the business provides an interesting comment on on how the art world, art collectors and art dealers have changed
Opinion Poll
This month's Making A Mark opinion Poll has been about Which are the best artist-quality oil paints? I'll be reporting on the results next week.
- RIP Google Reader is Mashable's post about Google's decision to terminate Google Reader on 1st July 2013. Swiftly followed by Hey Google, We Still Love Reader. Interestingly although there were wails when the death knell sounded only 7k have signed the petition to save it - suggesting that people found other RSS readers maybe did the job better! I'm very happy with newsblur - but wish it had a search capacity!
- This is the ReplaceReader.com site which is where people are voting for where they're taking their feeds. Basically there are two feedreaders slogging it out - Feedly and Newsblur and everyone else is nowhere
- I've transferred to Newsblur - which works well apart from the lack of a search facility. I'm discovering which of you now have dead feeds for the first time!
- This is The Old Reader which will work as an alternative for some of those who like this sort of design - it's grown by a factor of 15!
- If you've got a shivering side column, try clicking either the "more" link or the "Home" link in the Blogger "Followers" widget as either tends to stop it. Personally I think it's a dastardly scheme by Google to get you to insert their new Google+ Followers widget instead!
- You can now take a photo of your sketch or artwork on your iPhone and mail it anywhere in the world as a postcard! See the Bypost app for more details
- Something is very wrong with Feedburner stats at the moment and I'm hoping it's not ultimately going to go the same way as Google Reader as many are predicting. I do wish Google would stop buying up firms and then killing them off!
and finally
This is the view you can get of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence on the Google Art project
This is the view you can get of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence on the Google Art project
Wonderful full post, Katherine. I really don't know how you manage it all, but your blog is an amazingly rich resource for anyone interested in art.
ReplyDeleteOn the Google reader question, I converted to Reeder a week or so ago and am quite enjoying using it. But may just test drive your recommendation as well.
And thank you for the reminder about the RWS exhibition. Now in my diary for next week.