Commission an artist: 'Home is where the Art Is' (Series 2: Episodes 5-10)

I've now watched the entire second series of Home is where the Art is on BBC1 - and I have to say I'm impressed - and will comment further in a future post (see below)

part of the mosaic mural created and customised by Jim Anderson for the clients in Episode 10

The episodes in Series 2 are 

• all available to view for a year on BBC iPlayer and 
• can be seen on BBC iPlayer's "Home is where the art is" website page. Just click the link to view the programme (if you can view the BBC).

Today's post:

• covers the second week and the artists in Episodes 5-10 (following on from last post Home Is Where The Art Is (Series 2)  
• identifies both the commission brief and budget
• lists where you can see their artwork and contact them:
• Links to the artist's website is embedded in their name 
• Links to a max of three social media sites are then listed below the name (Note: I only ever list Facebook Pages as accounts are personal sites - not for business)
• those with asterisks were commissioned to make an artwork
• plus images from their social media which 
• indicates something of the programme, 
• enables you to see the artwork 
• and a lot more of their work
• read what people thought of their time in the show and what they produced - if they were selected for the final two asked to produce a commissioned artwork.
• and THE AFTERMATH of appearing on the programme! ;) 

Tomorrow's post will do the same thing and cover the third week and Episodes 6-15. 

It will be followed by a further post this week in which I'll

• highlight my conclusions about the series as a whole
• identify some TIPS for those wanting to apply for the next series (which I'm absolutely 100% sure will be commissioned)

Episode 5 (Budget £250 - £1,000)

Commission: a buyer who was born on the weekend of the moon landings wants to mark her 50th year with something out of this world.

The artists are:

• Jason Heppenstall * (scrap metal artist)
• https://www.facebook.com/HeppoArt
• https://www.instagram.com/heppoart/
• Cathy Needham * (Textile artist)
• https://www.facebook.com/cathyneedhamtextileartist/
• https://www.instagram.com/cathyneedhamtextileartist/
• Paresh Nrshinga (abstract artist)

One of the most interesting pieces of artwork I've ever seen!



....and another great end for a piece of very interesting textile artwork!

Episode 6 (Budget: upto £1,000)

Commission Brief: The buyers want to celebrate the day their lives changed forever, ten years ago, when they won the National Lottery (£12.4 million!)

The artists are:

• Anna Dora (Icelandic abstract artist)
• https://www.facebook.com/Artbyannadora/
• https://twitter.com/annadoraart
• Otis Griffith * (self-taught metal sculptor)
• Allister Malcolm * (contemporary glass artist - molten glass specialist)
• https://www.facebook.com/allistermalcolmglass/
• https://twitter.com/allistermalcolm

Oddly nobody highlighted the artwork made - although both were impressive in different ways!

Otis Griffith with his metal sculpture

Episode 7 (Budget upto £1,500)

Commission Brief: the buyers want something uplifting for their home after a recent cancer diagnosis.

The artists are:

• Annette Jackson * (stained-glass designer - using handblown glass)
• https://www.facebook.com/enchantedlightstainedglass/
• https://www.instagram.com/enchantedlightuk/
• Mary Price * (intuitive painter)
• blog https://artistintheshed.com/blog/
• https://www.facebook.com/artistintheshed/
• Ed Swarez (abstract artist) - appeared in Series 1 but did not make it to the final two - which happened again this time.

Stained glass for a clerestory light above a door by Annette Jackson

This was one programme where I came away thinking the winner is going to be getting a lot of commissions. Turns out I was right!

Episode 8 (Budget: upto £800)

Commission Brief: something to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary

The artists are:

• Rob Edmondson * (painter)
• https://www.facebook.com/RobEdmondsonArt/
• blog https://lancashirelandscapeart.co.uk/exhibitions/tv-debut/ - about his experience on the programme (note he was approached to be on the programme)
• Pratima Kramer (ceramicist)
• https://www.facebook.com/pratimakramerart/
• https://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/directory/pratima-kramer
• James Sutton * (sculptor)
• https://www.facebook.com/James.Sutton.Sculpture/
• https://www.instagram.com/suttonsculpture/

Not an untypical response from artists who made great and unusual work



Even the artist who didn't make the final cut has had lots of interest in her artwork and sales!

Episode 9 (Budget £1,000)

Commission Brief:  a young couple from Derby would like something to celebrate their upcoming wedding.

The artists are:

• Ollie Holman (sculptor - specialising in metal fabrication) 
• https://www.facebook.com/OllieHolmanDesign/
• https://www.instagram.com/ollieholmandesign/
• Louise O’Hara  (Mixed media painter) 
• Samantha Yates  (stained-glass designer) 
• https://www.facebook.com/lilrabbitfoot/
• https://www.instagram.com/samanthalisayates/

Ollie Hollins talking about how he created his sculpture for a couple who are about to be married

Episode 10 (Budget £700)

Commission Brief: The buyer is looking for a gift for her husband as a thank you for all he does for the family and to mark his long service to charity work.

The artists are:

• Jim Anderson * (mosaic maker)
• Lucy Cortese * (stone carver / sculptor)
• https://www.facebook.com/LucyCorteseArtistandStoneCarver/
• https://www.instagram.com/lucycorteseartandstone/
• Jasmin Issaka (psychedelic Illustrator)
• https://www.facebook.com/JasminIssaka/

This mosaic mural - created by Jim Anderson - was quite possibly one of the most customised pieces in the series to this point. I suspect if he'd' been on social media we'd have seen much evidence of people wanting one just like it for their family. Do take a look at his website!

Jim Anderson with part of the circular mosaic created for his clients

More posts about "Home Is Where The Art Is"

Series 2

• Home Is Where The Art Is (Series 2) - commentary on how it has changed and the first four episodes
• Home is Where the Art is: Series 2 - Call for Artists

Series 1

Some of you may recall my previous posts on the first series including

• Home Is Where the Art Is - needs a makeover! (9th April 2019) in which I highlighted
• my concern about the absence of any name credit in text in the programme
• explain why it should be mandatory that all participants who are professional artists get a named credit.
• Commission an artist: 'Home is where the Art Is' (Episodes 1-5) (14th April 2019) - my attempt to redress the balance on credits
• Commission an artist: 'Home is where the Art Is' (Episodes 6-10) (as above) (22nd April 2019)
• Commission an artist: 'Home is where the Art Is' (Episodes 11-15) (29th April 2019) - this includes my overall conclusions about the show

Home Is Where The Art Is (Series 2)

This week the second series of Home is Where the Art is started up in the afternoons on BBC1.

Nick Knowles returns with this inspiring series that challenges talented artists to make something amazing for the homes of people they've never met.

Three artists must turn detective and try to work out the buyer’s taste by snooping around their house - but when the two sides finally do meet, who will deliver best on the brief and win the coveted commission?

I was VERY critical of a number of aspects of the last series. So much so that my very post about it was titled Home Is Where the Art Is - needs a makeover!

So when I realised that the second series was being broadcast I was intrigued to see if they'd tackled any of the issues I'd raised in my blog posts (which they could hardly miss since there on the front page of Google just under the listing for the programme!

Episode Guide in the Radio Times online - today, tomorrow, Friday and Monday

What's changed

A number of aspects of the programme have changed - and I'll highlight them in the order I noticed them

• They've gone from urban industrial warehouse to urban chic gallery setting!  But the presenter and format has very much stayed the same!
• The locations for the clients seem to be more diverse. This is on the basis of three programmes which have had homes in Shropshire, Whitstable in Kent and the Wirral (across the Mersey from Liverpool). Last time it was VERY much oriented to northern locations - presumably because the company making the programme were working with commissioning executives based at the BBC Media City in Salford. (Amazing what moving the base of a company does for a wider perspective on the UK!)
• The location of the homes of the artists are also more diverse. Last time they were typically around and about the area where the client lived. I think we're going to get the length and breadth of the UK this time around
• The artists are very much professionals not amateurs - although, for a number, art is a second career.  Last time the call for entries for Series 1 was asking for amateurs - and a lot of amateurs applied - with some in the distinctly "hobby artist" category.  However a lot of professional artists who saw the call for entries realised what a great opportunity it was to market who they are, what they do and what their art looks like - and so they applied too! This time around the marketing asked 

Are you a talented passionate artist?

• The artists get PROPERLY NAMED 
• in the credits at the end of the programme
• in the credits on the BBC website page for their episode

I claim a BIG victory!

I made a VERY big thing about the lack of credits in the last series for some very good reasons which I explained in the Call for Entries for this series

For all those saying that the names are said in the programme so why do they need the credits? 

Well a number of reasons:

• to respect the work of professionals - just as the credits at the end of the programme respect the work of the people behind the scenes who make the programme

• two of the three are unpaid - and providing a named credit is fair exchange for the many hours given for free to make content for the BBC. Otherwise it's the equivalent of working for free for the exposure - but without the exposure in terms of a name to enable people to find you!

• the names might be said - but nobody spells them out. In the first week there are THREE artists where I had to keep replaying the segment to listen to the names again and again - and even then finally identified them using information from elsewhere in the programme (eg "Gallery Windermere paintings cattle" got one of them).

• the BBC is hypocritical and ignores its own rules when it suits it - such as making sure it gets great guests on the Graham Norton show - because they are only there to promote their latest whatever - and always do!

So just as those in The Arts and Crafts House got named after I blogged about the disgusting lack of named credits (ditto Portrait/Landscape Artist of the Year) - this time the artists in Series 2 of Home is where the Art is are also getting their proper name credits.

Which is how I know that the artists in the three episodes I've watched so far are as listed below. I found their websites - they're not listed on the BBC! That would be asking too much!

LINKS TO WEBSITES are embedded in their names

To be honest, the calibre of the artist's website says a lot about the calibre of the artist - which is as it should be. (With the notable exception of the artist for whom I'm guessing websites present a major challenge)  Those pondering on whether there might be a call for entries for a third series might want to have a think about that.

BBC remuneration of artists in TV series under scrutiny

Regular readers of this blog will know I've been banging on about the total disrespect shown for artists appearing in television series - particularly on the BBC and Sky Arts - for some time.

I am becoming increasingly annoyed by the television programmes which use professional people as their "reality stars" and yet fail to give them any credit and/or pay them. Home is Where the Art is: Series 2 - Call for Artists

My one woman campaign seems to have generated some change - and benefits - for artists appearing on television

....and now a reporter from a major broadsheet newspaper is also interested - in the remuneration of artists who appear in a BBC series!

BBC Broadcasting House (headquarters) in London W1

Since I started highlighting the issue - in particular the total lack of named credits for artists appearing in programmes - we've seen some changes.

Series 5 of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2019

Series 5 of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 (initially aired on Sky and subsequently on Channel 4) had all the names of all the artists participating in each Heat/Episode on the production company's website before the series finished - see Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 - Find out more about this series artists (see an example for four of the artists in Episode 1 below). 

The website profile provided links to both their social media sites and their website - and I sometimes wonder whether all my hard work looking for all the names and those links paid off for somebody putting those profiles together! ;) It certainly made it a lot easier in relation to spelling names correctly as the series progressed!

Note the links to the artist's website and social media accounts on these new artists' profiles
- and why you need a website before going on TV!

I'm claiming this as a win because so far as I am aware nothing of this sort had ever been done before I started to comment on the lack of named credits for the artists participating in the programme. Plus I'm pretty sure it wasn't there at the beginning of the series. So maybe somebody read my comments? ;)

We just need to get the production company commissioned by Sky Arts to include the names of ALL the artists in the end credits of every "Artist of the Year" programme - whether Portrait or Landscape - and my work will be done! :)

The Victorian House of Arts and Crafts

My second success was "The Victorian House of Arts and Crafts".  

As I indicated in The Victorian House of Arts and Crafts - Episode 1 and The Artisans without a credit on Arts and Crafts House (which generated a HUGE number of visits to my blog)

I am getting very tired of the people who genuinely make the programme i.e. the people making things whether it's paintings or crafts - having their names left out of the press releases, the credits at the end of the programme and in general receiving very little formal recognition. 

I can only assume one of two things

• EITHER the union for people who appear on television must have an absolute stranglehold on the bosses and refuse to allow the participants to enjoy the same benefits as those who hold union cards

• OR the bosses buying and/or making the programme are not prepared to pay the going rate for others who would normally appear on such programmes. I gather from various people that the amounts they get paid are nominal in the extreme! To me this is simply unacceptable.

It's treating artists and craftspeople as commodities and not as people or professionals. Worse still, it treats them as anonymous nonentities who don't deserve a named credit when the credits roll at the end. Every other professional working on the programme is listed EXCEPT FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE MAKING THINGS ON THE PROGRAMME! 

What happened next!

Some of the artists who appeared on the programme wrote to me after that blog post and asked if they could quote my blog post. They then went to the production company who made the programme and told them they were not satisfied about the lack of named credits on the end credits - and showed them what I had said.  The programme makers then approached the BBC to make a change - and by the next week their names were all on the end credits of Episode 2!

[ UPDATE: see also my other posts. I'm very pleased to tell you that the artisans wrote to the producers of the programme about the lack of name credit - quoting my blog post - and by the second episode, they'd got their name credit at the end of the programme!
The Artisans without a credit on Arts and Crafts House The Artisans #2 - Stephen Winstanley, Niamh Wimperis and Rod Hughes ]

So it's not as if the BBC is wholly averse to end credits for arts and crafts people!

Home Is Where The Art Is

The MAJOR exception for me was "Home Is Where The Art Is" - the first series of which aired in the Spring of this year.

NEW PAGE: Art on Television

I very much enjoy reviewing the episodes of the various art competitions on UK television and seem to have accumulated rather a lot of posts on the topic.

So much so I've decided to create a brand new page on my blog which is purely about my "Art on Television" blog posts.  It can be accessed

• via the menu tabs at the top of the page if viewed on a desktop or tablet
• in the hamburger menu if viewed on a smartphone

The "Art on Television" Page includes 

• all the series I've reviewed of programmes by both Sky Arts and the BBC - which are listed below. 
• Every blog post I've written is also listed on the new page

Sky Arts - Artist of the Year

• Portrait Artist of the Year 2020 - which is in the can but won't be broadcast until 2020
• Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 - which aired earlier this year on Sky and is currently being repeated on Channel 4 on Saturday evenings at 5pm.
• Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 - which has just finished filming the semi-finals and will be broadcast in the Autumn. The really big (this is a pun!) question was always whether a very pregnant Kate Bryan would be there all the way until the end. If you go to Kate Bryan's Instagram account you can find out what happened!

a mashup on Instagram of pics tagged #landscapeartistofthe year

• Portrait Artist of the Year 2018 - the first series I watched via the NOW TV app
• Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 - which I enjoyed enormously and got to know a number of the artists as a result!

BBC - programmes involving artists and artisans

The Big Painting Challenge

• BBC Celebrity Painting Challenge - which was the format I'd been advocating for some time - but sadly with no 'normal' people involved
• BBC: The Big Painting Challenge 2018 (Series 3)
• BBC: The Big Painting Challenge 2017 (Series 2)
• BBC: The Big Painting Challenge 2015 (Series 1)

BBC: The Arts and Crafts House (2018)
BBC: Home is Where the Art is (Series 2)
BBC: Home is Where the Art is (Series 1)

Home Is Where the Art Is - needs a makeover!

Yet another programme from the BBC about art and crafts - this one is called (groan!) Home Is Where the Art Is.

The Title Image for the Programme

This one's a bit different - because it's being broadcast every day for a fortnight - so I thought I'd give you

• the idea behind the programme
• a rundown of the basics of how each episode works 
• the synopsis for each episode.
• what's wrong with the process and programme - after watching two episodes

However...

YET AGAIN - the BBC is NOT providing credits that include the names of the artists participating/working in the show.  Every other professional - but not the artists!

So I'm including the names of the artists in Episodes 1 and 2 under the synopses for those episodes below

Home Is Where The Art Is

The programme was commissioned by Dan McGolpin, Controller of BBC Programming and Daytime (salary £203,000) AS part of the factual and factual entertainment shows for BBC One Daytime. I shall be focusing some more on the word "FACTUAL" later.

You can tweet him your thoughts about the show on @dnmcg!  Can I suggest something like

"Why do you get paid £200,000 of taxpayer's cash to do your job and yet you won't give a named credit to artists appearing in 'Home Is Where the Art Is'"

Here's the one paragraph synopsis

In Home Is Where the Art Is, presented by Nick Knowles, amateur artists compete to win a special new commission for one paying homeowner. Three artists, whose skills range from everything from painting, metal work and embroidery to woodcarving and ceramics will get to snoop around a Mystery Buyers’ home before pitching their ideas. But which one will hit the brief and bag the commission?

Interestingly the emphasis in the synopsis is on AMATEUR artists. I don't remember that being in the brief when they were seeing artists for the programme - see my blog post TWO NEW BBC Art Shows

This was the advert for artists - no mention of amateur artists!

This was the advert for those commissioning. Note the artists are now NOT "amateurs" - but rather...

some of the UK's finest artists, from painters to potters, carvers to crafters, screen printers to street artists

Seems to me we might be in the realms of the Advertising Standards Authority's Non-Broadcast Code for adverts in newspapers or journals.

I'm just wondering how they validated their claims to the effect that these are "some of the finest"?  Would their defence be that this was an obvious piece of "puffery" I wonder?  No offence to the artists - I'm not disputing many are professional and produce excellent work - it's just I'm wondering why they should be described as finest. It just occurs that somebody thought this a logical extension of 'fine art'!

To me, it's very clear from the advert and research for this blog post (eg I talked to artists who had talked to the BBC about participating in the programme) that

• the BBC had no professional advice about commissioning art
• the BBC have a gameshow mindset.  A number of people were very interested in how competitive the artists were and those who said 'not in the slightest' did not get on the show.
• at the outset had done inadequate research into the process of commissioning artwork and typical budgets.  

It's also very clear they had to change their mind about budgets as they progressed (see Episode synopsis below as to the fact they crept upto £1,000 from the £500 mentioned in the advert)

It reminds me very much of crafts on the cheap i.e. the era of BBC when crafts were what you could make from two toilet rolls and some 'sticky back plastic'!

Basic Principles of how it works

At the end of this blog post is an extract from the official BBC letter and description to artists of how the show works.

In summary

• 'Somebody" responded to the commission adverts and has let the BBC know they want to commission an artwork - and have a set budget (it would appear this is non-negotiable)
• BBC select three artists (painters, illustrators, pet portrait artists, textile artists, ceramicists, wood sculptors, metal sculptors) to come up with ideas for a pitch
• Three artists then get to do a 'free' pitch for work
• first they're allowed to snoop around the empty home to pick up on their tastes and preferences
• then go away and work out what might work
• present their pitch at their first meeting with the clients
• Two artists are chosen to create a final artwork.
• The Clients choose one artist - who gets paid the commission sum for the work (as opposed to what they'd normally charge for that amount of time, effort, expertise and materials)
• The other artist is refunded the cost of materials.

So basically "Through the Keyhole" meets "DIY SOS" (remember the instant artwork for people who get a makeover for their homes after a tragedy in their lives) to provide competition for "Money for Nothing"!

I'm going to watch it - but I'm not overly optimistic I'll like it.  

• The idea behind it - of revealing the scope for commissioning local artists to produce bespoke art is an excellent one. Unfortunately the game show tendency then takes over.
• This is emphatically art for entertainment NOT education. I like the creativity aspects. I hate the game show elements.
• After two episodes it's clear that on the whole it's also very far from factual - in terms of pricing.
• Or as one artist who applied - and then rejected their programme format put it

Watch this for entertainment, sure, but please honour and respect the skill, training, and talent that genuine artists and makers put into their work - and value it accordingly

BELOW are the synopses for each episode re the commission and those making art in each episode.  The episodes are being broadcast in the afternoon at 3.45pm on BBC and then repeated the next day on BBC2 at 7.15pm