Pastel Society of America: Call for Entries - 39th Annual Exhibition

The Pastel Society of America has called for entries for its 39th Annual Exhibition which is to be held at the National Arts Club in New York (6th September 2011 - 1st October 2011).  Over £25,000 in prizes will be awarded for selected work.

A primary mandate of the Pastel Society of America (PSA) is to provide a forum for the exhibition of works by the most accomplished of pastel artists in the U.S. and abroad. The Annual Open Juried Exhibition for Pastels Only is held during the month of September in the main gallery of The National Arts Club, a historic mansion located in the Gramercy Park area of Manhattan.

Accepted entries usually number 170 to 200 pastels out of more than 1,000 entries.

This is one exhibition I'd love to see - I very nearly made it one year but the timings didn't quite work out.

It's interesting to see yet another art society which has moved to all digital entry this year. Below are the details of how to enter.

Who can enter?

• This exhibition is open to all artists, members and non-members

Conditions of Entry

The Best New Art Books in February 2011

Here's the commentary from my update of my information site The Best New Art Books for new books publsihed in February 2011.

What a pity it doesn't have a "look inside" on Amazon
- it makes it impossible to tell whether it's any good

Commentary on the changes this month:

• Few new art books have managed to transition into a second month. Those that become top selling or top rated books frequently do this because of sales prior to publication and then sales following publication. It just goes to show you can't start the marketing too early.
• It's very odd how the flavour of new art books changes every single month. This month there are an incredible number of new books which are focused on artists, art and culture from the past. Possibly the post-Christmas period provides an opportunity for these books to surface rather than drowning in the more popular books which tend to be published in time for the run-up for Christmas.
• "Top" does NOT mean "best".  It's also apparent that a February 2011 publication date does not mean "new" either.   It's noticeable with one wildlife painting book this month that purchasers (book reviewers?) in January have been very annoyed by the repackaging of a painting book which dates back to 1997 - without any indication whatsoever that this is anything other than a new book.  I'm not entirely clear as to how people could have been leaving reviews in January for a book which was apparently not published until February.  However I've included it in the listing as an AWFUL WARNING. If I spot any more examples of this sort of marketing in future I shall start naming names on my blog! :) 

The one I'd probably end up looking at longest in a bookshop - pondering on use of the plastic - is  Powerful Watercolor Landscapes: Tools for Painting with Impact by Catherine Gill (http://www.catherinegill.com) and that's because, unlike the other book I'd be interested in (Judy Martin's Mastering Sketching: A Complete Course in 40 Lessons) it's got a "Look Inside" feature.

I also like Catherine Gill's paintings which I can see on her website!  I do like an artist and author with a website - I always feel much more comfortable about knowing what sort of book it's going to be :)

Check out the "Look Inside" option on Amazon
- particularly the Contents pages

Makingamark's Top Ten Art Books in February 2011

I've reviewed the best books relating to Fine Art in Februaty 2011 and revised and updated my information site Makingamark's Top 10 Fine Art Books

I've also identified the best new books published last month - and these are being listed in my new website The Best New Art Books (update to be published later today)

Major changes in book listings in February 2011

The major change I've noticed is the vast increase in the number of Kindle books online.  I mean VAST!

If the categories were confusing before - hence why I started my monthly exercise to identify the best books - the situation is getting ever more complicated.  The net effect is that this is going to have a significant knock-on effect for the book market and the financial health of book publishers.  I explain why below

Plus Amazon really needs to sort out how it categorises books!  At the moment Amazon mixes the different books into hardbacks, paperbacks and Kindle books - and then mixes them all up again.  That in principle is fine.  It's the basic grotty categorisation of books which is causing the problem.  The art categories are now completely cluttered with every new Kindle book which confuses "arts" for "art" or might have "art" as a keyword somewhere in its description even if it's a novel.

Can you tell the filter exercise was a tad tiresome this month?

The net effects of all of this are as follows:

• Kindle books - offered at much cheaper price - are swamping the best selling lists.  Since many of these books were published some time agoit's no longer a reflection of what is good and NEW
• people are going to need curated lists more and more if they're not going to miss gems lost in the silt of the Kindle outpourings

As a result I've decided to  EXCLUDE the Kindle editions having seen how the differential pricing can have a huge impact on results - otherwise the listing will be kindle dominated and “proper books” will come nowhere.

I'm in the process of creating a second Kindle list - which will also try and incorporate what's going on with Apple's ibooks.  Tricky - and not resolved as yet.

Art Supplies Around The World - Resources for Artists

A new resource - Art Supplies Around The World - Resources for Artists - for those who travel or who live outside the UK and USA.

If you're an artist and want art supplies while travelling - where should you go? Or you live outside the UK or USA - where are the best art shops?

If you want to know the answers to those questions, bookmark this site as I've started an inventory of links to websites and address and contact details for art suppliers recommended by me and others

For more information see Art supplies and art shops outside the UK and USA over on Making A Mark reviews

It's a wonderful excuse to show you my photos of art shops I've lingered in!

The pigment shop - Arcobaleno Pigmenti de Nube Massimo, Venice
photo copyright Katherine Tyrrell - all rights reserved

Do let me know what your personal recommendations are.

POLL: How much do you spend on your art habit annually?

This month the Making A Mark Poll is asking you to 'fess up!!!

How much do you spend on art materials, art equipment and technology to support your art habit in a year?

I'm going to do two polls - one in US dollars and one in £sterling - see right hand column.  This time I'm going to keep the sums quoted broadly equivalent ;)

I realise there are many readers of this blog around the world who don't use either of these currencies but if you wouldn't mind translating it into one or the other and then answering the relevant poll that would be great.  Here's a link to an excellent currency translator. 

I'm also going to ask you whether you offset your expenditure against tax.

I do appreciate this is hugely simplistic.  If anybody is interested in a more detailed survey please leave a comment and I'll take soundings from you as to what you'd like to see.

You can find the polls in the right hand column - just above the grid of faces of people who follows this blog