17th April 2011 - Who's made a mark this week?

I've been away for a week visiting gardens and pruning and planting and haven't had access to the Internet for nearly a week - which has been rather nice! :)  Hence the post below is a bit lop-sided and partial compared to normal.  I'm not sure how this week is going to pan out either as "he who must not be bored while I sketch" is on holiday and we should be out and about this next week.

In the meantime - here's one sketch I did last week which will be posted soon on my sketchbook blog.

Spring Garden (Cosmo meets the white cat)
11" x 16", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Folio Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrell

Art Blogs

I had one of those horrible experiences of loading an image (not mine!) and corrupting the post and I lost a load of stuff for this section so I'm not sure I've remembered everything!

Tyler Green (Modern Art Notes) recently highlighted Five art-related websites you could be enjoying


Drawing and Sketching

• These are the results of the World Wide SketchCrawl 31 – Japan earthquake & tsunami Emergency Benefit
• Enrique Flores wrote to tell me about a new new collective blog about sketchbooks called cuardernistas started by a group of friends.  It has no text (almost) so it´s non-spanish-speaker friendly!
  
• A number of sketches from me starting with two sketches of very different views of people in the Mall Galleries:
• The Private View (199th RI Exhibition) 
• Hesketh Hubbard Setting Up
• followed by the postcard from my walk in March - which you can also see in  Trees at Tate Modern

Trees at Tate Modern
pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils on ivory coloured mountboard
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Landscape

• A post on The Art of the Landscape about The Cityscape: modern perspectives on London

Painting

• Judging by the comments, everybody seems to have really enjoyed How do you share what you do as a painter?  If you've not yet looked at this video about Rose Frantzen talking at the Smithsonian Museum about Portrait of Maquoketa , block out an hour, get a hot drink and a comfy chair and prepare to have your mind shifted!
• I'm very pleased to see that Charley Parker (Lines and Colors)has discovered David Curtis who is one my favourite English painters.  Oddly Charley's selection of images are not ones I think are the most representative of David's work.  He is after all the master of the subtlety of coloured greys.  I don't think I've ever got round to posting my sketch of David Curtis having a cup of tea at a PV!
• Here are some blogs for all those who love watercolours
• I recent came across Michael Reardon's blog (Michael Reardon Watercolours) as a result of reading Charley Parker's review of his work.  His work has also been recently featured in the Spring 2011 edition of American Artist.
• This is Chris Beck's (Brush-Paper-Water) review of American Watercolor Masters -- Chris Krupinski 
• Konstantin Sterkhov (Art Of Watercolors - Sterkhov K) is based in St. Petersburg in Russia and his blog focuses on watercolour paintersand I loved....
• ....his post about Cheng-Khee Chee - Zen in XXI century which is an interview with this master watercolourist talking about his approach to painting.  This is Cheng-Khee Chee's website and you can see his different approaches in these galleries

Chee has mastered and developed many techniques including the traditional watercolor approach, Chinese brush painting and saturated wet process, and his unique splash color, crinkling, marbleizing and mono-printing techniques. 

• Duane Keiser's latest project can be seen on his Process blog
  
• Night Kitchen
• Night Kitchen (session 2)
• Night Kitchen (session 5)
• Night Kitchen (session 7)
• Night Kitchen (session 9)
• Night Kitchen (session 11) detail

Art Business and Marketing

• Nicole Caulfield (Nicole Caulfield) has an ace post for addressing surplus artwork called Keep, Store or Bin?  Love the chart!

Art Competitions & Art Societies

• Registration is now open for the Threadneedle Prize.  I'll be writing more about this next.
• UKCPS (UKCPS News) has extended the closing date for entries to the Members Exhibition at The Pencil Museum until 23rd April 2011
• The finalists of the Over 60s Art Awards were recently announced

Art Exhibitions & Art Fairs

Major Art Galleries and Museums

• The Miró exhibition at Tate Modern opened this week and continues until 11 September 2011.  Click this link Joan Miro exhibition comes to Tate Modern to hear Matthew Gale, the Tate Modern curator, explain to Will Gompertz, the BBC's Arts Editor, why the upcoming Jean Miro exhibition is so significant.
• This is the link to the new exhibition in the Musée d'Orsay - Manet, the Man who Invented Modern Art 5 April - 3 July 2011.  Unfortunately it's not been translated!

Art Society exhibitions

• The American Watercolor Society's 144th Annual International Exhibition opened on April 5 in the Salmagundi Club in New York City.
• These are my reviews of two exhibitions by the two Royal Watercolour communities in the UK
• Review: Royal Watercolour Society - Spring Exhibition 2011
• Review: 199th Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour
• Today was the last day of the Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists.  Here are my posts (and images) for the fans of botanical art.
  
• Review: Society of Botanical Artists Exhibition 2011
• Certificates of Botanical Merit at SBA Exhibition 2011
• Plus a post about a Diploma student in Egypt Botanical Art under fire

Other Art Galleries

The einvite to the the Realism Show in Atlanta (featuring work by Jelaine Faunce)

• The Realism Show at Mason Murer Fine Art in Atlanta, Georgia includes artwork by several popular art bloggers including  

• M. Collier (Paintings from the Point)  
• Jelaine Faunce (Jelaine Faunce: Contemporary Realism),  
• Jeff Hayes (Jeffrey Hayes - Contemporary Still Life Paintings),
• Neil Hollingsworth (Paintings in Oil),  
• Karen Hollingsworth (Windowscapes),  
• Michael Naples (Daily Paintings),  
• Abbey Ryan (Ryan Studio) and 
• Sally Tharp (Sally is painting today... )
• see photos of the show here
• Robert Genn has introduced The Artshow Calendar
• The Loop Artists are practising printmakers and ex-students of Camberwell School of Art and they have an exhibition of prints at the Bankside Gallery between 19th and 25th April

LOOP artists all demonstrate a devotion to the fine art print medium, from time-honoured traditional printmaking methods to the latest digital developments, from the simple yet elegant woodcut print to incorporating print as an element within a mixed-media sculptural work. 

Art Galleries and Museums / Art History

• Following the annual Art Newspaper's annual review of visitor numbers to art exhibitions and art galleries and museums in 2010, I wrote Top 30 art galleries and museums in 2010 which analyses which are the best cities to go to if you want to visit a lot of top art galleries and museums.
• The New York Times highlights how non-western and non-contemporary art is being marginalised - read Under Threat: The Shock of the Old
• Charley Parker (Lines and Colors) has recently highlighted the
• Hi-res images on Rijksmuseum website  
• Hi-res images in the LACMA Image Library

Art Education / Workshops / Tips and techniques

Tips and Techniques

• This post arrived via an email! Practice, experience and style which reflects on the notion and value of daily practice
• Lori McNee (Lori McNee - Fine Art & Tips) has a post about How to Choose Better Subject Matter for Your Art 
• Jeff Hayes writes about Making Perfect Panels and some videos explaining how these are made - but note the major caveat
• Seascape in Watercolor - 10 Mistakes is a post in which Konstantin Sterkhov succintly explains the main reasons for making a hash of a seascape when using watercolours
• I was about to post a link to a blog article by Arnold Lowrey about controlling the water in watercolour painting when I realised the blog I'd read it on had no author - which is always a sign of a pretty good indicator of a splog which is scraping text.  A quick check revealed that the article had indeed been ripped off from the Wet Canvas website where you can find it here The Control of Water in Watercolour

Art Supplies

• I discovered a new selection of Faber Castell Polychromos pencils recently - see Faber Castell Coloured Pencils - Ann Swan Selection

Book reviews and ebooks

• 
  
• Here's my updates on The Best Art Books in March
• I've just finished Man with a Blue Scarf - On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucian Freud by Martin Gayford so expect a review soon! This is a slideshow of images associated with the project and the book
• Here are some new ebooks
• Ruth Phillips has a new book Cherries from Chauvet's Orchard, A Memoir of Provence which tells the story of Postcard from Provence.  Sales are raising funds for the orphanage in Bamako in Mali where Julian and Ruth are at present at they become parents for the first time and collect their new adopted son. 
• Neil Hollingsworth has a new Blurb book - see A New Book: Six by Six
• and Karin Hollingsworth has one too - see WindowScapes: My First Book
• Will Terry (Will Terry Illustration) has a blog post and video about ebooks - Are they worth making?
• Plus another book project by Nicole Caulfield (Nicole Caulfield) Times Are Changing

Opinion Poll

• This the Making A Mark Poll for April POLL: Exhibition frames: How much do you spend per frame on average?
• ...which was prompted by a comment prompted by a comment by Tina Mammoser on the results of the March Poll - see Poll Results: Annual Spend on Art Materials

The headlines are:

• USA artists spend much more on art materials/equipment & technology when compared to UK artists
• USA artists claim more of their expenditure on art materials against tax

Websites, webware and blogging 

iPad Apps

To date I've counted a few iPad apps by artists and art tutors (although I'll refrain from highlighting here those that I've tried that don't work!)  I've still to try out:

• Art of James Neil Hollingsworth By James Hollingsworth Fine Art 
• The Jeff Cohen Collection - Volume 1, Still Life by Jeff Cohen Studio 

and finally......

This blog will notch up ONE MILLION VISITORS in the next few days.  I'm still trying to work out how long I've got to work out how to celebrate this achievement! ;)

Any suggestions?

Certificates of Botanical Merit at SBA Exhibition 2011

Every year the Society of Botanical Artists. awards a number of Certificates of Botanical Merit to entries in the Annual Exhibition.  These works set a very standard of excellence in botanical art.  All you get is the Certificate and the entitlement to letters after your name - but they are very prized!

The  certificate is for works of strictly botanical value and is judged each year by an expert in the botanical field.  The achievement if recognised by the letters CBM after the artist's name, with the date.

The expert judget for 2011 was Maureen Lazarus from the Department of Biodiversity and Systematic Biology at the National Museum Wales.  According to SBA President Vickie Marsh's speech,  Ms Lazarus spent some two days surveying all the works submitted before selecting those worthy of the award of a Certificate of Botanical Merit.

Papaver June Poppy by Fiona Strickland DA SBA GM CBM '09
(62 x 43cm / 24 x 17in, watercolour)

You don't have to be a member of the Society of Botanical Artists to win one of these coveted certificates.

My particular favourite of those winning CBMs this year was the June Poppy painted in watercolour by Fiona Strickland.  If you've never seen Fiona's work, it's worth a trip to London just to see the quality of her painting and what she can achieve.  As somebody commented to me, there's an immense number of meticulous watercolour washes used to achieve the intense saturation and luminosity found in her work. 

In 2011, Certificates of Botanical Merit were awarded to

How do you share what you do as a painter?

Beware - if you continue to read this post it may change your life.  I'm not kidding.

First a little explanation about how I came to find and post this totally amazing video about Rose Frantzen talking at the Smithsonian Museum about Portrait of Maquoketa  - her project to paint the residents of the town in Iowa where she lives.

Rose Frantzen talking about Portrait of Maquoketa at the Snithsonian Museum

Review: Society of Botanical Artists Exhibition 2011

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the Private View of the Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists. "The World of Plants" exhibition continues until 17th April and I'm planning a return visit before it closes.

The World of Plants is an exhibition within the exhibition
- note how large some of the work is!
all artwork copyright the artists
all photos copyright Katherine Tyrrell - with the kind permission of the SBA

More of "The World of Plants"

Here's my impressions - and then a lot of photos of the exhibition.

Botanical Art under fire

Never let it be said that I'm not tempted by a good post title! In this case it happens to be true.

This is a post about Shevaun Doherty who started her latest study for her assignment for her Society of Botanical Artists Distance Learning Diploma Course while under fire during the revolution in Egypt.

Daucua Carota - an SBA Diploma assignment by Shevaun Doherty

Dear Katherine,

It's been a turbulent few months here to say the least!

We were here for the revolution in Egypt which was really quite frightening. I had an assignment to prepare for the SBA Distance Learning Course and so tried to keep myself calm by concentrating on the colours, form and textures of Egyptian Red carrots.  It was quite surreal - there were tanks all around the compound where I live, helicopters overhead, men with machetes, steel bars and guns standing on the street outside my house (neighbourhood watch!) and daily reports of violence and death.... whilst I sat indoors painting my carrots, not even sure just how I would send my work to my tutor!

Anyway, the president was toppled and I DID manage to get the assignment done and posted (and got 91.4%!). 

Egyptian red carrots - the assignment preparatory work
completed during the Egyptian revolution and under fire

We all hoped that life would return to some kind of normality. 

Unfortunately it hasn't. There has been a massive security vacuum here- the police have disappeared almost completely and the army seems unsure as to what to do. Every day we now face riots, sectarian violence, armed robberies, kidnappings and protests. There are wars erupting on all of our borders. Just today there was a shooting outside my daughters' school and a bomb at the pyramids. I am shocked every time I open the newspapers. Egypt is far from safe at the moment particularly for foreigners. Even Egyptian antiquities are under constant attack from looters and there are reports of widespread damage.  Here's a link that describes the situation http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42427900/ns/today-today_news/

The youth groups are now calling on the people to begin protests once again this Friday in Tahrir, to save the revolution.

I love living in Egypt but with two young daughters, I just don't think that it's worth the risk any more. So we have decided to move back to Ireland for the time being - we leave next week.

Shevaun goes on to ask me to take a photograph for her of her assignment work which is on display in the SBA Diploma part of the Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists which opens tomorrow.  She can't make it to the Exhibition due to the fact she's in the midst of a move back to Ireland - which is such a pity as it's the first time her work has ever been in an exhibition.

You can read how I came to know Shevaun in Why be an art blogger?

I'm now off to the Private View at Central Hall and tomorrow, on this blog, I'll have news and photos from the SBA exhibition - The World of Plants.

Does anybody else have curious tales of how they got their artwork done on time?  Do write and let me know and I'll feature it on the blog if it's a good story (and good artwork of course!)