Robert Hughes (1938 - 2012) will be missed

The art world is really going to miss Australian art critic and "national living treasure" Robert Hughes who died yesterday in New York aged 74.

I'm in no way an expert on Robert Hughes however I do like a man who knows his own mind when it comes to art and is uncompromising in stating his views - and he was certainly that.  I loved all his art programmes on TV - it was art for those who don't want it "dumbed down"!

He wrote extremely well and is undoubtedly one of those people who made art more accessible to many people - notably through his book The Shock of the New which must rank as one of the most seminal books on the art of the twentieth century that has ever been written.  (His TV series of the same name is available as a DVD set).

Here he is speaking about the work of Anselm Kiefer



At the same time he was apt to criticise those he considered to be corrupting or devaluing art.

Slamming the dead shark and diamond skull as 'absurd', outspoken Australian Robert Hughes says such commercial pieces have made art meaningless - apart from its price tag

In 1987 he published The Fatal Shore, his best selling account British penal colonies and the early European settlement of Australia.

For those, like me, who valued Robert Hughes I am providing below something you won't find in any of the other obituaries - and that's a compendium of links to:

• his articles about art and Australia and 
• accounts of him as an individual who had a very significant impact on the art world

Advice on Shipping Art and Crafts

The recent Professional Development Seminar of the Society of North American Goldsmiths provides seven different presentations on different aspects of Shipping.

• You can find a link to all the slideshow presentations on this page - which also includes links to all the downloads 
• Much of the content - principles and practical advice - is also excellent advice for all artists who ship art both domestically and internationally.

If you ship art, I very much recommend you take a look.

Harriette Berman (Ask Harriette) is pivotal to the presentation of a lot of this information.  For more information about shipping art & craft check out ASK Harriete at: http://askharriete.typepad.com/ask_harriete/shipping-artwork-and-crafts

I've also included links to this information in my "Resources for Artists" website - How to pack, post and ship art - where you can find a lot more information about packing, shipping and posting art

Below you can find a slideshow presentation of one of the presentations

Documentation for SHIPPING Art and Craft from Harriete Estel Berman

This is a presentation by Harriete Estel Berman, artist and author of the Professionhal Guidelines, ASK Harriete and co-organizer of the SNAG Professional Development Seminar.

Professional development

The Society of North American Goldsmiths website

I have to say I'm very impressed to find an arts society which sees its role as:

1. Extending way beyond an Annual Exhibition - by providing support for its members through guidance about 
• being a self-employed entrepreneur who has to deal with a range of business matters
• being an educator
2. Educational - sharing its professional guidance online with the whole of the arts and crafts community

The Society of North American Goldsmiths has a specific section on its website devoted to professional development and the provision of guidance and support with respect to the art business as being a key part of its role.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR
SNAG produces the Professional Development Seminar every year during the annual conference. The Seminar delivers three hours of concrete information that will change the way you approach your work and the way you do business.
PROFESSIONAL GUIDELINES
The Professional Guidelines have been developed as a reference to help everyone in the arts and crafts community learn how to handle common but important situations that may arise. These documents are basic tools for improved and equitable business practices, leading toward more standard professional practices.
EDUCATION DIALOGUE
The Education Dialogue, held each year during the SNAG conference, gives educators a place to discuss whatever current issues they’re facing in academia.

What's your best tip?

• What's your best tip for shipping artwork?  
• Do you have any online advice or guidance which you'd like to share and/or recommend?

Do leave a comment below.

Coloured Pencil Society of America Annual Exhibition 2012 - Awardwinners

Last night the awardwinners for the CPSA 20th Annual International Exhibition were announced at the Friday Night Awards banquet at the CPSA Convention in Cincinnati

CPSA 20th Annual International Exhibition - Awards

Below you will find the Award Winners.  Links in the name of the individual winner below is to their website if they have one.  Links in the title of the piece are to the image of the artwork on the awards site.

ANNUAL POLL: What's the best place to sell art in the last year?

Every August I run a Poll in which I ask you to tell me what you, as an artist, have found to be the main ways that you sold art in the last year.  This year I'm running the poll for the fifth year with the aim of identifying:

• The most (and least) effective places for selling art in the last year - in terms of which places generate the most revenue and turnover
• The most (and least) profitable places for selling art in the last year - in terms of where did you generate the best profit
• Trends in selling art in the last 5 years

Changes for 2012

This year the overall theme is about identifying the best place that you have found to sell art.  This month and next, the Making A Mark Opinion Polls will be looking at selling art from the perspective of flows - of money and potential collector traffic

This month I have:

• generated TWO polls rather than one
• the first focuses on income - which venue, place or channel generated the most revenue turnover in the last year
• the second focuses on the profitability of different venues, places or sales channels - ie which of these has proved to be the best place to sell after you take related expenses into account
• revised the categories to take account for last year's comments.  I'm also getting better at tweaking the descriptions to avoid confusion.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS: The more people who share and respond to the Poll the clearer the picture becomes as to what works best and what doesn't.  Please tell your friends!

Poll Results: Is Facebook replacing Forums for Artists?

The July Making A Mark Poll reveals that around 75% of respondents have a Facebook Account but only a third of artists actively market their art on facebook.

At the beginning of the month I wrote two posts:

• Artists on Facebook - The Scope and The Rules - this looked at why people are confused about Facebook and the different ways of operating on Facebook.  This post attracted a LOT of comments following publication.  A number of artists shared their experience of using Facebook for their art - and their confusion as to how best to straighten out the way they operate on Facebook

• POLL: Do you and your art have a presence on Facebook? - this introduced two Making A Mark Polls: 

• the first asked about how you use Facebook for marketing your art
• the second asks about where you post in facebook

Below you can see charts of the results for the two polls.