EXHIBITION: Portrait Artist of the Year (2013 - 2021)

A new commemorative exhibition of portraits generated by eight series of "Portrait Artist of the Year" is to be held at Compton Verney Art Gallery - between 19 February – 5 June 2022.

Key features are that it:

• Celebrates eight years of Sky Arts’ most successful TV series, Portrait Artist of the Year starting in 2012 (for the 2013 series) through to the 2021 series 
• Is curated by one of the programme’s judges, independent curator Kathleen Soriano. 

Alastair Faulkner, Self Portrait in Green Scrubs, 2017
© Alastair Faulkner

• Features over 120 works, selected from the work of more than 1,000 artists who have taken part in the competition and associated Sky Arts TV programme since it was launched in 2013.  A number of the artists - from diverse backgrounds and have gone on to establish successful careers in art and/or portraiture.  Others have been established artists who risked their reputations on how well they did in the competition!

Self Portrait: The Wreck by Shanti Panchal

• Showcases the sheer diversity of the different styles, media and approaches taken to portraiture by artists participating in the very popular art competition
• Displays the work of all past winners as well as well as highlighting their subsequent prize commissions painted by the competition winners for major museums and galleries including the National Gallery of Ireland, the British Library and the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. These include the portraits of 
• actors Kim Cattrall and Imelda Staunton, 
• musicians Sir Tom Jones and Nile Rodgers, 
• writers Dame Hilary Mantel and Lemn Sissay, 
• broadcasting legends Lord Melvyn Bragg and Graham Norton.
• Highlights the power of art, not least of all for its ability to inspire both a sense of community and creativity during lockdown, especially in relation to supporting mental health and wellbeing. The international community of artists that developed as a direct consequence of the live-streamed Portrait Artist of the Week series on Facebook Live and Sky Arts, a direct response to initial pandemic lockdowns in early 2020, has been testament to the value and importance of bringing people together in a shared and creative experience.

The exhibition ticket will be released soon - on this page 

Where is Compton Verney?

The address is Compton Verney, Warwickshire, CV35 9HZ - east of Stratford upon Avon and south of Leamington Spa

The House also houses a number of collections including a sizeable collection of British Portraits. Definitely worth a trip for those that can get to this location without difficulty.

Opening times are:

• Tue – Sun, 10am-5pm
• Mon – Closed, except bank holidays.

POLL: What was the best place to sell your art in 2021

I'm going to revive my monthly opinion polls in 2022. On the whole, I think they provided some very useful feedback for both professional and amateur artists and those who aspire to do more with their art - particularly in relation to the business side of art activities.

Most polls have continued in terms of 

• either charts of the results on this blog (see below) 
• or ongoing live polls on my Art Business Info. for Artists website

I'm starting the year - an the monthly polls - by reviving polling about the best place to sell art. I've run this a number of times and had interesting results each time.  

MOST PROFIT: What was the best place to sell art in 2021?

My first topic is PROFIT

• WHICH place/option - which generates sales of your art - also generates the most profit?
• the "most profit" might be due to e.g.
• LOTS of sales - even if the profit margin between income and expenses is low
• VERY LOW EXPENSES - so that all sales max out your profit
• HIGH VALUE SALES - which make you a lot of money - even if expenses are high

You can find the Poll below

Below the Poll I explain what platform I've used to generate it and anything else you might want to know

POLLS PLATFORM

My previous platform (CrowdSignal) no longer works for me, so I'm switching to Google Forms. I've just spent a lot of this afternoon learning how to use them for Polls of this sort - but may not have got it right! Do let me know if you run into any problems.

Don't worry, I've set the poll up so that no personal data (like emails) is asked for or collected. 

With any luck we should get a result which indicates the three most popular options for generating PROFIT in 2021 (i.e. income you generated for an option less the expenses associated with that particular option)

I'll also be putting this Poll on my website Art Business Info so that it can continue to collect data on the most profitable places 

You can also find the poll on this page too How to Sell Your Art

Previous Polls

Below you'll also find links to the poll results in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012

• 2014 - Most Revenue or Best Profit? What was the Best Place to sell Art in 2013?
• 2014 - POLL: Selling Art in 2014 - Is the best place for generating cash the same as the best place for making a profit?
• 2012 - 2012 Poll Results: What's the best place to sell art? (Part 1) - this reveals 4 places where (1) the most money & (2) the most profit were made from selling art in 2011/12.
• 2012 - What's the best place to sell art? Trends in selling art 2008-2012: (1) direct from the studio; (2) via third party galleries ad art societies.
• 2012 - The Best Place to Sell Art - (Part 2 More Trends Trends in selling art 2008-2012: via temporary venues and online websites.
• 2011 - What's the MAIN way you have sold art in the last 12 months? (Poll results)
• 2010 - What's the MAIN way you have sold art in the last 12 months? (Poll Results)
• 2010 - What's the best place to sell art? Trends in selling art 2008-2012: (1) direct from the studio; (2) via third party galleries ad art societies.
• 2009: MAM Poll (August) results: the MAIN way you've sold art in the last 12 months
• 2008: What's the MAIN way you sell your art? - The Results.

Art on the BBC (Series 2)

I've just spotted that Art on the BBC is back for a Second Series of the television history of art tonight at 9pm on BBC4

Series 2 kicks off with 

• 3rd Jan: Episode 1 - The Great Salvador Dali - with David Dibbosa
• 10th Jan: Episode 2 - Van Gogh - Life and Art - with Kate Bryan
• but I can't work out what happens after these two. It looks like it might be just two episodes! 

Material is drawn from the BBC Archives

I wonder when it's going to occur to the BBC that to have archives you also have to keep making new programmes?

Some of you may recall my blog post last year What happens to art after the demise of BBC Four?

The Great Pottery Throw Down is back!

Judges, presenter and 12 new potters in The Great Pottery Show Down 2022

I love The Great Pottery Throw Down. It's the televisual equivalent of real comfort food on cosy evenings in winter.

The good news is that they have managed to film the fifth series in the Gladstone Pottery Museum (part of Stoke on Trent Museums), despite you know what (as 'you know what' now seems to called to avoid being "filtered" and/or "moderated")

It starts this evening (Sunday 2nd January 2022) at 7.45pm on Channel 4

Here's who's participating - 

• the Judges Keith Brymer Jones and Rich Miller are same as last year - as is the kiln technician Rose Schmits
• but they've got a new presenter - Ellie Taylor has replaced Siobhán McSweeney (who replaced who Melanie Sykes who replaced Sara Cox) and 
• 12 new potters who are for a challenge or two - and you can read about who they are and their backgrounds and experience in this article. See if you can pick a winner just from the descriptions!

The first two challenges are to throw:

• a children’s crockery set and 
• ceramic milk bottles!

As I commented in March last year

What I like about this programme

• it's a genuinely "feel-good" programme. Very Sunday evening family entertainment - of the educational and involving kind.
• It has lots of very nice people all working very hard - and collaboratively - to do the best they can. Absolutely no bitching!!
• Both Judges are very experienced and highly skilled practitioners. (see the websites of master potter Keith Brymer Jones and ceramics expert Rich Miller) I'm a big fan of this series because they take both their professional occupations and "Judging" seriously.
• Participants all vary in their experience and skill levels but virtually all have a significant level of knowledge and skill which allows them to participate in the various "make" challenges during the series.
• Every series you can see potters getting better and better as they apply themselves to the challenges (known as "going on a journey"). Soon you begin to see who are the ones who might make it all the way to the end of the series - based on their application, experience, skills and creative imagination
• The presenter was excellent light relief without having an ego which meant she tried to make the programme about her
• who went home every week got more and more difficult to predict as the series progressed - and there were some real surprises.

In the meantime for those not familiar with the series, you can 

• watch all the previous episodes in 2020 and 2021 on demand including via your via desktop
• follow the show on
• Facebook
• Twitter

Previous posts about The Great Pottery Throw Down

• Current Art Shows on Channel 4 (March 2021)
• The Great Pottery Throwdown starts tonight (January 2021)
• Third series of The Great Pottery Throw Down on Channel 4 (January 2020)
• Book Review - The Great Pottery Throw Down (March 2017)
• The Great Pottery Throwdown - Series 2 starts tonight (February 2017)

Plus my previous post about The Ceramics Gallery at the V&A.

In 2022, everything is going to get better!

I'm optimistic about 2022. Everything will start getting better - in very different ways for different people. 

To my way of thinking there's no better way to start the year than by clearing the decks - facilitated by a good cull of stuff from the past which needs to be got rid of so you've got clear space in your head and your house for whatever the New Year brings.

I've spent the last two days shredding and chucking paperwork and superfluous stuff which has been cluttering up my study. I've not finished but the two very full black bin bags waiting for the bin men - and the very small pile of paper which needs filing - make me feel good!  
I'm also starting the New Year with resolutions to 

• print less and back up more!!
• try and cull some of my books before I buy any more ;) 
• keep focused on what's really important - and what makes me happy.

My right foot with the surgery arrow which went on
- just before they cancelled the operation four weeks ago

So - if I also end up in 2022 walking with a foot which has no pain - after walking in pain for almost all of the last 5 years - I shall be very happy.  

So my other focus and primary aim at the moment is to get another surgery date and another arrow on my right leg like this one.....

Three months of recuperating and walking on one leg will be worth it if I can subsequently expand the distance I can walk on my own. Life is very, very limited and contained at the moment

Just the shoulder and hip replacement to go after that!

My best wishes to you and yours for a healthy, happy and peaceful New Year