Grayson Perry's Art Club (Series 2) back in February

Just what we need. Grayson to the rescue with more lockdown art! Series 2 of Grayson Perry's Art Club is back on Channel 4 in February 2021.

"Grayson Perry, one of Britain's leading artists, brings the nation together through art, making new works and hosting masterclasses set to unleash our collective creativity during lockdown" Channel 4

This time there's been a bit more planning! This post is about

• the themes for Series 2 of Art Club
• how to enter

These are my blog posts about his extremely successful and very popular first series which started at the end of April during the first lockdown in 2020. 

• Grayson's Art Club : The Exhibition (and the television programme and the book of the exhibition!) 
• Grayson Perry Returns - on TV, at the British Museum and with a new exhibition! (September 2020)  - in which I announce details of the exhibition and the second series
• Grayson Perry's Studio (May 2020) - all about his studio which started in Walthamstow before moving to Islington
• Art On Demand during the Pandemic #1 - British TV (May 2020) - the contenders
• Grayson Perry's Art Club on Channel 4 (April 2020) - kicking off the first series

Grayson’s Art Club was the best performing series from Channel 4’s #StayAtHome Academy programming

Grayson/Claire and Philippa Perry - with exhibits in the Series 1 exhibition

Themes for Grayson Perry's Art Club - Series 2

“Art is good for you, whoever you are" 

Grayson Perry

Below is a video by Grayson and his co-star/wife, psychotherapist and author Philippa Perry telling you about the themes.

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!#GraysonsArtClub returns in February!
Website https://t.co/ZbGqOynYwA is open for your submissions.
Here is @Philippa_Perry and me telling you the weekly themes.
We are so looking forward to seein what you have made. pic.twitter.com/mRFLTq3wnW

— Grayson Perry (@Alan_Measles) January 8, 2021

The themes - with deadlines for entries are as follows.
Note that when it says "end of (date)" it means 11.59pm or 23.59 on that date.

• FAMILY submissions close end of 10th February 2021
• NATURE submissions close end of 17th February 2021
• FOOD submissions close end of 24th February 2021
• DREAMS submissions close end of 3rd March 2021
• WORK submissions close end of 10th March 2021
• TRAVEL submissions close end of 17th March 2021

How to submit your artwork entry

Grayson Perry will send out messages via social media asking for members of the public to participate in the Series by uploading a 3-minute video message of themselves (the “Video”) filmed on their mobile phone together with three photos of their artwork (the “Artwork”). We will then select the Artworks and Videos he wants to consider for inclusion in the Series. If your Video or Artwork is selected one of the producers may then call you to discuss potentially appearing in the Series as a Contributor via video call on your device (the “Contributor”). If you are selected to be included they will send you a separate contract for your appearance.
Swan Films - the makers of the programme

The main difference with Series 2 is you're getting a LOT MORE NOTICE about the Themes of the six programmes in the series.

Who can enter

• You must be a resident of the UK.
• There's no limit on age BUT If you are under 18 you will need a parent/guardian to submit your artwork on your behalf, and hey must provide their phone number and email address.

What can you enter

We will accept any type of art including paintings, sculpture, drawings and collages, from amateurs and professionals alike.

How to enter

You can enter ONE artwork for EACH theme. Enter them one at a time (i.e. you can only choose the theme once per form)

You should submit 

• up to three photos of the artwork you are submitting for the theme (don't forget to choose the theme!)
• a video (max. 3 minutes long) of yourself talking about your art.

It's not clear if you must make a video or can just write up to 600 words about your art on the form.

Make sure that 

• your photos and video are in landscape format and NOT PORTRAIT FORMAT
• you label ALL your photos and video with your name and name of the artwork. (e.g. Philippa Perry sculpture of a cat #1 (and #2 and #3 and video)

Here's a little memory jogger re. landscape and portrait formats. It's not about whether it's a landscape or portrait - it about whether the picture is biased towards horizontal or vertical.

An image from my book Sketching 365 - about landscape and portrait formats
(and placement of horizons and crops)

What's the competition going to be like?

You need to be realistic. Millions watched the first series and c.10,000 people submitted their artwork - which means not a lot of time to view your entry. However Grayson's an expert in reviewing artwork given he chaired the Panel of Selectors for the 250th Summer Exhibition by the Royal Academy of Arts and had to sit through thousands and thousands of entries over quite a few days!

Mall Galleries Exhibitions: changes to deadlines for entries and exhibition dates

The Annual Exhibitions of Art Societies at the Mall Galleries have changed dates.

Mall Galleries in the Mall - in monochrome

The Mall Glleries and associated societies (members of the Federation of British Artists) have made changes to

• deadlines for the call for entries and 
• dates of exhibitions.

This is a result of the ongoing very high of covid infection in London and the ongoing Lockdown. These mean there is no certainty about when exhibitions will start again. 

I've listed what I know below.

Mall Galleries:
Art Society Exhibitions

The Pastel Society (PS)

Despite entries having been received and a selection made of artwork to be included in the Annual Exhibition, the current lockdown means that The Annual Exhibition of the Pastel Society has had to be postponed. 

There's no information as yet as to likely dates for the Pastel Society Annual Exhibition, My guess would be later in the year.

However 

• the full Pastel Society Annual Exhibition is now available to view online, and it even includes paintings and drawings of the inside of galleries and museums!
• there are a range of Pastel Society ONLINE EVENTS (ee below for some of them) - which started today. 

Online events by the Pastel Society

Royal Society of British Artists (RBA)

The Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of British Artists is usually early in the year and in 2020, this exhibition escaped unscathed from the impact of Covid-19 on art exhibitions in 2020.

Nevertheless, in 2021, it's one of the first affected.

• Call for Entries (digital only): 
• moved back a month to 12 noon on Friday 5th February
• I thought I'd done a Call for Entries blog post for the Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition 2021 - but apparently not so I'll remedy that this week.
• Delivery dates: Saturday 27 March and Sunday 28 March, 10am to 5pm
• Annual Exhibition: 15h - 24th April 2021

This is my Review: Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition 2020 

This is an exhibition well worth entering - not least for the very long list of prizes awarded!

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI)

Below is an announcement by Rosa Sepple, President of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours.

• Call for Entries: 
• moved back a month to 12 noon on Friday 5th March 2021
• You can read about the Call for Entries in my blog post Call for Entries: Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour 209th Exhibition in 2021
• Delivery dates: Saturday 8th or Sunday 9th May 2021
• Annual Exhibition: 20th - 29th May 2021 (moved back from beginning of April).

The RI is now quite adept at coping with moving dates - their exhibition only opened after a third attempt in 2020. See my review of the 2020 exhibition (moved from April to September 2020) Review: 208th Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours

Website - http://royalinstituteofpaintersinwatercolours.org/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RIwatercolours/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/royal_institute_watercolours/

How to Ship Art - for online art sellers / post Brexit

How best to pack, mail and ship art art has been a VERY popular topic since lockdown as more and more people make sales online. 

It's got even more popular since 1st January in terms of making sense of Brexit. EORI numbers and export commodity codes anybody? Do you know about the Rules of Origin?

HOW TO PACK, MAIL & SHIP ART: A Compendium of Information & Advice about Packing & Transporting Art provides access to the many pages of information I provide in the Shipping Art section on my Art Business Info. for Artists website

It's currently the most popular page on my Art Business Info for Artists website - I guess because

• most sales of art are now taking place online
• artists running an art business - where they export art internationally - are puzzling out the changes 

Below is a screenshot of its contents

contents of how to pack, mail and ship art

I've just begun to realise I need to write a new section about "Rules of Origin" given some of what is happening at the ports.

The reality is that if you are trading - and particularly if you are exporting - there is a LOT of law and regulations that you need to know about - as well as which are the best ways to pack, post and ship art!

However I also have to emphasise what this page is NOT! I answer questions when I'm satisfied that people have read what is available on these pages and are not just using me as a sidestep to doing the reading. 

The Great Pottery Throwdown starts tonight

The Great Pottery Throw Down returns tonight - at 7.45pm on Channel 4. 

Essentially it's a a competition to find the best amateur potter in the country. Tonight it's "Throwing Week"

I know a LOT of people will be really pleased that tonight we see the return of a programme which some of us thought might be gone for good at one point when the BBC shut it down - only for it to be resurrected last year by Channel 4. (I wonder when the BBC is going to realise that people really like shows where ordinary members of the public make things).

Here are the 12 potters hoping to throw, glaze and wedge their way to victory.

The Great Pottery Throw Down starts Sunday 10th January at 7.45pm on @Channel4. With host @Siobhni and judges @KBJWhitstable and @RichMillerPots. #potterythrowdown pic.twitter.com/RiSGA0r9bC

— The Great Pottery Throw Down (@PotteryThrow) January 5, 2021

You can view the video above to see who's who among the contestants and/or review each of the potters on the show's Twitter account.

Potters are set a number of tasks testing their skills (and patience) at the wheel and with different techniques. Each week they have to create the Main Make, which sees the potters produce a piece from slab of clay to glazed glory with every episode culminating in the reveal of the Main Make which the potters present straight from their kiln for judging.
But anything can go wrong in the kiln. The potters who fail to impress with their clay will leave the pottery studio until the final when one person proves themselves to be master of the wheel.

The Host and two Judges

This year's changes are:

• The Judges have changed - they are:
• Keith Brymer Jones of Whitstable - the only person to stay the same across all the series to date. With any luck he's be writing something about the series on his blog
• Richard Miller - Potter, owner at Froyle Tiles is the new Judge. He's previously worked as the technician on previous series of 'The Great Pottery Throwdown'
• The Host has changed and is now Siobhán McSweeney (Sister Michael of Derry Girls) - after Sara Cox and then Melanie Sykes.
• UPDATE: They've moved from Middleport to more spacious accommodation at The Gladstone Pottery Museum 

What's stayed the same

• there are still 12 potters - called Adam, Hannah, Susan, Alon, Sally, Ara, Peter, Irina, Shenyue, Henry, Jodie and Lee - and they come from very diverse backgrounds but are all keen amateur potters.

Previous posts about The Great Pottery Throwdown

my previous posts about this show - and why I like it

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

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

I'm fond of ceramics and pots - they often get a mention in my exhibition reviews and are one of the things I collect (on the "when you can't make it collect it" principle).

Other Information

You can also find out about Middleport Pottery where the show is filmed

• website https://re-form.org/middleportpottery/information
• twitter https://twitter.com/Middleport_Pot
• Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MiddleportPottery/

Plus review the Ceramics Groups on Facebook

• Ceramics
• Ceramic Artists
• Ceramic & Raku Art

Landscape Artist of the Year returns - next Wednesday

Good news! Series 6 of Landscape Artist of the Year (2021) returns to Wednesday evenings in the gloomy days of Winter to brighten our perspectives and remind us what drawing and painting from life outside is all about.

This is about:

• the return of Landscape Artist of the Year - on Sky Arts Wednesday 13th January 2021 at 8pm (SERIES 6 on Sky Arts on Sky or Now TV or Channel 11 of Freeview) 
• the venues - in Kent and Buckinghamshire - for the first two episodes
• REMINDER: call for entries for Series 7 of Landscape Artist of the Year 
• PROMPT: the repeat of Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 - on Sky Arts on Wednesday at 7pm

Landscape Artist of the Year (Series 3 | 2021)

SERIES 6 of Landscape Artist of the Year is being broadcast every Wednesday evening at 8pm on Sky Arts (starting Wednesday 13th January 2021) - which is available on Freeview. For those with access to Sky or NowTV you can also watch it on catchup. 

Eight artists will be battling it out with the subject and the weather / wind / etc for the next six weeks - followed by the Semi Finals and then Final - plus the Commission episode.  

That means in Landscape Series terms we've skipped 2020 altogether - although filming took place. 

• Certainly the plans were that they would take place in June & July 2021 but were subject to government restrictions.
• My understanding was that Series 6 (2021) was filmed last summer in and around London because of all the travel constraints re. Covid-19.  

Also back is Joan Bakewell - since outdoors is much safer for ladies of a certain age. 

As always the team are:

• Hosts: Joan Bakewell and Stephen Mangan
• Judges: award-winning artist Tai Shan Schierenberg, independent curator Kathleen Soriano, and art historian Kate Bryan.

Venues: I know what the first two venues are (thank you Radio Times!)

Episode 1 (13th January 2021): Chartwell in Kent

Chartwell is the former home of Sir Winston Churchill and now belongs to the National Trust.  

• It contains his Artist's Studio which is doubtless going to generate comment if not a visit.  
• I'm just wondering how on earth they got the platforms to stay stable on the very considerable slope at the rear between the house and the lake 
• ....and whether the black swans behaved themselves! Those who know Chartwell well will know what i mean!

Drawing at Chartwell

I'm spitting about this venue because I visited Chartwell a lot last summer! However I don't envy them trying to portray the house. It's an absolute pig in terms of size and complexity - and the fact you can't see it properly at all unless you're on a completely different level - at which point the perspective gets interesting - and difficult!

I tried doing the house once (not a success!) and ever since I've always sketched the views of the garden and the landscape instead - it has stunning views of the Weald of Kent. Here's my coloured pencil sketch of Churchill's Chair on the island in the lake at Chartwell 

Episode 2 (20th January 2021) : West Wycombe Lake in Buckinghamshire

This is the view of the Lake at West Wycombe Park - also a National Trust property. Interestingly there is a painting in the National Collection of a view of A View of the Lake at West Wycombe Park and the Temple of Daphne by William Hannan (Scotland 1725 - West Wycombe 1772)

West Wycombe House has been home of the Dashwood family for over 300 years. Set in 45 acres of landscaped park, the house as we see it today is the 18th-century creation of Sir Francis Dashwood, the 2nd baronet, founder of the Dillettanti Society and the Hell-Fire Club.

Landscape Artist of the Year - Series 5 - CALL FOR ENTRIES

The Call for Entries for Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year (Series 7) opened last year.

The deadline for entries is currently NOON on 30th April 2021 - although this deadline has sometimes been extended in the past.

In my blog post - Call for Entries: Landscape Artist of the Year (Series 7) - I provide

• my overview of the call for entries - plus tips
• links to my reviews of past episodes - which also contain quite a few tips

It includes:

• Key Features of the competition
• So you want to paint landscapes on television?
• Who can enter
• Eligible Landscape paintings - for submission
• Your digital entry (and what will disqualify you)
• What are the Judges looking for?
• My Reviews of Previous Heats in 2018 and 2019

Portrait Artist of the Year 2019

This series is being broadcast for the first time on Freeview - in the hour before the new series of Landscape Artist of the Year.

So if you want to watch both, get your dinner arrangements sorted for Wednesday evenings sorted and be sat comfortably 

• by 7pm for Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 
• plus Landscape Artist of the Year 2021 at 8pm. 

Note that this series was previously broadcast on Channel 4 in the summer of 2019 - see Portrait Artist of the Year comes to Channel 4

You can see my reviews of previous episodes of this series on this blog - and there are links to all of them in the above blog post.

Before the start - at the Final of Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 at the National Portrait Gallery