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 Friday, March 06, 2009
Two chances to win $50 of art books
For the first time ever, we've got two All-Media Paint-Offs going at the same time on the ArtistsNetwork Forum. Enter the one that most sparks your fancy—or double your chances to win by entering both! The winner of a Paint-Off wins a $50 gift certificate for North Light Books. Spring Nonfloral: Break the floral cliche with this fresh, new challenge. Five Objects: This challenge has been available for about a month with no takers! That means your chances of winning are high—if you enter before the deadline of April 6. Visit the Paint-Off Forum to learn more.
By Grace Dobush | Projects
3/6/2009 12:34:03 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) 
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Thursday, March 05, 2009
Tip file: Go to a museum
From Tom McManus, in the March 1994 issue of The Artist's Magazine: Go to museums as often as you can, for so much of what you see in person can't be reproduced in print, and look for such things as how the masters treated edges, determined scale and built their colors.
By Grace Dobush | Tips
3/5/2009 2:13:49 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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All-Media Online Competition winners!
By Grace Dobush | News
3/5/2009 10:19:50 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, March 03, 2009 Monday, March 02, 2009
Money for a bunny?
 My last dispatch spotlighted the "demon" mustang at the Denver International Airport. Well, it turns out Denverites aren’t the only ones upset about large public-art animals. I've since learned that some folks in Sacramento are hoppin' mad about a red rabbit. In October, sculptor Lawrence Argent was commissioned to create a 52-foot fiberglass hare diving into a stone suitcase for the California capital's new airport terminal. (The above image is a computer rendering.) A public outcry followed over the $800,000 price tag. Argent says he understands why people in Sacramento are fuming when the state is in financial ruins and unemployment is high. But by county ordinance, a percentage of the construction cost of government buildings must be used for public art. Nonetheless, critics say the bunny money should go for things like hiring more cops. And one local asks, "Why a rabbit?" There aren't rabbits in Sacramento, he grouses, but why not a sculpture about something else the city is famous for, say, "government overspending on pointless projects." Argent says he chose the rabbit because it’s a creature that can add humor to a place where people are fraught with anxiety over flying, delays and security lines. For him, the sculpture is already a success. "At least people are thinking and art has entered their consciousness," he says. The philosophical Argent lived through public discourse when he created a giant bear for the Denver Convention Center. After it was installed, he says, the architect paid him the ultimate compliment: "You humanized the building." The Sacramento Bee has leapt to Argent’s side, saying great public art costs money, and great public art makes great cities—think Chicago and New York. What’s your take on the money for the bunny? —Bonnie Gangelhoff
Dispatches from the West | News
3/2/2009 9:59:11 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, February 27, 2009
High-tech sketching
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
2/27/2009 2:52:08 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tip file: pastels like Degas
From Don Walker, in the October 1988 issue of The Artist's Magazine: To create a striking surface texture, Edgar Degas would steam the pastel with boiling water. Depending on the thickness of the pastel layers, the steam might produce a paste, workable with a stiff brush, or a wash that could be spread with a soft brush.
By Grace Dobush | Notable Artists | Tips
2/26/2009 9:09:54 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, February 25, 2009
News tidbits
Got a lot of stuff going on at The Artist's Mag HQ this week:
By Grace Dobush | News | Projects
2/25/2009 12:32:59 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Artists Network News debuts!
By Grace Dobush | News | Videos
2/24/2009 1:47:42 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tom Bacher at the Weston Art Gallery
 Installation view of Luminous: Paintings by Tom BacherArtists are supposed to love light, but Tom Bacher actually works with crystals of phosphoresence that he mixes with acrylic gel medium and/or acrylic paints. The amalgam that results has a half life. The paints on the canvas absorb light during the day; as light fails, the colors change, and when darkness invades the studio or gallery, the pictures start glowing, popping off the wall. "I do paintings that actually incorporate an element of change," Bacher says. In an article ("Night Visions") in the June 2008 Artist's Magazine, he described his complicated process and recalled that his fascination with phosphorescence stems from the glow-in-the-dark toys, religious statues, and rosaries popular in the 1950s. The show, which represents an overview of the artist's work, portrays the city as fragments of radiance—joyful and gorgeous schemes of chaos. The pictures that stayed with me longest, however, seem like meditations on, rather than snapshots of, the city. The vantage in these pictures is often from the bank of a river (the Ohio or Hudson); the city appears over the edge, across the water, with the flickering, ghostly validity of a dream. Luminous: Paintings by Tom Bacher will be on view at the Weston Art Gallery until March 21st. To see more of Bacher's work, visit his Web site.
By Maureen Bloomfield | News | Shows and Events
2/24/2009 1:08:53 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, February 23, 2009
Artful Equine or Demon Stallion?
 Note: Bonnie Gangelhoff is the senior editor at Southwest Art, a sister publication of The Artist’s Magazine . This is the first in a series of a weekly dispatches on art issues out West. A war is raging in Denver over a 32-foot-tall fiberglass blue mustang that greets visitors at the Denver International Airport. A local developer, Rachel Hultin, has mounted a campaign to get the eye-popping equine corralled and moved to another locale. Her anti-stallion Facebook group is rife with support from people who call the sculpture fiendish, heinous and evil. One woman even said the scary steed makes her afraid to board a plane. The airport commissioned sculptor Luis Jimenez to create the piece as a symbol of the West and of Denver. But as one naysayer declares, that’s not the message the sculpture sends, "because of this thing, people think they are in hell, not Denver." Apparently, a main complaint is that the equine's glowing red eyes make it seem possessed by the devil. (One Denverite has dubbed it "Bluecifer.") Meanwhile, the monumental mustang comes with some serious baggage. In 2006, Jimenez was killed when a piece of the horse fell on him in his New Mexico studio. Family members later finished the sculpture and it was installed in 2008. Since the city says public art can’t be moved for five years, the horse detractors may be the ones moving on, not the sculpture. But the blue horse has its fans, who say art is supposed to stir up unbridled passions. And it could be that the renowned sculptor meant his icon of the West as a wry comment—we travel on red-eye flights rather than our trusty steeds. What do you think? Is the anti-stallion faction over-reacting, or do they have a point? —Bonnie Gangelhoff
Dispatches from the West | News | Notable Artists
2/23/2009 9:26:48 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tip file: Draw all the time
From Bill Harvey, in the June 1993 issue of The Artist's Magazine: Carry a 3x5-inch pad of drawing paper and some kind of ballpoint pen and use it. Get the idea that everything around you, everything you see, is worthy of your attention. It's like practicing the scales. A musician can play incredibly complex compositions, but these basic exercises strengthen the muscles and impulses used to paint or perform.
By Grace Dobush | Tips
2/19/2009 10:25:22 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Society of Illustrators exhibition
The final phase of the Society of Illustrators' annual exhibition, Illustrators 51, goes live March 4. The Advertising, Institutional and Uncomissioned Exhibit features the work of Marc Burckhardt, Jody Hewgill, Brad Holland and Frances Jetter, among others. You can see the show March 4 through 28 at the Museum of American Illustration, at 128 E. 63rd St. in New York City. The museum's open Tuesday-Saturday, and admission is free. If you can't make it to NYC for the show, you can catch some of the works on a US college tour through June 2010.
By Grace Dobush | Exhibits | Shows and Events
2/18/2009 3:20:17 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009
A typographic pick-me-up
After a long weekend, I'm feeling a little sluggish today. Keetra Dean Dixon's type art makes me feel cheery, especially this piece:  I've been thinking of you for a while (54x12x6, layered wax) I can't believe it's wax! Doesn't it look like a geode? Found via HOW.
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
2/17/2009 4:04:36 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, February 13, 2009 Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tip file: Competition consolation
From Debora Meltz, in the April 1994 issue of The Artist's Magazine: Don't be discouraged by show rejections. No artist is accepted into every juried show. As in any other aspect of life, there are trends in art that you shouldn't care to follow, but jurors are human. What looks passé may look fresh and exciting in a few years down the road. So hang in there.
By Grace Dobush | Tips
2/12/2009 9:02:27 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Somebody's not following art auctions...
ARTINFO.com reports that robbers plundering a home in England stole about $14,000 of jewelry but passed on a Banksy work valued at $28,000. Shame, the state of art education these days!
By Grace Dobush | News | Random Thoughts
2/11/2009 3:44:28 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Art for sale on Etsy
Are you familiar with the crafty superstore Etsy? If not, ho boy, are you in for a treat. Artists (from knitters to collagists to painters to haberdasherers) post their handmade items for sale on Etsy for a small listing fee and get access to a pool of almost 2 million registered users. I've been a seller on Etsy for more than two years, and I'm constantly exploring the wares people put up. You can search by material, tag or description, or browse by color or location. And it's not only handmade stuff for sale—there are separate categories for vintage items and supplies. Like WoodWorkDesigns, which sells custom panels for artists. I've been searching for painters and mixed-media artists, and here are some of my favorite finds: - pepperminte (stylized watercolor portraits)
- kelcan (abstract oil landscapes)
- rplowman (collages—I interviewed him for the June issue of The Artist's Magazine!)
- jezze (gorgeous prints—I interviewed her for my book!)
I could browse through Etsy all day. (Glad I can count it as working!)
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
2/10/2009 4:09:11 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, February 09, 2009
New, curated watercolor blog
 Chris Beck, an artist familiar to many of us here in the office, has a new(ish) blog where she posts work from a different artist every week. BRUSH-PAPER-WATER is a growing collection of stunning work by watercolorists of all temperaments. (The image at right is a detail of one of Beck's paintings—cutest profile icon ever!)
By Grace Dobush | Cool Web sites
2/9/2009 9:31:15 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, February 05, 2009
Tip file: Let your mind wander
From Ellen Fountain, in the July 1988 issue of The Artist's Magazine: To limber up your imagination, find a quiet spot, shut your eyes and call up an image of something you know very well, perhaps your cat. Take time to let the image form clearly in your mind. Then change it—make the cat another color, give it wings, watch it fly.
By Grace Dobush | Tips
2/5/2009 10:18:36 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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