The Art of Spring

A bumper blog this week, posted a day early because I'm away on vacation tomorrow, plus things are changing!

Spring - all set for colour!

Finally it is spring break and I am taking some time away from work for the next eleven or so days. I have a great blog planned for next week too though! The Easter period is always one I look forward too, the weather is starting to warm, we are a few days in to spring, and the landscape changes from its winter greys, and starts to burst in to colour.

It is also a busier time of year for artists, completing pieces in time for summer collections, photographers out and about capturing the beauty of spring, and it is also a holiday period that moves. Easter and the holidays that are related to it are moveable feasts in that they do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars which follow only the cycle of the sun; rather, its date is determined on a lunisolar calendar similar to the Hebrew calendar.

Happy Easter!

 

Aside from the religious context at Easter, it is also a time when families get together to visit museums and galleries all over the world. Many museums hold special events, and places such as the Museum of London have free entry, even to these special events days. So if you are in the UK and are thinking of something to do over the Easter period, the new Harley Gallery in Nottinghamshire might just be well worth a visit.

A Michelangelo work that has not been shown in public for fifty-years has gone on permanent display. The Madonna Del Silenzio (Madonna of Silence) which was created in 1538 and comes from the Cavendish-Bentinck family's Portland Collection. This is a rare opportunity to see the work up close.

The gallery is located on the Welbeck Estate and is close enough to Sherwood Forest so that you can make a full day of visiting sights in the local area. Sherwood Forest, once home to the fabled Robin Hood and his band of merry men, is particularly beautiful at this time of year.

Alongside the painted masterpieces, the 800 sq. metre gallery also houses miniatures by Nicholas Hilliard and Christian Friedrich Zincke, Meissen porcelain and jewellery by Cartier.

ADELE

Musician, songwriter, all-round great singer Adele has announced that she will be headlining at this year’s Glastonbury Festival in the UK which will be held in June. For those unfamiliar with the Glastonbury Festival, it is a gathering of people who sleep in tents in a muddy field who just happen to have a passion for great music. Did I mention it was also very muddy?

Glastonbury is the oldest Marian Shrine north of the Alps. It is a place of myth, mystique, legend, tradition and faith, which, for many reasons, has a high profile in Britain and abroad, and is home to an annual music festival, and possibly one of the muddiest and wettest parts of the UK for the duration of the festival.

News of Adele headlining will certainly bring a ray of sunshine to festival goers, and Muse and Coldplay will also be headlining at the event.

CHRISTIE’S

New York - Christie’s announces the launch of a new marquee event in New York, Classic Week, which brings together exhibitions and auctions from Antiquities, Decorative Arts, Old Master Paintings, Sculpture and Classical Japanese Art. Highlighting the week is “Revolution” — the cross-category concept sale on April 13 that presents paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures as physical expressions of changing cultural consciousness. The exhibitions at Christie’s Rockefeller Center Galleries open to the public on April 8, and the auctions will take place April 12 – 15.

Antiquities | April 12

The sale offers works of art from across the ancient Mediterranean world, including ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt and the Near East, which range in date from the Neolithic period through to 1000 A.D. Featuring marbles, gemstones, helmets and reliefs, highlights include an important Roman inlaid bronze Bacchus, an important Egyptian wood figure of a lady, and an exceptional Roman marble of Venus.

The Exceptional Sale | April 13

A highly selective offering of the “best of the best” in decorative arts, this sale includes masterpieces of European, American and Chinese furniture, sculpture and objects, all of impeccable provenance and extraordinary quality. Among the extraordinary works offered are a Russian gold tea and coffee-service, a pair of pistols gifted by Marquis de Lafayette to Simón Bolívar, and a rediscovered marble figure of Andromeda.

European Sculpture and Works of Art | April 13

Encompassing sculpture and works of art from the Middle Ages until the end of neo-classicism, circa 1830, the sale offers works in marble, wood, stone, enamel, bronze, terracotta, plaster, stained glass and hardstone, as well as early metalwork and works of art. Highlights include a bronze group of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (1640-1705) or Archduke Siegmund Franz of Austria, a plaster bust of an artist by Joseph Chinard, two marble busts of Roman Emperors, probably Otho and Titus, and a terracotta bust of Milo of Croton by Pierre Puget.

Revolution | April 13

“Revolution” is a new multi-departmental concept sale featuring masterworks of fine arts from the 18th and 19th centuries – paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures – that will bring to life the many ways in which the visual arts have documented, illustrated and contributed to the great revolutions – political, philosophical and aesthetic – that made the modern world. The 45-lot sale offers a distinguished and diverse selection of artists such as Boilly, Daumier, David, Géricault, Goya, Ingres, Turner and Vigeé Le Brun. Historical figures represented in the sale include Marie Antoinette, Napoleon, Rousseau, Duke of Orleans and George Washington, among others.

Old Masters: Part I | April 14

Encompassing many of the great names of the European artistic tradition from before the Renaissance to the early 19th century, the auction is comprised of many fresh to the market works from private collections. Top lots include El Greco’s The Entombment of Christ, Daddi’s The Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints, Gandolfi’s The Birth of Venus, and Natoire’s pair of hunting scenes. The sale offers exciting re-discoveries such as works by Allori, Joos van Cleve and Vermeyen, as well as a selection of beautiful view paintings from Venice to Rome.

Old Masters: Part II | April 14

The continuation of the Part I sale will offer property from the collection of Walter and Nancy Liedtke, and a strong selection of Italian, French, early Netherlandish and Dutch Golden Age works. With more than 150 lots, estimates range from $1,000 to $300,000.

An Inquiring Mind: American Collecting Of Japanese and Korean Art | April 15

The sale will feature fine screens, scrolls, calligraphy, woodcut prints, ceramics, lacquer, metalwork, armour and swords. Highlights include Buddhist art, 17th century screens, 18th century Korean paintings, samurai swords and armour.

SCIENTIFIC ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

Any artist with a love of science is invited to apply for the position of artist in residence at the world’s largest and most powerful particle collider within the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN).

CERN is full of artistic beauty!

Seeking applications for its COLLIDE international award, the lucky winner will get the opportunity to work with a CERN scientist on an artistic project that is designed to bring both science and art together.

The winner of COLLIDE will win a three-month long, fully funded residency split between CERN and the Liverpool-based Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT). The winner will also receive a $15,000 cash prize.

To be able to apply, artists must be “interested in the cultural significance of science” and be able to demonstrate that they have the ability to push the traditional forms of collaboration between the artistic and scientific fields according to Arts@CERN’s website. The prerequisites are that the winner must be able to speak English enough to communicate with CERN’s scientists, who use English as the common language.

Applications are being accepted through to May 23rd 2016, with the winner being announced in June 2016, and you can apply here: http://arts.cern/collide-international-award

TIMES ARE CHANGING

In the last year of writing this blog every week I have been constantly thinking of improvements, and it’s now time to share with you some of the plans I have to make the blog more relevant and much more of a resource for artists.

So what will be coming over the next few months?

Firstly there is already a new online store page where you can buy all of my art. Orders are processed through Pixels/Fine Art America, who have 14 fulfilment centres in 5 countries. Now you can order with lower shipping taxes and no unexpected import charges for most countries and regions. You also get a 30-day money-back guarantee, and all of my designs are available on a wide range of products from museum quality stretched canvases to clothing, homewares, and mobile phone cases.

You can also visit my dedicated sales site over at http://10-mark-taylor.pixels.com and see the complete range or visit M.A’s Fine Art Store on this website by heading to: http://www.beechhousemedia.co.uk/p/gall.html

THE ARTISTS EXCHANGE

Just before Christmas 2015 I set up a Facebook group “The Artists Exchange”. It is a group that supports artists, and where artists promote other artists work.

Why would an artist promote another artist you ask? The answer is simple. Facebook works on algorithms, the algorithms seem to like it when people share posts, comment, and like, or react with the new reaction options. But there is also something called organic reach.

Many artists don’t have an epic budget to promote posts, so when you post to your own timeline the only people who will see it in general are your friends and followers. However, let us imagine that you have 100-friends on Facebook. Sharing another artist’s work will allow that artist to become exposed to a percentage of your friends and followers.

Now let’s imagine that someone else has 1000-friends and followers. The reach of your work suddenly increases, and if friends and followers decide to also share, well, you suddenly expose the artist’s work in many other regions around the world, and more people will get to see the work. In return, artists will share your work. Think of it as introducing two people who you know at a party who didn’t know each other a few minutes before.

Does it actually work? Yes. In the early days of Facebook I could get literally hundreds of likes on a post, and more if it was a funny cat video. Then Facebook changed the algorithm, in fact they change it frequently and at least a couple of times each month. Organic (meaning content that you do not pay to promote) reach declined, and even some of the world’s biggest content publishers saw a decline in the reach of their posts.

The cynic inside me suggests that Facebook would much rather you engage with their promoted posts option because they will get paid and your reach gets extended. I tried this when I set up https://facebook.com/beechhousemedia I spent enough for the wife to not talk to me for a week, and ended up with a grand total of 37 likes. The problem is that I would prefer to have organic likes from people who actually want to engage with me and my art. I discovered a few years ago that my preference is to have 10 loyal collectors over 100 irregular buyers. I did the math.

So the Artists Exchange was set up to help extend markets for artists. It is also a great community where you can ask for critique, help, and advice, and it is also a place where anyone can join in. Some members are art collectors, some are artists, some just love to visit and see the tremendous art from generally unknown artists that truly are so very talented. You are welcome to join the group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/940723089340284/

So as an additional feature I will be introducing a new page on this website “The Artists Exchange” and this is where I will be featuring artists on the group to give them a little more exposure.

THE ART OF…

Recently I have been writing some posts that support artists and others in topics such as the Art of Collecting Art on a Budget, The Art of Blogging, The Art of Exhibiting Art, all of which can be found in my blog archives. However, I will be taking the best posts and featuring them in a new page that I am currently creating that will focus on helping artists and providing them with the tips I have picked up over the years.

NEW LOGO

The current logo is being completely redesigned! The new logo will be much more visually appealing, and I am currently working on this. Logos can take a huge amount of work to produce, and just as I do with clients who need logos, I will be holding a focus group!

Generally I hold focus groups with the clients existing customers, but I want the power of the internet collective to help me with this one, so I will be running my focus group purely on social media!

ADVERTISING

No one likes online adverts that are intrusive to the message of the main site. I have three adverts running through AdSense on this site and I try to keep them out of the way so that you don’t end up mis-clicking.

I don’t particularly like online advertising either, but the overheads to run this site quickly mount up, so all of my advertising revenue is used to support the continued running of this site.

But thinking back to my earlier words that for the most part many artists don’t have epic advertising budgets, I have decided to let out a page for artists who wish to advertise on the internet without huge costs of setting up a website or setting up complicated adverts. For now there is no charge as long as you supply the advert which can either be an image, text, or HTML, but you are more than welcome to donate a coffee through PayPal!

NEW ART

Over the last few weeks I have been creating a number of new pieces of art work. I suddenly realised that I rarely let everyone know on the blog, so moving forward I will be periodically updating with any new releases and letting everyone know about my upcoming collections.

My recent pieces include:

Tsunami

Tsunami by Mark Taylor

 

M.A's latest abstract, Tsunami, certainly sparks the imagination. Vibrant, powerful, and carefully capturing the devastation of a tsunami striking land, this is a must have and is available here: http://10-mark-taylor.pixels.com/featured/tsunami-mark-taylor.html

Beached Wreck

 

Beached Wreck by Mark Taylor

Beached Wreck is a return to M.A's landscapes in 2016. This digital watercolor has been beautifully composed and will look stunning in any space. This is a Fine Art America / Pixels group exclusive and is available here: http://10-mark-taylor.pixels.com/featured/beached-wreck-mark-taylor.html

Glacier

 

Glacier by Mark Taylor

M.A's beautiful abstract creation Glacier is a vibrant and moving piece that draws attention to the plight of many of earth’s glacial regions. A glacier is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight; it forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation (melting and sublimation) over many years, often centuries. Global warming is said to be one of the highest risks for glacial melt. Rising seawater from melting glaciers is already having an impact across the world’s oceans.

This outstanding creation is a Fine Art America / Pixels group exclusive and will look stunning in any space and is available here: http://10-mark-taylor.pixels.com/featured/glacier-mark-taylor.html

Sea Nettle

 

Sea Nettle by Mark Taylor

Sea Nettle is another beautiful digital creation from M.A. This wonderfully vibrant artwork brings to life one of the oceans most mysterious creatures.

Jellyfish or jellies are the major non-polyp form of individuals of the phylum Cnidaria. They are typified as free-swimming marine animals consisting of a gelatinous umbrella-shaped bell and trailing tentacles. The bell can pulsate for locomotion, while stinging tentacles can be used to capture prey.

This outstanding creation is a Fine Art America / Pixels group exclusive and will look stunning in any space and is available here: http://10-mark-taylor.pixels.com/featured/sea-nettle-mark-taylor.html

Orca

 

Orca by Mark Taylor

M.A's latest work is a tribute to one of earth’s most beautiful creatures, the Orca. The killer whale (Orcinus orca), also referred to as the orca whale or orca, and less commonly as the blackfish or grampus, is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member.

This outstanding creation is a Fine Art America / Pixels group exclusive and will look stunning in any space and is available here: http://10-mark-taylor.pixels.com/featured/orca-mark-taylor.html

New Beginnings

 

New Beginnings by Mark Taylor

 

New Beginnings is M.A's latest modern art creation. Hope is essential as it gives people the motivation to continue on in life despite seemingly dreary circumstances. This simplistic yet beautiful work is possibly one of M.A's deepest and most poignant works to date and is available here: http://10-mark-taylor.pixels.com/featured/new-beginnings-mark-taylor.html

That’s all for today, but remember to check out my Facebook page at https://facebook.com/beechhousemedia to keep up to date with the latest art and technology news during the week, and most of all, enjoy spring break whatever you're doing!

 

Copyright Beechhouse Media & M.A