Samee Eko "The Arts"

This season get products made of art and craft materials that enhances the whole look of the office or home it dwells in.

Imagine it’s the corporate gifting season & you get a choice to choose between a splendid crafted vase that will suit best in the corner of your cabin or common pen set box as a gift from your boss. Which one would you prefer? Though the answer is tough as individual taste cannot be defined, most of the time one would forget the practicality of the pen which will be applicable for use in the office and definitely go for the beautiful vase that will envy as well as attract the eyes of many entering the cabin. Think about it won’t you? This is because the rich tapestry of Indian arts and crafts is something, which is not a hidden fact. India from the beginning is known for creating amazing pieces in arts and crafts, which has left the whole world speechless. The elegance of traditional arts and crafts mirrors the Indian heritage in its past and present flowing into eternity. Today the great Indian arts and crafts reveal it’s breathtaking variety of products, combining aesthetic appeal with utilitarian value. To satisfy modern tastes and meet international demand, design institutes have been giving a new look to these traditional arts and crafts. A variety of products are available today in all regions spread across India. There is a collection on different craft traditions of India, which are classified under categories like brass, bronze, terracotta, shell craft, jute and coir, leather, stone, glassware, toys, etc. Be it the Madhubani and Kishangarh paintings, or for that matter the assorted paraphernalia of woodcarvings, stuffed hangings, purses and handbags, there is no doubt that every art and craft tradition of India exudes a charm and originality of its own and pristine beauty that has remained untouched by time. The flow of people to and from India has stimulated many new trends in the arts.

Splendor of Metal

Metalware has found a new expression in the context of Andhra Pradesh with exquisite pieces of sheet-metal art. Some of the beauties made out of it consist of a whole range of utility-cum-decorative items like plant pots, vases, wall decorations and stationery items. Nowadays there is an extensive use of brass, bronze, copper, iron and bell metal in India. Ornaments, utensils, icons and figures are made out different metals. These objects can be embellished through punching, engraving, inlaying and enameling. The Indian metal smith is known for various methods of metalworking and has created forms with vision, conception and sensitivity. The skills of artisans can be seen in caskets, vases and trays manufactured throughout India, which has a huge demand in abroad too. In North India, copper and brass lamps are made in a variety of shapes and styles. The pahaldar lamps and jaipuri lamps are the examples. Jaipuri engravers produce lacquered and engraved brassware in an amazing variety of articles like hanging lamps, boxes, bowls, picture frames and plates. Brass metal is one another material which has gained popularity over a period of time, brass casters often itinerant tinkers and serve their clients by creating domestic utensils, distinctive images of their protective deities and animal mounts to be offered to them. Bronze’s importance over the years has been seen by many, virtually all Indian casting in bronze is done using the cire perdue (lost wax) process. No mould survives the process, so each piece is unique. Both the literature and the metal images excavated by archaeologists establish the fact that the art of bronze casting has been continuously practiced in India for more than five million years. Copper vessels of Kashmir with floral designs and calligraphy shows excellent artisanship too. Karnataka is also famous for the bidri work in which silver inlay work is done against dark metal background.
Andhra Pradesh also has its claim on some of the most distinguished crafts like the Kalamkari work with its origins traced back to antiquity. Kalamkari, with its resist process and application of vegetable dyes has made an impact in various parts of the world. The Kalamkari craft offers themes in the form of small and large decorative panel’s ideal for household and office decoration.

Superlative work in Fragile Glass

Another art seen to be exemplary accepted in India and world over is the rich art of Glassware. The Mughals in India perceived the aesthetic potential of glass. One can find beautifully crafted glass articles like bowls, vases, tumblers, bottles for fragrance etc. Also new designs and exquisite shapes in a variety of rich colors keep blossoming. Glass items such as phials, jars, lamp chimneys are attractively made and the shape have a wide range. Glass animals are also becoming popular among the corporate industry as apart of corporate gifting. Varanasi specializes in glass beads, which is used for decorations in many houses in Patna, Varanasi and in many other places throughout India. The oriental shapes, designs and typical Indian colors in glass make Indian glassware distinct.

Pot out poetry in art

Clay craft is probably the earliest of man’s creations in India. Clay pottery is an ancient art and there are different types like glossy and shiny types made of very fine fabric, paper pottery, painted pottery etc available to suit individual decor. Apart from normal pottery work materials made from Terracotta is also popular among the people. Terracotta is a porous and brittle material formed by the low heat of traditional Indian kiln. Molding objects by hand or on the wheel and firing them in an open oven produces most terracotta art and pottery. The terracotta tradition of creating figures of deities on ceremonial and auspicious occasions brings out the religious Indian nature of their pottery. Beautiful vases, pots, vessels etc useful for many purposes are also made out from this art.

Charm in Dry Sticks
Last but not the least products made of cane and bamboo is in a way artistic models by itself. Most of the domestic requirements are made of these materials. Hats, baskets, cane vessels, cane belts – woven and plain, bamboo mugs with carvings and a wide variety of ornaments and jewelry items are some of it’s examples. Today this product has stepped in the world of decorative packaging too. It is ideal to gift chocolates or ornaments in a decorative bamboo box and tie the box with a satin ribbon on top to add a touch of glamour to the box. It is said to be the perfect corporate gift one can ever think of. Many other decorative pieces, stationery products like penholder etc are also made from ever serving bamboo and cane sticks.

Gift it with Pride

All these arts and crafts material and products serve as best gifts ideal to be given to family and loved ones or to be used as effective corporate gifts for promotions of your company. Their beauty and elegance is bound to bring the receiver joy and leave a powerful impression of your personality and status in their mind. These aesthetically designed pieces are ideal to be given during festival seasons like Christmas, New Year or during important meetings as momentous or when one conducts significant events or during such other relevant occasions.
Get the taste of this contemporary art and craft now and get mesmerize in its rich culture with the others across the globe.

Minesh Modi is editor of Giftsnaccessories Magazine, a division of Netlink Solutions (India) Ltd published from India. Indian Products, Gifts, Corporate Gifts

Wallpaper is so passé! Painting your walls is now a much more acceptable and fashionable way of making your home warm and welcoming. But blank painted walls only go half way. You have to put something on those blank walls.

Small lamps, framed photos and other decorations are nice, but you need a gaudy amount to cover an adequate portion of the wall. Even a medium-size wall will “swallow” a handful of smaller decorations.

Never fear, there is a solution. Canvas wall art is a fantastic way to use a minimal amount of decorations to add a maximum amount of color, warmth and excitement to your walls.

For many people canvas wall art may carry a corny or outdated connotation conjuring up images of 1980s pop culture. But modern canvas wall art has evolved considerably, and vendors now offer a wide range of canvas art prints, photos on canvas, Banksy prints and acrylic-mounted art.

So what’s the difference, what type of wall art fits you best? Let’s examine.

Canvas Art Prints

Canvas art prints can range from contemporary art to classical art and comes in a variety of sizes, from large to really, really large.

A nice, custom-ordered canvas print with contemporary art that will create a gentle and warm background image is ideal for most homes. At the other end of the spectrum, you could order a large contemporary art print that really “pops,” that will serve as an automatic conversation starter. And everything else in between.

Photos on Canvas

What if you really do want those family photos or special pictures of your loved ones on your walls, but they are just too small to work without plastering your wall with too many photos?

Again, canvas art prints to the rescue.

Most canvas wall art vendors will now take your photos, blow them up and print them to large canvas boards. Now you can share those special moments and display your loved ones like never before. And best of all, you can choose only the very best photos and still have enough to adequately decorate your walls.

In addition to your own family photos, you can also order large canvas pictures of famous movie scenes or celebrities.

Banksy Prints

Banksy art has become increasingly popular thanks to its pseudo-anonymous British-born originator who made a name for himself painting graffiti that appears to come to life, so to speak.

A lot of artists have copied Banksy’s work and techniques, and now you too can have some of that unique Banksy artwork on your walls thanks to canvas wall art.

Acrylic Art

The best alternative to canvas wall art is to frame your art in an acrylic wall mount.

Many of the same vendors that will create stunning canvas wall art will also take your photos or artwork, print it to high-grade vinyl and seal it in a strong clear acrylic sheet.

Benefits of acrylic art over canvas prints include the ability to easily clean the acrylic mount by simply wiping it down. Same big addition of color and warmth, much easier clean-up. A no-brainer for anyone with kids or for public venues like bars and restaurants.

Lee Woods runs the Canvas Art Prints website One Blank Wall. One Blank Wall provide unique Canvas Prints and Photos on Canvas.

As part of this change in modern consciousness, people are seeking aspirational, original art in every aspect of their lives, enabling them to fulfil that once unattainable dream. The art they are looking for is not out dated, tacky or so expensive that you need the wealth of Jean Paul Getty to buy – but genuine, vibrant & original art that stands out from the crowd and creates a sense of style & personal expression. In the past, the public were forced either to buy from galleries with very high price points or from the likes of IKEA or Habitat with mass-produced reprints that were ubiquitous in their uptake by the masses.

However, new boys are causing a commotion in the art industry as its using European artists and getting the pieces stretched & framed in China where its Creative Director, is fluent in mandarin and splits his time between Dorset and Shanghai. The completed contemporary art is then kept in the UK ready for immediate delivery. This has enabled them to provide contemporary art you would expect to pay gallery prices at a fraction of the cost and delivered to your door. The old guard had better be on their toes!

Keith McGregor is a partner of Strawberrysoup, a web design agency with offices in Chichester and Bournemouth. Strawberrysoup specialise in creative web design, content managed websites, search engine optimisation, search engine marketing and graphic design

They have never been interested in others but for what they can get. The opportunity to study other cultures have presented it self severally but they were not up for it. They have written mind alteration books for their vision. It would have been ideal for them to introduce most of these books into their schools for knowledge, more researches and better appreciation of others. But hell no they were only interested in altering our mind set, artifacts and how much they can make from the unknown world.

My gratitude goes to our men and women, most of whom have lost their lives in saying the truth. Truth must prevail; I have realized danger of the silence conspiracy to erase anything African in the face of the earth. The fact that civilization of man started in African has disappeared from the pages of history books, even pyramids of Egypt to some people were built by aliens, It is too good to be African; if given a chance to recreate the map of Africa, Egypt and some part of South African will definitely be carved out of the map to serve their purpose.

There have been conflicting records of when Europeans came in contact with African Art. With due respect to our art historians who have made references to 1905 as the year of European first contact with African Art as widely documented. I beg to disagree. We should not forget the looting of Benin Art treasures. The Punitive Expedition of 1897 was a military excursion by a British force of 1,200 under Admiral Sir Harry Rawson that captured, burned, and looted the city of Benin, incidentally bringing to an end the highly sophisticated West African Kingdom of Benin.

Secondly, the Scramble for Africa (or the Rat Race for Africa) was the proliferation of conflicting European claims to African territory during the New Imperialism period, between the 1880s and the start of World War I. This era was more of art and treasures than territories. You are free to disagree. You can as well tell me of any other continent; that has suffered massive global extortion and exploitation of arts and culture. A visit to museums around the world will shade more light on this.

The earliest documented entry of a piece of African art into a European collection occurred around 1470, with a work that a Portuguese collector acquired from the kingdom of Kongo.  

Please permit me to introduce the so called founder of cubism and modern art, Picasso and his rivalry and partner in plagiarism Matisse, who were first European avant-garde artist collectors of African Art. His full name was Pablo (or Pablito) Diego Jose Santiago Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Crispin Crispiniano de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz Blasco y Picasso Lopez.  We know him today as simply Picasso.

Pablo was born to father, who was also an artist, known as José Ruiz y Blasco; his mother was Maria Picasso y Lopez.  His earliest paintings were signed Pablo Ruiz after his father, but around 1901 he started using his mother’s name, Picasso. He studied graphics in Spain and graduated in 1900.
Pablo was among the long list of bored minds, whose art of imitation and copying couldn’t sustain. He found himself in a nasty dance of poverty and isolation because no artist would want to risk their creations with a copy artist like Picasso. Shortly after graduation He moved to France 1901 where he quickly laid his hands on African art works. In his words I do not seek. I find.  You can imagine the innocent creations of African masters in the hands of a man who had copied art most of youthful age. Pablo believed that Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.

Modern art is simply a conspiracy child of racism and imperialism.  The so-called founder had these to say. Today, as you know, I am famous and very rich. But when completely alone with myself, I haven’t the nerve to consider myself an artist in the great and ancient sense of the word. There have been great painters like Giotto, Titian, Rembrandt and Goya. I am only a public entertainer who has understood his time. What was his time? It was said the confession is good for the soul.

In the part 1 of this article I mentioned the conspiracy of European avant-garde artists, art collectors, art critics, art historians and imperialist to create away out of their creative drought using African Art as escape goat. The artistic elite was mainly concerned with the rejection of academic tradition. African art became a source of inspiration for these artists who were searching for systems of representation other than naturalism and illusionism. The critic front-runner of this group was the French art critic Louis Vauxcelles who coined the term Cubism after seeing the landscapes Braque had painted in 1908 at L’Estaque in emulation of Cézanne. Vauxcelles called the geometric forms in the highly abstracted works “cubes.”

Louis Vauxcelles (1870-?) was an influential French art critic. To him are attributed the terms Fauvism (1905), and cubism. Vauxcelles coined the phrase ‘les fauves’ (translated as ‘wild beasts’) to describe a circle of painters associated with Matisse as well as the audiences who criticised them (he couldn’t decide which were more arrogant).But an artist can demonstrate zero proof of his artistic ability in the context of established representative visual art, yet he could end up as a master of modern art? Tell me you smell something funny about this too.

The Cubist painters rejected their inherited concept that art should copy nature, or that they should adopt the traditional techniques of perspective, modeling, and foreshortening. They wanted instead to emphasize the two-dimensionality of the canvas. So they reduced and fractured objects into geometric forms, and then realigned these within a shallow, reliefs like space. They also used multiple or contrasting vantage points. Louis Vauxcelles and his group were not interested in professionalism but escapism and name calling for the propagation of their supremacy vision. Pablo had them all fooled; the agony is that many are still fooled till date. I guest because of their common denominator of hate and racist drive, none really cared about the long time effect of their deceit.

In the words of Pablo the founder of your modern art; an artist must know how to convince others of the truth of his lies. The people who make art their business are mostly imposters. There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality. How naïve can you be, the man who had over 100 African art in his collection, copied and made money of them do not believe in abstraction.

Lets look into more facts in the part 3 coming soon.

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Here’s how it was. This was way back in the very early seventies. I had recently arrived in Los Angeles from Iowa, where I had been completing a doctoral program and working in the Writers’ Workshop in Iowa City. I was a poet. I had never taken much interest in art-though I was educated enough, of course, to be aware of “modern” artists like Picasso and Matisse. I had even, at my boarding school in England, enlarged a blue Matisse flower cutout to reproduce as a mural on my study wall-to the considerable consternation of my “housemaster”.

But though I had lived in London for three years in my early twenties, I had not stumbled across anything that would qualify as “contemporary art.” Then at the University of Iowa, the Art Department was, to my knowledge, mostly traditional, under the firm hand of the lithography master Mauricio Lasansky.

Then… Los Angeles! The shock of the new! My eyes were opened, first, by my soon-to-be wife, Ellie Blankfort-she of the Ellie Blankfort Gallery fame, during those years in the very early seventies. Soon after we met, she landed a job running the Art Rental Gallery at the Los Angeles County Museum, and she was meeting the younger set of artists she was soon to represent in her gallery. I, the poet, observed nervously from the sidelines, somewhat befuddled by the strange things some of these artists were doing.

I was not deeply offended, however, until the day we went out to see an exhibition at the Orlando Gallery in the San Fernando Valley. I arrived there to find hand-made, primitive axes protruding from the walls; books mutilated with cuts and slashes, their pages stuck together with unidentifiable goo; mysterious-but definitely unpleasant-stuff growing in mason jars; and Vaseline smeared unceremoniously on the white walls of the gallery.

And then there was an inscription somewhere in bold, childish lettering: WHEN I WAS A SMALL BOY, BOB WENT HOME.

That was it. I was appalled. Appalled that someone could create this kind of hideous mess and call it art. I went home angry to have wasted my precious (poet’s!) time on such frivolity.

And yet I could not get it out of my mind. To my distinct annoyance, the images kept playing around in my head, refusing stubbornly to leave. The indignation continued to rile. So I did what any writer does, I assume, when confronted with the unknown: I started to write about it.

At the risk of irritating those who’ve heard me say it a hundred times before, my guiding principle as a writer is that old adage: How do I know what I think ’til I see what I say. I couldn’t begin to sort out my ideas and feelings until I had them down in words.

So I sat down and began to write. And I wrote and wrote. Judging prose, in those days, to be a little bit beneath a man whose lofty calling was to be a poet, I wrote it all as a poem, and the poem turned out to be some thirty pages long. Evidently I found that I had quite a lot to say, and much of it had to do with the growing realization that this “mess” of an art show curiously resembled how I felt about my life-and how I managed it-when I was seven years old.

My life was all a difficult, impenetrable mystery. Nothing was as tidy as it was supposed to be, not even my clothes. Nothing ever fit quite right. I was clumsy, inelegant. I used to spill ink on the desk and smudge my fingers, and then the exercise books in which I had to do my arithmetic.

It was the struggle between the unruly, rebellious reality of the inner self and the discipline that others want to impose on it from without-the classic struggle for individual freedom in the face of despised and feared authority. Eventually, it proved to be a losing battle for the child and a victory for the teachers. Inky fingers and all, I was forced into submission to the rules.

WHEN I WAS A SMALL BOY. This art was talking about me! No wonder I was so angry and uncomfortable!

Later, when the writing was done. I met the offending artist, Gary Lloyd. (Gary, where are you these days?) He loved the poem I’d written, and proposed our collaboration on a book. We made it-a cumbersome volume with a hatchet handles for a spine, a battered aluminum cover, and pages rendered illegible by layers of mesh and grease-proof paper, and smears of Vaseline. We spent hours in Gary’s Culver City studio putting this thing together. We even sold some copies to respectable collectors. The County Museum has a copy.

So there you go. This was the great epiphany, for me, the initiation into the world of contemporary art. It came about through anger and indignation, a reaction so strong that I was unable to ignore it. It came about because I had the intuitive wisdom to listen to that contrarian voice and heed its challenge. In the months and years that followed, I continued making my first few tentative steps into writing about art. I even discovered that prose could prove a satisfying medium. I began to write pieces for Artweek, first, then for Art in America, Artforum… I had found a calling.

Peter Clothier is the author of The Real Bush Diaries. Visit his Web site to learn more about his imaginary conversations with President Bush, http://www.peterclothier.com

A four star arts venue attraction and a member of The Guild of Master Craftsmen, Artery have gathered the best of Scottish and International talent with each individual artist telling their own story through their art. What matters most to Artery, is that they bring these creations forward and make them affordable and accessible to anybody wanting the best contemporary art for their home or office.

The aim behind Artery is to break down the perceived barriers between art admirers and art galleries. So often are the galleries associated with over expensive works that may well be nice to look at, but so very few people will ever be able to enjoy them in their own home. Artery Gallery have built their success on getting away from the usual concept of art galleries, by making the customer feel welcome in the surroundings and to be able to admire and enjoy the original artworks without feeling they have to even know about art.

Jason Michaelson of Artery Gallery compares it to the airline industry, he says “A few decades ago, flying was still for the reasonably well-off, until the low cost airlines took hold, then all of a sudden people could afford to fly to countries they wouldn’t of been able to before, and a lot more often.”

He goes on to say, “It’s the same with art, it was just for the high end of the earning market and the rest of us would have to go for the prints, but with Artery we offer one off quality handmade clocks and steel or ceramic sculptures from £30 to £300 and original contemporary paintings from on average between £200 and £800.”

What’s more impressive is that most of the artists on constant exhibition are very well established with incredible cv’s, such as Scottish painters Derek Collins, Jackie Gardiner and Graham McKean as well as Peter Davenport and Australia’s leading contemporary artist Andrew Baines.

October 2006 saw Artery Gallery gain membership into The Guild of Master Craftsmen, and becoming one of only twelve galleries in the whole of the UK to be awarded this unique membership. Membership was granted by The Guild’s Council of Management in recognition of the company’s commitment to work with skill and integrity, and its agreement to abide by The Guild’s publicly declared aims and objectives. This follows approval of references submitted by a number of Artery Gallery’s satisfied customers.

Jason Michaelson adds, “We are very proud to have become a member of the Guild. At Artery we have always tried to maintain a consistently high standard of service to both our customers and the artists, local, national and international, whose work we exhibit. Our aim is to make art affordable and accessible for everyone and recognition of our efforts is very much appreciated”.

Artery Gallery, already well established in the tourist town of Crieff, Perthshire which was given a Four Star Arts Venue award by VisitScotland shortly after it opened in October 2004, took a natural progression forward in spring 2006 and extended its network, this time to the world famous town of St Andrews in Fife. Artery’s long term aim is to be established in most major areas and making art even more accessible.

Artery Gallery too, have made full use of the internet and seen it as the perfect marketing tool, and their award winning website www.arteryuk.com receives around 1500 worldwide visits a day. The ways of viewing each piece of art on the website has been made as simple as possible and you can even select the colour of your wall space to see if your perfect painting will colour coordinate. The ‘Save and Buy’ scheme has also proved extremely helpful to customers that fall in love with a particular piece of work, but don’t want to miss the opportunity to buy just because it doesn’t suit their pocket at that time.

Artery Gallery has been a major supporter of contemporary Scottish artists over the years and continues to boost up and coming artist profiles, as well as the well established.

Original, accessible and affordable art at Artery Gallery that may very well become your future antique!

Log on at www.arteryuk.com

or Email: enquiries@arteryuk.com

Contemporary art practices and attitudes?

When Picasso said, “I paint as I think them, not as I view them” how could you relate that to contemporary art practices and attitudes?

Answer
It has to be inside you
the TALENT to feel art .to mix your feelings with the painting
with your mind and to look and see with your heart not only with eyes
to hear the colors talking to you to move your brush with your hand and with your mind and your feelings …to feel all the enjoyment when you do art…to feel like you are up there with Engels not on land with people
if you can feel it you can do it

The Internet has become a worldwide marketplace where virtually everything is peddled online ranging from books, movie tickets, and kitchen gadgets to automobiles, luxury cruises, and fine art. No matter what you’re in the market for, you’ll find it online. When it comes to browsing online art galleries, you’re likely to come across examples of both fine art and digital art. But what’s the difference? And is digital art real art?

To better understand the differences between fine and digital art, let’s first define fine art. According to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, fine art is defined as: Art (as painting, sculpture, or music) concerned primarily with the creation of beautiful objects.

Now, let’s define digital art. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia explains that digital art is a contemporary art form where computer technology is manipulated to create distinctive works.

With those definitions in mind, a beautiful oil painting is considered fine art while a breathtaking collage of electronic images would be considered digital art. While you may be able to reach out and touch the brushstrokes on a painting or feel the contours of a sculpture, digital art tends to be less tangible, often appearing on a computer monitor or video display. Thus, the question often arises as to its legitimacy as a real art form.

Digital art also suffers from a perception that, because the artwork is created on a computer, it has less value than a one-of-a-kind object of fine art. Photographers encountered these same perceptions as a single photographic negative or slide is capable of creating countless identical copies of the image. While a digital artist could theoretically mass produce digital art, many digital artists have adopted the same techniques that photographers and lithographers have used successfully: limited editions.

The way that viewers interact with fine art and digital art is different as well. For the most part, looking at fine art is a static experience. Sure, the piece may evoke strong emotions as you look at it, but the experience is primarily visual. Digital art often incorporates multiple images, transitions, audio, and video; the artwork may change based on the viewer’s actions or movements, especially if touch screens or integrated video cameras are involved.

While fine art is displayed on walls, book shelves, pedestals, and other areas where you can enjoy it, digital art often requires electronic displays. Static digital artwork can be printed on paper or canvas and hung like traditional fine art paintings while multimedia artwork needs a suitable display such as a computer. Digital picture frames and flat panel TV’s with suitable inputs open digital artwork display possibilities that didn’t exist just a few years ago.  

Clearly, fine art and digital art have their differences. But is digital art real art? To answer that question, ask the following questions when looking at a piece of digital art: Is it beautiful? Does it evoke emotions? If you answer yes to either of these questions, the digital art is indeed real art.  

The Zucco floral art Gallery presents an extensive collection of floral paintings to delight and appeal to all who value art.