Need a 2011 Calendar??

Well you could do worse than buy one of mine from RedBubble!!

There is colour, there is light - there is no god but that's alright. Triptych.

Well I’ve been working on this for some time, and here it is – for what it’s worth. I kept changing my mind about this picture – Big Themes? Completely Abstract? More human? So I went the less abstract route in the end. Milo is actually the name of one of my cats, and he features in the centre panel. Buffy my dog is in the left hand panel, and my beautiful black cat Earnie is in the other. Anyway, acrylic and spraypaint (and a bit of crayon and ink) on canvas, three panels 50cm sq, so 150×50cm (plus badly fixed hinges).

See matelles-art.com

5 Gears in Reverse

Elvis Costello song: 5 Gears in Reverse

“If you don’t know by now
Nobody’s gonna tell you
If you don’t know by now
The shock will probably kill you”

Lots of links

You know I said I'd put my work on a lot of different sites? Well the list is getting bigger:

1. Matelles-Art.com - the original and the best!! 

2. Blogger: This blog

3. Facebook - Matelles-Art facebook page (click 'like')

4. ArtQuest - search for art...

5. Zazzle.co.uk t shirts etc

6. MySoti t shirts etc

7. RedBubble art and t shirts

8. ArtSpan - Art for sale

9. Lateral Arts - art for sale

10. Absolutearts.com - Art for sale again

11. www.artgallery.co.uk - and again

12. LondonArt.co.uk  .... and again!

13. Flickr - photos.

14. Painters Online - More work, an interesting site

15. Art Wanted - Lots of old things here, some new stuff too (but uploading is too hard!)

16: ArtSlant - recent work

17. Painters Online - and some more!

18. Artisho - paintings for sale

19. ArtBreak - And again...

20. Bluecanvas - This is an interesting one - art for sale, but also a community thing 

21. Articite - French art website

22. d'art - another website

23. Celeste Network - Italian art network: Go here and vote for my work!

24. Art Takes Miami - and why not? Go here and give me 5 stars!

25. Art Cardiff - New York London Paris Munich ....

26. PicassoMio - English and Spanish site - art for sale

And: 

Mad isn't it?

Sunshine in a bag (Clint Eastwood)

I ain't happy, feeling glad
I got sunshine in a back
I'm useless. but not for long
The future is coming on.

With Compliments

Dear, if I had a small legacy from Croesus
I would purchase – please do not argue –
that painting of gladioli by Soutine
you so admired. But in a waking fit
of realism I’ve bought
this bunch of robust-red,
radiantly alive upstanding gladioli
from The Corner Flower Stall instead.

Dannie Abse

See http://www.dannieabse.com/

Boire du vin

Two new abstracts - Town Scape 1 and Town Scape 2

Matelles-Art Services for Artists

Matelles-Art Services

Studio space for hire: approx 30sqm Monthly rental 300€

Fantastic location, in the medieval village of Les Matelles, just 10 km north of Montpellier

Rent Includes:

• Lighting, water etc.
• Studio Space
• Access to Gallery Space (2 weeks pa included – dates to be agreed)
• Direct access to giclée print service
• Free Web space; advertising your work on the Matelles-Art website
• Free access to Wi-fi

A complete package for artists: a spacious shared studio space with access to a purpose-built gallery to show your work (2  weeks pa include), the facility to have your work printed onto paper or canvas on a large format high-quality giclée printer, your own web page on the Matelles-Art site, and includes access to wi-fi.

The studio is also equipped with an office, a telephone line, a sink, plenty of electric points (including safety power-points for high-powered machinery), toilet and storage space.

Gallery for hire

A small purpose-built, well-lit gallery 20m sq. (14 linear metres) in the beautiful medieval village of Les Matelles, just 10km north of Montpellier.

Lighting is by individual halogen lamps on a fully adjustable overhead track lighting system.

Services included

• Assistance with hanging
• Staffed Tues – Sun 3-7pm (more by arrangement)
• Facility for having Giclée Prints (posters, canvasses) produced on site. (See Giclée print price list)
• Evening private view (6.30 - 8.30)
• Email promotion to gallery's mailing list, and via Matelles-Art website.
• 0% commission on sales
• Listing on our website
• Substantial storage facilities
• A2 poster outside the gallery, stock of A4 posters for distribution
• Wireless internet access
• Telephone (incoming and local calls)
• Hanging system throughout the gallery
• Wine glasses for private view evenings
• Cleaning service once a week

Hire charges 2010/11

First week: 300€

Subsequent weeks: 200€

Giclée Printing

High quality giclée printing onto paper or canvas

Paper sizes up to A2

Stretched canvas sizes up to 8F, 8M, 8P,  40x40cm

Service includes, scanning or photography of work, or use of digital files provided by artist.

Electronic adjustment for printing purposes in discussion with artist

Proofing

Example Prices and options: (Actual sizes will depend on the size and proportions of your original artwork)

We use only high quality, fully archival paper, either by Epson or Hahnemühle.

Our canvas is smooth cotton natural white 315gsm. Our wooden stretchers are hand made of spruce in France.

A4	Gloss Art Paper	10€	Canvas  0P 18x12cm	15€
A3	Gloss Art Paper	17€	Canvas  4P 33x22cm	20€
A2	Gloss Art Paper	25€	Canvas  8P 46x33cm	30€

ABOUT GICLÉE PRINTING

Definition: Giclée (zhee-klay) - The French word "Giclée" is a feminine noun that means a spray or a spurt of liquid. The word is derived from the French verb "gicler" meaning "to squirt". The term  "Giclée print" connotes an elevation in printmaking technology. Images are generated from high resolution digital scans and printed with archival quality inks onto various substrates including canvas, fine art, and photo-base paper. The Giclée printing process provides better colour accuracy than other means of reproduction.

Process: Giclée prints are created typically using professional 8-Colour to 12-Colour ink-jet printers. Among the manufacturers of these printers are vanguards such as Epson, MacDermid Colorspan, & Hewlett-Packard. These modern technology printers are capable of producing incredibly detailed prints for both the fine art and photographic markets, and of printing on a variety of media, including paper and canvas.

Advantages: Giclée prints are advantageous to artists who do not find it feasible to mass produce their work, but want to reproduce their art as needed, or on-demand. Once an image is digitally archived, additional reproductions can be made with minimal effort and reasonable cost. The prohibitive up-front cost of mass production for an edition is eliminated. Archived files will not deteriorate in quality as negatives and film inherently do. Another tremendous advantage of Giclée printing is that digital images can be reproduced to almost any size and onto various media, giving the artist the ability to customize prints for a specific client.

Quality: The quality of the Giclée print rivals traditional silver-halide and gelatin printing processes and is commonly found in museums, art galleries, and photographic galleries.

What’s good for you:

Producing giclée limited edition reproduction prints is a great way for artists to make their art more widely available at lower prices, and increasing their collector bases by offering affordable alternatives to more expensively priced originals. You can also sell your images as unsigned unlimited editions at even lower prices if you want to make them even more affordable, or you can sign and limit them in various ways in order to market them at different price points. Signing, numbering, adding small drawings in the margins, or whatever else you want to do to personalize or individualize your digital images all make them more attractive to buyers.

If you're printing limited editions, set edition sizes in advance. Once they're set, make them public and never change them. You don't have to print the entire run at once; one of the great advantages of giclée printing is that you only have to print as many prints as people order, thereby saving ink, paper, and storage costs.

With signed limited editions, document every print you sell. This is a great way to make buyers feel confident about what they're buying. Include a detailed original invoice or certificate of authenticity with each image-- not a photocopy-- with the print's title, paper type, printer type, ink type, date printed, edition size, and other particulars. Then sign and date it. Not only do buyers appreciate the documentation, but good documentation also tends to increase a work of art's value.

Photography

Amazing how everything during the Ganges 1900 festival turns black and white.