Friday, October 23, 2009

Chroma Offers $12,000 in Prizes to Student Artists

Art Students are invited to enter the Chroma Student Art Competition 2009-10. It’s your chance to share in $12,000 in cash prizes!

Enter now to improve your chance to win. Round 1 of this is a three-round competition ends December 31, 2009.

Contest rules say you have to use Chroma products -- Atelier Interactive Professional Artists’ Acrylics, A2 Art Students’ Acrylics or Archival Professional Artists’ Oils.

But what’s cool is that Chroma makes it very easy to comply: “We understand that art students often have a wide variety of different paint brands in their paint box so it is OK to mix in other brands that you have, just so long as you use some Chroma paints."

Go to the Chroma website for details, and to submit your own work, view the gallery of entries to date, and vote for your favorites. The Competition is open to students enrolled in a tertiary art course with duration of at least one year.

So create your next masterpiece with some Chroma paint -- and good luck!

Visit the BINDERS website at www.bindersart.com!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

In Art, One Size Doesn’t Fit All

Some artists think big, others prefer small. Consider Willard Wigan, a 52-year-old Briton, who creates astonishing micro sculptures so tiny they fit inside the eye of a sewing needle.

A slideshow reveals Wigan’s brightly painted 3D scenes -- a tableau of Alice in Wonderland, Apollo Astronauts, the Obama family and many other remarkable mini artworks.

Wigan’s relies on a scalpel, a fly-hair brush and a microscope to see what he's carving and painting. He says it can take up to three months to finish a piece.

In a gallery setting his works are placed inside a illuminated transparent domes and viewed by visitors through powerful microscopes.

Wigan’s works, which can cost more than $40,000 apiece, are owned by a wide variety of collectors, including Prince Charles and Mike Tyson.

At the opposite end of the size spectrum we have the recently installed “God Bless America” in Chicago’s Pioneer Plaza. This sculptural rip-off of Grant Wood‘s “American Gothic” is noteable for more reasons than it’s 25-foot height.

The artist is Seward Johnson, who inherited a huge fortune from his grandfather, one of the founders of Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceuticals. After being fired from his family’s company, Johnson got into art and has been making sculpture since the 1970s.

Johnson, 79, has been using computer scanning to make kitschy cast statues based on images of famous artworks by others (Monet, Rockwell, et.al.) and presenting it as original artwork. His
foundation has placed over 500 of Johnson’s statues with municipalities, hotels, airports, corporations, schools and private collections. These works have been panned by museum
curators and art critics of national stature, says the NY Times.

Nonetheless, Johnson’s “God Bless America” has managed to please both the cognoscenti and passers-by. Whether it is due to the public setting, or improved 3D mapping technology, or simply its sheer monumental size, there is something both surprising and pleasing about Johnson‘s version of Wood‘s original painting.

It’s a very big hit in Chicago. "The image is so iconic, and it encourages people to go to the museum, "said one pedestrian.

Big, small or in-between -- in art as in most other things, size doesn’t matter.

Visit the BINDERS website at www.bindersart.com!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

This Week @ BINDERS - October 19-25

SALES • ART CLASSES • ART WORKSHOPS • ART EXHIBITS

Think BINDERS has run out of bargains on art materials? One glance at our website will convince you otherwise. Shop online or in store -- BINDERS low discount prices are yours for the taking! Also ongoing are several art classes, and Elizabeth Osborn launches a NEW two-day Intermediate Oil Painting session this weekend. A must-see is the Georgia State University's Art Show in our Limelight Gallery, with a Reception and Gallery Talk on tap for Thursday at 6pm.

Monday, October 19:
Guided Open Studio with Kay Powell
10:30am-2pm • Every Monday
Fee: $15/session. No sign up needed. Please pay the instructor.

Guided Open Studio with Kay Powell
6:30-8:30pm • see details above.


Tuesday, October 20:

Painting - Design and Technique with Charles Y. Walls
6 sessions, Tuesdays, September 8-October 20 (no class on Sept.29) • 1-4pm • Fee: $140 per 6 session series


Bookmaking with Anne Elser
6 sessions, weekly on Tuesdays, Sept 15-Oct 20 • 6-8:30pm • Fee: $140


Painting - Design and Technique with Charles Y. Walls
6-8:30pm - see details above


Wednesday, October 21:
Copperplate Calligraphy with Anne Elser
6 sessions, weekly on Wednesdays, Sept 16-Oct 21 • 6-8:30pm • Fee: $140


Thursday, October 22:
No classes today.

Friday, October 23:

No classes today.

Saturday, October 24:

NEW! Intermediate Oil Painting with Elizabeth Osborne
Saturday 11am-4pm AND Sunday 12-5pm • Fee: $140 • Sign up now!

Sunday, October 25:
NEW! Intermediate Oil Painting with Elizabeth Osborne
12-5pm • see details above

Please note: Classes on this schedule are in our Atlanta store unless otherwise indicated. For more information please email or call Eli Pelizza at 404.237.6331 ext. 203.

Check out the full list of our upcoming art classes and art workshops!


EXHIBITS AT THE LIMELIGHT GALLERY

Art Show for Georgia State University’s Art Students
Showing until October 31

The artwork in the show is part of a GSU selected topics course. Each
artist contacted a specific person found through a media outlet, and
then corresponded with them to create their final piece.

Thursday, October 22:
A Reception is planned for 6-9pm, with a Gallery Talk at 7pm

Visit the BINDERS website at www.bindersart.com!