There’s Lots More to Love at BINDERS

You already know that BINDERS is the area’s No.1 independent source for art-making materials and frames. That’s because, as we like to say, “BINDERS is more than an art store.” And lately, we’re more-more than ever! For example:

DECORATIVE PAPERS:
The new eye-popping range at BINDERS is surely one of the widest in town. These versatile, affordable sheets and rolls will add a one-of-a-kind dimension to your bookmaking, box-covering, collages and more. Japanese mulberry and rice papers. Handmade banana and mango based papers. Metallic, sheers, flocked, sewn, origami, tie-dyes, tissues and laces. Ivory-laid papers from Italy. Papers from Thailand and Nepal. Intricate silkscreen and patterned papers. Gawking is free!

STATIONERY:
A larger, more colorful selection. From handsome vellums and elegant bond papers to 100% recycled Brown Bag Kraft, envelopes and sheets. Laser, inkjet and fountain pen compatible, of course.

JOURNALS and NOTEBOOKS:
Never before have we offered such a rich selection of high quality papers nestled in such sturdy and stylish covers. Choose from watercolor and drawing surfaces, as well as writing papers -- plain, ruled, grids and more. Top sellers include Fabriano, Lama Li, Rhodia, and Paperblank. And now, Moleskine -- the legendary journals, notebooks and date books preferred for two centuries by artists, writers, intellectuals and travelers worldwide.

DIGITAL INKJET PRINTING:
The brands of choice by professionals for reproducing their personal artwork and photos: Inkpress, Canson’s Infinity, Arches, Mi-Teintes and BFK, as well as Epson and Strathmore. Sheets and rolls in convenient sizes.

PORTFOLIOS, PRESENTATION BINDERS, CASES AND BOXES:
Pina Zangaro's Bex Binders are an elegant choice for storage and presentation, especially by leading-edge artists, architects, advertising folk. Available in durable recycled board, synthetic leather, bamboo and aluminum in all ring sizes. To add customized printing of your name or logo contact Stuart Shapiro.

YOUNG ARTISTS:
Our expanded young artists department features activities, crafts and supplies for the budding artist by the likes of Alex, eebo0, Klutz and Creativity for Kids. Come in and find your inner kid or select the perfect surprise for your favorite little one.

HOLIDAY GIFTS:
Well, we’ll have to tell you about BINDERS many wonderful Holiday Gift Items in a separate blog. But why wait? Come in today and see for yourself!

Visit the BINDERS website at www.bindersart.com!

This Week @ BINDERS - October 26 - November 1

SALES • ART CLASSES • ART WORKSHOPS • ART EXHIBITS

Halloween looms! Ghosts and goblins lurk! People put on funny-spooky costumes! But BINDERS fearlessly continues to save you money with discount prices on high quality art materials. And that’s not all. Art classes are in Fall Break-mode, yet our popular Kay Powell carries-on with two Guided Open Studio sessions. And the Art Show for Georgia State University’s Art Students lingers in our Limelight Gallery.

Monday, October 26:
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.

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.

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

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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.

Visit the BINDERS website at www.bindersart.com!

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!

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!

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.

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

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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!

Boo! The Art of Carving Pumpkins for Halloween

Halloween seems to stir the creative blood of many artists. And what better way to express oneself than through the bewitching art of pumpkin carving.

Jack-o’-Lanterns are the most common examples of pumpkin craft, but the practice of carving vegetables into whimsical works of art goes back several centuries. And in recent years, artists began expressing every kind of idea they could imagine on pumpkins.

Basically, all you need to carve a decent Jack-o’-Lantern is a knife and a spoon. But for “museum quality” Jack-o’-Lanterns, experts often resort to narrow saw blades, X-acto blades, drills, blinking lights, smoke, eerie music and more.

Use a pencil or Pentel to draw a Halloween face on your pumpkin, scoop out the pulp, and carve away. Go traditional, with a big, goofy grin and triangles for the eyes and nose. Or you can go creative with your own original design.

Be sure to explore the works of those artists who take pumpkin carving to comic and creepy extremes. Note that a key element in your creation can be the overall shape of the pumpkin you choose. While beginners might choose symmetrical pumpkins, a true Pumpkin Picasso will seek out the more grotesque, misshapen and blemished specimens.

Today, it is common to see pumpkin portraits of political candidates, celebrities and cartoon characters.

Send us photos of your carved pumpkins and we’ll post them here on BINDERS ART BLOG in time for Halloween. You’ll be certified spooky before you can say “Boo!”

Visit the BINDERS website at www.bindersart.com!

This Week @ BINDERS - October 12-18

SALES • ART CLASSES • ART WORKSHOPS • ART EXHIBITS

There’s still time - but not much - BINDERS Fall Back-to-School Sale expires Thursday, Oct. 15. Don’t miss out!

Also this week a variety of art classes are in session. And you still have time to register for two NEW weekend workshops: Anne Elser leads a Handmade Gift Making Workshop, and Halima Washington guides a Weekend Painting Workshop. If you’d like for us to contact you about future sessions, let us know.

Monday, October 12:
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 13:
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 14:
Copperplate Calligraphy with Anne Elser
6 sessions, weekly on Wednesdays, Sept 16-Oct 21 • 6-8:30pm • Fee: $140

Thursday, October 15:
No classes today.

Friday, October 16:
No classes today.

Saturday, October 17:
NEW! Weekend Painting Workshop with Halima Washington
Saturday 11am-4pm and Sunday. 12-5pm • Fee: $250 • Sign up now!

NEW! Handmade Gifts: Collapsible Container with Anne Elser
2 sessions, Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday 11am-5pm • Fee: $140 • Sign up now!

Sunday, October 18:
NEW! Weekend Painting Workshop with Halima Washington
12-5pm • see details above

NEW! Handmade Gifts: Collapsible Container with Anne Elser
11am-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.

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

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EXHIBITS AT THE LIMELIGHT GALLERY

Information about a new is exhibits coming soon!

Visit the BINDERS website at www.bindersart.com!