Investing in Indian Art: Motivations to Invest in Art

I found this to be an interesting article about art as an investment, particularly in light of the recent record-breaking auction prices! Art as an investment is back...not that it really ever went away, but sales until very recently had been a bit less than to be hoped for.

Investing in Indian Art: Motivations to Invest in Art

One of the biggest points about investing in art is that you must do for reasons other than hoping to score 1.4 million dollars later from a piece you bought for 1400 hundred. Art is so subjective and the art world has been known to be fickle. Be sure when you buy art you get educated, but also be sure that you love what you buy. Hopefully you will have your art on your walls or in the halls for many, many years to come. Purchasing art that brings you pleasure is the only way to have an assured dividend from this investment!

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Cuppa Mona Lisa

This image of Mona Lisa was created in Sydney, Australia.







Look closely and see if you can determine the medium....





What makes this work so unique is that it was created from 3604 cups of coffee.




The various shades were achieved by the amount of milk added to each cup.

I presume they used decaf! And hope they used recyclable cups!

Just goes to show that the only limitation to art is our creativity.

Sculptors Donate to Schools' Arts Programs

Loveland, Colorado is home to two big outdoor sculpture shows every summer, one of those shows is the Loveland Sculpture Invitational.

This even is hosted by the Loveland Sculpture Group, a nonprofit organization that supports established and upcoming artists. Each year the group donates part of the proceeds from the show to local arts programs in our schools.

The Loveland Sculpture Group has given back to the community for almost 20 years...providing $220,000 for our arts programs.

According to Jerry Halsor, president of the nonprofit, some ways the money has been used in the past have included buying kilns, camera, as well as sculpting tools.

Today $10,000 is being donated to teachers from a variety of schools for their projects. The donation will occur at a special ceremony at 4pm at Centennial Elementary School on W. 37th Street here in Loveland. The even it open to the public and free...if you want more information contact the Loveland Sculpture Group

Stone Sculpture Connects Zimbabwe, Colorado and New Zealand

Here in Loveland we have our wonderful Chapungu Sculpture Park which features stone sculptures from Zimbabwe. The setting is beautiful with water and views of the Rocky Mountains.

Well, I just got an update from a wonderful gallery in New Zealand which also promotes the wonderful Shona sculptures and has a sculpture garden as well, the Birdwoods Gallery

Whether you are in beautiful Colorado or New Zealand, you can see and collect fabulous works of art from Zimbabwe, and join the many collectors of these Shona masterpieces.

Loveland Art for All Ages

Loveland, Colorado is known for sculpture. We have several bronze foundries here, 2 sculpture parks, and scads of sculptors live here...and hundreds more travel here every year for our big summer sculpture shows.

Bronze sculpture is the most common...and what many people think of when they think sculpture...and we have some gorgeous examples of bronze sculpture in town. Of course, sculptures can be made out of other metals as well...

Stone sculpture is a personal favorite of mine and probably the other image that people come up with when they hear the word "sculpture"...perhaps it is visions of Michelangelo's David that come to mind. Here we have an entire park dedicated to stone sculpture from Zimbabwe.

Well, the Bronze and Stone Ages are not the only epochs covered (art-wise) in Loveland! We also have a market on the Ice Age! And it isn't just because we got 8 inches of snow recently.

Have you ever seen an ice sculpture? I'm not talking about the snow sculptures, like they have in Breckenridge...those are beautiful, but this is a different art form.

Ice sculptures are often created for restaurants...I remember seeing my first ice sculptures when I was a kid...the Sunday buffet always had a beautiful work of art. I remember thinking it was really cool (no pun intended) but not really giving any thought as to how it was created.

But where does that beautiful, clear ice come from?

Is there a giant freezer somewhere with great big ice cube trays?

As it turns out, Loveland, Colorado is the place where the technology was developed that creates the crystal-clear blocks of ice. This was way back and the company is still here and sells equipment around the world.

Instead of working from one massive ice cube, the ice sculptor works with blocks that are joined together with water and cold. In this case the blocks are about 20 inches x 40 inches and are about 10 inches thick. These blocks take about 4 days to freeze!

In Loveland, these artist's blocks are created every day and travel across the country. The key to getting the ice crystal-clear? Keep the water moving as it is freezing and remove any impurities as it freezes.

Ice sculpture is like stone carving in that it is a subtractive process. In this case the sculptor uses a chain saw, drills and other specialized tools. Many sculptors create these temporary works of art completely free hand, but others are created with special molds. Routers, lathes, and other machines associated with woodworking have been created to handle the frozen medium as well.

One of the things that makes ice sculpture so unique is, of course, the transparent nature of the medium and that you can freeze things inside it. The other big difference is that the work is temperature sensitive and so, unlike a work of bronze or stone which will last for centuries, this masterpiece may last a few days or even just a few hours.

If you want more information about ice for ice sculpture, and to see some examples of what can be done with it, check out Loveland's own ice sculpture shop!

Read about a recent ice sculpture created here in Loveland by Chef and carver Michael Pizzuto

Raw Stones and Sculptures on Sale

Chapungu Warehouse & Gallery is having a Thank You Promotion
You can get 50% off all craft items, catalogs & books AND RAW STONE from Zimbabwe!

This is a great deal if you are a stone sculptor...I know I'll be heading over there to pick some stone up!

Also you can get 40% off all other sculptures...and if you want to commission a piece you can get 20% off that! This is a great opportunity for you to start or add to your art collection! They represent some of the very best sculptors in Zimbabwe and have pieces in all range of sizes and prices.

If you've never been, this is a fantastic opportunity to meet some fantastic people and see some gorgeous sculpture from Zimbabwe. (If you've already been there, then you know what I'm talking about!)

Address: 1052 N. Boise Ave, Unit B (it is a BIG warehouse, in the back), Loveland, CO
Tel: 970-461-8020

Check out their website: www.ChapunguSculpturePark.com
And if you want to email them: rgatchap@aol.com

And if you enjoy what you see there, be sure to check out the Chapungu Sculpture Park, located at I-25 and Hwy 34 in Loveland. Only 1 hour north of Denver...well worth the drive...the best collection of Sculpture from Zimbabwe in North America!