Thursday, July 15, 2010

Da Vinci Painted It All By Himself?

It has long been known that many of the great masters had teams of assistants who helped create the masterpieces we enjoy to this day. The assistants often had specialties...some might paint clouds, others rocks, etc.

Leonardo Da Vinci was no exception.

His painting, "Virgin of the Rocks" has long been thought to have been painted with a team of assistants. Recently the painting was cleaned and it is now believed that the master painted this one all by himself.

So if a team helped paint a masterpiece...does that make it any less masterful? If the "painter" is more or less a director does that make him any less a maestro? Is the ensemble method of art only valid in music and theater or large scale projects such as Christo's that would be physically impossible for a single person to accomplish?

These are interesting questions for artists and art lovers to ponder.

An artist is the visionary and the driving force to have the vision brought into reality.

Does that mean that perhaps the artist does not need to personally have any skill with brush, chisel or other tool?

After all, there are many artisans who have technical skills but lack the creative vision to bring something unique to life.

Perhaps the artist does have the skills necessary (as of course Da Vinci did) but lacks the time to breath life into all the visions that exist in his mind's eye. Thus using a team to bring the pieces forth benefits all...the artist, the team and the world.

I'd love to hear thoughts from other artists and art lovers on this...for example, if you bought an oil painting by a particular artist and learned that he or she didn't actually do all the painting on the canvas, would that matter to you? Would it have less value monetarily or spiritually for you?

If you'd to read more about the cleaning of the Da Vinci that insp, click here.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Finger Painting on iPad

This is an amazing demonstration of what a talented artist can do with latest technology.

The video is just under 8 minutes in length. Entire process took about 3 hours.

Now, how can I use the iPad to carve stone???


Tuesday, July 6, 2010

New Zealand Gallery Annual Sale





If you happen to be in New Zealand this month, be sure to stop by the Birdwoods Gallery in Hawkes Bay. They are having their annual sale so it is a great opportunity to buy some art to go with fine wine from the region.

Birdwoods has a nice collection of Shona stone sculpture along with metal pieces. In November 2009, Louise and Bruce converted an additional paddock into a beautiful sculpture walk with extensive olive tree plantings. Visitors follow a meandering mown path to view a further display of stone sculptures, as well as the life size metal giraffes and crocodiles. Sizes and prices range to fit every budget and suitcase (or shipping container.)

Birdwoods also has a Sweet Shop to tempt you as you stroll the garden...so literally they have something for every taste!

Birdwoods Gallery, Sculpture
Garden and Sweet Shop

Welcome to Birdwoods -

a very special place in the heart of beautiful Hawke's Bay. Set in the countryside just 3km from Havelock North village, Birdwoods Gallery and its small companion, the Birdwoods Sweet Shop, are a 'must see' for all visitors and locals.

Opened in February 2005 by Bruce and Louise Stobart, Birdwoods Gallery features sculpture and decorative arts from both local and African artists. The gallery's home is the original church hall from St Peter's in Waipawa dating from the late 1800’s which Bruce and Louise moved to its new home on Middle Road in 2004. The old hall has since been surrounded with a beautiful sculpture garden.

Right next door to Birdwoods Gallery is the Birdwoods Sweet Shop, an old fashioned sweet shop 'just like you remember' housed in a charming one room colonial cottage made from reclaimed materials. Opened in December 2006, the cottage is a treasure trove of old fashioned sweets, lemonade, sherbet, fudge, ice creams and other novelties.


Tuesday, April 27, 2010

2010 Colorado Governor's Invitational Art Show Going On Now

The 2010 Colorado Governor's Invitational Art Show and Sale is now happening at the Loveland Museum.

This is an excellent opportunity to see some of the best paintings and sculptures from our talented Colorado artists.

This show started 32 years ago, moving to the Loveland Museum in 1990. These days, more than 4,000 people from across the country attend the show. (Don't fear...that's not all at once!)

The show's director is Judy Archibald and she says, "This show is one of the most prestigious exhibits of original art in the entire western United States." Her goal in selecting the pieces was to show talent and a variety of media.

The show opened last Saturday. 58 Colorado artists are featured with a maximum of 4 pieces in the show. The artists are professionals, from all across Colorado.

Beyond being an excellent show, the exhibit is a fundraiser for the Loveland Rotary and Thompson Valley Rotary with proceeds going to scholarships for art students in Loveland and Berthoud, Colorado, and helping local organizations including Habitat fro Humanity and House of Neighborly Service.

The local Rotary clubs provide the volunteers who are present at the show every day to answer question.

This is a great show to attend if you are an art student looking to learn and gather inspiration. As an artist, it is also a great show to see what your contemporaries are doing and maybe learn and be inspired, too! And, if you are an art collector, this is an opportunity for you to expand your Colorado art collection and help a lot of deserving people and organizations in the process!

The Loveland Museum is located at 503 N. Lincoln Ave, Loveland, Colorado.

The show is free and runs through Sunday, May 30.

For more information call 970-962-2410 or visit www.governorsartshow.org

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Sculptor Fritz White Dies After Long Illness


Loveland lost one of her great sculptors this week when Fritz White died after a long illness.

Like many artists who now live in Loveland, White moved here to be close to the art foundry that was essential to his creations.

Fritz White was one of the founding 5 members of the Sculpture in the Park event that happens each August in Benson Sculpture Park. This annual event started in 1985 with just 50 artists and is now the largest juried outdoor sculpture exhibition in the country and has sales of over $1 million.

I never had the honor of meeting the sculptor in person, but have seen works by this gifted artist around our city...one in particular cannot be missed as you drive north or south on US 287, "Winning the Iron Shirt" which depicts one Native American claiming the war shield from his defeated opponent.

One year when I exhibited at the rival/sister show (depending on who you talk to) Sculpture Invitational I was seated next to a fine sculptor who had studied with White. Greg Todd told me that Fritz made all the difference to him when he said (and I roughly paraphrase!) that art is all about the creating...selling anything is a bonus.

Fritz White left behind a wonderful legacy of art, a fabulous show, many friends and admirers. We can honor him best by creating our work and living our lives to the fullest as he did. As his wife, Ina, said, "Show your work and be proud...Just do it. That's his legacy. He just wanted everyone to just do it."

Saturday, February 13, 2010

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!

Friday, January 1, 2010

Privacy Policy

PERSONS OR PARTIES COVERED
This Privacy Policy is intended to cover all visitors to this website, http://successinstone.blogspot.com, or other Paid To Empower, LLC websites, all subscribers to lists or newsletters whether paid or unpaid, all members or affiliates whether paid or unpaid, and all customers of Paid To Empower, LLC and it's various products and websites. Persons who visit or view this website, whether intentionally or unintentionally, whether solicited or unsolicited, are described herein as "Visitors" and are parties to this Privacy Policy. Subscribers to lists or Newsletters are referred to herein as "Subscribers" and are parties to the Privacy Policy. Persons who join an organization or marketing endeavor (e.g. "affiliates") promoted by this website are called "Members" herein and are covered by this Privacy Policy. Finally, anyone who orders, attempts to order, or receives a product sold (recipients) or advertised from this website is called a "Customer" herein and is subject to this Privacy Policy not only by passive acceptance, but by virtue of the Purchase Agreement contract. The website, its agents, owners, operators, and employees are referred to collectively herein as "Website," "Site," and/or "Seller".


PERSONS EXCLUDED FROM THIS WEBSITE ARE STILL COVERED
In the event that a person excluded from this website because of the Terms of Use or from denial of service by the website, who nonetheless unlawfully views this site, that person remains subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy and is in violation of the Terms of Use.


PERSONS UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE ARE EXCLUDED FROM THIS WEBSITE
This website is not lawfully accessible to persons under the age of 18 or who are otherwise covered by the provisions of the Child Online Privacy Act of 1998 (COPA). If you are under the age of 18 you must leave this website immediately. Fraudulent use of this website may make you subject to civil or criminal sanctions.


VIEWING AND/OR USE AND/OR COMMUNICATION IS CONSTRUED AS ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS OF THIS POLICY
Acceptance of the terms of this Privacy Policy is a portion of the consideration required for your right to visit the website. If you do not accept these terms, you have no right to visit this website and you are fraudulently using this website.


ABOUT THE PERSONAL INFORMATION THIS WEBSITE COLLECTS AND HOW IT IS USED
This website routinely collects information about its visitors, subscribers, members, and customers. This information is obtained in various ways, such as:

  • VISITOR, SUBSCRIBER, MEMBER, OR CUSTOMER INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM 'REGISTRATION'
    Registration means that the Visitor, Subscriber, Member or Customer takes active, positive steps to communicate information to this website. This can include pages or 'pop ups' where you register for a newsletter or subscribe to a mailing list; it can include your participation in visitor surveys; it can include requesting information from the website via email, mail, or courier; it may be from joining an affiliate program or other membership organization, paid or unpaid; it may be from ordering a product.


    Occasionally complete credit card information may be provided to the website via fax or a fill-in form rather than regular secure merchant service processing. This information is kept at the highest level of security and is never divulged to anyone except the merchant service provider or for the purpose of communication with the customer.


  • ONLINE ORDERING

  • Online ordering via SSL encrypted communication provided by shopping cart services supporting merchant service companies like Visa and Master Card provides information to the website but does not provide complete credit card numbers. In the process of online ordering, the customer provides, name, address, city, state, email address, phone number, CVS (back of card) number, and, occasionally a member password. You should consider all this information available to the website. This information is used to deliver the product, but under the Purchase Agreement you also approve its use for general solicitation purposes.

  • VISITOR EMAIL INQUIRIES

  • Website visitors who wish to communicate with the website do so under two conditions: one, they give their permission for contact by the website; two, they are subject to the general 'SUBMISSION' agreement of this policy. While your email address may or may not be used to solicit you, it is added to the website's general solicitation database.

  • CUSTOMER EMAIL OR TESTIMONIALS
    If you are a customer and send an email to the website, or if you communicate with the site by phone or mail, the website collects information about your communication and by communicating with the site you give your permission to collect, archive, retrieve, and otherwise use any information collected as the site sees fit.


    Any communication which, in its sole discretion, the site deems to be a testimonial, may be publicized for commercial purposes.


  • VISITOR INTERACTION WITH BANNERS, POPUPS, OR SITE ADVERTISERS

  • Visitors clicking on banners or pop-ups or hyperlinked advertising, appearing on this website must assume that information is being collected about them. This site is not responsible for the use of information collected in such a fashion. Visitors must assume that (1) information will be collected, (2) that ‘cookies’ will usually be placed on their hard drive, (3) that website does not have any control over what happens with this information, (4) that website takes no responsibility over the accuracy or content of advertisers, (5) that website is not responsible for downloads from third party advertisers that contain viruses or worms or other computer code that causes their computer or software harm, and (6) that website assumes no responsibility for the data that is garnered from the click itself or that the advertiser collects.

  • INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM REFERRING EMAIL OR REFERRING URLS
    If you send a friend an email from this site or if you send the url or one of our web pages to a friend, you must assume that some data is collected about your IP address or your email address and that of your friend. You must assume that referred emails or web pages may appear to come from your email. You must accept full responsibility for referring pages or email to a friend and agree to indemnify this site for any damage, intentional or unintentional that results from said referrals.


  • INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM VOLUNTARY VISITOR, SUBSCRIBER, MEMBER OR CUSTOMER SURVEYS
    Unless otherwise specified in the survey, you must assume that any information provided to the website as part of a survey in which you participate may be used for general solicitation for commercial purposes and that such information will be shared with joint venture partners, affiliates, marketing organization or used by the site itself for product design or solicitation purposes.


  • INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM ELECTRONIC MEANS AND 'COOKIES'


Many websites, including this one, collect information about your computer, your email address, your IP address. You must assume that your web-viewing or web-use activity is monitored, tracked, and information collected. This information is not usually of a personal nature, but it may help define your viewing habits and product preferences even though the website may or may not have any idea who you are.


"Cookies" is web jargon for bits of computer code placed on your hard drive. Websites use this to keep you 'logged in', to keep track of search criteria, to monitor use, to password protect use of the site or use of products sold by the site. Cookies can also be used to obtain information about your computer configuration or your use of your computer.


Cookies can be used to electronically gather information about you. Again, it may or may not be personal information, but it is information and by using this site you are expressly giving permission to use 'cookies' and to use the information gathered from their use to benefit you. You also give permission to collect, archive, retrieve, and use any information collected for product design, product offers to you, and general commercial solicitation purposes by this site or joint venture partners, affiliates, and marketing organizations.


HOW INFORMATION MAY BE USED
The use of information as described below may or may not be how information that is collected is customarily used by this site. While actual use of any information collected may be used quite conservatively, you must assume that it is not. You must assume that information collected is shared with other persons or entities for commercial purposes. While this is uncommon in practice, you must assume that it is as you make your decision whether or not to view or interact with this website. This type of shared information may include your name, address, phone number, email address and buying habits, as well as other information. This information may be used for general commercial solicitation by this website or other persons it is sold to, rented to, or shared with.


INFORMATION THAT IS NOT SHARED
Credit card information or other financial information is not usually known to the website. However, in the event that it is made known, that information is never revealed to anyone except to processing authorities or law enforcement agencies. However, the provider of such information gives express permission to use it in fraud investigation or for litigation.


BULLETIN BOARDS AND PUBLIC FORUMS
Visitors, subscribers, members, or customers who use any site provided bulletin boards or other public forums, such as chat rooms, do so at their own risk. You may not assume that the site monitors these services or protects you in any manner from information you post publicly or share with anyone else via these services.


SPAM
By providing to this website information that forms the basis of communication with you, such as an email address, you waive all rights to file complaints concerning unsolicited email or spam from this website since, by providing such information, you agree to receive communication from us or other marketing organizations. However, all email communication with you shall contain an 'unsubscribe' link where you may notify the website that you no longer wish to receive solicitations or information from the website and your name will be removed from the general solicitation database.


DATA SECURITY
This website takes measures to protect its data that contains information related to you. However, as a consideration for viewing this site or interacting with this site in any manner, you waive all claims of any nature against this site concerning the loss, alteration, or misuse of information. You must assume that it is possible for your personal data to be obtained by others, such as "hackers," and used in an inappropriate manner that may cause you harm and that you agree that the site is not responsible for damages to you.


QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, OR REPORT OF INCIDENTS
You may direct questions, comments or reports to: info (at) paidtoempower.com


REVISIONS TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY WITHOUT NOTICE
This Privacy Policy is dynamic. It will continually change. You may not assume that it remains the same and you agree to check the policy each time you visit the site for changes. Unless, in the sole opinion of the website, this policy changes so drastically as to suggest a posted notification on the site or via email, you will receive no notification of changes to this Privacy Policy nor, under any circumstances, does this site promise notification. Your continued use of this site always evidences your acceptance of the terms this Privacy Policy or any modifications.


LATEST UPDATE
This Privacy Policy was last updated on: April 15, 2010.


DISPUTES
As part of the consideration that the Website requires of the Visitor to view, use, or interact with this site, Visitor agrees to use binding arbitration for any claim, dispute, or controversy ("CLAIM") of any kind (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) arising out of or relating to this purchase, this product, including solicitation issues, privacy issues, and terms of use issues.


Arbitration shall be conducted pursuant to the rules of the American Arbitration Association, which are in effect on the date a dispute is submitted to the American Arbitration Association. Information about the American Arbitration Association, its rules, and its forms are available from the American Arbitration Association, 335 Madison Avenue, Floor 10, New York, New York, 10017-4605. Hearing will take place in the city or county of the Seller.


In no case shall the Visitor have the right to go to court or have a jury trial. Visitor will not have the right to engage in pre-trial discovery except as provided in the rules; you will not have the right to participate as a representative or member of any class of claimants pertaining to any claim subject to arbitration; the arbitrator's decision will final and binding with limited rights of appeal.
The prevailing party shall be reimbursed by the other party for any and all costs associated with the dispute arbitration, including attorney fees, collection fees, investigation fees, travel expenses.


JURISDICTION AND VENUE
If any matter concerning this purchase shall be brought before a court of law, pre- or post-arbitration, Visitor agrees to that the sole and proper jurisdiction to be the state and city declared in the contact information of the web owner unless otherwise here specified. Paid To Empower, LLC, 1151 Eagle Dr, Suite 144, Loveland, Colorado 80537. In the event that litigation is in a federal court, the proper court shall be the closest federal court to the Seller's address.


APPLICABLE LAW
Visitor agrees that the applicable law to be applied shall, in all cases, be that of the state of the Website owner(s).


CONTACT INFORMATION
Paid To Empower, LLC
1151 Eagle Dr, Suite 144,
Loveland, Colorado 80537
Email: info (at) paidtoempower.com
800-662-1961 x2709