Rolf Harris Reveals Art Family Heritage

Posted on May 16, 2011 by admin

Rolf Reveals Art Family Heritage

Australian entertainer Rolf Harris has revealed that his skills with the paintbrush are hereditary. The octogenarian told the Derby Telegraph that he comes from a long line of painters although his father was not able to fully express himself as an artist because of the wishes of his grandfather. He told the newspaper: “My father was a frustrated artist because my grandfather, who was a portrait painter, told his children not to become artists because they would always be broke.” Rolf explained during a BBC documentary that he shares a royal connection with his grandfather as both have had the honour of painting portraits of reigning monarchs. The former Animal Hospital presenter painted a portrait of the Queen at Buckingham Palace for a BBC One Rolf on Art Special while his grandfather painted a portrait of King George V in which the monarch was inspecting the troops. Luckily for Rolf his father pushed him into pursuing a career in art after he showed promise as a youngster.

He told the Telegraph: “Although my dad had all the talent, he was forbidden to pursue it. But when I showed an interest my parents actively encouraged me.” Rolf left Australia in 1952 to study painting in England at the City and Guilds of London Art School and would later study under his artistic inspiration, the Australian impressionist Hayward Veal. Fans of the Australian’s art can view a wide variety of his work at his touring exhibition ‘A Life in Art‘ which celebrates his eightieth year and his 65 years as a painter. Visitors to ‘A Life in Art‘ can expect to see a diverse assortment of art as Rolf revealed to the Telegraph that he dislikes exhibitions where the subject matter is exactly the same. He said: “If the theme of an exhibition was seascapes but the only difference between paintings is a bit more sky in one and a narrow view of the beach in the other, the subject matter is identical.” Rolf Harris original work can fetch up to six figure sums but art enthusiasts determined to own a painting can expect to pay a lot less for Rolf Harris prints. Rolf Harris printscover a range of subjects and include scenes of Venice, Westminster landscapes and portraits of Aboriginalgirls. Despite splitting opinion among the art establishment, Rolf Harris is now an honorary member of the Royal Society of British Artists.

 

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Travelling Inspires Painter to Pursue Art Career

Posted on April 18, 2011 by admin

A famous painter was inspired to pursue an art career after being enthralled by exotic images while travelling around the world. British artist Neil Dawsonalmost became a big city banker after he initially discarded his dream to be a painter after graduating from university with a degree in economics. Dawsonalways held a passion for art since childhood but became disenchanted with studying the subject at Central Saint Martins College in London because he felt uncomfortable with justifying his work. “I would rather people make their own mind up and take what they want from my work rather than me telling them what they should be thinking and seeing,” he said. It was only after a period of extended travelling abroad that Dawson rediscovered his desire to paint.Dawson felt the need to translate his travelling experiences to canvas after being continuously bombarded by perplexing, mystifying and exciting atmospheres while abroad. He said: “Being constantly exposed to beautiful, enchanting, strange, evocative, provocative, bewildering environments with the time and mindset to properly appreciate and reflect on them was a defining experience.” Painting the images that he captured on camera was Dawson’s way of immortalising his experiences in art. “As I got home I dusted off the palette and paints in an attempt to recapture some of the sights and feelings from my time abroad,” he added. Dawson quickly realised how much he had missed creating art after returning to painting and his decision to follow his dream to become an artist has led to a successful career. Photographic references now form the basis of all Neil Dawson prints as they help to give a basic structure which can be expanded on with a more spontaneous painting style. “I don’t like have too strong an idea of exactly how I want the finished article to look, preferring to work in a intuitive and impromptu way thus giving the painting a free rein to develop and feed off itself,” said Dawson. Art enthusiasts will be able to see Neil Dawson prints on display at galleries in Essex and Manchester in the near future. Dawson will be exhibiting his work at the Chelmer Fine Art gallery on May 29th and the Castle Galleries Manchester on June 5th as part of a nationwide tour during 2010. The artist revealed on his personal website that he would be happy to personalise any Neil Dawson prints bought on the day.

01/06/2010

 

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Famous Artist Talks Female Icons

Posted on March 18, 2011 by admin

British artist Simon Claridge has explained why he incorporates famous female icons in his work. The most recent Simon Claridge prints have included portraits of iconic Hollywood starlets, supermodels and legendary musicians, which have been encrusted with diamond dust. Some of the limited edition Simon Claridge prints in theDiamond Dust Collection feature Bridgette Bardot, Kate Moss and Marylin Monroe and the artist has revealed that he chose these women because of the reactions they provoke.

Claridge has said that his portraits are intended to celebrate society’s fascination with female icons of the modern age who are synonymous with desires and dreams of glamour, sex and fame. The artist specifically chose to depict Monroe, Bardot and Moss as they have each influenced the way that successive generations viewed fashion and beauty. Furthermore, while the trio of women are very much symbolic of the era they lived in, they also have the ability to transcend time.  Claridge also said that his work has been directly inspired by Pop-Art guru Andy Warhol who started encrusting his portraits with diamond dust in the 1970s and ’80s. “The use of Diamond Dust adds a new dimension to my canvas surfaces. In part, this collection is a direct response to Warhol and his use of the glittery surface,” the artist is reported as saying on The Original Art Shop. Critics of Warhol said that by creating a glittery surface the artist was commentating on society’s obsession with glamour, illusion and extravagance and this has been expanded on by Claridge. Claridge said that Warhol’s work is as relevant as ever and is continuing to resonate as people life more extravagant lives.  Warhol comments about everyone having 15 minutes of fame in the future have seemingly been proved correct by the media’s fixation with celebrity and reality television stars. Claridge has said that ultimately the portraits have been painted to create a connection between the subject and the audience. “I am just a fan of these icons and it has been a pleasure to interpret them in paint in a way that I love. All I hope for is the painting to be a bridge between the infamous icon and the viewer,” the website reported Claridge as saying. Art enthusiasts will be able to see Simon Claridge prints on display at the Artisan Fine Art Royal Exchange Gallery on June 17th. Simon Claridge will be there in person to discuss his work and personalise any pieces which are purchased on the day including Simon Claridge Original paintings.

01/06/2010

 

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Fabian Perez Opens Gallery

Posted on February 18, 2011 by admin

Argentinean artist Fabian Perez was on hand to add some glamour to the opening of a Swansea art gallery. Perez officially opened the revamped The Ice House art gallery and wine bar, a former dockside ice factory, which had been bought and converted by the Coastal Galleries group, reported this is South Wales. Coastal Galleries partners Chris Elliott and Lorna Coppin, who invested £80,000 into transforming the Grade II listed building, accompanied Perez as they meet around 150 visitors at the preview launch. Mr Elliott told the publication: “It went really well. It was busy all the time and quite a few sales went through. The Ice House will be quite a draw for people. A lot of our customers come from quite far away.” Fabian Perez prints and originals are among the main attractions at the gallery and Mr Elliott said that he feels positive about the future of the business. “A lot of people were unsure what kind of response we would get here but it is such an interesting concept and such an interesting building that we are very confident it is going to work.” Australian entertainment legend Rolf Harris made an appearance in The Ice House recently where he promoted his touring exhibition Rolf on Art in celebration of his eightieth birthday. Rolf Harris prints were on display in the gallery and attracted a large amount of interest from local residents and art enthusiasts. He told Wales Online: “You end up going along to these exhibitions and you don’t even manage to get round the paintings, there are so many people coming up to you and asking for your autograph and wanting to talk about the work, it’s nice.” Fabian Perez is no stranger to Britain despite being based in California as the artist made a personal appearance at the Breeze Gallery in Glasgow to unveil his new collection entitled ‘Temptation’. The Argentinean was there to sign copies of his new book ‘All The Romance We left Behind’ as well as Fabian Perez prints. A large turnout at the event demonstrated that there is a growing demand for Fabian Perez prints as they are becoming more desirable and collectable, according to the gallery’s website. Fabian Perez shot to fame when art publishers and gallery owners saw an exhibition of his work in 2001 and worked with him to advance his burgeoning career. When he is not touring Britain, Perez spends his time painting, playing soccer and teaching martial arts to friends.

01/07/2010

 

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Featured Artist Caroline Shotton

Posted on January 18, 2011 by admin

Yay for Caroline Shotton! We’ve chosen her as our inaugural artist of the Month for September at myartbroker because she is wonderful, and also because she continually tops both our sales and wanted lists.

This may be the artist that Jonathan Jones of the Guardian derides as owing her popularity merely to the public’s wish to stick two fingers up at the Art cognoscenti, (see link below) but we think he’s missing the point. You see, Caroline Shotton’s touching and amusing studies of cows inspire real love and dedication in the people who buy her work. This is no cynical cash cow (ho ho!), as suggested when Shotton’s collection of cow paintings inspired by the Masters (Cow With a Pearl Earring, The Smooch, Moona Lisa, et al) were released in 2007. At the time there was much bandying about of the figure £3 million, as if it were a crime to profit from art at all, and specifically from art that isn’t arcane and difficult. Caroline Shotton’s work gives real pleasure. The fact that Shotton makes a decent living by painting these cow paintings, shouldn’t be held against her, and nor should the fact that the prints and paintings hang on thousands of domestic walls up and down the country and make thousands of people smile every day, without anyone having to try too hard to understand them.

At Myartbroker, the Caroline Shotton phenomenon rolls on. It is possible on the website to place a wanted ad for any edition that is sold out. We receive many requests from customers looking for specific pieces of work, perhaps a sold out limited edition print that they missed out on, or an original painting by a specific artist. We act on all of these requests, and can sometimes find the piece very quickly, and match up buyer and seller. If not, we continue looking, and add the request to our wanted list. At the moment, amongst other things, we have registered buyers for ‘Blue Mooon‘, ‘Mooon River‘, ‘Wallflower‘, ‘Moomite‘, ‘Over the Mooon‘, and ‘Harvest Mooon‘, all sold out Caroline Shotton Limited Edition prints on canvas! If you have a piece of art you’d like to sell, its very easy, just click on the link to ‘How To Sell Art‘. Also check out our recently listed available Caroline Shottons, ‘Twinkle Twinkle’, ‘Meet The Famooly’, ‘Me And Moo’ and don’t miss the Caroline Shotton original painting’s, ‘Purple Haze’, ‘Beef Dripping‘, ‘Over The Moon‘ and ‘I GIve My Heart To Moo‘

 

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Featured Artist Banksy

Posted on December 18, 2010 by admin

Hooray for Banksy! Not only has the Street Art hero been widely acknowledged as the leading light of an art phenomenon that has swept through the streets and galleries of the world, and finally come partially out of the shadows by giving an interview to the Sun Newspaper, but we have also made him My Art Broker Artist of the Month, October 2010! Banksy is a street name, a tag that allows a graffiti artist to sign his work, without risking the police subsequently knocking on his door. Graffiti is illegal. It is a sign then of the huge popularity and power of the street art movement that an artist who once relished and took refuge in his anonymity has now been interviewed by the Sun, his true identity an open secret. Banksy is one of the worlds most famous artists. The guerrilla-style artist told the Sun newspaper that he began creating graffiti art as teenage member of the DryBreadZ Crew in his native Bristol in an attempt to make an impact and get noticed by the local trendy art scene, inspired by 3D of the dance music group Massive Attack. When he started out Banksy was painting in the Classic New York Style of bright colours and big lettering. ”There was always a lot of graffiti in my home town growing up, urmm, I think 3D from Massive Attack had brought it back with him off tour in America and he’d been painting all over the city,” he told the Sun. The elusive artist admitted that he had to ditch the American style of graffiti painting because the technique took too long and left him vulnerable to arrest from the police for vandalism and defacing public property. Banksy hit the big time when he moved to London and started to use stencils both for speed in avoiding capture, and to differentiate his work stylistically from that New York style. The stencilled images were occasionally combined with text, and overall the work had an anti-establishment feel, if not a direct political message. It became clear at this point the huge debt owed by Banksy and artists like him to a then little-known Parisian, Blek le Rat. Banksy fully acknowledges this debt in his book, and the two artists work can look very similar. London was soon abuzz with new sightings of the Britstolian’s controversial graffiti art on a regular basis which was no longer confined to the walls of the capital city as Banksy aimed to expand his repertoire. ”I didn’t see why you’d settle for just walls. So I started vandalising statues and that led to vandalising parks. It just kept going really,” he told the Sun.It was when the graffitist began to make work for exhibition in art galleries in Britain and America that Banksy prints and originals started to become popular with celebrities and collectors.Pop star Christina Aguilera bought an original of Queen Victoria as a lesbian and two Banksy prints for £25,000, while Hollywood actor Brad Pitt is reported to have purchased a piece via a phone bid at a London auction. Banksy claims that his current celebrity status is both a blessing and a curse as he still feels nostalgia for his previous lifestyle as an underground graffitist, despite being one of Britain’s most bankable artists. ”It’s great, I guess, when your paintings are hanging up in a museum. But I can’t help feeling it was a bit easier when all I had to compete against was a dustbin down an alley rather than, you know, a Gainsborough or something,” he said.The man has truly made it!

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American Photorealist Inspires Sarah Graham

Posted on November 18, 2010 by admin

Fans of enterprising painter Sarah Graham will be interested to know that her style owes a lot to the photorealist artist Chuck Close. American painter and photographer Close rose to prominence during the late 1960s and early 1970s through his massive-scale portraits and has been attributed with having a significant influence on the career of Sarah Graham. Close’s technique of working from photographic stills to create paintings that appear to be photographs has been termed as super-realism or hyper-realism and the same can be said about Sarah Graham’s artwork. The Washington-born artist was left severely paralyzed after suffering a spinal artery collapse in 1988 but he has continued to paint despite being confined to a wheelchair since the accident. Close, who received the National Medal of Arts in 2000, has been called one of the most successful portrait artists of his time and has continued to influence every generation of photorealist painters.

Sarah Graham began to paint very detailed colour portraits of fellow students at De Montfort University from photographic source material and she has continued with this method throughout her career since graduating in 2000. She said: “I start by taking a staged photograph in my studio. Although I enjoy photography, painting is my first love, and I may take as many as 200 photos of a subject before I’m happy with one.” Many Sarah Graham prints include vibrant depictions of childhood toys including metal robots, Barbie dolls and miniature trucks.  ”I am entirely motivated by colour, and as a realist painter, along with being a big kid at heart, this inevitably lead to the subject matter of toys,” she added.

The artist revealed on the social networking site Facebook that she will be releasing new paintings in the near future and this news is likely to excite art enthusiasts as her work is becoming increasingly collectable. Her status read: “I will have new releases coming out very soon, they don’t include any robots, but I’m very excited about them. Details will be coming soon.” Sarah Graham has branched out by undertaking stencilling after being inspired by graffiti style artwork and has enjoyed taking urban art and transforming it by using traditional painting methods inside the studio. The artist has taken her art on the road this year with exhibitions in London, Nottingham and Birmingham. Sarah Graham is also well known for her limited edition collaborations with handbag designer Helen Rochfort.

 

 

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