Art Students Get a Long Term Commitment From New Online Gallery Supported by the Saatchi Gallery

January 21st, 2012 by maureen | 2 Comments | Filed in Art Design
Art Design

There are a number of issues facing today’s student artists, which are common across all the disciplines from fine art to photography. Firstly the art industry has always been tough to get recognition from and many artists find it hard to make a living, none more so than when you’re a student or recent graduate. Another issue student or graduate artists face is that they often don’t get the best return possible on the sale of their work and commission rates commercial galleries charge are fairly high. Not forgetting the level of debt that the students will face through tuition fees and charges for materials that are often essential for Art & Design courses.

A reflection of these costs can be found when looking at advice given to students of the Royal College of Art in London. There website states that

“We estimate that to live in London for a full year (term-time and vacations) will require a single student to have funding of a minimum of £11’500”

This is a substantial amount of money and to earn this and support your self whilst at university with no parental help would require a job. Having had a quick search through one of the leading job sites for the London area, a typical part time job such as a receptionist in a legal firm working three full days a week would earn them £11’700 before deductions.

This would realistically be a close shave and not leave much in the way of funds available for other expenses that the students are advised to budget for

“Students also need to allow for spending on course materials over and above the amounts provided by the College.”

Although an indication to the level of these costs are not given on the site, students will still need to pay £4250 for tuition fees at the start of each academic year.

So what art students and graduates need is an opportunity to earn a fair return for the sale of their work and ultimately give them un biased exposure, whilst levelling the playing field a little.

One commercial website believes they have come up with a way of dong just that. The website which is to be opened to art students this month and will be launched to the world next spring is from the same stable of websites as www.thestudentzone.com which already has a strong commitment to tackling issues such as student debt. See www.thestudentzone.com/sdrs

The website to be launched under the banner of CompelloArt.com will allow students to exhibit and sell their work for a very low rate of commission along side the commercial galleries and artists exhibits with no indication that the pieces are from a student artist. This will give the students an opportunity to exhibit their work in a uniquely competitive way. The students will be able to access this facility by registering through www.thestudentzone.com/art who are a major sponsor of www.compelloart.com. The student exhibiters will also be subject to an especially low rate of commission of only 10% on any sales made through the website.

The Saatchi Gallery London is a major supporter of the project and Kieran from the organisation commented

“CompelloArt.com is a very exciting opportunity for Students to showcase their artwork and reach a worldwide audience. Alongside STUART, on the Saatchi Gallery website we believe this is the future of how art will be brought and viewed in the future.”

It is hoped that the success of the project will lead to more of our talented young artists breaking onto the international stage and to further this goal the Saatchi Gallery will be selecting artists to become featured on the website as well as their own well respected web presence www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk

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From Tiffany to Veritas: the Truth in Designer Cufflinks

January 8th, 2012 by maureen | 196 Comments | Filed in Art Design
Art Design

Founder of Veritas Precious Metals Mark Platt studied at Oxford University before joining classic brand Alfred Dunhill where he worked on developing menswear accessories and fragrance products.

He moved to iconic jeweller Tiffany and Co., where he worked for 6 years and furthered a passion for Sterling Silver accessories and jewellery. Tiffany offered a fascinating insight, with its great archives and history, into the silversmith’s and jeweller’s art over the course of a century and a half.

Mark launched Veritas Gifts (from the Latin meaning “Truth”) in Sept 2003. The first collection was launched at the New York Collective in July 2004, with the object of creating unique and distinctive cufflinks in Sterling Silver and Rhodium Plate. The second Veritas collection debuted in New York 2005, featuring new enamel designs, which built on the strong theme of Swarovski Crystal from the previous year. It featured the unique African Animal Collection, exquisitely carved heads of Lion, Rhino, Leopard and Oryx with safari coloured enamel fittings.

Mark Platt is primarily interested in design innovation, combining unusual precious materials and offering change and stimulus with each new season.

A little history

Jewellers like Cartier and Tiffany crafted work of art designer cufflinks in mother of pearl, crystal; precious stones…These famous fashion names establish silver cufflinks the essential accessory for men

Some anecdotes

For many centuries vitreous enamel has been widely used to adorn jewellery of the highest quality- from Parisian gold snuffboxes of the 18th century to Carl Faberge’s Imperial Eggs in the early 20th century. Archaeological evidence suggests that enamelling may date back to 3000BC. The Byzantine Empire, Chinese, French and Russian cultures have all influenced the development of enamelware. Cloisonné, which is a design distinguished by using flattened wire to separate the enamel, is most suited to jewellery. And combined with mother of pearl, Swarovski Crystals and semi precious stones bring together ancient and contemporary materials used to create work of art cufflinks. The design possibilities are add infinitum.

Now

In the wake of Alfred Dunhill and Tiffany Mark has taken Veritas to new heights with the release of a range of sterling silver cufflinks of superior elegance. Just a brief handle will satisfy your senses. And in the tradition of great jewellers, gleaning Mother of Pearl, crystals and precious stones to slender elegant stems, engineered to give many years good linkage.

And the future

The resurgent popularity of cufflinks in recent years has inspired many young designers. New materials like resins are at hand and they’re being combined with crystals, cat’s eye and semi precious stones, creating a new framework of styles, but without loosing classicism. The use of CAD and CAM for design and modelling are used extensively and laser welding and cutting technology employed to refine the edges. Combined they give another dimension to the finished product and greatly assist the modern designer cope with the pressures of commercialism. Seasonal styles are turned around in short time as demand is met.

And, what of tradition? It remains intact. Designer brands like Veritas Lbb London, Ian Flaherty and many more carry it forward.

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Create the Best Wall Art with These Canvas Art Pieces from CanvasDezign

June 24th, 2011 by maureen | 143 Comments | Filed in Digital Art Design
Digital Art Design

CanvasDezign can recreate your favorite pictures and photos into great pierces of canvas art. We provide you with the best quality of canvas prints at a price you can easily afford. We have contributed to the success of numerous artist and photographers by immortalizing their work in the form of canvas art.

Creating beautiful and exclusive artwork that becomes treasured heirlooms at your home and even your office has never been so easy. At CanvasDezign, we work on your digital images to create wall art that is truly one of its kind.

There is no limit to what you can do with a digital image of your memorable moment or shot. Whether it is a favorite piece of art designed by your child or just a memorable moment in your life, you can enjoy it forever with these wonderful pieces of art.
There is no limit to what you can do with a picture and a piece of canvas at CanvasDezign. We work with your digital prints to transform them into a print to canvas that will become the focus of attention wherever you choose to put it up.

The most attractive part is that the whole process is remarkably easy. The only thing you have to do is to upload your picture on our online site and answer a few easy questions. We will process your request and have your canvas art packed, mounted and delivered at your doorstep, all set to become the talk of town!

We have a wide collection of canvas arts on offer. You can choose from a wide category of floral, abstract or other categories to create a wall art that is truly remarkable. CanvasDezign is among the leaders specializing in canvas arts and picture on canvas prints. We are well known for our quality and our canvas art pieces can be with you for generations, if you follow a few basic maintenance tips. We use a special anti fade ink that is rich in tone and brings out the best in your picture.

Since we are the leaders in wall art and canvas arts, we print hundreds of pieces for our trade and retail customers. This makes it easier for us to understand your requirements and also offer you the best prices in the market. We specialize in transforming your simple but memorable pictures into canvas art.

We offer you services that range from the simplest of jobs for wall art to the most complex recoloring of giclee arts. We use the latest in digital printing technology to give you the best quality stretched canvas prints. We produce and recolor giclee prints also. You can also avail of bespoke true matches in canvas prints. The only thing you need to do is to send us a color and we will find the exact match for it. Try it out- just upload your picture on your site, your privacy is our responsibility.  You will see a wonderful wall art in instants.

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