Subscribe to Win this Original Watercolour

Readers of this art dedicated blog can achieved preferred benefits by subscribing to the newsletter, using the Feedblitz service found at the rith column.

Subscribers are entitled to participate in the monthly draw of a free original painting and into other art related events, such as prizes in the form of art supplies.

For this month of July, the winner will receive an original postcard size watercolour painting.

The Art Inquirer respects your privacy and its newsletter service is easy to use and is spam free.

192,000 Euro for "Coração Independente Dourado" by Joana Vasconcelos

Born in Paris, November 8th 1971, Joana Vasconcelos has become one of the most important contemporary artists of the last decade.

Joana's sculptures and installations, made from everyday life objects, are part of museum and private collections worldwide.

Her sculpture "Coração Independente Dourado" ( Independent Golden Heart) was sold this Tuesday at Christie's for €192,000 , higher than the expected range between €94,000 and €140,000.

The sculpture in the shape of a Viana's heart, was a custom work for the Eleven restaurant in Lisbon and is made from 5000 plastic spoons settled in way to remind the filigree technique.

Possibly seen as an instalation, this artwork hangs from the ceiling and rotates at the sound of a CD containing three musics of Amália Rodrigues.

A lady wearing a grey hat and sitting on the second row of the Christie's auction, acquired the "Coração Independent Dourado", after competing with another interested buyer.

The lady offered £135,000 , which with comissions and sale prizes amounted to £163,250 (€192,000).

After having already received the agreement of the new owner, the sculpture will be shown in some already programmed exhibitions, including two at the Museu Berardo (Berardo Museum) in Lisbon.

John Stires - Sea Life Artist

Following a series of interviews with artists, this time The Art Inquirer brings to its readers the opportunity to get to know John Stires, an artist who paints the sea life.

TAI - Thank you for accepting to give this interview to The Art Inquirer.
Let us know about yourself and how it all started.

JS - I was born in Glendale, CA. I've always like art and I've always liked fish. I just never thought about combining the two interests. In high school, they both were hobbies and when it came time to chose a major in college I went with fish (biology major at UC Santa Barbara) thinking that art was an ineffective use of my time at college. I made this decision about a year or two before the explosion of the digital arts and by the time I was a junior in college I realized that I probably should have majored in art. While I enjoyed biology, I was pretty bad at it. Luckily, I did take quite a few art classes in college, which pretty much saved my GPA. After college I moved to NYC, considered an architecture career, but soon realized that as with biology it was too technical and I would never enjoy it. So I waited tables, considered writing a comic book and ended up working as a graphic designer and creative services director at Marvel Comics. After 6 years there I transitioned into the wild world of Internet startups and landed a job as a product manager at a video product review website called Expo TV, which is where I work today.All this time I pursued creative avenues but avoided painting, mainly because I had no clue what to paint. I wanted to have a purpose with painting and felt there was no reason to consider it unless there was something I wanted to paint. By this time I had been involved with reef aquariums for almost 20 years. Last fall it finally hit me, I could paint fish and corals and other sea creatures!I consider myself to be more of an expert with reef aquariums than I consider me to be an expert in art. In fact I probably consider myself to be more of a novice at art when it comes to technique. I really don't have much technique when I paint and I'm trying very hard to learn various ways to work with paints. I do feel that I have a very creative mind and feel that in time my technique is going to catch up with my mind. While I am happy with some of the things I have painted, I still feel that I am searching for exactly what I want to convey.

TAI - How important do you find your knowledge about the species that you convey and how does that show in your paintings ?

JS - I think my knowledge of the species adds quite a bit to what I choose to paint. Understanding the behaviors of the fish and corals helps me bring forth unique personalities and movement in the subject. I am very interested in trying to capture distinct expressions from the fish rather than simply painting beautiful sea life. I think the beauty comes from the mood the animals bring. That is probably why I focus on such intimate portraits rather than large seascapes.

TAI - Wanting to paint the waterworld has forced you in study the water species with more perseverance ?

JS - Definitely. It has helped me explore certain fish and behaviors much more. It's great because the research is a wonderful learning experience and has has even helped me explore aquarium husbandry more.

TAI - When doing a portrait, be it of a human or animal, one of the objectives of the painter is to transmit the model's character or mood.How do you cope with the objective when portraying a living being from the waterworld ?

JS - Trying to capture the mood or character of a fish is pretty difficult. Fish don't express themselves with eyes and other facial expression. They express themselves with their bodies. So movement is key when trying to transmit a mood. Even though fish don't express themselves with their facial features I still think it is possible to illicit a feel through their eyes and mouths. Many fish have down-turned mouths and wide open eyes so that generally makes for sad, wary, and paranoid looking subjects. I actually like that and I think it touches on the environmental concerns of our oceans today. It is as if all the fish are wary of the humans viewing them, wondering if humans really have the best intent for their environment.

TAI - Besides painting with oils, what other mediums and venues do you use to transmit your art and work to the public.

JS - I actually dabble in quite a bit more things besides oil painting. I've always been interested in the Internet and building successful website, so I look at everything I do on the web as somewhat of an art form. My site is as much of an art project as my paintings. Through my site I do alot of digital art with wall decals and I also reproduce my artwork on t-shirts, coffee mugs and other products through Zazzle. It is another way for me to express myself and jumping into the online world helps keep me engaged with my artwork. Although I do admit that the time spent online doing this stuff also takes away from my time spent on actual painting.Recently I started taking video of various corals and fish and cutting together small clips of them. I started a new site called Reef Video and I look at this as a different type of artistic expression. There are many behaviors that need to be shown on video that I can't really do with a paintbrush. This goes for corals especially. In paintings corals look like plants or sticks or other static objects. With video you can show how they blossom and move and feed. It is quite spectacular and alien to watch a coral move and feed. Many people don't realize that they are animals and are always surprise by their unique behaviors.

TAI - How people react when looking at the subjects that you paint ?

JS - This is one of those questions that is very hard for an artist to gauge. My art is pretty new, I consider myself a novice so when people view my art I can never as to what level people like my paintings. This is where I rely on the internet to get true reactions to my artwork. If I notice that people start posting my artwork around the internet or if more and more people start coming to my site, then I'll know that people are reacting well to my artwork.

TAI - What are the species that you most like to paint ?

JS - Well, clownfish are just fun to paint. They are probably the most popular fish out there and there is good reason why, they just have wonderful personalities. I've been playing around recently with various types of corals and while I like to paint them I find them extremely difficult to paint well. I think that is one of the areas I need to improve the most.

TAI - Can you be caught painting or sketching at an aquarium or oceanarium ?

JS - Not yet, however I can be caught taking video of various corals and fish tanks in local aquarium shops. I am going to be visiting the amazing Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta in a couple of weeks and hope to get some behind the scenes interviews and video while I am there. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

TAI - Please tell us about your artistic plans for the future and if you have any upcoming exhibitions.

JS - Plan to see more paintings, wall decals, video and other things. I am looking around at printing my own greeting cards with some of my work on them and selling them through my site. I still need to create a larger body of work before I can approach someone about showing my work. It's a long process but I could see myself displaying some artwork hopefully by the end of the year.

The artwork of John Stires can be seen at his website.

In a constant effort to offer its readers a pleasant reading, based on quality and relevant content, The Art Inquirer has already granted a new series of interviews.

Advertise and Help Scott and Carol Decker

The Art Inquirer took acquaintance of the extremely difficult situation faced by Scott and Carol Decker.

Due to severe complications during and after the labour of her second child, Carol had to be submited to several amputations and later on she lost her sight due to the medication that she needs to take.

Besides all the inherent problems coming from this situation, the couple faces an untanable debt in medical treatments.

Now, as you have noticed, The Art Inquirer uses the Project Wonderful ad system which is based upon a bid system.

Advertising values start at a very low 2 cents per day and you can set the parameters of your bid limit, daily expense and for how long you want to place you ad. There is also the possibility of canceling.

To help this couple, all the revenue from the month of July will be donated to Scott and Carol using the Paypal system, which can also be found on their blog.

This is a great opportunity to advertise your business at a very accessible rate and to help a good cause.

And to thank you for your generosity, the advertiser who contributes most to this cause will gain a free month (at his/her choice) of prime spot advertising placement.

Mind that this blog is read by all ages and therefore I must approve the ads before they start running.

If you wish to know some more about their situation, please watch this video.

Thank you for your interest.

The image is used for illustration purposes and the couple's and their children privacy should be respected.

11th Annual Pastel 100 Competition

Artists from around the world, using soft pastels (hard pastels are also included since the competition is opened to all dry pastels) are again able to participate in another competition organized by F&W Publications, through their soft pastel dedicated art magazine The Pastel Journal.
This is a great opportunity for pastelists to have their names recognized and published in what is probably the most well known publication dedicated to this medium.
According to F&W Publications the cash prizes totalize more than $15,000 ( a value that The Art Inquirer could not confirm at this time, but will try tomorow).
There are also prizes in the form of pastel supplies for the first five of The Jack Richeson/Unison Pastels Category Awards.
Artists may enter in all categories and the finalists will be chosen by the magazine staff.
Award winners and honourable mentions will be selected by the following jurors : Ilene Gienger-Stanfield (Portrait/Figure), Jean Dalton (Abstract/Non-Objective), Nancy MacDonald (Animal/Wildlife), Paul Murray (Landscape/Interior) and Ron Monsma (Still Life/Floral).
The 11th Annual Pastel 100 Competition may be your next important step in the world of art.
Read carefully the prospectus , namely the elegibility terms, because the simply fact of not following one of the rules may annul your chances to participate and win.
All entries must be postmarked no later than September 1st, 2009.

Banksy at the Bristol Museum

Since October that this event and its location has been kept secret, even from the Bristol City Council chiefs.
With 100 works from the Bristol based graffiti artist Banksy, this exhibition features installations, animatronics and a sensory display.
The artist started stencilling on the city's walls in the 90s and because part of the taxpayer's money has been used to erase those stencils, this exhibition may not be free of some controversy.
Although Banksy supervised the installation in loco, the museum staff was not able to guess who he was among his crew, being this one of his trademarks.
His artworks have been exhibited in Bethlehem, Los Angeles and New York, becoming highly collectable and making part of collections from known personalities such as Robbie Williams and Brad Pitt.
Named Banksy vs Bristol Museum, the exhibition may be visited for free during this Summer at the council-owned City Museum and Art Gallery, in Bristol (UK).

Did You Get Free Art Supplies ?

Today the Art Inquirer has chosen a winner from its followers and newsletter subscribers.
Besides the winner, were also chosen three substitutes in the eventuality of the prize not being claimed.
The lucky winner will receive, free of any charges, a new set of painting brushes and a wood palette.
Should no one claim the prize, The Art Inquirer will donate it to a caring institution that includes art as one of its activities.
The winner will lose the right to the prize if not contacting within a week.
Thank you for reading this blog and participating with your comments and suggestions.

Art Basel 2009

Considered the world's leading show of modern and conteporary artworks, the Art Basel 2009 is open to the general public from June 10 to June 14.

Multiple sections show the works of over 2500 renowned and emerging artists represented by 300 galleries.

It's preview opening took place yesterday and was attended by known personalities like Naomi Campbell and Brad Pitt who bought a Neo Rauch painting for $956,000.

In the last year's edition the actor had acquired a hollow Rococo-style Carrara's marble table by the dutch designer Jeroen Verhoeven.

Within the first hour of the Switzerland's based fair, a diamond-incrusted sculpture by Takashi Murakami, sold for $2,000,000.

Art Basel 2009 expects to draw wealthy visitors, such as the russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and the american art collectors Howard Rachofsky and Eli Broad, who were also spotted at the preview.

Last year's edition was attended by 60000 visitors.

The public program and the visitor information will give you a general idea of what to expect.

Art Calendar's Studio Makeover Contest

Featuring more than $10,000 in prizes, the Art Calendar's Studio Makeover is an opportunity for artists to have their studio remodelled.
The contest runs from May 1st through July 31st, 2009 and those wishing to enter must send a photo of their studio and a text stating why they should win the prize.
Three winners will be featured in the November 2009 issue and the receiver of the grand prize will videotape the studio makeover with a camera provided by Art Calendar.
Make sure that you read the elegibility requirements and rules.

The Times Top 200 Artists

After 1.4 million votes, Times readers and Saatchi Online visitors have selected the top 200 artists of the 20th century to now.
Participants were asked to vote from a list of artists working since 1900, including painters, sculptors, photographers, video and installation artists.
The list can be seen here and you may click on the artist's name for more information.

Gallery Wrap System by Hahnemühle

Create Your Own Gallery Wraps with the new Hahnemuhle Gallery Wrap System from Ron Risman on Vimeo.

Known for its quality papers, Hahnemühle has a new gallery wrap kit that may be a solution for many artists and art dealers.
This do-it-yourself kit named "Hahnemühle Gallerie Wrap" comes with the necessary tools for an easy assembly and can be used for paper and canvas.

Musée Hergé (Musée Tintin)

Symbolically inaugurated on May 22nd (Hergé's anniversary) in Louvain-la-Neuve near Brussels, the Hergé Museum or if you prefer the Tintin Museum, will have it's official opening to the public tomorow June 2nd.
Not free of controversy was its presentation to the journalists, who were kept from taken photos.
The museum is divided in 8 spaces comprising 3600m2 and was conceived by the french architect Christian de Portzamparc.

Readers Win Art Materials

The Art Inquirer has achieved a Pagerank of 4 and to celebrate this event one of its readers will win a wooden palette and a set of six brushes.
One chance of winning will be given to each of the following conditions : being a follower, being a reader using Feedblitz and posting an article at one's blog.
Therefore you have up to three chances of being the lucky winner.
If you post an article at your blog, please comment with a link to it.
The draw will take place on June 15.
Shipping is free and worldwide.
This art dedicated blog will continue its quality standards, always aiming to provide its readers with relevant content.

CuratorLab - International Curatorial Program

CuratorLab(60 ECTS-credits) is an international self-adressed curatorial course based upon art research, crafts and design.
Participants are given the possibility to develop an individual or collaborative project while maintaining their academic studies.
Professional feedback and a reasonable budget are provided by CuratorLab.
If necessary,the faculty will provide contacts with art institutions and arrange studio visits. Guest lectures can also be arranged.
Each participant is entitled to a shared office space and access to local research libraries.
The program starts in September 2009 and applications must be received by June 2009.
While there are no scholarships, tuition at Konstfack is free.
For more information upon studying in Sweden and scholarships.

Sand Sculptures - FIESA 2009

Considered the major sand sculpting festival in the world, the 7th edition of FIESA (Festival Internacional de Esculturas em Areia, International Festival of Sand Sculptures) runs from May 22nd through October 22nd, from 10h00 to midnight ( from September 22nd to October 22nd, between 10h00 and 21h00).

Taking place in Pêra, Algarve (Portugal), the event gathers 60 sculptors from 14 countries who will transform 35000 tons of sand into wonderful sculptures.

The 50 sculptures, some with 18 meters height, occupy an area of 15000 sqm.

Every year there's a new theme and the chosen one for FIESA 2009 is "Discoveries".

Visitors will be able to enjoy a fascinating journey through time and evolution of mankind, from pre-historic times to modern conquests of science and technology.

Caravels, medieval castles, the Big Ben and Neil Armstrong's landing on the Moon are among some of the works.

There are also tematic spaces dedicated to industrial revolution, robotics, art, medicin and the discovery of fire and the wheel, between others.

During the day, sculptures can be admired in all detail while the night will be animated by live music, theatre and other performing arts.

The festival still includes a ludic space where everyone can show their sculpting skills.

ProSandArt was founded by the turkish sculptor Alper Alagoz in 2002.

International Museum Day 2009

The International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the World Federation of Friends of Museums (WFFM/FMAM), together with museums worldwide, celebrate the International Museum Day.
This year's event is on "Museums and Tourism", focusing on aspects such as sustained tourism and how heritage can bring tourists to local communities, providing mutual benefits.

Invisible Car by Sara Watson

In what can be considered a remarkable example of mimetism, Sara Watson, a 22 year old student from the University of Central Lancashire, has made a Skoda Fabia "invisible".

Sara took three weeks to paint the car, making it merge with the surrounding car park.

Photo taken from Autoblog

Grant for Artistic Merit and Financial Need

The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Inc. welcomes apliccations from visual artists (including painters, sculptors and printmakers) with a recognizable artistic merit and presenting a financial need.
Commercial artists, photographers, filmmakers, crafts-makers and other artists whose work is mainly included in these categories, are not eligible.
The Foundation does not fund academic study nor does make grants to students.
Artists wanting to apply will have to submit a cover letter, together with an application and images of current work.
Applications have no deadlines and are accepted throughtout the year.
To know more about how to apply you may read this page about the grant where you will have access to the brochure and application form.

Happy Mother's Day

In many countries, Mother's Day is celebrated in different dates related to historical events.
With no particular preference over other dates, The Art Inquirer celebrates this event by offering the video of the song "É isso aí" (based on The Blower's Daughter by Damien Rice), by Ana Carolina and Seu Jorge to its wonderful readers.
Thank you and Happy Mother's Day.

An Alternative to Art Forums

With internet being a regular part of our lives, artists seek ways to improve their marketing strategies by visiting websites, reading blogs and becoming members of art related forums.
In what art forums are concerned, one of their features is the possibility of having a signature banner.
They are also a great way to interact with fellow artists, sharing experience and knowledge.
However today we will consider an alternative way to get your art known.
Besides art, there must be other subjects that are of your interest, so what we are talking here is about joining a forum that is not related to art.
This forum will not be saturated with artists trying more or less to achieve the same objectives.
It is wise to chose a forum that will permit you to place a signature banner with links to your art website or blog.
At those forums you will get acquainted with people who although may be art appreciators, or even artists, usually have other priorities in terms of favourite subjects.
Users will be curious about your art related links and it's quite natural that you may receive inquiries about your artwork.
Another advantage is the fact that since most users are not artists, their demanding in terms of technique (don't mistake it with aesthetics) may not be so high, thus eventually resulting in more sales.
As a final but very important consideration, it is peremptory to chose a forum about a subject that you like and have some knowledge about it.
Only this way you will be able to properly interact with the other members and gather the inherent benefits.

7th Painting On The Edge

The 7th open international exhibition of Painting On The Edge, will take place in Vancouver (Canada) from August 18th through September 6th, 2009.
The opening reception and awards ceremony are sheduled for August 20th from 6pm to 8pm at the Federation Gallery.
Worldwide artists working in any media concerning original paintings, drawings and printings are welcomed to enter into this event.
You can access the prospect here to know more about the elegibility and other conditions.
The entry deadline is June 5, 2009 and there will be $8000 in prizes.

Pastel Guild of Europe Officially Established

The Pastel Guild of Europe was officially established on May 3rd 2009.
Founding members of this society met to discuss relevant issues such as the election of the board and the functions of each member, membership levels and plans for the future.
It is the wish of this society to bring pastelists closer to their fellow artists, promoting events that will permit them to share their experience.
Making the general public aware of the possibilities of this medium is also one of the objectives of the Pastel Guild of Europe.

Dali and Lempicka Paintings Stolen

The gouache painting "Adolescence" (1941) by Salvador Dali and the oil painting "La Musicienne" (1929) by Tamara de Lempicka, were stolen from the Scheringa Museum of Realist Art in Spanbroek, Holland .
The theft took place on May 1st when masked gunmen threathened a guard from the museum and got away with the two works of art.
No one got injuried during the assault.
The museum hosts the art collection, comprising more than 500 works, of the dutch banker Dirk Scheringa and his wife Baukje Sheringa.

You Can Stop Starvation

BlogCatalog members and Heifer International are partnering in an effort to make people aware of severe conditions supported by humans, especially children, concerning the lack of nurishment.
It was asked for the authors of blogs to write an article about hunger and hope.
Of course that I could write an article about how humanity has become greedy and how people are indifferent toward each other. That we throw away food when others are dying of starvation, or about the profits obtained through the selling of weapons to be used in wars which are quite probably the main cause for starvation.
However instead of that, I will only ask you one single question :



How can you look at him and do nothing ?

Ireland - Art In Action 2009

From May 30th through June 1st, visitors to the Art In Action event will have the chance to see the artists in action and attend practical classes . This will be an opportunity to satisfy your curiosity about art and crafts and who knows even become an artist yourself.

The event takes place at Townley Hall, Ireland.

Indications on how to get there and other useful information are available.

Pastel Guild of Europe - Founding Meeting

The Pastel Guild of Europe, a project born from the will of pastelists wanting to connect with each other and with the general public, is going to become a reality on May 3rd.
The founding meeting officially marks the start of this guild that will provide a platform where artists will be abble to share their works, knowledge and experiences.
Regular events, such as exhibitions, newsletters and competitions are planned for the future.
For now the website is still in its embryonary stage, but in the near future the public will be abble to enjoy the artworks of several artists and start to have an idea about possibilities of this medium.

Painting of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

The italian artist Filippo Panseca has depicted the italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi seminude and wearing wings.

Unclad by his side is the Minister of Equal Opportunities Mara Cafagna.

According to Panseca, the painting of the Silvio Berlusconi was based on an image taken from the internet, while the naked body of the Minister Mara Cafagna was depicted based upon a painting of a 19th century artist.

Should the painting be acquired, the money will be donated to the earthquake victims of Abruzzo, said the artist.

American Artist's Weekend With The Masters

From September 9th through 13th, art enthusiasts will have the opportunity to participate in an event organized by the American Artist magazine.

Named American Artist’s Weekend With the Masters Workshop & Conference, it will gather some of the top artists who will share their knowledge and creative process with the participants.

Among the instructors there will be names such as David A. Leffel, Scott Burdick, Richard Schmid (authour of the famous book "Alla Prima") and Sherrie MacGraw.

The event will take place at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.

Collection of François Pinault in Moscow

Comprising over 2000 pieces, part of the private collection of François Pinault who owns Christie's auction house, among other well known brands under the Artemis S.A. holding, will be in exhibition at the Dasha Zhukova’s Garage Centre for Contemporary Culture.

Called " A Certain State of the World", the exhibition includes 49 pieces and can be visited until June 14.

Photo taken from the Saatchi-Gallery UK website

Reader Wins Free Original Watercolour

Today another lucky reader has won a free original watercolour.
An e-mail as been sent to notify the winner.
Don't lose the chance of being the next one by subscribing to The Art Inquirer.
Happy Easter !