Murals
by Martin
Week of June 30, 1998
Murals by Martin is the site of Austin, Texas, based artist
Cindy Martin. Cindy offers all kinds of advice on painting wall
murals and faux finishing. She was kind enough to give me personal
advice when I was struggling with pricing for my faux finishing
jobs. Visit Cindy's site and check out her work!
Lake
Arts Distributors
Week of July 6, 1998
Lake Arts Distributors specialize in the distribution of floorcloth
and mural canvas, with widths up to 12 feet. They deal in Fredrix
Artist Canvas. Their toll free number is 1-888-464-2787. You can
buy canvas in bulk and also floorcloths which are primed, glued,
and ready to paint. And the prices are extremely reasonable. Check
it out if you are interested in painting floorcloths and want
to dive in, without having to prime and stretch your canvas.
Clay Times Magazine
Week of July 13, 1998
Clay
Times magazine gives helpful information on all kinds of ceramic
work. Clay Times is a must for both those who are beginners or
those experienced in tile creation. Articles are written to help
with any kind of ceramic artwork.
HGTV:
Week of July 20, 1998
The
HGTV, Home and Garden Television's Website, is essential
for arts and crafters who are fans of this very informative
network. There are areas related just to the network and the
different shows, but also alot of help areas and even a chat
area for artists, crafters, and home do-it-yourselfers to
talk with others about anything they are doing.
Rick
Wedel, Artist: Week of July 27, 1998
Rick Wedel is a Michigan artist with a great deal of
promise. A recent graduate of Eastern Michigan University,
Rick's website reveals the evolution of his work. His figurative
images are open to interpretation for the viewer, and this
is his intention. His site is well organized and full of
interesting images. Check it out.
Freestyle:
Week of August 3, 1998
Freestyle is one of the best places to order photographic
supplies. The staff is very informed and also very helpful.
They have some of the best prices around with fast and
inexpensive shipping. Their website is a no frills site
that allows you to find materials and prices quickly.
Their inventory is extensive and includes film, paper,
cameras, darkroom supplies, enlargers, etc. You won't
be sorry to use them.
Motawi
Tileworks: Week of August 10, 1998
The
Motawi Tileworks website showcases this unique art
tile studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their site includes
a catalog of their relief and flat tiles, which can
be used as part of a tile scheme or as individual pieces
of art. They also include information about glazes and
installation of the tiles. I learned how to make my
tiles from a class taught by Karim Motawi.
Michael's
Arts and Crafts: Week of August 17, 1998
Michael's Arts and Crafts has lots of ideas for
projects and information about all of their products.
If you are a Michael's fan, this site is a must bookmark.
The
Detroit Institute of Art: Week of August 24, 1998
The Detroit Institute
of Art is a great way to spend a day if you
are in the southern Michigan area. The DIA is the
5th largest museum in the U.S. This site shows the
current exhibitions and many of the pieces that
are held in the museum.
Bengt's
Photo Page: Week of August 31, 1998
Bengt's Photo Page is one of the best resources
of the photographic resources on the Web. Bengt's
offers links to exhibitions and exhibits, and
is comprehensive on sites that deal with all kinds
of photographic information, including links to
photo newsgroups.
The
Artesian Well: Week of September 7, 1998
The Artesian Well is a great site for artists.
It is a non-profit site where artists can commune
together. There are galleries for artists to
participate in as well as bulletin board type
discussions of different art topics. I was particularly
interested in a thread on how to price work,
always one of the more difficult things to decide
for artists. If you are an artist, this will
surely become one of your bookmarked sites.
Womancraft:
Week of September 14, 1998
Womancraft is a cooperative in Chapel
Hill, North Carolina, where I worked and had
some of my artwork several years ago. The
coop is all women artists and crafters, and
has been in existence for almost 20 years.
The site does not have a lot in the way of
individual art, but serves as a way to learn
about the coop. I have thought about trying
something similar in my area, and you can,
too. Check out their site, and when in Chapel
Hill, give them a visit.
Tiles
On The Web: Week of September 21, 1998
As
the site is described,
"Tiles On The Web provides a focus
for Web resources to further appreciation
of ceramic tiles as artistic media, historical
artifacts, and architectural elements."
The site includes alot of information for
the tile artist, including individual galleries,
sources and reviews for tile books, how-to
instructions for tilers, a bulletin board
for tile artists, and much, much more. If
you are interested in tiles at all, this
site is a must!
Sunshine
Artist: Week of September 28, 1998
The
Sunshine Artist website is really
more of an advertisement for the Sunshine
Artist Magazine. The information is not
that extensive, but it does provides a
glimpse at what the magazine has to offer.
For example, they list some of the five
best art fairs, and I was surprised and
interested to see that the second best
"Fine Art" art fair listed was in Wyandotte,
Michigan, ranked higher than the acclaimed
Ann Arbor Art Fair. Being new to the whole
art fair circuit, it gave me some information
on a fair to research to enter or attend.
Sunshine exists solely for artists, and
the while the website could be more useful,
it is useful all the same.
University
of Michigan Museum of Art: Week of October 5, 1998
The
University of Michigan
Museum of Art website is interesting
because it highlights the current exhibitions,
the permanent holdings, and educational
programs. The museum is a wonderful
place for art lovers near southeast
Michigan to visit. For example, until
October 25 there is an exhibition on
surrealistic art, with work present
from many of the most famous surrealistic
artists. Much of the museum can be accessed
for free or for a nominal fee.
Jennifer
Woollatt: Week of October 12, 1998
Jennifer Woollatt is a local Ann
Arbor artist, craftsperson, and antique
collector. She has many interesting
creations to view. Visit her website
not only for her original designs,
but her links to other helpful crafts
websites.
The
National Gallery of Canada: Week of October 19, 1998
The
National Gallery of Canada is
one of my favorite galleries to
visit. Not only is there usually
an array of interesting exhibits,
the permanent collection is vast
and representative of many periods.
One of my favorite areas, however,
is the contemporary section of the
museum. They constantly update their
displays with room sized displays
of art such as "254 Pieces of Felt",
or recent video art. The website
is the next best thing to being
there.
Mark
Harden's Artchive: Week of October 26, 1998
I
stumbled upon
Mark Harden's Artchive while
looking for a good website for
Marc Chagall paintings. This is
a really cool and well organized
site, because Mark has compiled
artwork from a wide selection
of artists, from Abakanowicz to
Wyeth. He doesn't focus on one
period, but pulls from all eras.
One of the strengths of the site
is that he doesn't try to do too
much. For example, with Chagall,
Mark includes five or six of his
works, those that he likes or
that he believes are a good representation
of the artist. He lists the name
of the piece, the date, the dimensions,
the medium, and it's location.
He has also included beautiful
large images of the artwork also.
I am working on an adaptation
of Grant Wood's "American Gothic"
for someone, and will be able
to always refer to the superior
reproduction on Mark's site. Well
worth a visit. Mark also offers
custom scanning and web design.
Shutterbug
Magazine: Week of November 2, 1998
Shutterbug Magazine has
a very informative and useful
site for photographers and those
who like manipulating images.
Besides the usual features,
columns, and product reviews,
the website also offers things
such as information on photo
clubs, links, contacts, shows,
and workshops. One of the features
I really enjoy is the Photo
Hints section. As a matter of
fact, the Art Tip of the Week
this week is taken directly
from the Photo Hints section.
Art
Newsgroups: Week of November 9, 1998
This
week's Art Website of the
week is a bit different, as
I dive into the world of newsgroups.
This website tip is basically
for novices out there who
haven't taken advantage of
newsgroups yet. You can access
these groups through your
web browser or through a program
like Free Agent, which I use.
Check with your internet service
provider on how to do this
if you are new to all this.
Newsgroups are like bulletin
boards, with topics related
to a specific area. Two useful
ones that I have found are
rec.arts.fine, which is
a discussion of anything in
the fine arts, and
alt.art.marketplace, which
is discussion of the business
of selling artwork. As with
anything, sometimes you will
have to weed through things
that either don't apply to
you or aren't useful or even
may not be on topic. But if
you access the newsgroups
frequently, you can begin
to understand how each one
works, and can gain valuable
insight from others.
Art
Supply Warehouse: Week of November 16, 1998
Visit
the
Art Supply Warehouse
website for some great deals
on art supplies. Many items
are as cheap as you will
find, and there is the added
incentive of free shipping!
I bought my Altos mat cutter
there. It was cheap and
has easily already paid
for itself. For great deals
in art supplies, this is
the place to start.
Crafters
Newsletter Magazine: Week of November 23, 1998
The
Crafters Newsletter Magazine
is a nice concise site
for crafters to use to
help promote their businesses.
It discusses essential
topics such as inventory,
packaging, sales strategies,
etc. One of the things
that I like about the
site is that they always
try to weave the web business
aspect of it into their
articles. It's not a large
site, but has useful information
and articles for the crafter,
such as whether consignment
is really a good idea.
The
Mining Co.: Week of November 30, 1998
The
Mining Co title
states that their site
gives "professional
expert guidance from
hundreds of guides for
thousands of topics".
This is a great site
for virtually any kind
of information on any
kind of subject. For
the artists or crafters,
however, the
Arts section provides
discussion and information
on a variety of art
related topics. On of
my favorite sections
is the
Artists Exchange ,
where artists and crafters
can access all kinds
of useful categories
such as events and shows,
legal help, associations,
graphics, etc. One of
my favorite areas, naturally,
is the gallery area,
and I'm happy to say
that I have three of
my paintings on the
site. Come by and visit
my work, and submit
some of your own. This
is a pretty awesome
website!
The
Crafter's Forum: Week of December 7, 1998
The
Crafter's Forum
is a good place to
get information, especially
for artists and crafters
in Michigan and Ohio.
I recommend the site
with a bit of reservation,
because although the
site offers a directory
of arts and crafts
shows in this area,
it also charges about
$22 for the directory.
Having said that,
it is worth the money
if you want to find
out all the info on
local arts and crafts
shows. The site also
offers some useful
links for artisans
to follow, so it is
definitely a site
worth visiting.
The Craft's Report: Week of December 14, 1998
The
Craft's Report website mirrors the extremely helpful magazine.
As the site proclaims, The Crafts Report is the premier business
magazine for the crafts professional. It is published monthly, and
gives the artistan information on marketing, growing a craft business,
time management, and more. One of the things that has helped me
is the image map of different art shows throughout the country.
It has useful information on dates, cost, application deadline,
expected attendance, etc. for the different shows. The site also
focuses on articles on crafts business management, and provides
a forum for artisans to exchange ideas and ask questions. An essential
site for all arts and crafters.
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