Paintings and Art.

Art and the cold winds of cuts.

2011-04-10T13:52:00.000-07:00

Art and the cold winds of cuts.
With the cuts in government funding for the arts the climate in the art world is growing distinctly chilly. Artists have been busy creating since the dawn of time .On a warm afternoon in 1940 in southwestern France two young boys hunting rabbits discovered the cave painters of Lascaux when their dog chased a hare down a hole beside a downed tree, and they followed. Once underground, they stepped into an 18,000 year old gallery of paintings

Those early artists did not have financial interests at heart when they painted their immovable art works on the walls at Lascaux . Just like those early painters artists today have something to show the viewer about their world. True artists who paint do so because, like all artists, they are creative and they feel the need to produce art work like they feel the need to breathe, to interpret their world in a visual way and to communicate what they see and feel to the viewer.

How ever Cuts in funding will make a huge difference to the arts and governing bodies are obviously questioning the value of the arts today. Without funding will artists be able to continue to produce work at the leading edge of culture?

Many people say “I know what I like” but do they really? The public often becomes fond of what it sees regularly and is exposed to repeatedly; Fashion dictates what we find pleasing. Is this because fashion captures the spirit of the age or because we like what we are told to like believing that it is of quality because it is what every one else appreciates at any given time?

We do not always enjoy being stretched or challenged in what we find acceptable and admirable. JMW Turner, The great British landscape painter was caricatured in his day showing him as a hobbit-like little man wearing an hugetop hat. In the cartoon Turner brandished a mop in his hand like a spear, yellow paint, dripped from the mop, about to be daubed on to the Canvas. He was popularly considered to be a madman who painted with "soapsuds and whitewash.” Yet now his work is greatly admired and seems contemporary even today .

In our time Art supported by the Art’s council has widened our horizons even if we are not aware of it by showing us new things or old things in new ways and making them part of popular culture Showing us new interpretations that challenge our preconceptions and force us to think outside the box. We may not initially like what we see chosen for us by those with artistic experience and educated judgement which sometimes may profoundly affect the common appreciation and move us forward in new ways. Popular taste can miss work of high quality if the tools to appreciate it are under developed.

Lack of support from the Art’s Council will mean that financial considerations will determine the way that art is developed in the future and artists will be less inclined to create that which is not readily acceptable to popular taste. It may seem a luxury to invest in art but if art is able to educate and expand the mind then it encourages what the British excel in which is great design and inventiveness.

The impressionist painters are very popular now but their work was mocked in its day and the term impressionist refers to a title given to a painting by Monet as a derisory comment. The name of the movement is taken from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, Sunrise (Impression, soleil levant), in which the art critic Louis Leroy invented the phrase in a satiric review published in Le Charivari. The impressionists exhibited their work in the Gallerie de refuses an exhibition set up for art work refused by the salon jurors at the Salon des arts in Paris . The public taste was not ready for this style of art which is so acceptable and admired today. Many critics and the public ridiculed the refuses, which included such now-famous paintings as Eduard Manet's Luncheon on the Grass (Le déjeuner sur l’herbe) and James McNeill Whistler's Girl in White. But the critical attention also legitimized the emerging avant-garde in painting

As never before artists now have a global show case for their own work through the internet. Over the World Wide Web art work can be seen free of charge as never before and artists can offer their work for sale to global markets without leaving their studios. So now the public will decide what happens to art. Voting with their credit cards. Art works are available so long as artists have the time resources and energy to create them and with continued public interest in the arts perhaps a new age is dawning.

Buying art online

2011-03-04T13:15:00.000-08:00

The online purchasing of works of art is a growing phenomenon in recent years. Consumers are looking to their computers as they seek to fulfil their retail needs more and more and art is no exception to this trend. There are many benefits to this type of art retailing both for the purchaser and the artist. It is a growing tendency for many of the art galleries all over the country to sell work by the same few artists. Each artist has their own unique and distinctive style which they are very much encouraged to maintain often requiring that they paint repeated works in a similar colour range and of near identical subjects. Their popularity rises and falls according to the fashion of the moment and it would seem that the buyer is some what dictated to in what they might choose to hang on their walls.

With the increase of popularity of online art galleries and particularly artist’s websites individual artists are in touch with their customers as never before. Customers can make enquiries, requests and comments directly to the artist. With the removal of the middle man the artist is able to hold down prices considerably as galleries can put on 100 % mark ups in many cases. Purchasers of art are able to search the entire world for the art work they require and view it in their own home choosing something unique and different from the norm if they desire.

Apart from placing paintings in commercial galleries another way which artists have been able to make a living in the past is by applying for grants from the Art’s council. At this time of economic stringency grants are dwindling and it is far more difficult for artists to explore this avenue. Artists are spontaneous creatures having creative ideas and the desire to carry them out at their own pace. When grant applications are made there may be long delays before the artist has the go ahead to begin the work if their application is successful. The success of the application will depend on the Art’s council many criteria being satisfied. Thus the inspiration, freedom and creativity of the artist may once more be curtailed.

By buying art online the customer will be able to see art work which is truly inspired and developed by artists who have a freedom to develop and explore their own creative potential. Purchasers can support the arts in this way at a time when the art world is suffering cuts from government support. By buying directly from the artist the buyer will be able to buy art at a price far more suited to the budgets of today’s market. An investment in art can be very profitable if the art is wisely chosen , but it is most important to really enjoy what you buy so that you can treasure it for years to come. Just as the inter net has freed up artists to paint what they love so the customer has greater freedom to love what they buy.

CAROL RENEE CREATIVE ART

2007-10-02T08:43:00.000-07:00

CAROL RENEE has been creating art work all her life inspired by her father who is also an artist. Renee graduated from the University of London in 1975. Throughout her life her main media has been watercolour and she has washed soft English landscapes and vibrant still life paintings on to the paper.As a tutor to adult artists over 18 years she has developed a wide range of inspirational styles to captivate her students . Her inspirations have come form Turner , Fairchild and klimt.Recently she has begun painting in acrylics in a contemporary style exploring the freedom of abstract work experimenting with simple yet dynamic designs inspired by land and sea. Renee has always been captivated by the mystic of the past and has created a very unique style of collage using heirloom finds and natural materials which relate to people and places. These are sourced from a wide collection of Victorian photos, and collections of antique letters.

Renee's work is available for sale . Some of the work on display may have already been sold. Please get in touch at renee_carol@hotmail.com if you would like to enquire about availability and prices. Commissions can be arranged.