Many of you may have a personal account on facebook but would benefit from knowing how to make a successful page that will help promote your work.

Here is the twelve step process that will help you create a useful facebook page. A facebook page does not replace your own website, but rather SUPPORTS your work and helps to build your profile.

1. Get in the right mindset – this is important!

Remember that your art does not speak for itself and it will never be able to. The best person to help build the profile of your art is you. Think about promotion activities as an extension of your art — not separate from it. Writing about your art, displaying photographs of your work and communicating with your audience are all great opportunities that shouldn’t be wasted. Good language skills put you in control of you as your art’s ‘brand leader’. Take time to think about what is important in terms of presenting yourself an artist and take the time to get the words and images right. When you do this, there will be little room for being misunderstood.

2. Create your facebook page under your professional title.

A Facebook Page, sometimes referred to as a Fan Page, is a single page separate from your personal account that people create for many different purposes outside personal sharing. Think of it as a one-page meeting place, with information, links, a message forum box, RSS and anything else you want. The way people will get to interact with your page is by ‘liking’ it or finding it. Once someone has ‘liked’ it they will receive your status updates and be able to view your photo albums, just like a regular Facebook account page.

Take action: Go here to create your facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

3. Choose a Unique Page Image

This is one of the most crucial components of a fan page. It’s a simple component yet this image is of the utmost importance. Your image can either be of the most striking examples of your work to date or great high resolution photo of you at work. This photograph has the opportunity to leave a lasting impression so make it good!
Have a look at some of the examples of ArtWeb members that we think really fit the bill: (Sorry, in this edition they all happen to be attactive females!)

4. Make a gallery of your images

A major advantage of facebook is the ability to share images. Begin to think: how is your work divided up? Do you have different collections? Would you like to show a tour of your studio or represent your artistic influences? We recommend that you create different albums and upload images periodically. When you update new content, users are insipired to revisit your page. We recommend always maintaining a strong image of yourself in your ‘profile’ picture and change it only once every couple of months (if at all).

5. Create a good bio and include relevant data for the ‘info’ section

As previously mentioned, visitors will definitely appreciate your art without the addition of words, but the right words can make critical connections between you and your audience. A well-written statement and biography is the backbone for any promotional effort you make, and a good statement takes time to incubate. Include:

Education (if you deem it relevant)
Current location
Prizes you may have won
Exhibitions you are involved in
Main web address

and anything else that you believe may be of interest for both you and your audience.

Take action: Add this information to the ‘info’ tab of your facebook page – click on the ‘info’ tab, then press edit information.

6. Interact with your fans

Always allow people to comment on your wall. That means every time someone comments on your new status, a photo, a video, a discussion thread, or anything else, you need to comment on it. You need to be talk to fellow artists and fans alike. They’ll ask you questions that you can reply to and you can ask questions as well. Ask for their feedback on your work in a natural way. This will ensure that fans keep coming back if you interact from your spectacular brand!

Take Action: To allow people to post on your wall, click the ‘edit page’ link (under your profile pic) then click ‘Wall Settings’ then check the ‘People who like this Page can write or post content on the Wall’ box.

7. Landing page

You can control which page people land on first and so you might like to ‘control’ their experience by making sure that new people arrive somewhere interesting like an album of your artwork. If you ideally want and get good feedback from your fans, then the wall is good too.

8. Import your twitter feed into your facebook page

We hope you’ve already started your twitter account. If not, join today, it takes literally five minutes. (don’t forget to go straight to TheArtistsWeb and ‘follow’ us too!) By importing your twitter feed into your facebook page you will have a continual flow of updated information, even if you are only ‘tweeting’. It also gives facebook fans an even more detailed look at the content you share.

You can do this using the ’selective twitter’ facebook application (currently the official twitter facebook application only works with personal accounts).

Take Action: Go to http://www.facebook.com/selectivetwitter and click on ‘Add to my page’, then configure with your twitter username.

9. Publish useful, relevant content

Just like in other areas of social media (blogs, Twitter, etc) you can easily provide interesting content to your readers. Your Facebook page will be no different. Unlike a personal facebook page, you should use your facebook fan page to regularly reference content you think will be relevant to artists and buyers. Because you have taken the time to do this, your fans will keep returning to your page. A Facebook Page will give you a weekly update of how many visits you have had in one week, and a repeat visitors is one of the most effective measurements of the success of your communication!

So how do you find interesting content?

Start with your favourite blogs, websites, video clips, and other forms of content aggregators like Delicious.com and Digg.com. If you are outside of the new media industry, you’ll have to use traditional sources like Google News, Google Blogsearch, and the mainstream media.

You can also repaste content from other users! Just like a retweet in twitter, re-pasting other people’s content is complimentary to that person and will result in more exposure to what you want to present later.

10. Use widgets to get more fans

A widget a stand-alone application that can be embedded into third party sites by any user on a page where they have rights of authorship (e.g. a webpage, blog, or profile on a social media site). Widgets are fun, engaging, and useful applications that allow users to turn personal content into dynamic web apps that can be shared on just about any website.

End users primarily use widgets to enhance their personal web experiences, or the web experiences of visitors to their personal sites.

The use of widgets has proven increasingly popular allowing users of social media are able to add stand-alone applications to blogs, profiles and community pages.

You can put widgets on your website, other webpages you have to encourage people to become fans:

e.g. http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like-box

The bottom line is communicating about your art will help YOU learn more about it and thus how to share it effectively with others. Understand that defining your art gives you control and confidence. A great Facebook Page created especially for your career is definitely a step in the right direction. Remember until you know and understand the soul of your art, you can’t explain it adequately to others.

Visit the ArtWeb Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/ArtWebcom/278685876393
And follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheArtistsWeb

11. Monitor your progress

Facebook makes available detailed information about the visitors to your facebook page – use this information! Click on the ‘view all’ button under the ‘insights’ box on the left column. Here you can see historic data as to when people comment, like, and remove your facebook page. Pay particular attention to when there is any significant change – maybe you are posting too much and people hide you from their newsfeed, maybe you just asked a particular engaging question and this attracted a lot of opinions.

Facebook even gives you a quality rating – this is key, the better your rating the more your page’s activity will be visible across everyone’s newsfeed, so it’s really essential you work to keep that high. Use the insights section to get a reliable picture of what works and what doesn’t.

12. Be patient

Building up to a popular facebook page can take time, you’ll probably get a chunk of friends and contacts supporting you at first and then progress may not continue with exponential growth. You might be tempted to keep repeat inviting people (that’s the ‘Suggest to friends’ link), but be very cautious about doing this more than a couple of times, it’s better not to be seen as ’spamming people’. You might also be tempted to ‘Promote with an advert’, as Facebook often encourages you to. Rather be patient at first and watch to see what organic growth your new page will muster, once you’re been up and running for a month or so then you have a better picture as to how things may continue to grow.

And finally, be sure to follow us on facebook – we’ll be continuing with more detailed articles and tips:http://www.facebook.com/pages/ArtWebcom/278685876393.

UPDATED: 13th August 2010

Are you interested to know how much your fellow artists are selling their artwork online? Well so are we, so we set up a survey to get some real statistics on the subject. We asked all our artist friends (from artweb.com, twitter and facebook) and now have answers from almost 200 artists across the globe, which we present to you here.

What do you think of these results?

This week on Spotlight, we are joined by German-born photographer Tobias Titz, discussing working full time as a professional photographer, as well as his incredible new exhibition ‘Marnti Warajanga’, on display in Canberra, the capital city of Australia..

The Exhibition: In Marnti Warajanga you will meet Indigenous Australians from the Pilbara region of northern Western Australia, and non-Indigenous people who have worked closely with their communities. In their own words they bear witness to momentous historical movements and reflect on their ongoing work for social and political change at a community and national level.

In Tobias Titz’s unique collaborative portraiture process, each person is photographed with a large format camera using Polaroid Type 665 film. He then photographs the same space without the person in it. Following this, the subjects write something of their choice into the wet ‘empty’ negative. The texts relate to questions about major events such as the Pilbara Strike of 1946, the 1967 Referendum and the 2008 Apology to the Stolen Generations.
Tobias says that providing a place where often long-buried stories can be told “allows us to understand where we come from and how to move forward”.

Toby, thanks for joining us on Spotlight. Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came to be a photographer living and working in Melbourne Australia…

I grew up in Germany and studied photography in Munich where I was living and working as a freelance photographer. In 2000 I met my wife who is Australian – that’s how I came to Melbourne.

What kind of photography do you find yourself mainly involved in? (Client base etc)

I work as a commercial photographer but I also make sure to put some time towards my personal projects. One of these personal projects resulted in “Marnti Warajanga – we are travelling”, which is currently exhibited at the Museum of Australian Democracy in old Parliament house in Canberra, Australia’s capital city.

For those thinking about turning a passion for photography into a career, could you give any advice?

I think it’s important to keep it fresh – find interesting topics do personal work never stop observing – there are so many interesting stories out there.

Your latest exhibition Marnti Warajanga–we’re travelling is a collaboration between the Museum of Australian Democracy, Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre and yourself. Could you tell us how this project came to be?

It all started in 2007 I got in contact with  wangka maya the Pilbara aboriginal language centre and we decided to do a project about the 40th anniversary of the 1967 referendum. From there it developed over the years and resulted in the “Marnti Warajanga” exhibition which will tour Australia for 5 years.

The technical process you decided on was very interesting for this unique collaborative project. Could you tell us about it?

Usually the subject in a portrait has no possibility to interact with the photo.  The subject can relate to the photographer as the shoot progresses, but once the shutter has fired, that’s it.  I thought I would give them the opportunity to comment or contribute to the image itself, that I had just shot.  Normally a portrait is just a single image, but I thought I would extend the process by giving the subject the chance to have a direct input to the finished piece. When you ask people to have an input – to leave a mark, it gives them an active role not a passive role.

I take 2 photos the first one is the portrait photo the second one is a photo of the background the subject scratches their comment in the second empty negative.
I use a large format camera and Polaroid 665 film.

How did you grow developmentally as an artist during this time?

That’s hard to say… what I can say though is that going to these remote communities and meeting these people is a very enriching experience.

Thank you for joining us on Spotlight Toby. Where can people find out more about your work?

You can visit the exhibition in the museum of Australian Democracy in Old Parliament House in Canberra till February 2011. Otherwise visit www.moadoph.gov.au and check out my website www.tobiastitz.de.

When did you decide to pursue art as a career? Is it your main job?
I have always been passionate about art from early memory.  I’m still teaching painting techniques at 67!  That’s just one day a week as it’s a lot of work and of course the rest of the time I’m painting.  I also do a few workshops in the Summer; it helps me keep my car on the road!  I do enjoy it. Everyone is creative, you see….if someone enjoys looking at paintings then the chances are they can paint; they just need a bit of direction and to be shown how!  I think it’s very thereputic; it’s like the way golf is for some men….a bit of escape!

'The Audition'

You mention in your Biography that until 2000 your art consisted mainly of landscapes; what prompted the shift towards figurative art after this?
I began painting landscapes around 1995 after spending a few summers touring Northern Scotland. I did landscapes for a long time as I was doing a lot of travelling up north and was just bowled over by the scenery. The wild beauty and ever changing light inspired me. The landscapes sold really well in the galleries up North so I just kept going!  Then I suddenly got fed up because at this point I was just churning them out. I didn’t have the passion there for them; I have to have a passion for what I’m doing before it becomes exciting.  So then I started on the figurative work which takes a lot longer and is a lot more difficult! I start off with one figure and then start to add other figures and to develop a narrative; the imagination kicks off after I’ve started the work.  I tend to take figures I’ve drawn and place them within a different settings then let imagination do the rest.

Many of your pieces seem to have a story unfolding behind them; where do you get your inspirations for these narratives? Are they based on real experiences or do you just have a very active imagination?
I observe people, facial expressions and movement without realising it. I carry a sketch book everywhere I go.The other night I was at a wedding and sitting there drawing people!  I do that all the time; I can’t help it!  I suppose people might consider me to be a vouyer? I’m often secretly watching people and drawing them!  Then I incorporate them into my paintings and let my imagination go.

'Boozin' At The Nappy'

‘Boozing At The Nappy’ is basically how they used to drink in old Edinburgh in the nineteenth century; I did a lot of research into Edinburgh’s history as it fascinates me.  I decided to do a bigger painting of that work; ‘Boozing At The Nappy’ basically translates as ‘drinking in the pub’!  I did a series of paintings around old Edinburgh’s history and Robert Burns’ poems – these were bought by the National Library Of Scotland. (Editor’s note: see question below!).

The National Library Of Scotland bought two illustration works that you produced as books! Bravo! How did these works come about? Was the commission to produce the works as books or did you come up with that idea?
When I was doing a post-grad art course I decided to do some illustrations as part of it rather than just paintings.

'Cockburn Street'

I wanted to illustrate something Scottish so I chose two different areas as I mentioned before; Edinburgh history and Robert Burns’ poetry.  I decided to illustrate those themes and the National Library Of Scotland heard about them. They buy fine art books if they’re originals so they bought them, which was great! They’re one-off pieces.  I did a lot of engraving and etching on the old-fashioned presses and the books are created with original copper etchings.

With your landscape painting and some of your Edinburgh paintings, how do you capture the scene? Do you use photographs, sketches, your memory or do you paint on site?
I use photographs for reference. I do lots of little drawings in cafes from my car or on site depending on weather. These are essential for finished work.

How long does a piece take you from concept to finished painting and do you find you gain more satisfaction from a longer piece which had become a ‘project’?
Figurative work is more time consuming and more difficult than landscape work. Some pieces take months, others weeks.  I do gain more satisfaction from paintings which take me longer to do, such as figurative paintings, because there’s so much more going into it. You need to come up with a lot of imagination, do a lot of research and all that takes time.  So you do feel more satisfied at the end!

‘When The Saints’, ‘Summertime’ and ‘Summertime Blues’ look like they were painted in New Orleans! What was the inspiration behind these works and are you a jazz fan? Do you like to capture aspects of your personality in your art?
I think my personality is in all my art. I love all music; it touches the soul!

'When The Saints'

Do people who buy your art feel a personal affinity with the subject or scene? Do they respond in a way that you expect or are you ever surprised by their reactions?
My paintings usually draw people into the scene. Everyone reacts differently depending on the image.

Any tips on how to get your art into galleries that other artists might find useful?
I exhibit as much as possible. Artists need the public to see their work! I have never painted for fashion. I don’t stay in one area; I paint what I feel passionate about.

'Market Day'

Some galleries reject me, other galleries like my work.  To get work into galleries, I tend to just pick up the paintings I can carry, drive into town and walk them round the galleries I want to show in!  That way they get to see it first-hand which is lacking in an email.You need to be quite brave to do that because there is rejection sometimes if you just turn up but then sometimes not; it’s a gamble you take.  I paint now because I want to and because I’m passionate about it, not because I want to make money.  So any money is a bonus to an already big passion!

How have you found the recent recession with regards to your work as an artist? Have you struggled or have you not noticed much of an impact?
I think the recent recession has had a major effect on both galleries and artists.  Prices for good work are below average. Many galleries have closed. With my landscapes, I had quite a lot of success with the galleries in the north of Scotland -  mainly I think because of the tourists visiting the area; tourists like landscapes! With my figurative work it’s been far more difficult. I’ve only got one or two figurative paintings  into galleries.  I think figurative work is not so fashionable; so much of what some galleries will accept and show is to do with fashion.  Not many will show your work for the sake of it.

What is the best aspect of being an artist and what do you love about it?
Art is the love of my life. I am 67 years old and still feel the excitement of beginning a new work. There is great fulfilment and joy when I get it right.  If I couldn’t paint I would just fade away!

What are you working on next? Any future plans or projects in the pipeline that we should look out for?
At present I am absorbed in figurative work, “People and Places”. I paint whatever touches me emotionally.

I’d like to thank Maureen for her friendly chat and allowing us into her thoughts regarding her work and art.  We wish her all the very best for the future and great continued success….and if you’d like to have a closer look at her imaginative, thought-provoking work, take a look at her website:

http://maureenmonteath.theartistsweb.co.uk/

Title:          Lead Artist, Arts Partnership Nottinghamshire
Location:   East Midlands
Salary:      (£20k-25k pro rata) Part time
Deadline:   Thursday 10 June 2010
http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-job/post/lead-artist-4/

Title:          Company/Artist commission, Hoxton Hall
Location:   London
Salary:      (£10k-15k) Full time
Deadline:   Thursday 10 June 2010
http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-job/post/companyartist-commission/

Title:          Public Artist, Highfields Science Specialist School
Location:   West Midlands
Salary:      (£15k-20k pro rata) Part time
Deadline:   Friday 11 June 2010
http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-job/post/public-artist-3/

Title:          Visual Artist, Swale Borough Council
Location:   South East
Salary:      (£25k-30k pro rata) Part time
Deadline:   Friday 11 June 2010
http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-job/post/visual-artist-18/

Title:          Art in public – Shaftesbury, Wide Open Space
Location:   South West
Salary:      (£25k-30k pro rata) Part time
Deadline:   Friday 11 June 2010
http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-job/post/art-in-public-shaftesbury/

Title:          Tender for the delivery of arts activity in Queen’s Park, Well London
Location:   London
Salary:      (£30k-40k) Full time
Deadline:   Friday 11 June 2010
http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-job/post/tender-for-the-delivery-of-arts-activity-in-queens-park/

Title:          Commission opportunities, RUNS ON THE BOARD
Location:   Yorkshire
Salary:      (£50k+ pro rata) Part time
Deadline:   Monday 14th June 2010
http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-job/post/commission-opportunities/

Title:          Public Art Scheme: Williams Street, Little Lever, Bolton, Bolton at Home
Location:   North West
Salary:      (£50k+ pro rata) Part time
Deadline:   Monday 14 June 2010
http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-job/post/public-art-scheme-williams-street-little-lever-bolton/

Title:          Deaf & Disabled artists for exciting Paralympic opportunity, Creative Bucks
Location:   South East, East Midlands
Salary:      (£40k-50k pro rata) Part time
Deadline:   Thursday 17 June 2010
http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-job/post/deaf-disabled-artists-for-exciting-paralympic-opportunity/

Title:          Commission, 52 weeks of art
Location:   West Midlands
Salary:      (£10k-15k pro rata) Part time
Deadline:   Thursday 17 June 2010
http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-job/post/commission-3/

Title:          Inside Out: artist led engagement projects, Olympic Delivery Authority
Location:   London
Salary:      (£50k+ pro rata) Part time
Deadline:   Monday 21 June 2010
http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-job/post/inside-out-artist-led-engagement-projects/

Title:          Artist-in-residence, John Mason School
Location:   South East, Oxfordshire
Salary:      (£15k-20k pro rata) Part time
Deadline:   Monday 21 June 2010
http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-job/post/artist-in-residence-22/

Title:          Lead Artist, Yorkshire Artspace
Location:   Yorkshire
Salary:      (£20k-25k pro rata) Part time
Deadline:   Friday 25 June 2010
http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-job/post/lead-artist-3/

Title:          Call for Craft Artists, MK Arts for Health – Milton Keynes
Location:   South East, Milton Keynes
Salary:      (£10k-15k pro rata) Part time
Deadline:   Wednesday 30 June 2010
http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-job/post/call-for-craft-artists/

Title:          Public Art Commission, Sheffield City Council
Location:   Yorkshire
Salary:      (£10k-15k pro rata) Part time
Deadline:   Wednesday 30 June 2010
http://www.artsjobs.org.uk/arts-job/post/public-art-commission-16/

The exhibition focuses mainly on the correspondence between Van Gogh and his art-dealer brother Theo (and to a lesser degree with his sister, Willemien).  Sketches (referred to as Van Gogh as ’scratchings’) -  sometimes in ink, sometimes in colour -  of proposed, half-finished and completed paintings adorn many of the letters, with footnotes by the artist about what he was hoping to achieve, how he felt about the work and the circumstances surrounding his creation of it.

Vincent Van Gogh, aged 19

The descriptions are as vivid in their words as they are in Van Gogh’s mind: “…here’s a croquis of the latest canvas I’m working on, another sower. Immense lemon yellow disc for the sun. Green-yellow sky with pink clouds. The field is violet, the sower and the tree Prussian Blue.”  Each letter with a  sketch is (usually) positioned adjacent to the finished work, which results in slow tennis match-like movements of the head by groups of people comparing the details of each.   I like the way the letters are mounted and displayed like works of art in their own right.   So did everyone else, it would seem, as actually getting close enough to the letters to be able to see the details of the drawing, his words and that famous signature is a minor accomplishment in itself.  The letters and paintings start off with Van Gogh’s very early works, his grey pen-and-ink drawings of dark, damp Holland pathways and marshes, his descriptions of teaching himself from drawing manuals: ‘if one lacks that knowledge, one will never give birth to anything’,  and trying to master perspective in his drawings.
I found the pen and ink and black chalk drawings of his earlier time spent in the Netherlands fascinating; his ‘Peasant in Action’ series was inspired after the criticism he received for his famous ‘The Potato Eaters’ in 1885.  The series intended to improve his technique for figure drawing and he drew peasants in his local community (mention of paying them for posing is made in his letters). The drawings, many in chalk, make for a striking wall of images;  one cannot help but notice not only the humility of the figures, but also the hard work they endured just to survive from the land – one one wall nearly every one is bent over double from the waist.  However, the rigidity of the figures is also revealing of the troubles Van Gogh had in capturing fluid movement when drawing people, a point the exhibition examines in some depth.  The landscapes are bleak and we are reminded how close the relationship between Van Gogh and the countryside he captured was; he used reed from the land to create his works and his respect for the peasants he captures in their aching work and the hard land they’re working on is glaringly obvious.

'Peasant Woman Planting Potatoes', 1885

Not knowing much at all about Van Gogh apart from the famous works, the fact he cut off his ear, suffered from mental illness and commit suicide at an early age – the usual school-taught facts which now makes me feel rather ashamed that prior to this exhibition, I’d thought that was pretty much all I’d want to know about him – I discovered countless little gems of information which constantly reveal themselves  from his letters.  His accounts of his struggles to lift colour into his work instead of the darker tones he was maybe more naturally attracted to and which are heavily featured in his early works:  ‘I have made a series of colour studies in painting, simply flowers….trying to render intense COLOUR and not a GREY harmony.”  His additional struggles of capturing the human form…something that didn’t seem to come naturally at first to the self-taught artist: ‘what used to seem to me to be desperately impossible is now gradually becoming possible, thank God.  I’ve drawn a peasant with a spade no fewer than five times…’.  His throwaway comment to Theo about how his wonderfully, yellow-ly vibrant portrait of ‘L’Arlesienne: Madame Joseph-Michel Ginoux with her Books,’  had been  ‘knocked off in one hour’ , literally making my jaw drop.  One hour?? Through the letters we discover personal glimpses of his life; his financial state, his living arrangements, detailed weather reports, his innermost thoughts, what he’s reading and often heart-rending accounts on his struggles as an artist, how Impressionism influenced his style and, more surprisingly, Japanese art: ‘all my work is based to some extent on Japanese art’.

The last two rooms of the exhibition display some of  his last landscapes; beautiful, familiar brush strokes, soaring colour, blowsy blooms and clouds and all of them a pure joy to behold. You suddenly find yourself in a swirl of golden, hot countryside.   His landscapes are  relaxing, serene and breathe life into the very scenes he was trying to capture. Van Gogh painted seventy landscapes in the last seventy days of his life and it’s still jarring to think of the turmoil he must have been in when placed against the stark contrast of the life and beauty in the paintings.

'Wheat Fields', 1890

His final letter to Theo is heartbreaking; large brown blobs of (supposedly) blood dot the unfinished, unsigned draft which was found in his jacket pocket after he had shot himself in the field.  In it, he sums up his experience of having created all the magnificent, beautiful, dark, vivid, colourful and stunning art we’ve just had the privilege to walk through: “I risk my life for my work and my reason has half-foundered in it.”

I left wanting to return immediately; partly because we were unfortunately evacuated after the exhibition plunged into blackness and sirens started going off  following a power cut along the whole of Piccadilly.  But also because I felt I hadn’t seen enough the first time around due to the logistics of the display.  And this is where the exhibition stopped short of being a stunningly brilliant one; it’s way too cramped for it’s popularity and the sheer size of the exhibits.  You’re dealing with letters (small) and canvases (big) and hundreds of people trying to view these tiny little letters.  Only half the Royal Academy’s main floor is used for the exhibition and it shows; people stand four of five deep trying to see one letter – very frustrating if you don’t have hours and hours to spare.   As the exhibition begins with his work displayed chronologically, it is rather confusing (and frustrating) when chronological order stops and is replaced with themed ‘chapters’ such as Portraits, Colour and Japanese Prints, in which the dates of the works are a little all over the place.  This achieved nothing but resulting in my losing my focus and I was not alone in this; I overheard more than a handful of quizzical objections.  It’s true that the paintings selected to illustrate each theme (such as Colour) prove their point; my brother’s genuine-but-immensly-enthusiastic reaction to the vivid bold colours of ‘Basket Of Oranges’ was so extreme that I fleetingly considered hanging him on the wall next to it, his exultations drew so much attention.  But I missed watching the visual development of Van Gogh’s techniques and his growth as an artist which we’d seen earlier.  However, each new letter and painting or drawing is so breathtaking, not only for the content but for the sheer fact it is actually HIS life unfolding before you, that it does  tend to override the initial confusion and mild irritation at having lost one’s thread.

But those imperfections have not stopped thousands of people flocking to see this really rather brilliant exhibition.  Go.  Take your time.  Take the day off work. Visit the toilet BEFORE you go in.  Wear comfy shoes.  Don’t rush.  And be prepared to get totally mesmerised, just as I was.

Running until April 18th 2010
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/vangogh/

Gallery: Royal Academy Of Arts, London

The Gallery: Biiiiiiig!  One of those buildings that has it’s shoulders puffed up as soon as you get anywhere near it, as if to remind you of the importance of the work you are about to see.  You’ll need a map to get around it if you’re visiting more than the main exhibition.
History: Founded by George III in 1768, the Royal Academy is an independent, privately-funded institution, the ethos of which is to promote, educate and encourage debate of the arts through it’s exhibitions, talks and workshops.

Take:
* An umbrella if it’s raining; the queues for those buying tickets on the door for the bigger shows can be very long and the open courtyard doesn’t offer much protection from the elements!
* Comfortable shoes – as I said, it’s biiiiiiig!
* Glasses if you need them; depending on the popularity of the exhibition, you may well find yourself struggling to get  close enough to study the text or finer details of some of the exhibits.
Don’t take:
* Pushchairs.  That may not make me popular, but I saw more than two mothers really struggling around with the crowds and the stairs.  I didn’t notice any lifts, although the website stresses that they exist.  However, the advice to wheelchair users;  ‘please contact a security guard if lift access is required’, suggests that they are not readily available?
* More than one shoulder-bag.  We were lucky; we were at the front of the queue for the free cloakroom (bonus points for it being free!).  However, the cloakroom is small and as the day went on we noticed lots of people lugging cumbersome bags around.
We liked:
* The architecture; it’s big, it’s imposing, but dammit it looks good!
* The main exhibition.  So good I saw it twice.
* Plenty of seats around to rest your weary feet (amazing how tired one gets from shuffling slowly from amazing  painting to amazing painting).
* Helpful staff who evacuated the entire exhibition safely after a blackout and sirens going off (this was during the first visit) without panic and reasonably fast after an initial minute of confusion. Also, absolutely no problems in re-using our tickets without question again later that month.
We furrowed our brows at:
* No lift access?  If it was there (and apparently it is), it really wasn’t clear.
* The inability to get anywhere quite a proportion of the letters by Van Gogh;  yes it was busy,  but surely major exhibition galleries should be able to devise a method of exhibiting smaller pieces without it being necessary to stand on a stranger’s shoulders/get elbowed out of the way?
* The cold!  It was cold!  I’m not sure if this was for preserving the art but it doesn’t half get distracting after a bit.

Royal Academy of Arts
Burlington House
Piccadilly
London W1J 0BD

General enquiries: 020 7300 8000
Tickets: 0844 209 1919

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/vangogh/

'Massacre Of The Innocents' - a snip at £49.5 million

By going along to the public view, you can be one of the first to glimpse it before the queues start forming once it’s unveiled in the gallery which has the golden credit card and is established enough (or should that read mad enough?) to bid.
Check online for charity art auction notifications too…I usually just type ‘charity art auctions 2010′ into Google and it comes up with the goods!  It’s fun to attend the actual auction too, even if you’re not buying.  Auctions can be exciting and atmospheric and, coupled with a bevvy at the pub before or after, make for a good alternative night out!  If you are interested in buying, it’s a good idea to attend a couple of auctions where you’re only there as an observer first, to get a sense of how it all works.  As long as you set yourself a budget and stick to it (which is easier said than done….how many of us have got a little carried away in the last few frenzied seconds of bidding for things on Ebay?), you could well bag yourself an arty bargain!
So…before you head to see the latest Monet exhibition at Tate Britain, have a quick look at what’s going under the hammer this year.  And then go along for a free sneaky peak!  You’ll save your pennies and be one of the first to have a butchers.
Still need convincing?  Van Gogh’s drawing,  ‘Pine Trees In Front Of The Wall Of The Asylum’,  recently fetched £769,250 at Christie’s, London, in February of this year.  Check out some of the other – ahem – slightly more expensive lots which have made for impressive free public viewings from previous auctions over the years……

• ‘Massacre Of The Innocents’, Sir Peter Paul Rubens….fetched £49.5 million at Sotheby’s, London, in July 2002.

• ‘Le Bassin aux Nympheus’ by Claude Monet….fetched £40.9 million at Christie’s, London, in June 2008.

• ‘Acrobate et jeune Arlequin’ by Pablo Picasso….fetched £20.9 million at Christie’s, London , in 1988.

Some Picasso ceramics are coming up for auction at Bonhams in London this September….prices around £10-15,000.  Need some new dinner plates?

http://www.christies.com/
http://www.sothebys.com/
http://www.bonhams.com/

Bob Dylan on Canvas, Halcyon Gallery London
Opens: 13 February 2010

'Motel Pool'

On 13 February 2010 the prestigious Halcyon Gallery at 24 Bruton Street, Mayfair will open Bob Dylan on Canvas: an exclusive exhibition of Bob Dylan’s first paintings on canvas. This unique body of work witnesses the culmination of his artistic progression in The Drawn Blank Series: from drawings to works on paper and now finally to canvas.  The Bob Dylan on Canvas exhibition signifies an end to this chapter in his artistic career as he moves forward from The Drawn Blank Series and onto the next phase.  Based on drawings and sketches made while on the road during the period of 1989 – 1992, the paintings in Bob Dylan on Canvas visually echo the stylistic hallmarks of Dylan’s prose, poetry and music.  Just as Dylan’s songs are constantly reinvigorated and rediscovered through his live performances, so these paintings revisit images and scenes which were captured in all their immediacy by the artist.
Monday – Saturday 10am – 6pm
Cost: N/A
24 Bruton Street, London, W1J 6QQ
Phone: +44(0)20 7659 7640
Email: info@halcyongallery.com

http://www.halcyongallery.com/exhibitions.php/bob-dylan

Myths And Monsters, Horniman Museum.  Opens: Saturday 13 February 2010
Cyclops, unicorn, yeti, dragon, the chimera… are these creatures real or imagined? Take a journey into the strange world of Myths and Monsters and unravel the truth behind universal legends and myths. Discover the origin of the Cyclops, the links between dragons and the dinosaurs, and why the yeti is the monster most likely to be real.
Daily 10.30am – 5.30pm
Cost: Adults £5, Concs £3, Children £2.50, Children under 3 FREE, Family ticket (2 adults and 2 children) £13, Schools (pre-booked) £2 per person, Schools (not pre-booked) £2.50 per person, Family season ticket £26
Phone:     020 8699 1872
Horniman Museum & Gardens
100 London Rd, Forest Hill, London, SE23 3PQ
Email:     enquiry@horniman.ac.uk
http://www.horniman.ac.uk/exhibitions/current_exhibition.php?exhib_id=98

The Real Van Gogh; The Artist & His Letters, Royal Academy Of Arts, London
OK…..so it’s not opening this weekend.  But by golly you should try and see this one!
The focus of the exhibition is the artist’s remarkable correspondence.

Van Gogh Exhibition

Over 35 original letters, rarely exhibited to the public due to their fragility, are on display; together with around 65 paintings and 30 drawings that express the principal themes to be found within the correspondence.  The first major Van Gogh exhibition in London for over 40 years, this is a unique opportunity to gain an insight into the complex mind of Vincent van Gogh.
Cost: Adults £12, Concessions £10 (seniors, disabled, NADFAS etc), Students £8, Corporate Guests £8, Income support, unwaged £4, Children 12-18 years old £4, Children 8-11, £3, Under 7 years old free.  Price includes £2.50 gallery guide.
Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD
General enquiries: 020 7300 8000
Tickets: 0844 209 1919
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/vangogh/

Live Arts Event; Wrong Love, A Foundation, Liverpool
Opens: 13 February, 2010
Liverpool’s biggest Independent Live Arts Event of 2010. WRONG LOVE is a night of intimate performances, site-specific installation, audio visual art and live music which will use the banner of an alternative Valentine’s Day celebration to ask questions about romance, sexuality, unconventional love and where art is headed in this new decade.  With over forty individual artistic contributors, WRONG LOVE is the first happening produced by the new live arts event collective LAND and is completely self-supported by three young creative directors in an energetic response to the growing desire for independent, self-made culture.  The event aims to showcase thought-provoking works from local, national and international artists while providing a platform for the live arts to reach a wider audience than ever before.
Cost: £10.00 / £6.00 CONCS* IN ADVANCE AVAILABLE ON GIGANTIC
(https://www.secure-ticket.co.uk/gigantic/home_wrong_love.html)
A Foundation, Greenland Street, Liverpool, L1 0BY
Tel:   0151 706 0600
Email: info@afoundation.org.uk
Tuesday – Saturday, 12-18.00
http://www.artinliverpool.com/index.php/all-events/284-art-events/2965-live-arts-wrong-love

Tullie House, Museum & Art Gallery, Carlisle
Various events & exhibitions over February half-term….well worth a look at this site to see what takes your fancy….suitable for adults and children alike! One is sold out already so don’t hang about too long!
Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery
Castle Street, Carlisle, Cumbria,
CA3 8TP
Tel: 01228 618718
Fax: 01228 810249
E-Mail: enquiries@tulliehouse.co.uk
http://www.tulliehouse.co.uk

The Stitch And Creative Craft Show, Excel, London
Opens: 11-13 February 2010
Workshops, demonstrations, hundreds of products….catering for the beginner to the dedicated enthusiast.  Whether it’s beading, knitting, quilting, cardmaking or needlecraft..this is one show where you’ll be well and truly catered for!
10.00am-5.00pm
Cost: £9.50/£7.50 and concessions available (see site for details).
http://www.sccshows.co.uk/excel_show_feb10.html

‘In My Mind’s Eye’, The Grand Pavilion, Cardiff
Opens: 12 February 2010
An exhibition of paintings by Bridgend artist and teacher Margarita Liddiatt, who draws upon the environment and nature for her inspiration
Cost: N/A
The Esplanade, Porthcawl, Bridgend, Wales. CF36 3YW
Tel:   01656 815995
Email: pavilion@bridgend.gov.uk
http://cardiffwhatson.walesonline.co.uk/gb/theatre/events/12796-Art-Exhibition

‘Artworks’, Forest Row Visual Artists, Dick Chester Rooms, Michael Hall School, Forest Row
Opens: Sat 13 February 2010
The Ashdown Artists and Artisans Group, is holding a major visual arts exhibition on 13 February.  The Ashdown Artists and artisans are building on the runaway success of its inaugural event and holding a major visual arts exhibition in February. More than 1000 people – buyers, art critics and the media (local and national) – attended its Christmas fair in late November.  Ashdown Forest has long been home to a wealth of artists and artisans of all sorts – from painters, installation artists, sculptors and photographers, to musicians, actors, storytellers and writers.
Cost: N/A
10.00am-400pm
Dick Chester rooms, Michael Hall School, Forest Row
RH18 5JA
Tel: 07 923 178 033
Email: cathscot@hotmail.com
http://www.forestrow.org/content/view/503/42/

Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, Nature in Art, Gloucester
11 – 28 February 2010
The Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, fresh from its debut at the Natural History Museum in London.

Gloucester Nature In Art

Creative animal portraits, captivating action shots and jaw-dropping vistas taken from the furthest corners of the planet are all captured in this photographic exhibition of the world’s most striking natural moments, represented by more than 100 winning and commended entries from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition 2009, which is owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine.  The largest and most prestigious event of its kind in the world, this year’s competition was the most successful and competitive in its 45-year history – and the judges spent three months scrutinising over 32,000 entries for their composition and originality to find the winning shot.  Well worth a look!
Cost: Tickets costs £4.75 for adults, £4.25 for concessions, £13.50 for families, and under 8s are free of charge.
Tuesday to Sundays from 10am to 5pm
Wallsworth Hall, Twigworth
GL2 9PA

http://www.soglos.com/art-culture/27884/Wildlife-Photographer-of-the-Year-exhibition

Artist Studio Clear-Out, Brighton
Running till 21 February 2010.
Does what it says on the paint tin! January and February will see the gallery explode in artwork. They are having an Artist Studio Clearout and have asked all their artists to have a purge of their studios and get all those nice little bits and pieces that normally don’t see the light of day. The artists have been asked to bring in some odd items from the studios for sale. It will be a chance to get some thing a little different from your favourite artist for a January friendly price! Alongside this they will also be having a sale on their custom frames and some very generous discounts on limited edition prints just while the show is on.
Cost: N/A – apart from if you buy anything!
Ink_d Gallery and Studio
96 North Rd, Brighton, BN1 1YE
Monday to Saturday, 10am – 6pm, Sunday 12 – 4pm
(In between shows we are closed to the public but here for deliveries, collections and enqiries Monday to Friday 10am-6pm).
Tel: +44 (0)1273 645299
Fax: +44 (0)1273 645290
Email: gallery@ink-d.co.uk
http://www.ink-d.co.uk/whats-on

'Study Of A Sculpted Head' - Lyndsey Power

One of our talented artist members, Lindsey Power, is supporting Haiti by donating ALL proceeds from her sales of paintings to Haven House Building,  an organisation which is helping re-build the shattered lives and houses of Haiti.   We have all seen the devastating images of what’s happened in Haiti in the news and have felt the helplessness of feeling unable to help.  By supporting Lindsey and others like her, as well as the more major charity appeals going on at the moment, we can do our part in helping Haiti recover.

Lindsey’s work is moving more towards photography and away from painting, hence her selling her remaining works.  Donating ALL proceeds to the fund is a generous move and we hope everyone will take a look at her beautiful art.  The link to Lindsey’s site is below along with a link to the Haven site.  If any more of you are undertaking similar schemes to support Haiti, please let us know and we will happily tell others about it both here and on our Twitter site.  Good luck, Lindsey!  Let us know how you get on!

'Butterfly Gown' - Lyndsey Power

http://www.lindseypower.com/

http://www.havenpartnership.com/

The centrepiece of the exhibition is a recreation of the Swords Of Qādisīyyah monument in central Baghdad.   This triumphal arch, otherwise known as the Hands of Victory, was inaugurated on 8 August 1989. The invitation for the opening ceremony featured the heroic proclamation ‘The worst condition is for a person to pass under a sword which is not his own or to be forced down a road which is not willed by him’.   Rakowitz’s version of the arch incorporates pages from a fantasy novel attributed to Saddam Hussein and imaginative recreations of the infamous ‘Darth Vader’-style helmets worn by the Fedayeen paramilitary group formed by Hussein’s eldest son Uday. The artist reveals the multiple references and resonances of the Victory Arch, from the history of its design to its use as a backdrop for military posturing.

Michael Rakowitz works in the manner of a cultural archaeologist, presenting an unexpected network of connections between historical fact and fantasy.   Rakowitz’s project ‘The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist’ was shown at the Istanbul and Sharjah Biennials in 2007 and the group exhibition ‘Transmission Interrupted’ at Modern Art Oxford in 2009.  For this on-going project, the artist initiated the recreation of the historic artefacts looted from the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad during the Gulf War, using common Middle-Eastern packaging materials. An earlier project from 2006, ‘Return’, involved the resurrection of an import-export company run by Rakowitz’s Iraqi-Jewish grandfather.

Tate Modern, Level 2
22 January – 3 May 2010
Admission free; open every day from 10.00 – 18.00, until 22.00 on Friday and Saturday.
Public Information Number:  020 7887 8888

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/michaelrakowitz/default.shtm