During the past few months  of when the world witnessed the financial market ups and downs and many investors were worried about their investment in various assets, one of the investment avenue is art and many investors are started to invest in art. In the resent auction sale in Christie’s Picasso’s painting of mistress, ‘Nude, Green Leaves and Bust’ sold for record $106.5 million. This shows that the art market’s arrow is in the positive direction.

David Garibaldi (http://www.garibaldiarts.com) is a performance artist.Before you jump to a conclusion as to what that means here’s what it means in his own words. A performance artist is one who paints to the rhythm of music and it is an amalgamation of melody, rhythm and colors.

Hi all,

For the past few weeks I was working on a new painting series and I was having fun, during the painting session I wanted to share a few thoughts on how to become an artist? This is one of the most basic question people ask and yes this question has no simple answer. Becoming an artist is welcoming idea. But in this industry their are a few issues you need to understand before you enter this stardom field.

You need to have a training of art from an art institute which teaches not only the techniques of painting or sculpture but the business of art. Which only very a few institute gives this information. Apart from learning the art you also need to be aware of the industry and senior artist and young artist.  Be a regular visitor to all the gallery’s in your city and have network with them. Read the art critics review of an artist.  This is an on going process.

Once you have understood the art market, you have design your own business model and proceed to the future.  Either you can also be an art collector of other artist and at the same time create new ones.

Before you invest in art be sure of many factors involved in the purchase of art works. Do not ever purchase art because it will fetch more in the future. Buy only when you love the painting and you need to be proud of that art and then you decide on the purchase.  This is regarding the art investment.

But when it comes to the creation. You have to he a special style in your approach. In most of the cases it is the artists intuitions that clicks. Follow it and many artist in the past have achieved great heights.  You may see in the art world today it is mostly dominated by abstract art. So that that mean that realistic art is gone and is it a thing of the past. No. That is not the case. Every style has a market, you only need to show the art to the right market. Say for example if you are into doing abstract art and if you show the art works to an art collector who is interested in realistic art then you can not only sell the art but also you may not get a good feedback. The same art work if shown to abstract art lovers then he will give you a positive feedback and you may be lucky that he may purchase your art works.

Once such sales starts then you are in the lime light. All you need to do is to make you of the opportunity and create more such art works. But a word of caution do not do the same painting or style again and again. Then you are becoming a craftsmen and artist. You gain perfection and skill.

Artist has a unique freedom that craftsmen who has only a few option. But an artist has more options. One of the most important is that you should never stop painting. What ever happens at least sketch daily. Interact with fellow artists ,art collectors  curators you will understand the market well…

All the best

Right from the time we have learned about investment, we know it is all about profit. How to sell the property or how to increase the value. These are the kind of situation the financial market had. But in the last few years, many people are investing in art like paintings, lithos, sculpture etc., Many people are not able to purchase the original paintings so they have an option of  print and in various sizes. These gives the art buyer an opportunity to purchase art works. The art buyer market is divided into two kinds of art buyers.

1. Art buyer who are interested in purchasing art because they like it.
2. Art buyer who are interested in purchasing art and resale them in the future or auction it.

Now more and more people are focusing in art from India.A recent survey has shown than in part 5 years and taking 50 artists in to account, the percentage of profit is 2000%. Which is why many people are buying art from Indian artists.

The money and time that an art buyer is spending in an art gallery is worth the investment. Their are a few key points that an art buyer needs to keep in his/her mind while investment in art. If you are investing in young artists then the investment will be less and once the artist is gaining momentum in art market then you will gain more profit when your resale it. In the other hand if you are investing in senior artists that your investment will be high. And if the situation

• The artist is old or stopped working
• The artist is not alive

Then in such cases the value of the work increases in millions of dollars and you can either keep it in you drawing room as a esteemed possession or you can resale it.

The risk factor that all investors see before investing is also done in the art market. You need to know a few art terms, have a good PR with a few well known gallery. This will help your decision in investment. Today many art gallery’s and financial companies are guiding art buyers to purchase art.  And at the same time big banks are ready to give loans under art fund schemes. This is the right time for investors to invest in art and reap high in the future.

Save Our Tigers is an initiative taken by an Indian telecommunication company called Aircel which has partnered with WWF-India.  In our highly complicated life style we have forgotten to take care of our mother nature. She is in need of our help. We and the animal kingdom are related to each other and either of us cannot survive alone.

Lets us join our hands and try to protect these endangered species.

Introduction:
Each and every country has an unique cultural and traditional history and many of its cultures and traditions do change as time progress. Change is constant and so does every cultures and traditions.Being non-independent entities, society creates them. The people of each and every country contribute towards cultures in their own way. If we open the historical records we see the passion and reason behind such transitional events, which people mostly forgot in the ravages of time and in due course lost. Can a mother forgot her son’s name? As impossible it sounds, the land of Madurai, similarly cannot forgot her son R. krishna Rao.

Early Days

He did his schooling from Sethupathi High School, Madurai and came to Chennai (earlier known as Madras) in the year 1938 and joined the office of M/s. Chitale & Sons as an assistant. He had high regards towards Mr. Chitale and his family members. He used to reminisce and share some interesting incidents that happened in M/s. Chitale office with his family members for a long time.

Second world war

In the year 1942, during the period of World War II a person were shifted from city to other places for safety reasons, but Krishna Rao prefered to stay in the city and was working as part time employee with a half-a-day salary. During this time, he joined School of Arts and crafts for a five year Diploma course in Fine Arts and he was outstanding in learning art from his master and secured first class, due to this outstanding talent in art, he was given 2 years exemption and finished the course in 3 years in flying colors. Most of his paintings had themes related to landscapes, cattle, temples in and around Madurai in the style of Impressionism and post- Impressionism.

Career

In 1945, two years before India got independence; he joined the war publicity department and created many wonderful posters. Later, in 1948 he joined as a faculty in the School of the Arts and Crafts and got appointed as the Head of the Department of commercial art. He also worked as a textile designer in a firm in Tondiarpet, in Chennai, from 1946 – 1948.

Family

In 1947 the couple had their first baby girl and named her Kamala, meaning lotus in Sanskrit. In 1949, the couple had their first son and named him Jayachandar, who is currently a contemporary artist in Chennai. There is a small anecdote behind the naming of their second son as Srichandar. When the artist was in Benaras (also known as Kasi or Varanasi) and enjoying a boat ride on the river Ganga, he lost his balance and fell into the flowing water. A person by name Sri Chand rescued him and thus saved his life. As a thanksgiving gesture the artist promised that he will name the next child, if it was a boy, as Sri Chander and thanked him. And in 1952, when the couple had their third son he remembered his promise and named the child Sri Chander. They had their youngest son Balachander in the year 1954

Reaching the peaks

The year 1949 was considered by him as one of his milestones, when he designed the monogram for Tamil Nadu state replacing the colonial symbol used even after India’s Independence.  In 1965, he was promoted as vice-principal and transferred to Government School of Art and Crafts, Kumbakonam, in Tamil Nadu. In 1968, he became the Principal of College of Arts and Crafts and had retired in 1971. Few years from retirement, in 1974, he became the Director of the Art Department at Kalakshetra, founded by Padma Bhushan Rukmini Devi Arundale. The artist reached the heavenly abode on 31st July 2006.

Awards

The artist was awarded a fellowship by Tamil Nadu Ovia Nunkalai Kuzhu in 1980. And in 1985 he was awarded the title of Veteran Artist by All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi. In 1991, he was honored with the most prestigious award Kala Vibhusan by the then Prime Minister of India Shri. Chandra Shekhar Singh. The world famous philosophical center of Kanchi Kamakshi peetham, Kanchipuram awarded the artist the title of Chitra Kala Sagar on 1st January 1995.

Commissions Works
Conceived and designed the temple gopuram emblem of the Government of Tamil Nadu (1948).
Designed the Government of Tamil Nadu raffle ticket with the motif of a boy raising his right hand (1971).
Organised and worked, in an honorary capacity, for many district level art organisations (Padappai, Chennai, Vellore, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Kalakuruchi).

Exhibitions
Participiated in many group shows and one man shows. One of the most important exhibition in his career was the Retrospective held in Chennai in the year 1995

A web site has been inagurated in the artist’s name on 4th November 2009 the same day when the artist was born. Visit www.artistrkrishnarao.com and do visit gallery of paintings and his torch bearers…

Tom Christopher (Pastel)
(www.tomchristopherartist.com)
Tom is from Eldora, Iowa. I was happy to see paintings made in Pastel. His works were ina a very different in approach, which caught my eyes.
Q.Why do you like this particular medium?
A. I got trained in all mediums but felt comfortable with Pastel since it is very handy.
Q.What is the theme or motif you express in your paintings?
A.I paint landscapes of the mid-western America especially those with rivers.
Q.What do you look in a painting first?
A.I look for contrast values. The use of a particular color is not important but the right value of it. Example, you don’t see blue on a tree trunk but it is of the right value then it is fine.

About The Author: Ragothaman M. Yennamalli is a research scholar, completed his Ph.D in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Apart from Scientific interests, he is a student of bharatanatyam in kalakshetra bani. He also paints occasionally in his free time. He is currently working at Iowa State University, Iowa.

On September 27 2009,  I went to one of the much awaited art festivals of Ames, conducted and organized by Octagon centre for the arts. The arts festival for me was the first hands-on experience to interact with the local Iowan artists and see their wares. There were lots to see and experience, true to its promise. I was more interested in the Painting booths which I had shortlisted and started from each taking my own sweet time. The first thing that struck me was the openness of the artists to the people who visited their booths and more excited about someone getting to know about their creations.Also, it was quite surprising to see that this festival being held for the past 35 years even during the economy slowdown. I have already made up my mind to visit this festival next year. Since I had prepared my mind for writing a travelogue on this festival, I had framed three questions which I intended to ask to 10 painters and they were:

Why do you like this particular medium?

What is the theme or motif you express in your paintings?

What do you look in a painting first?

Artist Nancy Morgan (Watercolor and Acrylic) (www.nancyfmorgan.zoomshare.com)

Nancy is from west Des Monies in Iowa and frequents Florida as well during the winter.

Q. Why do you like this particluar medium?

A. Watercolor because it has the freedom and is lucid.

Q. What is the theme or motif you express in your paintings?

A. Brighter color and designs are my main themes.

Q. What do you look in a painting first?

A. Colors and design attracts me first.

Karen Cooper (Acrylic) (www.karencooperpaintings.com)

Karen is from Jefferson, Iowa. I liked one of the paintings where the feel good factor was very visible. A woman had read a book on an idyllic summer day and is smiling with the happy ending of the plot and is relaxed after her reading.

Q. Why do you like this particular medium?

A. Immediacy and strong colors.

Q. What is the theme or motif you express in your paintings?
A.I am a people watcher so I reflect mostly the good times in my paintings.

Q. What do you look in a painting first?

A.People and good times.

Nanci Griffin (Acrylic) (nancigriffin@hotmail.com)

Nanci is from Ankeny, Iowa. It was interesting to see the juxtaposition of colors without giving a jarring note to the theme or the painting.

Q.Why do you like this particular medium?

A.I can layer it and it dries quickly than oil.

Q.What is the theme or motif you express in your paintings?

A.I have a strong faith and that what I represent in my paintings.

Q.What do you look in a painting first?

A.Colors strike me first

Robert Sunderman (mixed media, Oil) (www.robertsunderman.com)

Robert is based at Boone, Iowa close by to Ames. Robert’s wife also had her display in the same stall. She had a collection of Jewellery which she had hand-made it. It was nice to see a couple display their art under the same roof.

Q.Why do you like this particular medium?

A.I can build from layers to surface, I like to take it slow there is no rushing and oil suits me best.

Q.What is the theme or motif you express in your paintings?

 A.I depict Nature, Earth, Energy, People and composition is important.

 Q.What do you look in a painting first?

A.First thing that strikes me is the technique and style and not the color. I try to look into the soul of the artist, the emotion with which he created the painting.

Randal Spangler (Watercolor with color pencils) (www.randalspangler.com)

Randal is from Blue Springs, in neighbouring state of Missouri. The feel-good factor was also very visible in his stall. I liked one painting where the dragon is perplexed to see bugs in his computer and is trying hard to solve them. The bugs were given form as microprocessor chips with wings. I found this interesting as I could relate to this painting.

Q.Why do you like this particular medium?

A.Easy to work with especially during my travel.

Q.What is the theme or motif you express in your paintings?

A.I have created this Dragon world, where it is the central character and the world surrounding them. There is storytelling, computers, chocolate chip cookies.

Q.What do you look in a painting first?

A.I look at everything. Colors would be the first thing also the subject matter of the painting is more important.

Timothy Kobs (Watercolor and acrylic) (www.tkobs.com)

Timothy is from Trempealeau in Wisconsin. One of his paintings had an ogre having a rugby match with other mythical creatures. I asked Timothy if that was Shrek (from the movie). His recent work had lot of symbolism like Peace, Life and Death, which was a tree with a part of it dying on a slope of a hill with the setting sun as a backdrop.

Q.Why do you like this particular medium?

A. Watercolor is easy to dry than oil. I am working with Acrylic as a replacement to watercolor, where I find adding layers is easier.

 Q.What is the theme or motif you express in your paintings?

A. Imaginative landscapes and symbolism.

Q.What do you look in a painting first?

A. Dynamic is what I expect from the painting and also the composition.

Richard Leet (Watercolor) (dkleet@willowtree.com)

Richard is from Mason City, Iowa. His paintings were very interesting since there was the 3rd dimension introduced by making small cuts in the paper that stops the flow of the color. Also the border had jutting edges which in the artists words depict the tectonic plate movements.

Q. Why do you like this particular medium?

A. Being trained in Oil, I did watercolor paintings that would eventually is converted paintings. However, I got interested in Watercolor and created paintings in .My major influence was by John Marin and Charles Burchfield. Both worked on the same theme, which was natural phenomenon. But, the technique was different and Charles did large scale watercolors which influenced me as well. Water color is spontaneous, fluid and expressive. Either you make it or break it in this medium. My emotion changes every week so I cannot keep working on one painting for long.

Q.What is the theme or motif you express in your paintings?

I think this is one of the most important and common question asked by an art student or art lover during his journey in a museum or in an art class or in any situations. Either way, What are the secrets of a great artists? this is a very important question. To be very frank with you their is no direct answer for this question. We need to analysis a few issues to understand the situation and then come to a conclusion. One of the key reason i think is the teacher from whom you learn. Because he is the one whom we believe and follow. He should be a person who has understood art to the core. He should not be a person who reads art books and discuss with the students, instead he should involve the students in art studies and into various art forms, not only from his country but international artists and art. The next key thing is the interest level in the student to learn art. Interest in art is an abstract term it has to be specific in terms of medium, technique and other issues. All these issues can be learnt and mastered. The third is how to do it , OK now we have understood the theory of art and also seen a demo from the art teacher. But still some thing is missing…..’

“I try to do like my art teacher but i am not able to achieve the quality what my art teacher get in his/her paintings or drawings…. what is missing in my painting…???”
such are the question which pop up in an art students mind. This is quite natural and i always welcome it.

Now back to our analysis ” what are the secrets of great artists?  “The Secret is “Aesthetics”
The word aesthetics means how we perceive art in terms of beauty. This is too abstract from a birds point of view, we need to study aesthetics and then analysis all the great artists painting from this new angle, then you will find the secret. Their may be many books on this subject, but when you study it by yourself you will see that the painting will talk to you using their unique language namely lines, shapes, compositions, colours, balance and many more…

You need to do it to experience it. What a new feeling you will get???
One of the most important issue is that all great masters paintings has attracted viewers and their are many websites about these great artists, the issue is that of “life in the painting” . All these great paintings has life and this is what important. The character talk to the other character, the colours enhances the dialogue and the lines, shapes and compositions work together like a music getting synchronization with melody, harmony and rhythm.

It is a great pleasure to showcase a gallery of paintings by Artist K.Jayachander who worked on the pop music theme. The artist has a deep desire to share his art work to other pop music art lovers. In all these paintings you can see the influence of pop music and his contemporary innovative compositions. Click hereto see the gallery…