We sad to announce that our super sales representative Richard Snowden will be leaving MacPherson’s at the end of March to pursue a new entrepreneurial business adventure. We will miss him! Richard has worked for MacPherson’s a total of three times starting in 1977. His many years of experience with us combined with his manufacturing sales experience has been invaluable to MacPherson’s and will create a void that we will never completely fill. Richard has also built strong relationships with his customers and art supply retailers across the nation and he is valued greatly by all of them. Saying goodbye will be difficult. (It was the first 2 times as well!) Richard is…

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle and Make Great Art with Gamblin’s Torrit Grey promotion! Gamblin’s Torrit Grey promotion is an outstanding way to drive foot-traffic and sales as well as engage your community of painters. Our warehouses have already received their first shipments of Torrit Grey. Add some to your next Gamblin order before it’s all gone! Gamblin retail partners receive one free tube of Torrit Grey for every three tubes of Gamblin Artist Grade oils purchased. Please add item #GB992670 to your Gamblin order in the appropriate quantity…plus a little extra, if you like. Torrit Grey is a proven sales-driver, particularly when proactively promoted as a “Complementary with Purchase” item. Gamblin…

X-ACTO to give away cash and prizes for the most creative ways to use the well-known knives From model building to woodworking and cake decorating, consumers are using X-ACTO knives in a host of different ways. Through a new contest, called “X-ACTO 365,” the company is calling on anyone that has an interesting or favorite use for their X-ACTO knife to join them in collecting 365 uses of the well-known cutting tools. Ordinary uses like simply cutting paper need not apply as participants will be rewarded based on creativity. Beginning today, consumers can upload their favorite use to XACTO.com. For each unique entry selected, entrants will receive a free X-ACTO knife (up to $6 value). Three…

Earlier this month, Canson announced Eileen Sorg, a Seattle-based artist, as the winner of the Canson Paper Award for Excellence for her entry into the Colored Pencil Society of America’ (CPSA) annual Explore This! 7 juried online show.  Canson, a Bronze Award Donor to the Explore this! competition, has gifted Sorg $300 worth of Canson products. Sorg, who has exhibited frequently over the past several years within the CPSA, was very pleased to hear she had won such a variety of Canson products, especially the Arches watercolor papers. Sorg’s winning submission, The Trouble with Butterflies (19”x15”), was created using colored pencil atop a painting of ink and watercolor.  Her drawing is currently being shown in CPSA’s…

Namta’s Executive Director, Sid Smith has announced his resignation. Sid was also owner and president of consulting firm Salco and will continue to advise the board and staff on Strategic Planning***** Correction; Sid Smith reports that his contract with Namta to assist in the association’s strategic planning process was not renewed by the board, thereby explaining his resignation. ********After a thorough search, the Board of Directors has chosen Reggie Hall as its new Executive Director, effective February 7, 2011. Reggie has more than 30 years of association management experience having served most recently as a Senior Vice President with the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) in the Washington DC area…

On January 30, renowned celebrity photographer Timothy White’s latest exhibit, Timothy White: Portraits, opens at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT. His large-scale pop icon portraits, printed exclusively on Canson Infinity Platine Digital Darkroom paper, feature unique images of various celebrated pop culture figures including Aretha Franklin, Harrison Ford, Elizabeth Taylor and many more. The 30 portraits on exhibit represent a collection of photographs taken by White during a two decade time span. Canson Infinity Platine Fibre Rag gives photographers the benefits of traditional darkroom paper in an inkjet paper created specifically for digital printing applications. Platine Fibre Rag paper combines 100% cotton Platinum paper with the latest…

Bill Hartman reports: CAA 2011 Golden Artist Colors is a longtime supporter of the College Arts Association (www.collegeart.org) trade show and will be attending in New York City early February. Visit us at our booth (# 303, G) to learn more about our comprehensive product offering. In addition, please visit our Williamsburg Handmade Oil Colors’ booth (# 307) to learn more about what makes this line of oils irresistible to artists! Winter B-T-S Reminder The winter B-T-S advertised promotional dates are 1/2/11 – 2/10/11.  Please check with your MacPherson’s Sales Representative for details regarding GOLDEN offerings in 2011. 2011 Pricing Changes The Golden Artists Colors, Inc. 2011 price change documentation has been sent out and is effective February 14, 2011…

Chroma, Inc. is pleased to announce the winners of its International Student Art Contest.  There were over 270 submissions by students from the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.  They used Archival Oils, Atelier Interactive Professional Artist Acrylics and A>2 Student Acrylics to create their exceptional paintings. The $5,000 Grand Prize was awarded to Kirsten Low from the University of New South Wales (AU), for her painting, Eyes of the Dark Interior. The $1,000 Best Acrylic Prize was awarded to Shannon Gilbert from Virginia Commonwealth University (US) for Historical Perspective, painted with Atelier Interactive Professional Artist Acrylics.   The $1,000 Best Oil Prize was awarded to Alexander Carletti, from the Adelaide Central School of Art (AU), for Autopsy,…

Patrick Brennan joins ColArt, Americas after the 1st of the year as Vice President of Sales. Patrick most recently held the sales leadership position at toymaker Playmobil USA and he replaces Charlie Newcomer. Congratulations to Jerry’s Artist Outlet on celebrating its 10th year in business. Owners Allen and Bonnie Shefts were recently written up in the Baristanet Blog and the review was glowing. “Jerry’s stands somewhere in between the big box store behemoths and the intimate boutique art supply store, Flannery’s Corner, which closed in 2006. It’s big enough to have a huge variety of items in stock, but it’s staffed by real artists, who can tell you why a Kolinsky…

Visit GOLDEN at Creativeworld 2011, Hall 4.2, Stand C59 For more than 10 years, GOLDEN has been exhibiting at Paperworld (now Creativeworld), the leading international trade fair for paper, office supplies, stationery and art supplies.  This year, the show will be from January 29 – February 1, 2011.  GOLDEN folks from the US will be present in the booth, so please stop by and visit. 2011 Marketing Support Funds & Pricing Changes The marketing promotional funds are recalculated at the end of each calendar year.  The new amounts will go into effect no later than February 1, 2011.  Please contact your MacPherson’s sales representative with any questions you may have regarding support dollars. In addition, 2011 price change documentation has been sent out,…

This coming year’s show plans have come together and it looks like it will be an amazing opportunity for art supply industry professionals to take their businesses to the next level. Show schedule, travel, hotel and sign up information are all available at the NAMTA Website. Sign up now to add the NAMTA Show 2011 to your own personal recovery plan!

Here’s the new Art Alternatives YouTube Channel – it’s just been launched with a cool how-to video on the ever mysterious, but oh so useful and safe mouth atomizer. Legendary John K. of MacPherson’s customer service is the star of this show! Watch for  more videos coming soon at Art Alternatives Youtube Channel

Central Art Supply of Medford, OR owners Ann & Dan Ebert have an amazing and inspirational story.  More than two-years-ago Travis, Abby and Elyssa were in need of a permanent home, and after more than six years in and out of foster care, they have found a forever family at the Eberts. Watch the story they told to the local TV station and have a handkerchief ready! The Ebert’s Wednesday’s Child Story Charles Graham Berwind Jr., former chairman, CEO and president of Berwind Group, a family-owned investment management company, died at the age of 81 on November 4th. Among other holdings, Berwind is the owner of Elmer’s and X-Acto Mr.…

Peter Hopper passed away on Sunday, October 31, 2010; he was 80 years old. Peter was born in Ottawa, Ontario on November 23, 1930, the second son of Wilbert and Eva Hopper. He was a graduate of Lisgar Collegiate and later attended McGill University to become a Chartered Accountant. He was awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Silver Medal in recognition of his academic excellence. He moved back to Montreal and began his meteoric rise to the Presidency of Hughes Owens, a major Canadian distributor of Fine Art Materials. Peter left Hughes Owens and moved to Burlington, Vermont in 1978 and began the active distribution of Holbein Art Materials in North America with his wife Frances and colleague Barbara MacKay. Peter has many friends…

Stu and I have decided to sell 100% of the stock of MacPherson’s to our employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Trust. We plan to complete the transaction sometime during the month of December this year. Our decision to make all of our employees equity holders in the Company is our recognition of the tremendous contribution they have made to our success. The decision also insures an ongoing continuity for the business not dependent upon Stu’s or my long term planning. From an operating standpoint the ESOP decision should be completely transparent to our customers and vendors. Stu and I remain totally committed to the success of the Company and will be executing long term employment agreements as part of this process. Although…

Sam Winkelmeyer and his Santa Barbara Art Essentials were honored in September by the Santa Barbara Beautiful Foundation for this years Business in Art Award. Selected by the City Arts Advisory committee, the award recognizes Sam’s “outstanding support of arts activities in the community, creating a stronger, more vibrant arts environment in Santa Barbara and enriching the lives of both residents and visitors.” A shout out to long time art industry leader Ulrich Hollmann who is recovering from an accident in Hamburg, Germany. Renee Hile, ColArt America’s VP of Marketing, forwards some people news: Carla Friday will be moving to Trade Marketing to support marketing strategies for all brands along…

GOLDEN Heavy Body Cobalt Titanate Green Due to the pigment being discontinued by the manufacturer, GOLDEN has found it necessary to discontinue Heavy Body Cobalt Titanate Green (GD1143-…) effective October 31, 2010. The abrupt discontinuation in Heavy Body will allow us to retain as much pigment as possible for use in the OPEN Acrylic line.  Cobalt Titanate Green will remain available in the OPEN Acrylic product line for at least the next year. For information about which Set-Ups will be affected by this change as well as recommended adjustments to those Set-Ups, please contact your MacPherson’s Sales Representative. GOLDEN Working Artist Quarterly Profile The GOLDEN Working Artists are professional artists who work for GOLDEN, introducing our products to customers all over the world.  They conduct classes, give…

Renée Hile Marketing VP at ColArt Americas has some great news regarding a unique partnership they helped to create with artist John Viggiano near their New Jersey headquarters. John, artist, gallery owner and graphic designer was looking for a way to reach out to the growing art community of Asbury Park. After a successful start to The Gallery 13 in the Shoppes at the Arcade on Cookman Ave. “I saw the need to support the arts in this area, and enjoy the opportunity of creating cooperative environments to help people work together.” John contacted his former college art professor, Jimmy Leslie, who is currently the Resident Artist at ColArt Americas in Piscataway, N.J. to see if there was any…