Archives of the Art Dog Blog from MacPherson's

Aaron Brothers and Michaels each select one vendor annually who stands above the rest in providing market analysis, driving sales, providing superior product innovation and inspiration, and excelling in product selection and supply chain. At this year’s Vendor Summit held at the Hilton Anatole hotel in Dallas on August 31, 2011 we are proud to announce that  MacPherson’s was honored as Aaron Brothers Vendor Partner of the year.

Our heart goes out to Nevada Fine Art’s Debbie Wolff whose mom Kathryn S. Cox, 76, of Henderson, NV passed away Sept. 12, 2011 at the Nathan Adelson Hospital. Read about her life here. Kathryn Cox Obituary

Bob Glicksman, founder of Easel Art in Miami and father of Mark Glicksman, passed away at the age of 86 on September 10th. Bob was know as an amazing businessman in his day. He was a mentor to many and will be missed terribly.

Mark Wiener

Palm Desert, CA Independent Manufacturer’s rep Mark Weiner has decided to stop his traveling ways and stay close to home for a while.

At the Paper Zone in Seattle, the new Merchandise Manager is Debbie McGowan, a past Daniel Smith Buyer.

Check out General’s Classic Test Scoring Pencil and Cedar Pointe® Pencil featured in the October 2011 issue of Dwell Magazine titled: Made In the USA – “American design makes a comeback” Thanks to Dwell Magazine and Writer Aaron Britt for a fun and innovative look at General Pencil, one of the art material industry’s pioneers and still made in America products. Read the whole article here: Dwell Made in America Office Products

Michael Kalman of Stillman & Birn has shared that he is a newly minted grandpa.  His granddaughter Nora Margaret Kalman was born on Friday, September 9th 2011. Congratulations!

Golden Globe winning actor Jim Carrey let the world know that not only is he an actor, but he’s also an up and coming urban artist as well!  He was photographed recently using several cans of Montana Gold and a stencil to create a unique work on his very own home in New York.  For the full story, click this link: Jim Carrey gets his Urban Art mojo!

Announcing the Grafix Dura-Lar Consumer Ideas Contest! Hey art supply stores, encourage your “starving artists” to submit their art created on Duralar (clear, matte or wet media) film and a chance to win cash. Grafix is launching Artist Notes packed with information direct from the artist’s perspective for creating amazing artwork on Dura-Lar film and they need real world artist examples. The winning pieces will be featured alongside artist advice, best practices and creative tips. For complete entry (and prize!) details, please visit Duralar Artist Notes Contest

Offering kids endless creativity, Strathmore® Artist Papers™ announces the introduction of new Art Journal Kits designed especially for kids. The program is another example of Strathmore’s commitment to develop innovative new products that help grow the market and create in-store news and excitement for retailers.

Market research shows that “artists are clamoring for high-quality, creative products for all kinds of artwork”, and that “kids’ art supplies” are a “growth category” for retailers.*

The Strathmore® Art Journal Kit is a place where kids can explore their creativity, learn fun drawing and collage techniques and use artist quality materials. Heavy duty covers in fun colors have a durable, matte finish to encourage young artists to personalize their journals.  Project pages offer easy-to-follow instructions and inspiring artwork and ideas. Gorgeous handmade decorative papers and vibrant construction papers are ideal for collage. A sturdy folder stores pictures, found objects and leftover papers. Artist quality drawing paper provides the perfect foundation for creating works of art.

Strathmore Artist Papers™ partnered with Artterro® to develop the Art Journal Kit. Well known for their high-quality, innovative children’s art kits and commitment to environmentally sustainable products, Artterro won NAMTA’s Best New Kid’s Product award from 2008 to 2010.

Learn how Strathmore’s new Art Journal Kits can increase the productivity of your kids’ or educational program. The Holiday promotion in effect through November 11th also offers you two ways to save:
·      additional 15% discount on open stock purchases
·      FREE display and additional 15% discount on pre-filled Art Journal Kit Merchandiser

Contact your MacPherson’s sales representative for details today.

*NAMTA Artists and Art Materials 2009 Study

Black canvas is hot and it’s hitting the MacPherson’s warehouses now!  Reno and Elgin have both received their orders and have begun shipping.  Atlanta’s inventory is scheduled to arrive late next week and the line will be featured in the October What’s New, posting Wed., Oct 5th. Til then, you can download the sell sheet below. Don’t miss out on the special promotional pricing during the launch period now through the end of November!

Made with the same natural, unbleached medium-weight 100% cotton duck and kiln-dried stretcher bars as our Studio and Gallery canvases; the surface is primed with acid-free black acrylic gesso, providing a dark rich background for traditional paints and techniques as well as paint markers, spray paint and multi-media techniques.

Available in 10 best-selling Studio profile (4″x4″ up to 24″x36″) and Gallery profile (8″x10″ up to 36″x48″) sizes, tt is also available in 5 canvas panel sizes (8″x10″ up to 16″x20″) and in a 52″ x 6yd roll, great for large artwork and in-store events.  Keep this roll in mind for your next Montana demo!

Click here for the complete list of sizes and launch promo details: Black Canvas Sell Sheet

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has a new exhibition up chronicling the the Restoration of Van Gogh’s “The Bedroom” using Gamblin materials.

The Bedroom, 1888, Vincent van Gogh, Oil on canvas, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Painted in Arles, it is one of the paintings Van Gogh was most proud of and among the most beloved of his works. The Van Gogh Museum says: “Old gaps in the painting, caused mainly by water damage in Van Gogh’s studio, were carefully repaired using stable materials…The colours have gained a new intensity and the painting looks much clearer. It is now a much better reflection of the artist’s original intentions and can once more be admired by the public.”
Check out the timelapse video of the restoration or to read more about the restoration process using Gamblin materials, visit Timelapse Van Gogh

Prismacolor will launch 18 additional colors in early November of 2011. Once the colors launch fine art dealers will be able to offer their customers a total of 150 colors in the Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencil line! These colors were selected based upon specific feedback received by Prismacolor from artists throughout the United States concerning gaps in Prismacolor color offering. It is critical that Prismacolor research color trends in order to ensure that the fine art dealer can offer their customers a large, relevant color range of professional grade colored pencils. Prismacolor just concluded an Artist Advisory Council event and will share findings from that event in future editions of the Art Dog Blog. The artists were excited about the new colors.

MacPherson’s will offer a conversion kit for existing full-line Prismacolor Pencil displays. It will include a dozen of each new color and the new color strips, and should be ready to ship in November. More details will follow from your MacPherson’s representative. The new 150-color set, SA1799879, will launch on October 15^th.  This set will come in a box with a premium, matte finish and a magnetic closure. The pencils will get placed in chromatic order and come pre-sharpened as do all Prismacolor Premier Pencil sets. The inside cover of the 150-color set features valuable tips and techniques and art work examples from renown colored pencil artist Alyona Nickelsen. The tips and techniques are designed to help the fine art dealer cross sell the Verithin® and Art Stix product lines®

The 18 new colors are:  Deco Yellow Peach, Deco Peach, Deco Pink, Permanent Red, Indanthorne Blue, Cadmium Orange Hue, Prussian Green, Gray Green Light, Sap Green Light, Cobalt Turquoise, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Blue Hue, Egg Shell, Pomegranate, Dioxazine Purple Hue, Neon Yellow, Neon Orange and Neon Pink.

Recently Letraset AquaMarkers have been getting excellent reviews on the Craft Critique website! Read the entire review here: Craftcritique AquaMarker

They love the super reasonable price point, the blendability, the twin tips, and the portability of the sets packaging.  They also made a great “How-To” video available on Youtube:

One complaint they do have is that the AquaMarkers are not easy to find – so that means retailers are going to want to get ahead on this one and stock this product that is quickly gaining consumer demand!  Get on board with this hot product now while it’s on What’s New promotion for 60% off the assortment! Click here for the AquaMarker Deal