Archives of the Art Dog Blog from MacPherson's

The Alliance for Main Street Fairness (AMSF) who represents small brick and mortar business is celebrating a recent US Senate vote on the Marketplace Fairness Act. A bipartisan group of 75 Senators came together to take an important step towards closing the online sales tax loophole. “This vote marks an enormous victory for America’s small businesses, which have been forced to compete on an unlevel playing field for far too long.” according to AMSF.

Former Michaels CEO Michael Rouleau has been named interim CEO for Tuesday Morning, the 830-store chain that sells closeout home and gift merchandise. Rouleau will manage the company’s day-to-day operations through the hiring of a new CEO and will continue to serve on the company’s board of directors, which he joined in November 2012. “My immediate focus is to ensure that Tuesday Morning’s associates, customers, and business partners understand that this is a strong, stable company with great untapped potential,” Rouleau said.

Darcie Thompson has joined Dave Thompson’s Seattle-based manufacturers rep group as a partner. Darcie was with Seattle Art for many years and later represented ColArt Americas.

C2F has closed its Carlisle, PA distribution center. Going forward, all customer orders will be fulfilled from their main DC in Beaverton, OR. In related news, we understand that long time C2F SoCal sales rep Jerry Dunn has left the company.

The National Association of College Stores (NACS) has  named Cal State Long Beach its ‘National Collegiate Retailer of the Year’. Awarded biennially, the honor is given to one college store that displays extraordinary leadership and excellence among the nation’s prominent collegiate retailers. Congratulations to the amazing team at the Forty-Niner Shops Inc.! 

We are sorry to report that Robert Rowen will be leaving MacPherson’s after twenty-two years of excellent service as a Sales Rep and Key Accounts Manager. Besides being fun to work with, Robert has been a key contributor to the growth of MacPherson’s in the Eastern Region since joining us in 1991. He will be pursuing an opportunity outside of our industry that more closely meets his career and family goals. Robert will be missed by all, but we will meet the challenge of replacing him. Robert’s last day will be April 30, 2013. Please join us in wishing Robert all the best in his new venture!

Crayola’s commitment to sustainable initiatives continues with ColorCycle, a program set to launch this Earth Day (April 22, 2013). For this initiative, Crayola will be partnering with local schools to collect used Crayola markers, and have them converted into a clean fuel source with their energy partner JBI. ( JBI employs the leading scientists in the area of developing alternative fuels.) Crayola’s other successful sustainability initiatives include a Solar Farm that delivers enough energy to make nearly all of its crayons and markers, colored pencils made from Reforested Wood (one of the only major producers globally that does this), and the recycling or reuse of over 80% of their corporate and manufacturing waste. Visit the Crayola ColorCycle Website for more details.

In other art news, George W. Bush seems to be quite the painter. You be the judge…..

Coming in July from GOLDEN – High Flow Acrylics!

• Golden Artist Colors introduces High Flow Acrylics, a new acrylic paint line that can go from brush to marker or from fountain pen to airbrush and more.  From fine line detail work to broad strokes, High Flow Acrylics have an ink-like consistency that lends itself to a wide range of techniques, and a wide range of artists.
• High Flow Acrylics offer so many options for exploration, several distinct artists communities will be intrigued about the numerous possibilities, including calligraphers, mixed media artists, airbrush artists and artists working with refillable markers and acrylic inks.
• All 49 colors are compatible with GOLDEN Acrylics and Mediums and are supported with fresh new merchandising! The line includes natural earth colors, core colors, iridescent colors and fluorescent colors in 1 oz., 4 oz. and 16 oz. sizes.  Also available are two sets:  a 10-Color Set of Assorted Colors and a 10-Color Set of Transparent Colors.

Contact your local MacPherson’s or GOLDEN representative for additional information. Check out the sell sheet here:  Golden’s High Flow Acrylics.

Visit GOLDEN at NAMTA Booth 220!

Prismacolor Premier Art Markers – 44 NEW colors

Bringing the total marker color assortment to 200 colors, in both Chisel | Fine and Brush | Fine, the 44 new colors will be available on June 1st. In addition to the 44 new individual open stock colors, there will be new 12ct Neutral Grey sets in both Chisel| Fine and Brush | Fine, as well as 24ct portrait sets, and a full color assortment of 200 colors. A retrofit option for the current marker tower will be available on July 1st, allowing you to easily adjust your assortment, and add the new colors.

Prismacolor Color Charts are available online. Follow the link below to find color charts to your favorite Prismacolor products.
Prismacolor Pencil Color Chart
Verithin Pencil Color Chart
Prismacolor Watercolor Pencil Color Chart 

Sharpie Neon now shipping!

The 5/cd set and open stock are now shipping, and the new acrylic open stock display will be available on 4/15. This exciting new product will be featured at NAMTA, showcasing the unique fluorescent colors in a black light environment. The NEW Sharpie Neon Permanent Marker is designed to inspire bold, vivid expression on new surfaces.

Finally, a new innovative product for colored pencil drawing!

Introducing the exciting, new Koh-I-Noor Tri-tone Colored Pencil. This unique pencil adds something new to the colored pencil department. There has never been a colored pencil like Tri-tone. This new pencil can add sales and excitement to the department, instead of adding another line of colored pencils that can tie up retailer inventory dollars. Tri-tone won’t replace colored pencils, but every artist will have them in their case. Great incremental business. Here’s the scoop:

• Koh-I-Noor’s new Tri-tone pencil is a revolutionary pencil that creates extraordinary depth in color pencil drawings.
• The core of a Tri-tone pencil is made of three different colored leads that are braided together. Koh-I-Noor’s proprietary braiding process insures that colors alternate with minimum wrist movement.
• Colors used to create the Tri-tone range are carefully selected to fall into a colorimetric specification that is tonally harmonized and visually pleasing, resulting in color combinations typically found in nature.
• The professional Hardmuth leads meld color as they lay down; a blender pencil can also be used to further smooth colors to create a complex appearance.
• Rich tonal effects can be seen in line work such as cross-hatching as well as shading large areas.
• Tri-tone works well with traditional colored pencils and is a great addition to the artist’s palette.
• Tri-tone has pencils in 23 color combinations and a blender pencil – all at a great price of $1.75 retail.

Available as open-stock and in sets of 12 and 24, in beautiful metal tins.

Complete Assortment is available for drop ship at 50/25%.

MSRP for the assortment is $775.35 with a Drop Ship net cost of $290.76, including free freight and free rack.

(Assortment includes 12 each of the 24 pencils, 6 each of the 12 color set, and 3 each of the 24 color set.)