Archives of the Art Dog Blog from MacPherson's

From MacPherson’s Elgin, IL Distribution Center Manager Jeff Zwerenz:

 “Last week we closed our Elgin distribution center. Friday was the end of an era and a day filled with pictures, hugs, crying, laughing, and just about anything else that accompanies an event in which 23 great people will not only set out to start a new chapter in their individual lives, but will forever remember and appreciate the team and family that they became. This was a team that I, as most I’m sure, will never forget. It was truly difficult to see everyone walk out of our warehouse for the last time. I will say, however, as I watched a group of people leave today with a total of 136 years of experience with MacPhersons, I’m am very proud of the commitment and dignity they displayed through it all. “

After over a year of planning, building and moving University Art has opened their new flagship store in Redwood City, CA. Their venerable Palo Alto Store will be closing soon. The new space is spectacular. Congratulations team UA!!!

Perry Paradiso of Perry’s Art & Frame in San Anselmo, CA is celebrating the huge milestone of 50 years serving his community’s creative needs. congratulations Perry and staff (both past & present).

A farewell note from Canson USA’s Jim Allery– “During NAMTA I met with the Eric Joan, Managing Director of Groupe-Hamelin and it has been decided that May 23, 2014 will be my last day at Canson. For the past 27 years, working with Canson and the art industry has been an integral part of my life. The many wonderful experiences of the past will stay with me always. Although we have accomplished much for Canson during these 27 years, my greatest source of pride is, and will always be, the incredible friendships made during these years. Although I will no longer be working with Canson I expect to continue working or consulting in the future. It has been an honor and privilege to work with all of you. I wish you all the best in the future and I hope our paths will cross again.”

Hyatt’s All Things Creative has announced the closing of their Rochester, NY store as of May 18, 2014. According to the company, “Our recent growth is because of our successful efforts to become a competitive online retailer. From our 32,000 square foot flagship store, warehouse and offices in Buffalo, we now ship a large volume of orders weekly to our web customers. To respond to this market change, we have decided to close our Rochester store.”

The NAMTA Board of Directors has unanimously endorsed Barbara Schindler, President of Golden Artists Colors Inc., as the association’s new Vice President. In addition to continuing her service on the Board of Directors, she will also serve on the Executive Committee.

It was an exciting moment on the 2nd morning of this year’s NAMTA Convention, when MABEF was awarded BEST NEW PRODUCT for their innovative Revolving Paint Accessory (MBMA-40)! This accessory upgrades any MABEF studio or lyre easel, into an easel that has a 360-degree painting capability. Constructed of oiled stain-resistant beechwood, this unique accessory attaches to the canvas mast of the easel, and can hold a canvas that measures up to 52.8″h and up to 22 lbs. in weight. It allows artists to rotate their painting into any vertical position desired, opening up many new painting possibilities. A special clamp attachment is included to give additional stability to the canvas mast on lyre-style easels.

Earlier this month Binders Michele & Stuart Shapiro announced the birth of their daughter Blair Annabell Shapiro. Born at 5:07 am May 5th 2014. She weighs 6 lbs. 1 oz. and measures 18.25″. In Stuart’s own words, “We are so excited for this next new adventure in our lives!!”

Sanford/Newell-Rubbermaid Account Manager extraordinaire, Pete Ridge left the company on May 15 to join Adidas in Chicago.

Check out this interesting article highlighting the consumer outpouring of support as Flax Art Materials prepares for a late 2015 or 2016 move precipitated by their landlords plans to build a multi-use high rise on the San Francisco property. Click here for the article

Here’s a fun and fresh video featuring artist Michael Amorillo painting a large scale mural at Harrah’s Resort in Southern California, using all Montana GOLD!

Keeton’s Office and Art Supply in Brandenton, FL put on their own graffiti battle featuring 8 local artists. They did a great job making this free event interactive for all customers with a “community wall” for anyone to paint as well as a stencil and t-shirt workshop!  Check out the video:

GOLDEN Participation at NAMTA Was a Great Success!

For those of you who were able to attend the show in Pittsburgh, Golden appreciated you stopping by their booth! They enjoyed catching up with each of you and walking you through the Marketing initiatives they’ll be focusing on with the launch of QoR® Watercolor. The overall reception of the new product line was quite strong and they’re incredibly pleased with the positive response and support they’ve received!

QoR began shipping on Monday, May 12 to all early adopters, and with orders for well over 100 Set-Ups making their way out the door, QoR Watercolor will soon be available to artists all over the country.

For more information about QoR, visit the new website at www.qorcolors.com and be sure to check out the new QoR video on the site homepage. Artists are sharing their experiences with QoR on the new QoR Facebook page as well, so take a look at that: QoR Watercolors on Facebook.

If you have questions, please contact your MacPherson’s Account Manager or GOLDEN Sales Representative.

The 2014 MacPherson’s Dealer Workshop is a few short weeks away and if the planning is any indication it will be the best ever. The event will be held at the Doubletree Hotel at the Berkeley Marina on Wednesday, June 11th and Thursday, June 12th.

Things kick off Tuesday afternoon with 7 inspirational and idea packed demos from:

• Pebeo
• Speedball
• Golden
• Canson/Milan
• Kuretake
• Daler Rowney
• Gamblin

Wednesday morning through Thursday afternoon, June 11th & 12th, the fun really begins with Round Robin & Table-Top Presentations and incredible promotions from the industry’s top brand names:

Round Robins

• ColArt
• Montana
• Daler Rowney
• Sanford Prismacolor
• Strathmore
• Golden
• Art Alternatives
• Speedball
• Pentel
• Chartpak
• Wrapped
• Daniel Smith
• Faber Castell
• Gamblin
• Princeton
• Itoya
• Decoart
• Krylon
• Canson

Table-Top Presentations

• Kuretake
• Masterpiece
• Midwest
• Savoir-Faire
• Pebeo
• Royal Brush
• Faber-Castell Red Line
• Holbein
• Jacquard
• Tombow
• Sakura
• Star Products

The evening events will be “knock your socks off” memorable and fun. All you have to do is get yourself to the venue and all lodging and meals are free as part of the package.

Did you miss your opportunity to sign up? The event is currently sold out but there is a good chance spaces will open up due to last minute cancellations. Click Dealer Workshop Wait-List Request to request an invitation if you haven’t received one yet.

Hotel capacity is limited, so confirmed space will be decided on a first come, first served basis.

A special invitation from GOLDEN for the Upcoming Dealer Workshop – We’re looking forward to seeing you at the upcoming MacPherson’s Dealer Workshop in June!  For those of you who couldn’t attend NAMTA this year, we’ll be sharing information about High Flow Acrylics and QoR® Watercolor in hands-on demonstration sessions on Tuesday, June 10 from 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm. See you there!

NAMTA Pittsburgh 2014 Convention Highlights from our ace Account Managers Kurtis Hughes and George Bethurem

• Art Alternatives Super Value Canvas Stack Out – A great opportunity to compete with the big-box stores! Art Alternatives’ new stack out merchandiser is coming soon and helps take advantage of this powerful new range.
• Art Alternatives Wood Panel Stack Out – Play up the presence of wood panels in your store with a product category not vulnerable to web offerings. By taking these off the shelf and up front, capture a new range of customers with the powerful statement only a stack out makes!
• Art Alternatives Classic Canvas Deep – Gives retailers a true great price option to the competitor’s Pro stretched canvas.
• Art Alternatives Heavy Canvas – Brings the heavy-weight option to a different level of customer with a low-priced offering positioned between Classic Studio and Gallery and other Premium lines in the market. Coming in the fall along with Art Alternatives’ awesome new logo and branding.
• Mabef LOD 2014 Pre-Book – MBM-05 brings a crank feature to Mega-Studio Easels in the under $1k street price & best new item MBMA-40 Revolving Paint Accessory.
• Arches “Block Merchandising” Rack System – Canson/Arches releases a new boutique for their premier line. The line was a great seller without a display and this statement piece should increase the footprint of the line in most situations. It’s a total visual Wow!
• Talens Paint Markers – Amsterdam, an opportunity to get marker placement for customers that are not carrying Montana or Molotow, or who want to carry a variety of options.
• Talens from Canson Van Gogh Paints – Large oil cans offer a bulk option for students, good value for 500ml.
• Strathmore Printmaking Papers – Teacher’s design, Strathmore distribution. Customers are loving the union between school & company, a great cross merchandising opportunity with Gamblin or Speedball in Printmaking sections.
• QoR Watercolors –
  Made with an exclusive binder, Aquazol,​ that conservationists have used for many years, these watercolors are brighter than traditional watercolors and will merchandise wonderfully with Art Alternative’s expanded wood panels & BARC wood sheets. Could help change the demographic using watercolors as it is so vibrant, intense and concentrated.
• Derwent Graphik Pigmented Pen line – Product works really well, will compete with Molotow fine line paint markers. The sample was VERY opaque & customers were pleasantly surprised with the juicy wet in wet watercolor painting possibilities. The line won’t be available until the fall but this is a truly unique product so it will be worth the wait!
• Princeton Redline – Solid handles, excellent display, a real value even at the price point.  Made in Europe.
• Princeton Short Handled Polytip Brushes – An intelligent extension of the popular Polytip Long Handle brush, with sizes up to 4″ wide.  Cross merchandise with acrylic mediums & new Art Alternatives 2.25″ Deep Canvas on end-caps.
• Princeton Sensu Duo – A new addition to the Sensu tablet brushes. This new model has a retractable brush as well as a soft stylus on the other end of the tool.
• Winsor & Newton Available this fall, Professional Oil Colours (POC) 37ml, 200ml – Winsor foresees the future of oils being solvent-free. They also see the market leader internationally in fine art oils to be Old Holland, and are targeting that level of quality without the use of solvents. A fine option for stores that cater to high end clientele.
• Winsor & Newton Watercolor Markers/Sticks – A good price point with water soluble capability. Winsor’s powerful brand statement is reinforced by their “Block Merchandising” in-store statement that will bring customers of all backgrounds to shop and new racks to stores already supporting the breadth of the line, as well as a free rack of Cotman brushes to offset their support.
• Daniel Smith Watercolors – Unique pigments for the artist who has used the brand before or for those new to the line.  Daniel Smith colors are already sought after in stores & our customers may be driving their end users to the Daniel Smith website by not bringing in the line. Retailers can easily compete with the Daniel Smith website at a 38% margin if sold for 40% off in store.
• Cottonwood Laminated Canvas Board Pad/Packs & New Packaging – Similar to the popular Fredrix cut panel business, the Cottonwood Laminated Canvas Board is a sheet of canvas, laminate & then board, which give the end user the protection from warpage. These Cottonwood products are a bargain price for the perception of a premium product. Designed in the US, made in the US. Cross merchandise the new cold-press book with Holbein gouache (the only gouache of world famous Alex Ross) and the canvas book & panels to cater towards Plein air painters on end-caps.
• Royal Zen Brushes – A low price point & multiple options will give the Simmons brushes a run for their money.
• Daler-Rowney – Compact displays like the Daler XL line, are easy to find space on the shelf for. Add-on sales in the paint aisle?
• Daylight Wafer Light Boxes – Very similar price point to the Artograph LED, slightly better discounts but significantly slimmer.
• Fluorescent is still HOT! Speedball, Holbein and Daler Rowney have new items to offer. Holbein’s “Neon” color splashed booth featured their new acrylic paint line which includes fluorescents. This new paint which offers a longer working time, claims to be the first artist acrylic that doesn’t remain tacky once dry. Speeball’s booth also “screamed” NEON as they featured both Fluorescent block print and screen print inks. Last but not least, Daler Rowney has added fluorescent colors to their FW ink line. Very flashy!
• Speedball Inks New Packaging & Fluorescents
• Akua merchandising from Speedball – Customers looking for a home for their Akua products have now found it. Akua Printmaking ink is wet until you set it and a great value for teachers worried about waste. A great value.
• Daler-Rowney Simply Simmons Extra Firm Brushes – A smart extension on the XL lines released last year.  Should be a winner, like the economical version of the Princeton Polytip.
• Daler-Rowney FW Fluorescents & Stackable Rack – FW Inks, a great selling line upgraded with neon colors. The slim stackable rack fits in tightly packed stores.
• Rotring Relaunch – new racks for pencils –  Sanford’s relaunch of the once popular rotring pencils, should be great to go heads up vs the Alvin mechanical’s depending on relaunch price.
• Itoya New Small Format Photo Albums in contemporary colors. For those of you who think that digital images rule, think again. These albums are aimed at the younger generation who (like Andy Warhol) are using Polaroid style instant cameras to shoot and print pictures of their “famous for 15 minutes” friends.
• Crafters Workshop – This line of popular stencils continues to grow. It’s NAMTA booth featured many new designs including “Texturized”, “CityGrid”, “Stripes Explosion” and “Burlap Bits” along with some new retro “Fragment” images like “FilmReel”, “Rotary Phone” and “Instant Camera”.
• Rhodia – A new wooden floor display rack that holds many different sizes of the cool black and orange pads.
• Craftwell “eBrush – A semi portable handheld airbrush system with adapters for use with almost any art marker. It operates off of electricity or a rechargeable battery!
• Composi-Mold – This flexible mold making material is re-usable by melting in a microwave oven. A couple of my customers spotted this at CHA in January. A modern replacement for liquid latex.
• R&F Handmade Paints – A value priced set of three half “pigment sticks” at only $14.99 list. A FREE wooden pop is available with the purchase of six or more sets.
• New Wave Wooden Palettes – They’re still in high demand and the supplier has found a way to offer them through MacPherson’s. They’re on the way!

If you want to see some of these exciting new products, make your way to MacPherson’s Dealer Workshop in June. If you still haven’t signed up, go to the link in this month’s blog roll. Time is running out!

REWARDING EXCELLENCE THROUGH SHOWCASING THE VERY BEST INTERNATIONAL WORKS CREATED IN PENCIL

The Cumberland Pencil Company (Derwent) has announced the second Derwent Art Prize for works created in pencil.

The aim of the Prize, which in its inaugural year attracted over 3,500 entries from 57 countries worldwide, is to reward excellence through showcasing the very best international works created in pencil. It is an open submission opportunity offering a total prize money of £12,650 to British and international artists working in this versatile medium.

Entries will be judged by a distinguished panel of selectors:  Kate Macfarlane, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Drawing Room. Josh Spero, Editor of Spears Magazine and Art Critic for Tatler UK and Professor Anita Taylor, artist, Co-Founder and Director of Jerwood Drawing Prize and Dean of Bath School of Art and Design.

An exhibition of shortlisted works will be on show from September 15 – 20, 2014 at the Mall Galleries, London SW1. Following the London exhibition a selection of the exhibition will be shown at The Pencil Museum in Cumbria from December 1, 2014 – January 9, 2015.

The Prizes will be awarded at a private awards ceremony on September 15, 2014. These include a First Prize of £6,000; Second Prize of £3,500, Third Prize of £1,000, the People’s Choice Award (works in the exhibition) of £700 and the UKCPS Award for Excellence of £250.

Two additional prizes will be awarded this year: the Young Artist Award of £500 for artists under 25 years, and an additional People’s Choice Award of £700, selected from all 2014 entries and judged by visitors to the website:  www.derwent-artprize.com.

The Derwent Art Prize is open to all living British and international artists over the age of 18 years old. Artists can submit up to 6 pieces of work, created with any charcoal, pastel, graphite, water-soluble and coloured pencils on any 2 or 3 dimensional support. The maximum size of work is 182cms in its greatest dimension.

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES:  MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2014 ENTRY IS ONLINE AT: WWW.DERWENT-ARTPRIZE.COM

For further inquiries please contact the competition organizers,

Parker Harris, on:

Tel. + 44 (0) 1372 462190

Email. derwent@parkerharris.co.uk

Derwent Art Prize PR