Catherine Monahon, Copywriter, MacPherosn’s If MacPherson’s has a favorite holiday, it may or may not be the one that involves dressing up, decorating, turning the world upside down and tapping into our imaginative, artsy sides. While delivering creativity is what we do on the clock, we embrace (and express) creativity outside of work too—in fact, for many of us it is the fuel that keeps us going! Halloween is a chance for us to show off this creative spark. Costume Contests We kicked off the day of Halloween with a costume contest. The winners in Emeryville: Jeanine Davids as The Butcher, Ariana Faustini as an American Eagle and Christine Sanchez…
-
-
Introducing Strathmore Mixed Media Postcards
Strathmore Artist Papers Picture yourself going to your mailbox each day and shuffling through your pile of papers. What do you typically see? Bills, coupons, ads, statements…yawn. Now imagine yourself shuffling through your mail and behold a beautiful, handmade postcard with a personalized message on the back. That’s enough to make your day. Who doesn’t love getting real, handmade mail? Artists can send their art in postcard format with our new Mixed Media Postcards. They’re perfect for the upcoming holiday season. Made with our 400 Series Mixed Media paper, these heavyweight 184 lb (300gsm) postcards have a vellum drawing finish and are sized to handle wet media applications. They’re great…
-
Four Mixing Sets by Williamsburg Oils
Eight 11 ml tubes of color plus a 37 ml tube of Titanium White make each of these four sets perfect for trying new colors or an entirely new palette from which you can mix a new range of colors. Williamsburg has one of the most extensive selection of oil colors available anywhere, and these sets can help you narrow down options and begin personalizing your palette. Four 8-Color Mixing Sets by Williamsburg Oils from Golden Artist Colors on Vimeo.
-
New Videos from GOLDEN
GOLDEN Artist Colors, Inc. We recently added two new videos to our Video Library that we think your customers will be interested in. Videos are quick and easy content to share on Facebook and a great way to boost your organic reach. Please visit our YouTube or Vimeo page to check them out! GOLDEN Acrylic Sets : Exploration & Experimentation from Golden Artist Colors on Vimeo. GOLDEN Acrylic Sets: Exploration & Experimentation GOLDEN Acrylic Sets are a great way to go from being overwhelmed by the array of colors and mediums available to becoming oriented to the capabilities of different acrylic products. Join Kevin Greeland for a quick look…
-
Art Dog Of The Month: Cody
Introducing this month’s Art Dog, Cody—a spunky people-loving pup from North Hollywood, CA. He is just about three and was rescued from the East Valley Shelter in LA by his humans Jenia and Chris Hauser of Carter Sexton Art Supplies. Jenia gives us the scoop on his hairdo, what he loves and his deepest, darkest fears… “Cody’s hair color change was a BIG surprise to his mom and his brother Zack. They went out of town for a weekend in July and came home to a blue dog with a mohawk. Chris Hauser’s creative genius in action. Needless to say they haven’t gone out of town since. Cody loves people;…
-
Ready, Set, Go: Black Friday, Small Business Saturday & Giving Tuesday
Cassie Brehmer, Midwest Account Manager & Catherine Monahon, Copywriter, MacPherson’s Mark your calendars! While you’re focusing on sales and promotions for the winter holidays, keep these three retail-related holidays on your radar. We’ve put together key links, hashtags and merchandising ideas so that you can easily integrate Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Giving Tuesday into your promotions next month. Black Friday, November 23rd Black Friday is the informal name for the day following Thanksgiving, the fourth Thursday of November. Traditionally recognized as the beginning of the holiday shopping season in the United States, Black Friday is an opportunity to reach a wide audience with deep discounts. While this “holiday”…
-
MacPherson’s Organizational Updates
We are excited to announce a few organizational updates! Please visit our announcements page to read the full letter from our CEO & President, Dave Schofield. John Stephens has transitioned to Director of Marketing, focusing on brand management, category management, creative services and digital experience teams. Neil McIntyre has been promoted to Director of Account Management and he’ll be joining our Senior Leadership Team. He will continue his management of the national field and inside sales teams, in addition to assuming leadership of our customer service team. Jeff Scholz, MacPherson’s Director of IT, will now serve as a member of our Senior Leadership Team. Jessica Krainert, our EDI Specialist, will…
-
Fall in Love with Matte Metallics from DecoArt
This autumn, pump(kin) up your displays and end caps with DecoArt’s Americana Decor Matte Metallics! As a durable, opaque coverage paint, Americana Decor Matte Metallics deliver a chic, subtle sheen that your customers will *fall* in love with for their seasonal DIY decor. Curing to a hard finish, this one-of-a-kind formula offers excellent adhesion to a variety of surfaces such as, wood, glass, and metal. It’s multi-surface capabilities and subtle luster make it the perfect product for year-round use. Gather all 14 traditional and jewel-tone colors to harvest even more creativity in your customers and make your store truly shine! Stop and smell the rose gold and find Matte Metallic…
-
Canson Colorline Fine Art Paper
Canson© is excited to introduce the Colorline® portfolio with new colors and formats. Colorline paper from France has dual-sided texture for drawing, colored pencil, pen, marker and mixed media. The brilliant spectrum of colors and weights fit every professional or student, providing an excellent value. We have thirty-two beautiful hues with assortments of 25 colors in 150gsm and heavier stock 300gsm with two sizes 19.5”x25.5” sheets and 8.5”x11” sheets and packs. Our partner brand Daler-Rowney recently discontinued colored art paper Canford in North America due to a mill closure. Customers will be able to purchase Canford while supplies last, we recommend replacing with Colorline as paper craft continues a strong…
-
Holiday Set Promotions from GOLDEN
GOLDEN Artist Colors, Inc. If you haven’t done so already, be sure to check out the Holiday Set Promotions from GOLDEN. The gift of paint is the perfect holiday present for artists. With this in mind, MacPherson and GOLDEN are offering a 60% discount on these and other select sets for the 2018 Holiday Season. QoR mini Watercolor 12 half pan set Williamsburg 11 ml Landscape Set GOLDEN Acrylic Explorer 14 Set Limited MAP Policy Adjustment (US Only) 40% off September 17 through December 31, 2018. Refer to the MacPherson Buyer’s Guide for further details or see your MacPherson Sales Representative with any questions.
-
Krink Super Black Permanent Ink Markers In Action
Diana De Sousa, Krink Reminder to our retailers: please feel free to use these vendor resources for social media or marketing purposes! Krink Super Black permanent ink markers are great everyday markers and a go-to for many artists. The Super Black alcohol-based ink is permanent and opaque; it works well on almost everything. The high quality ink comes in a range of marker styles with value-action delivery systems, ensuring your marker will not dry out. All handmade in the USA. Joe Grillo (@joegrillojoegrillo) is a Meteorcity-born and Virginia Beach-based artist. Here he uses the K-70, which has a double-sided nib, 3mm bullet or 5mm chisel, that writes on most surfaces.…
-
Artist Spotlight: Emilee Rudd
Nominated by retailers, account managers or vendor partners, Artist Spotlights feature working artists in our industry community. We take this opportunity to explore innovative techniques, tap into the hows and whys of favorite mediums and tools, and celebrate artists who are shaping our world. To nominate an artist please email us at artdogblog (@) macphersonart.com Emilee Rudd is a lettering artist, illustrator and graphic designer based in Sacramento, California. She is detail-oriented, strategic, whimsical, imaginative and grounded in nature; qualities that show up consistently in her artwork. We reached out to learn more about what inspires her, what it’s like to freelance and which products are essential to her practice…
-
Super(natural) Merchandising: Window Display Or Portal To Another World?
Last month, we showcased budget-friendly strategies for eye-catching window displays, with a focus on creating a unique experience and a call for submissions from retailers who are proud of their windows. The holidays offer opportunity for an extra dose of creativity, and it helps to have enthusiastic staff who take initiative. We are pleased to share a creative window just in time for Halloween: this Stranger Things display grabbed attention last year at JWS Art Supplies, in Great Barrington, MA, a quaint tourist town near the Berkshires. JWS has a reputation for having fun window displays that allows them to get extra creative when their favorite holiday comes around, bending…
-
Community Events: Camp Flax Kidsfest
Every year Flax Art & Design in Oakland, California celebrates summer, art and kids with Kidsfest: a free, fun day of family-friendly arts and crafts. This year’s Kidsfest theme was Camp Flax, which celebrates the great outdoors and the California camping experience: think redwoods, wildlife and scouts. The event features various vendors and community organizations such as The Musem of Children’s Arts and the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design. Staff dress up and the store is transformed into redwood forest where kids and their families can enjoy face painting, a sing-along and dozens of craft activities. Getting The Word Out While people in the community simply know to…
-
Who’s Who: Preston Arts Center
Who’s Who celebrates a member of our industry community. If you would like to nominate someone, please email us at artdogblog (@) macphersonart.com with their name, position, company and a short description. Kathy Brennan and Don Preston, the owners of Preston Arts Center in Louisville, KY, celebrate owning their family business for 40 years this month. They are major players in the independent world, and they have been able to thrive in a city with major competition. This month, Andrew Preston, Kathy and Don’s son, will be hosting a two hour reception for vendors and their best customers, some of whom have been shopping with them since they opened their…
-
Ann Walsh: Colors Exhibition Opening Reception
GOLDEN Artist Colors, Inc. Ann Walsh: Colors opened last week at The Sam & Adele Golden Gallery (THE SAGG) at Golden Artist Colors. This survey of abstract paintings and sculptures by artist Ann Walsh underscores her commitment to the expressive possibilities of color and her investigations of the use of new materials for making art. Walsh has lived in New York City and maintained a studio there since 1980. An illustrated catalog with an essay by artist and critic Franklin Einspruch entitled, “Ann Walsh’s Mechanics of Color” will be available as well.To learn more about Walsh and her artwork, visit http://www.ann-walsh.com/index.htm. Visit The Sam & Adele Golden Gallery website, www.thesagg.org…
-
Innovative Collaboration: Calligraphy With POSCA
Catherine Monahon, Copywriter, MacPherson’s The beauty of our industry is in the connections we make. Oftentimes shop owners and staff are uniquely situated to connect with niche communities and play a part in sustaining local art scenes. Annette Wichmann of Kensington Art Supply & Instruction in Calgary, AB Canada has done just that. Her close ties with a local calligraphy guild and her rapport with customers, instructors and staff strengthens the tightly knit and growing calligraphy community in Calgary – and her fearless exploration of POSCA paint markers and Art Alternatives Creative Surfaces has given us serious food for thought! Inspired by Assistant Brand Manager Tucker Russell’s POSCA demo at…
-
A Closer Look: Kensington Art & Calligraphy
Catherine Monahon, Copywriter, MacPherson’s When we called Annette Wichmann, owner of Kensington Art Supply, about a recent POSCA demo by Kerri Forster, our conversations led to a deeper understanding of the symbiotic relationship between niche communities and art supply retailers, as well as a lesson in calligraphy we won’t soon forget. We decided to delve deeper into the hows and whys of their tightly knit community. Learn more about the POSCA and calligraphy demo that sparked this conversation in the first place. Kensington Art Supply & Instruction carries a wide array of products, with two 1,000 sq ft studios and instructors who either rent space or run workshops. Annette knows…
-
Venerable Vintages: The Ghosts of Products Past
Catherine Monahon, Copywriter, MacPherson’s Introducing Venerable Vintages, a monthly feature of archaic art supplies. Anything from art industry ephemera to unlikely heirlooms; Venerable Vintages is a chance to indulge in the art supply nerd in all of us. To submit a collection or special item, send images and descriptions to us at artdogblog (@) macphersonart.com. Many of us have a soft spot for vintage labels, first edition products or timeless typography from “back in the day.” The classic designs, often done by hand and screen printed onto the package, are in harmony with the contents. Aging art supplies are more than rusty compasses or dried out paint pans – they…