True to her usual style, she has painted brightly coloured sweets and toys. Her realistic pictures lead people to believe her pictures are photographs or some photoshop creation when of course they are from her own brush!

‘Lollipop Carousel’ by Sarah Graham
(Limited edition box canvas)

Her unique style is amazing & the attention to detail makes you believe how real they look; Sarah is indeed an extremely talented artist.

I especially love the vibrant colours and the way she has shown the light reflecting in all the creases of the sweet wrappers.

‘Found My Marbles’ by Sarah Graham
(Limited edition box canvas)

Wow. This is a very difficult subject to paint because there is so much light refraction in the glass, distorting the colourful swirls inside. However, Sarah has once again painted this picture so realistically, it could be a photograph! She has even painted every single light reflection, making this a dramatic, colourful yet light piece. I think it was a great idea to place them on a reflecting surface, so that the focus on the marbles is increased even more.

‘Pick n Mix’ by Sarah Graham
(Limited edition box canvas)

This one has to be my favourite! And not because I loved pick n mix as a child! This piece is yet another work by Sarah Graham that is so realistic, you feel like you could take a sweet from the picture and eat it! She has managed to reproduce perfectly the colours and even the varying textures of all the different sweets! Even the sweet bag has been reproduced with super realism; it must be very difficult to paint straight lines on a crinkled bag!

The way she blurs the background enhances the photographic feel of her piece and draws the eye to the places she wants the viewer to look.

Links:

Last ever bag of Woolworths pick n mix sells for £14500!!!
The History Of Marbles

These pieces available to preorder until the end of March/beginning of April when the art will be officially released but by this time some of the pieces will have already sold out!! That’s how hot Caroline Shotton is right now.

‘Hoof Hearted’ by Caroline Shotton
(Limited edition box canvas)

There are five new pieces, some following on from previous popular themes and colours; all have humorous titles, like all of Caroline’s previous limited editions.

‘On The Mooove’ by Caroline Shotton
(Limited edition box canvas)

We expect ‘On the Mooove’ to be very popular as it themed similarly to previous releases “Handle With Care” and “Special Delivery” which sold out very quickly indeed. Also ‘So In Love With Moo’ has the same colour themes (red) as “I Give My Heart To Moo” and her four Autumn 2008 releases including “Moo Too” & “Two & A Calf” we expect it to be just as popular!

‘So In Love With Moo’ by Caroline Shotton
(Limited edition box canvas)

Caroline’s art has been ridiculed by art critics in the past & yet she continues to show that the opinion of the art buying public & not theirs is paramount. Kind hearted, she has previously released art for charity and today most of her art sells out within weeks of publication.

‘Sh*t Happens’ by Caroline Shotton
(Limited edition box canvas)

I believe it is the mixture of her signature endearing cows, humorous titles & all her limited editions being hand-embellished (making them as close as possible to the original) that make her art so unique and collectable with the British public. Added to the fact that we Brits have a natural affinity to the countryside and to the idyllic image of the English countryside that the diary cow is part of.

‘Girls Night Out’ by Caroline Shotton
(Limited edition box canvas)

Thanks

Vicki

Links:
How to paint a cow
Video about the Super Cow

Her preferred mediums are handmade papers and bright inks, which she uses to create her Original paintings. This style may sound unusual but it matches her art perfectly. Her limited editions are then reproduced from these original works.

‘Naughty Little Number II’ limited edition print by Nicky Belton

Nicky Belton is most well known and loved for her pictures of corsets and other lingerie, however she also paints cats, dogs and female accessories such as handbags and shoes. This means that her art tends to appeal to women a little more than it does to men but I have still heard men say how beautiful her art work is!

‘Corsets I’ - original artwork by Nicky Belton

Her designs are beautiful yet a little bit saucy. Her original art with their intricate designs & colours actually matches the colour & feel of the paper well. The slightly creased, materialistic texture of the handmade paper gives an interesting look to the artwork and I don’t believe it would looks as good without it. I especially like her pictures of corsets with pretty designs of flowers embellished with silver paint. The colours in these pieces are more subdued yet opaque.

Kinky Corsets I, limited edition print by Nicky Belton

I think it worth paying that little bit extra for an original piece of artwork, after all, how could one not appreciate more the handmade paper and the hand-embellished artwork? Of course all original work is unique - so when a person buys a piece of her art there will never be another exactly the same & that is another reason buyers prefer them. I have heard several viewers say that if only Nicky actually made the lingerie accessories she paints, because they would buy them!

Links:
To learn how to make your own paper
How to buyer Lingerie for your body type

Lollipop Lollipop, limited edition box canvas by Sarah Graham

Sarah says that she has always been interested in art since childhood & fell in love with her oil paints bought by her dad when she was 8 years old. For her, art was a natural talent, one of the few subjects she didn’t have to work hard to achieve her grades.

Did Sarah Graham identify a gap in the market by choosing to paint toys and sweets? (something not seen in this format before) Or was it the nostalgia of remembering childhood experiences? She says that her inspiration is simply ‘colours’ & the use of these in her work and interesting textures she can achieve with oil and other mediums…as well as being a big kid at heart of course!

Routemaster, limited edition box canvas by Sarah Graham

Some people, on first seeing her box canvases, believe they are a clever Photoshop creation but they are not, they are limited edition prints from her original paintings! This just shows what a talented artists she is, so good that it looks computer generated and makes a picture of a cola bottle look so real that you think you could pluck it from the canvas and eat it!!!

Penny Cola, limited edition print by Sarah Graham

Who would have thought pictures of toy cars and Black Jacks & Chupa Chups would sell? Yet it has sold, very well indeed in fact. It is the nature of her work that has attracted so many fans and collectors, the realism, the vibrancy of colour and the fun subject mater that make Sarah Graham so popular.

Thank you

Vicki

Links:
Buy Fair Trade Sweets
The International Sweets & Biscuits Fair

Have a look a couple of his new pieces…

An Unexpected Gust (original painting) by George Somerville

Brrr! looks chilly! just like British weather-especially Scottish weather!

Street Party (limited edition print) by George Somerville

Something that rarely happens these days, a street party!!

Somerville has also released some sculptures of his work, and here is an example of how it looks:

Blown Away (sculpture) by George Somerville

George Somerville’s work reminds me a lot of Alexander Millar’s work, in that they both have a similar style, painting older working-class gentlemen: ‘Gadgies,’ often sideways or with their backs to the viewer. As well as this, they both have a style where the background is hazy or blurry with no detail. They also both often feature a dog in the pictures with their main characters.

I would love to hear from you if you agree or disagree, which artist you prefer or any comments and opinions you would like to post about George Somerville!!

Thanks for reading,

Tanya

Useful Links:

Glasgow
Northern Art Prize (Competition)
Northern Art prize 2009 finalists announced

Its A Wonderful Life by Paul Horton

Click here for some snowman jokes

Did you know that when Horton’s pictures feature ‘the snowman’ such as “On A Magical Winter’s Eve” and “When You Need A Special Friend” they sell out like wildfire? So, anyone who wants one of these snowman pictures is advised to order theirs ASAP.

Somewhere Only We Know by Paul Horton

Aww is’nt that sweet? A happy couple on their jollies beside the sea with their pet doggy.

So, as we are nearing Christmas, (Only 4 Weeks to go peeps, woohoo!) Im going to tell you about Horton’s ickle pressies he has released as well…

Summer Days, Winter Nights Cufflinks by Paul Horton

Cufflinks!! What man’s Christmas stocking is’nt complete without a pair of cufflinks? Especially if they are made by his favourite artist!

Heart And Soul Keyring by Paul Horton

Keyrings!! A nice little wrap-up for any Paul Horton fans out there.

Click here to find out how many Christmas traditions began

Thanks for reading
Vicki:)

“The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” by Caroline Shotton

I read that Caroline Shotton was reluctant to create an “ugly” cow so thats why it has a paper bag over its head!!! I personally think it works well though. I also think the raindrops on the “ugly” side and the hearts on the “good” side look really amazing up close because from a distance it appears as though they are stick on gems, but up close you realise she has created this effect herself. Also, you cant tell from this picture, but the picture is hand embellished, from the paper bag to the red gems around the “bad” cow.

The only thing with these cows are their sad little faces. Why must you make them so “long” in the face Caroline!?!

Heres some fun links:

Why do cows go moo? you will never guess according to this crazy website we discovered!!

Fun cow facts

Thanks,

Vicki

(Photo of the artist)

“We are deeply saddened to announce that one of country’s most outstanding, award winning contemporary artists - Govinder Nazran - who enjoyed enormous success around the world, tragically died on Tuesday 30 December, after suffering a seizure on Christmas Eve.

Govinder’s striking, naïve portrayal of the feline and canine form, married with strong oriental overtones, and rich texturing and layering, won him 1000s of fans across the world.

(Scratch & Sniff - Sculpture by Govinder Nazran)

As Glyn Washington, MD for Washington Green Fine Art Publishing, said:

“2009 would have been our tenth anniversary of working with Govinder. It was a 10 years in which we enjoyed the most amazing and creative art from one of the most talented, gentle and innovative artists we have ever had the pleasure of working with. Ironically we were planning a major event in 2009 to celebrate this wonderful 10 year collaboration. It has been said that ‘It is often the brightest star that burns for the shortest time’… never has a truer word been spoken.”

In 2004 Govinder became the ‘Best Selling Published Artist’ in the industry’s Fine Art Trade Guild Awards and he enjoyed 2 sell-out tours in Japan where his work was highly revered. During his prolific 10 years with Washington Green his work has been collected and admired by thousands of fans from all walks of life, including many well-known collectors world-wide. Unusually Govinder possessed the vision of both artist and creative director, as he innovated and developed the ideas for his ground breaking collections.

(Flapdoodle by Govinder Nazran)

A naturally warm and witty man of enormous integrity, Govinder’s shyness made it challenging for him to articulate his thoughts verbally. “My true personality reveals itself through my paintings,” he once said. His cats and dogs reached far deeper than a cute, naïve cliché of a ‘four legged friend’ with many of his paintings dedicated to the fight between good and evil. “I leave it to the individual to look at my paintings and choose what they would like to see, innocence or malevolence - the ‘good’ or the ‘evil’. Above all else I am, and always will be, an eternal optimist. Optimism is one of the greatest gifts we possess and my paintings are from my soul.”

Govinder often described his wife Sarah and daughter Eden as his “greatest inspiration” and his most ‘honest critics.’ He will be sadly missed by all at Washington Green and no doubt by all who appreciated and loved his work the world over.”

(The Wise by Govinder Nazran)

I very much loved Govinder’s style and work and it is a sad loss to the art world. My thoughts go out to his wife Sarah and his daughter Eden.

I am sure his artistic legacy will not be lost and he will continue to me remembered by the art world as a great contributor to contemporary art.

My thoughts go out to his family at this time and to all those at Washington Green publishers and for any of those who knew him.

Thank you

Emily

(Leopold by Govinder Nazran)

It touches me that so many people are so heart felt about his passing: some may have met him only once at a gallery appearance and others had never met him and enjoyed his work through viewing his images online or having bought pieces over the years.

From my experience, those that collected his art varied from young students right up to retired people and that is a testament as to how his work ‘connected’ with so many different types of people.

I was digging in the archives and found a snippet that charts, all be it briefly, his career from 1980, where he started his studies in Graphic Design, up to being signed by Washington Green in 1999 and becoming as a professional artist. These are his own words:

(Willy Winterbottom by Govinder Nazran)

“My art training began in Bradford in the North of England, where I studied Graphic Design from 1980-1983. After that I then went on to study for a Higher Diploma in Graphic Design, specialising in illustration, at Lincoln Art College.

Once I completed all my formal training I decided to move to London, approaching all of the major city publishers with my portfolio. It was there that I worked on illustrations for children’s books, and after 6 months moved to Cambridge where I continued working as a freelance illustrator.

Upon moving back to my home town of Saltaire in West Yorkshire, I took up the position of designer for a greetings card company, which involved all aspects of product design and development. Following that I became a photographic art director, directing fashion shoots all over the world. I did this for the next year or so until 1993, when I decided to swap my hectic photographic job and lifestyle, for a quieter life back in Saltaire. I spent the next five years here, working freelance on card designs with major publishing companies.

It wasn’t until 1999 that I decided to enter the fine art market and approached Washington Green with my portfolio.”

(Elvis, Sculpture by Govinder Nazran)

Over Govinder’s near 10 year career with Washington Green, they have published over 180 of his work, including sculptures and more recently his work has been put into cufflink designs.

I would say Govinder has been one of the top 5 published artists of the last 10 years

He will be sadly missed but never forgotten.

Messages of condolence may be sent to his publisher at C/O:

Jo Colley,
Washington Green,
44 Upper Gough Street,
Birmingham,
B1 1JL
United Kingdom

Thank you

James

What is Contemporary Art?, See Links below:
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_art
-Article 1
-Article 2

Washington Green Fine Art Publishers, have today released a statement regarding Govinder’s death, it also contains the address to send letters of condolences.

(’Chutzpah & Claptrap’ by Govinder Nazran)

“Dear Customer,

It is with great sadness that we announce the tragic death of one of the country’s greatest contemporary artists - Govinder Nazran.

Govinder died on Tuesday 30th December after an accident on Christmas Day which left him with severe head injuries.

(’The Patriot’ by Govinder Nazran)

It is our intention to commemorate the incredible talent that was Govinder to support his family, details to follow in the next few weeks. For this reason and as a mark of respect, we have withdrawn all available Govinder art from sale for the time being and would ask all our partners to do the same.

2009 would have been our tenth anniversary of working with Govinder, a decade of the most amazing and creative art from one of the most talented, gentle and innovative artists we have ever had the pleasure of working with.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

Messages of condolence may be sent to:

Jo Colley,
Washington Green,
44 Upper Gough Street,
Birmingham,
B1 1JL
United Kingdom

for forwarding to the family.

(’One Love - Sculpture’ by Govinder Nazran)

‘It is often the brightest star that burns for the shortest time’

Kind Regards,

Glyn Washington”

It is amazing that this year would have been the 10th year Govinder’s limited edition work was being produced, I have become so used to his work being regularly released by Washington Green, that largely one takes it for granted.

It is a tribute to the man and his abilities that he has been at the forefront of published limited edition art for 10 years.

Thank you

Russell