Fine Art Blog

Category: Famous Artists

  • The Unilever Series: artist Ai Weiwei at the Tate Modern in London

    So the full title is ‘The Unilver Series: Ai Weiwei: Sunflower Seeds 2010’

    Phew! Underneath the cumbersome title is a work of great artistic merit & simply unbelievable human achievement, read on…

    It may appear that the Turbine Hall has been scattered with tonnes of Sunflowers Seeds but in fact each seed is a unique hand-crafted replica of a sunflower seed husk and has been hand made by small teams of artists in Jingdezhen, China to be exact.

    What also is breathtaking is that there are supposed to be 100 million of them!

    Artist Ai Weiwei invites us to look more closely at the cheap mass production the west may associate with China & the social, cultural & political implications of such mass marketed goods over the years.

    Finally it seems things are paying off now with China’s expanding wealth, will that effect your visit to the exhibition and how you reflect on it?

    These 100 million unique porcelain pieces form Ai’s latest sculptural masterpiece.

    Admission is free & runs from 12 October 2010 – 02 May 2011

    Links
    The Tate
    The Daily Telegraph
    www.visitlondon.com

  • LBC London 97.3 FM, Rolf Harris drops it to meet Steve Allen

    Legendary Australian painter Rolf Harris could recently be heard on London’s airwaves as he popped in to talk to another legend, London’s own sharped tongued DJ Steve Allen

    For some who is by now collecting his pension, Steve Allen, I mean Rolf Harris 🙂 certainly is looking very spritely and is appearing all over the place, from gallery events to media appearances

    Wobble board always in tow!

    thanks

    James

    Links:
    LBC’s page on the meeting

  • Timmy Mallett celebrates ‘The Railway Children’ – film’s 40th Birthday

    To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the ‘The Railway Children’ film adaptation, Timmy Mallett has painted & released three brand new limited editions prints in Timmy’s classic painting style:

    Timmy stands proudly with his paintings

    As well as having Timmy’s signature style there is also something special about these pieces. As normal each limited editions is signed by Mallett ….AND AMAZINGLY each is also signed by 3 stars from the film – Bernard Cribbins, Jenny Agutter and Sally Thomsett! So these pieces are an absolute must have for anyone who loves one of Britain’s all time favourite children’s films!

    This is a real opportunity to invest in something that you loved during your childhood or to be part of this celebration. Perhaps you are new to this film or Edith Nesbitt’s original book?


    ‘Send Our Love To Father’ by Timmy Mallet
    (available as an on paper or canvas limited edition)

    The editions of these pictures are very low – only 50 Canvas and 100 paper limited editions have been produced & this is going to heighten demand and increase dramatically the collectability of this range.


    ‘Saved By Red Petticoats’ by Timmy Mallett
    aka: ‘Saved by Red Petticoats’
    (available as an on paper or canvas limited edition)


    ‘Oak Worth’ by Timmy Mallett
    (available as an on paper or canvas limited edition)

    Thanks

    James

    Links:
    Timmy Mallet Interview Part 1
    Timmy Mallet Interview Part 2
    Timmy’s Official Website

  • Timmy Mallett – from ‘Im A Celebrity, Get me…’ to the art gallery?!

    In our previous blog on Timmy Mallett, we delved a little into his past & how his love for art began many years ago. Today we will start to comment on his actual art work.

    After his stint on British TV’s “I’m a celebrity get me out of here” 2008, Timmy made the decision to concentrate more on his art & the process of choosing which of his painting he felt where good enough to produce limited edition prints from.

    Many remain surprised to hear that he paints & on viewing his art, are even more surprised at the depth of his artistic talent.


    ‘A Day At The Seaside’ limited edition by Timmy Mallett

    I do feel his painting style juxtaposes his zany personality and wacky dress sense because he often uses sombre colours in his pieces & typically he paints ‘traditional landscape’ subject matter: such as fields, streets and houses. However, I can see that he subtly adds unorthodox colours to his art, brightening up pictures and giving them a somewhat unique ‘Timmy’ style.


    ‘Tower Bridge’ limited edition by Timmy Mallett

    ‘Tower Bridge’ is one such piece. He has added purple and blue as well as a little green, which help accentuate the reflections on the river Thames. I love what he has done with the colouring here, making the piece vivid & eye catching despite being quite dark. To see its true greatness you need to be in its presence as a computer screen can not do it justice.


    ‘Oh To Be In England’ Original painting by Timmy Mallett

    Again ‘Oh To Be In England’ is another painting you need to be in front of to truly appreciate & take in. Clearly painted with the use of oil, the cliffs are built up with thick paint and the sea and the sky have there own unique colours & textures. As you gaze more at the picture you notice the castle on the landmass and to the right of it your eye flickers over to the church on its right. A few more minutes starring & the seagull then comes into view, what a subtle use of white paint to create the little fella. As an artwork it is superb & clearly Timmy has a talent that has only just started to come to fruition.

    thank you

    Vicki

    Links:
    How to paint landscapes with oils
    How to paint the sea