Boutique online gift store, ArtyHarty.com is a recent addition to the myriad of online start up online businesses and since going live a few months ago is holding its own. The unique selling point of this site is that over 90% of its products are handmade here in the UK and founder, Jo Hartigan, is currently looking for new design talent wanting an online resource on which to sell their wares.

Jo Hartigan, Founder of ArtyHarty.com says: “I was finding it more and more difficult to secure new marketing communications contracts, so I decided to set up a new business. Having produced pieces of personalised art for friends and family and having received great feedback, I decided to make it available to others. But, I wanted to make the site not just a gift store but an online marketplace where other artists and designers could showcase and sell their goods too.”

The business is currently looking for quality, UK based artists and designers to partner with and showcase their goods online.

The site specialises in personalised and unique gifts with over 90% of its products made here in Britain. “Today it is more important than ever,” says Jo “that we spend our money here in the UK and support our local economies. We have some great artists, designers and crafters in this country who produce high quality work at prices that won’t break the bank. Of course buying from within the UK helps the environment too as transportation is direct from supplier to buyer and doesn’t travel from manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer and often country to country.”

Anyone based in the UK with a talent for creating handmade gifts with a difference and who wants to sell their products online should email info@artyharty.com with information including some sample pictures. More information can be found online at www.artyharty.com.

A Sandwell-based arts group is planning to bring back the community spirit on a West Bromwich estate by opening up an empty shop and filling it full of fun arts activities for the community along with interesting artefacts of the area’s vibrant past.

The Committee of Lost Memories Shop will open on Saturday(FEB18) in Beaconview Road on the Charlemont Farm Estate.

It will be open for a week and will be filled with visual memories of how the estate looked and operated in years gone by.

Events during the week will include a talk by local historian Terry Price, games activities, community storytelling and a range of arts and crafts activities – all enjoyed in the surrounds of a community café.

It has been set up by arts group Multistory, who have commissioned community artists, Torange Khonsari and Katy Beinart, to develop the Committee of Lost Memories Shop.

The project is jointly funded by Sandwell Council and Arts Council England.

Cabinet member for housing Councillor Simon Hackett said: “As someone who who grew up in the area I would urge everyone to pop along and see what is on offer at the shop. It should bring back some fond memories and I will certainly be popping during the week.”

Multistory works with communities and artists to produce art with, for, and about the people in Sandwell.

It’s work brings together artists and people in communities to develop creative solutions to local issues.

The Committee of Lost Memories Shop is one of Multistory’s ‘Small Change: Creative Projects’, which are currently under way around the country.

These projects tackle a range of social issues such as social exclusion, youth culture and reinvigorating our high streets, by using a range of creative arts activities.

The shop will have multiple functions including:

* acting as an archive space for collecting and displaying artefacts and memories about the estate

* holding classes and activities for ‘local experts’ to share experiences and insights about their neighbourhood today

* generating income from the café which will be reinvested into other community projects on the estate

“The Committee of Lost Memories Shop is a great example of how the arts can transform our high streets back into vibrant, multi-purpose places where people can trade knowledge, skills and friendship as well as goods,” said Jeni Burnell, Small Change Project Associate at Multistory.

Bob Dylan’s phenomenal ‘Train Tracks’ portfolio as a medium format set of four – their single most iconic release to date – is now available for art and Dylan enthusiasts.

This new release, available at Artisan Galleries, marks the fifth year of Bob Dylan’s famed Drawn Blank releases, which have proven immensely popular amongst both critics and art enthusiasts alike. ‘Train Tracks’ has previously been released as a single medium piece and a small portfolio of four, but this is its first time as a medium format set. These previous releases have demonstrated an overwhelming demand for this particular image, and Artisan Galleries is expecting this new set to attract fervent interest from many avid Dylan fans and art collectors, amongst others.

Bob Dylan artwork has achieved great popularity and acclaim, with displays in the Gagosian Gallery and personal backing by John Elderfield, former Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, who has also written a catalogued essay solely about Dylan’s work.

The Danish National Museum is amongst many galleries which have offered hundreds of thousands of pounds to exhibit Dylan’s works, almost all of which have been refused. His Drawn Blank series has become a feature on the must-have lists of the greatest art critics, dealers and buyers in the world, and have been hung alongside everything from Picasso to Gauguin.

“Bob Dylan has achieved great and varied success in his fifty-year career, with five Nobel peace prize nominations and numerous awards to his name, and his artwork has continued to gain more and more acclaim with his Drawn Blank series,” a spokesperson for Artisan Galleries commented.

“Given the huge demand for this release, which looks to be the most coveted and scarcest yet, we strongly advise interested parties to contact their nearest Artisan gallery, or check online immediately for more information. We ask everyone to be aware that availability for these portfolios will be subject to change within minutes and hours, as opposed to weeks or months.”

With £5000 of grant money available to projects uploaded onto their platform, PleaseFund.Us are hoping to fuel the most creative minds across the globe. The “PleaseFund.Us Creatives Grants” were first awarded on the 25th November last year to two lucky project owners. The winners were chosen from all live projects on the site at that time. Grants of £500 and £1000 were awarded to Jonny Miller’s Alakazam iPhone App which has now been successfully funded and Rufus Elliott’s documentary, When Jaws Came to Visit, which is well on its way to reaching its target. PleaseFund.Us want to continue to help those who lack the funds they need to make their ideas happen and are now offering 12 more grants to the most creative projects uploaded to their platform. The 12 winners of the grants (totaling to £5000) will be announced on 23rd February, with £1500 going to the winner.

Crowdfunding has become increasingly popular at a time when funding for the arts has been drastically cut: It has been (and still is) an alternative option for creative minds looking to fund their ideas. The motives vary, the budgets vary, the natures of the projects vary, but the one thing that remains constant is the creativity behind them. PleaseFund.Us are aware of how time-consuming grant applications are, and have subsequently tried to make their criteria as simple and clear as possible.

“Our approach is to make the grant giving process as transparent and easy. We have applied for grants before and frankly the system employed by most grant giving bodies leaves a lot to be desired. We thought that we would make the whole system a lot more simple by awarding grants based on how effectively a project owner is trying to raise money on our platform as shown by our communities support for their project.”

James Bailey, Co-Founder of PleaseFund.Us

The PleaseFund.Us community is based entirely online and the winners of the grant will have to be able to rally the online community and create a following for their project. More specifically, the grants will be awarded based on:
• How many people have pledged towards a campaign (not the amount funded).
• How many times a campaign has been shared on facebook.
• How many tweets a campaign has had on twitter.
• How consistently a campaign has been promoted over the duration of the campaign.
• How the PleaseFund.Us community has reacted to the project.

It sounds simple, and that’s because it really is. As of 23rd February, a funding grant pot of £5000 will be distributed accordingly: 1st Place – 1 winner will receive a £1,500 pledge for their project
2nd Place – 1 winner will receive a £750 pledge for their project
3rd Place – 1 winner will receive a £500 pledge for their project
4th Place – 9 winners will receive a £250 pledge for their projects

If you’ve got an idea, but are lacking the funds you need to make it happen, then have a read through the full guidelines here: http://www.pleasefund.us/help/grants and take a look for yourself. – ENDS-

Website: PleaseFund.Us
Twitter: @PleaseFundUs Facebook: www.facebook.com/PleaseFund.Us Notes to editors

PleaseFund.Us is a crowdfunding platform for creative ideas. The company was launched in September 2011 by two young entrepreneurs, James Bailey and Tarkan Ahmet. The company’s goal: helping creative ideas get the funding that they deserve.

Crowdfunding is a simple concept whereby a large number of people support an idea, each with a relatively small amount of money relative to the total funding required. PleaseFund.Us is the leading UK crowdfunding platform and offers an exciting new way for creative ideas to be financed by a supportive community that is equally passionate about funding creative projects.

For people having interest in art and culture, will want to learn stretching techniques used in canvas art prints, it will be an eye-catching canvas art, if stretched with help of proper techniques. Many of us want to know what exactly we have to do for a perfectly designed canvas prints. It is quite important for us to understand the basics of canvas printing technique. We can’t compromise with a common piece of artwork that is not stretched by following the exact method of stretching, make a nice understanding of the method that is free of complex steps, and a common person will be able to develop canvas art prints by using that method. We can save lots of money by learning canvas printing, as we don’t have to buy readymade canvas prints from market, and we can develop a canvas print by ourselves.

Stretching techniques can be different but the ultimate result that matters for us, and it should be a well organize canvas print to hang on walls, first thing to consider before starting the stretching is, look for material that will be used to develop a canvas, material used for canvas prints includes, stretch bars, scissor, canvas board, staple gun, nails, etc. all those material should be assembled prior to stretching, and all those things should be kept on a board and start the proceedings. Oil paints can be used to paint on canvas, and it is an old method used by people, but now days, people prefer to print by means of digital techniques, printers are used for the purpose, and it is quite important for us to look for the best technique that can save money and reduce the efforts put in.

Wrapping method is the best and most convenient one, as it does not require any special kind of tools, it is a straight-forward technique used that can be utilized by an art lover for latest patterns of canvas prints. Gallery wrapping is a technique used since long time, and it is a traditional method used by artists. The frame used in wrapping techniques should be of superior quality wooden, so as to get long lasting canvas prints. For better life of prints, choose the pattern that does not catch dust particles on surface and keep the frame in prime condition.

Decide the pattern of canvas prints, and do follow all these instructions, it will be nice to go with traditional designs, as they remain in minds for years to come. Our canvas prints can be an artwork piece, which will last for years to come, and there should be no effect of environmental factors on quality of canvas.

It is quite easy to develop wall art prints for home decoration, learn the basics of the technique and do it yourself; it is quite easy and does not require complex procedure.

After capturing your divine moments of life there is confusion on utilizing that marvelous piece of photograph in a way that can preserve it from the atmospheric changes. Canvas prints developed from photographs will remain on walls for longer durations, and that makes it a better option to conserve photographs for generations to come and look on the prints of there ancestors. Canvas prints developed by digital technology are best amongst all, as they are of superior quality and do fall in the category of vintage art pieces. We can go for online shopping at sites, offering discount rates on canvas printing, one of the greatest method to bring back some of the forgotten memories again and again in mind. Enjoy a 20% discount on canvas prints by using MEOGSXEHUONO code at the time of checkouts.

There are different kinds of methods for canvas print development, but most popular and reliable one is by digital printing technique, it brings new texture to the prints, and keeps your print protected from direct sunlight or other environmental factors that can harm the characteristics of prints. Temperature changes affect quality of prints most, as they bring shading of colors used for printing, but a superior quality print will remain the same for entire life without getting affected by means of any type of atmospheric changes.

Keep your canvas prints protected by choosing the right technique for development, without proper knowledge of printing technique a new developer can waste your time and money, so keep the things in mind, and decide on canvas prints according to the specified features mentioned by experts. It is better to place order for prints and then use MEOGSXEHUONO code at the time of checkouts, as it will bring lot of benefits and cost will be reduced to a significant value. The above mentioned code will be valid for 20% discount on any of the canvas prints ordered by customers, and on large orders the discount is sufficient to provide extra benefits in from of saved money. It is not a common discount offers that will be a fraud by developer and clients can’t get the benefits, it is something that can’t be gain from any other service provider.

For superior quality prints to be hang on walls as wall art place order today and take the advantages of discount rates offered by canvas developers. Manage your budget and decide on wall art prints that will enhance the beauty of your houses to a great level of satisfaction. Bring back forgotten memories once again in mind, and cherish your best moments of life, it is the ultimate source of feeling the pleasure of those moments which can’t be regained.

Wall art prints are the best objects to preserve your memories; it brings lots of happiness and joyful moments in life and brings back your magical moments of life again, to cheer and get the pleasant feeling of being special.

23rd January – 2nd March 2012

Frank is a well established Liverpool artist, based at Bridewell Studios, who has been exhibiting regionally and nationally for over 25 years. The artist will be showing a new series of large scale oil on canvas work on the theme of “work in progress”, exploring the ever-changing, mulit-layered nature of landscapes.

This series of recent paintings is an exploration of how landscape can reveal the past; ancient monuments, mystical burial sites, sacred stones and architectural forms often exist side by side with more recent and contemporary constructions. Frank continues:

“The landscape has been witness to a constant ‘work in progress’: to live, build, worship, set rules and moral codes, to celebrate life, dream and ultimately to die. Evidence of this can be found as marks and signs left in a graffiti of symbols embedded in the surface of the landscape. Within this cycle what has gone before is often entombed but in turn forms the foundations of the next generation.
My interest in these ideas has led me to invent and reinterpret these notions in an imaginative way with the playful use of disparate images and forms.”

The exhibition is open to the public from 12-6pm Monday to Friday and by appointment, at dot-art, 16 Queen Avenue, Castle Street, Liverpool, L2 4TX. Please call 0845 017 6660 or see www.dot-art.com for more information or to make an appointment. All work is for sale and admission is free.

We celebrated Christmas with lot of passion and enthusiasm, now waiting for another memorable day of year, valentine day is special for all of us. Lots of shopping goes on for valentine day, it includes valentine day gifts and other important things to make the day memorable. On valentine day, vendors announce discount offers on valentine day gift ideas so as to attract customers. It is a common trend to look for gifts that can express love towards people and we spend lot of money on that particular day. Looking for valentine day gift ideas can be a convenient job, if we go online shopping and select a gift that is expressing every emotion related to love and care for special person in our lives.

For valentine day gifts we can look for different kinds of items, there are countless choices we can search on web. Lot of options available as valentine day gifts, we should buy most appropriate one. Your choice should be unique for gifts on valentine day so as to get a positive response from the girl. Girls like unique ideas for valentine day and if you plan everything exceptionally, then it will be a perfect evening with your partner. Choice of gift should be according to the receiver; it can be a perfect idea to go with options suitable for the person and does not look weird at any stage.

Be creative for valentine day gifts and personalize gifts valentine day will do the trick in a significant way. A gift full of love and care will be required for valentine day, and that will express the deepest feeling without many efforts. At first, find out what are the options that will suit the person, and then visit online valentine day gifts shop to have a look at the available stock for the personalize valentine day gifts. It is important to carry out a brief searching on the stuffs that will suit the person, because without that, you can’t get the amazing experience of valentine day.

There are countless gifts ideas for girls, and your choice will depend on budget and your girl’s flavor. If she enjoy listening music, then an ipod will be perfect to go with. Books also create a magical effect on people interested in reading. Homemade personalize gifts valentine day will be ideal for people close to nature and have a lot of interest in handmade objects.

Create a list of valentine day gifts, and select the best one from that, it will be nice to go with unique ideas for valentine day, make that big with astonishing designs of canvas prints to create a magical gift for your loved one.

Search for unique ideas for valentine day gifts, and get desirable results in quick time, it is good to search online because lot of options available and we can get any of them in affordable prices.

Merry Christmas,

If you feel tired of all those old gifts like perfumes, jewelry, watches bring something new this Christmas eve, choose top quality canvas prints as gift for your husband, and give him a surprise element to feel the warmth of your love, it can be a memorable day with lot of cheerful moments that will be remain in minds for years or say decades, your life partner will feel the essence of your warm wishes in a unique style. Canvas prints are the best objects to hang on walls at the Christmas day, and they will enhance the beauty of the house to a great level of superiority, you don’t need a professional home décor to suggest the options, Canvas Prints will reflect the most amazing feelings within your mind and soul. For a nice offer that will be in your budget, visit any canvas prints shop online and place your order to get instant delivery within UK. No one want to make a repetition with the old methods of gift presentation, try something new this Christmas and choose canvas prints as the modern technique to fit a family photograph on walls.

Choose the pattern of canvas print, and select the frame that will be suitable, it is nice to go with latest trends, so as to make something new on Christmas, canvas prints developed by professionals and it is a well organize method to represent the blessings for a person close to your heart. According to latest trends, canvas art prints are the most desirable item that is preferred by many people as gift on Christmas, it is the ultimate choice for all the people, as they are affordable and doesn’t have high price range to affect our monthly budget, they are accessory items which are perfectly design to impress a person within the limited amount of money.

Look at the collection of canvas prints presented by company on their art gallery, and select a pattern that attracts you, after selecting the design of Canvas Art, choose a picture from your personal collection if you not like the images available at the shop, it will be nice to select a image that is well developed, and resolution is superior to others, a image captured from a digital camera, will be ideal to be developed as canvas art, because it has all the desirable qualities of the canvas art.

If you want to purchase canvas art on discount rates, take the benefits of offers announced by canvas design companies, on the festival of Christmas, every company came up with the latest collection and attractive rates on canvas art prints.

Canvas art prints are superior gift ideas in comparison to other Wall Art paintings, because they will make an impression on people in unique style. Wall art prints can be of any design but the effect generated by them will remain marvelous.

Merry Christmas,

If you are searching a large gift for family at the festival of Christmas, then look out for wall art prints, large wall art prints will be perfect present on the holy occasion; it can be a nice thing to express love and care you share with them. Sometimes it is difficult to find gifts for loved ones, as we don’t have an idea of items that will be perfect for expressing love towards them, family is our life and we should show care for them, it is the festival time when we can present a gift full of our blessings and good wishes for the upcoming year, wall art prints will be ideal choices if we want to spend our money on a worthy thing. Large wall art prints are suitable to be hanging on walls and they can be developed by any company, there are so many companies offering services for development of Wall Art prints and we should take a look at the rates of the prints that will suit our requirements.

Large prints developed on canvas will be most sensitive thing to present, and it will reflect the love towards your wife and kids, bring new hopes in house with a perfectly designed wall art print. Most amazing experience of festival is within house, and we should spend quality time with family so as to avoid all our worries and feel the pleasure of being happiest person in world, while taking rest on couch we can look at the wall art that is hung on walls, it will be a inspiring object that will bring a change in our perception towards life.

Wall art is an awesome gift for anyone close to you; it will be a nice thing to feel that I care I and need your love and affection. Christmas has bring a lot of things with it, and we are completely devoted towards our family for the next week, at that period of time it will be great to give a surprise to the family by purchasing a wall art canvas print that will be in front of your eyes for a long time. Lot of options available as wall art, it can be Floral Canvas Prints that will bring positive energy in house, flower prints are always special for people, because they are the best creation of god till now, and by looking at a Floral Canvas Prints we feel a kind of relief and it inspires to do the favor for people of all society, and we should not make any differences between people on the basis of their social status.

Buy large wall art prints on Christmas, and feel the pleasure of love and happiness with the family, bring something extraordinary at home, and make this festival full of joyful time spent with friends and family.

It will be nice if you select canvas pictures as wall art for home decoration on Christmas, Canvas Pictures can be an item that will bring lot of joy and happiness in your life, take services of canvas pictures developing company and celebrate Christmas in a unique style.