Owner: Arteccentrix Art Blog URL:http://arteccentrix.wordpress.com Join Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2006 06:42:49 -0500 Rating:1 Site Description: Ever wondered what goes on in an abstract artist's mind........? This is the weblog of working Cayman Islands artist Nickola McCoy. The painter discusses art and artists from around the world, shares her views on a variety of other topics in this part jou Site statistics:Click here
MyArtPlot.com Review 2007-02-27 03:09:08 MyArtPlot.com
Ever inquisitive, I decided to pay them a visit and see what it was all about. The first thing to note is that the site is still in its infancy (and still in Beta) but the people behind it do seem to have put a lot of thought into what they believe so many artists and lovers would like to see. The idea of an online community connecting artists and art lovers, to enable a free flow of information, critique and discussion plus a marketplace for people to sell/buy original artwork, is not a new one, and whether MyArtPlot will succeed will depend on a great number of factors.
The first thing in their favour is that the site is free to join which will encourage many people to sign up. The site itself seems pretty user friendly and its design is reasonable, if not really stunning. Navigation and page loading is fast and it’s pretty easy for potential buyers to find whatever interests them - always a plus when online art galleries are so often crammed to overflow Read more:com Review
Abstract Art Isn’t Really Art!……Or Is It? 2007-03-04 17:40:53 The endless arguments surrounding abstract expressionism have raged for decades and, no doubt will continue to do so. Here, the writer takes us through his arguments as to the validity, worth and justification for abstraction and what it means to him, both as an art lover and artist. Whichever side of the fence you sit on - it’s absorbing stuff!
read more | digg story
Read more:Abstract
, Abstract Art
Understanding Abstract Art….Is It Possible? 2007-03-04 17:40:05 The heated opinions that are aroused by abstract art never fail to fascinate but here we take a calm look at how it all came about in this piece by artist Harley Hahn where he tackles the explanation of a complex and divisive subject.
read more | digg story
Read more:Abstract
, Understanding
, Possible
Abstract Art Is NOT Abstract And Definitely Not Art! 2007-03-04 17:39:02 As part of my abstract Sunday, here is an article from Fred Ross slamming abstraction in any and every form - his qualifications are impeccable but do you agree with his philosophy? Have your say in the ongoing and emotive argument and read the counter claims in the previous posts.
read more | digg story
Read more:Abstract
, Abstract Art
New Art Portal - ArtAndPainting.net 2007-03-04 16:25:18 I discovered this new art portal whilst checking through Digg this morning. The site includes art history, styles and movements, schools and thoughts, a wide selection of art books; art links, world’s famous artists, art education and art galleries plus links to countless art blogs. Art lovers and artists alike should find sommething here to interest them.
read more | digg story
Read more:Portal
, New Art
New Online Art Gallery From Arteccentrix 2007-03-06 06:15:53 I finally got tired of the amateurish looking page on this blog where I had posted one or two pictures of my artwork!
I am pleased to say that thanks to my clever hubby I now have a completely new gallery hosted on a different server - there are still a lot of paintings to be added but it’s up and running for anyone who would like to take a look. If you click on the Arteccentrix Gallery
tab above the link is posted there, but, for the time being you can Visit The New Gallery By Clicking Here (opens a new window and uses Flash so please be patient if your connection is a slow one).
Please let me know what you think of the new layout and if you encounter any navigational difficulties!
Nickola
Read more:Art Gallery
Framing Options For Artists? 2007-03-07 04:27:33 A quick posting today as I have been working so hard on the painting front!
Three more paintings were delivered to the gallery last week - “Vertigo”, “Peek-A-Boo” and “Walks On Water” now reside at the Morgan Gallery. You can view them there or at my Arteccentrix online gallery. and I’ve includeda shotof Peek-A-Boo below to brighten things up a little.
I also took them two new paintings today, one named “Icarus” and the other entitled “Newborn Tide”. The reactions from people, as ever with my work, seemed mixed, but I am very pleased with them both and think they are some of the best I have done recently. I did expect some reservations, but I’m confident in their merit.
As I omitted to take any pictures before leaving them at the gallery there will be a delay in showing them online.
“Blue Moon” has finally been sold to one of my very loyal private collectors on the island - as it was a direct sale Read more:Options
, Artists
Subscribe To Arteccentrix RSS Feed 2007-03-08 20:09:21 Tired of checking back on the blogs you like to read for updates? - make things easier with RSS feeds.
If you don’t know anything about RSS, don’t be put off - here is a quick explanation of how to use the feed for Arteccentrix Art Blog.
1) The simplest way - look at the sidebar to your right and you will see “Feedburner Syndicated”. Click on the first icon “Feedblitz”. A new page opens, fill in your email address and click on “Subscribe
Me”. Check your email and confirm your subscription. You’re done - each time the blog is updated you will receive a notification in your inbox and you can read new content from there. No software needed, just a couple of clicks - easy!
2) If you have your homepage in your browser set to Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL etc, click on the appropriate icon and follow the instructions. (If there is no icon for your chosen homepage use the feed icon at the top of the list, just below the Feedblitz one). Then
The Morgan Gallery 2007-03-08 05:25:30 In recent weeks The MorganGallery
has featured heavily in my posts and I thought it about time to dedicate a little more space to their business on these pages.
The gallery is owned and run by Geraldine Morgan and her husband Steve Byars and is situated in the Galleria Plaza on Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman. They established the premises post Hurricane Ivan, having moved to the island in August 2004. The gallery was soon attracting attention and was featured in the CayCompass in August 2005 which was around the time I was leaving the island for my extended stay in the UK.
Concentrating very much on fine art, the gallery space is very clean and bright and it strikes you when you walk through its doors that the one thing it lacks is the sense of intimidation that often accompanies high end galleries. Its doors are open to everyone who cares to step inside and view the artworks on display, and the floor to ceiling glass frontage encourages you to look inside and see what is goi
On Becoming An Artist 2007-03-09 03:59:59 Always on the lookout for third party comment on this blog I thought I would share the following article with you - I think it will be of interest to artists and ‘non-artists’ alike. Your comments, as always, are welcomed.
On Becoming
An Artist
by Charles Griffith
How does one become an artist? It makes sense to start with this broad topic, rather than the fundamentals of drawing, painting, etc, because this is the basic framework for everything else. To say that a person is “born” to be an artist is a romanticized cop-out. Some people may have a greater aptitude for learning the craft, but the inclination towards art is shaped by a person’s experiences and the influences they encounter in life. I could easily be a jockey today if I had grown up around the race track. Instead I grew up in an environment where artistic and intellectual pursuits were encouraged.
In it’s most basic form, the desire to create art is all that’s really needed in the
Do You Blog About Art? 2007-03-10 19:53:09 I”m looking to build a page on this blog containing links to quality blogs about art, artists, art history, art discussion - everything art really.
The intention is to build something a little more detailed than a simple blogroll tucked away on a sidebar. If you think you would like to see a mini feature on your blog please click on the tab at the top of this page to Links/Blogs and submit your information to us there. We will review all sites sent to us and send you a confirmation once we have inluded your details. This does not imply that we guarantee to list you nor how long it might take!
I know there are a lot of art blogs out there and how difficult it can be to get noticed, hopefully this will help us all!
Nickola
Social Bookmarking & Feeds 2007-03-12 04:41:14 This is not an art related post but one I think will be of interest to bloggers everywhere.
Having only just written a quick help guide on RSS feeds for non techies, I discovered a wonderful blogging tool which users of all blogging platforms will find indispensible. Only wish I’d found it sooner!!
You will notice that I have two new buttons at the top of my sidebar - I have been looking for something like this for an age and wanted to share the discovery even if it may not be news to many people.
It is the simplest, neatest, most efficient way to add social bookmarking tags to your blog and blog posts. Setting it up is free and easy for people using Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad, Moveable Type, MySpace and many others. Having one button for all social bookmark sites and another for feed subscriptions saves so much clutter. Verdict - I LOVE this little tool.
You can see how the buttons work by clicking on them. Want these excellent little add-ons for your own blog, we Read more:Social
, Bookmarking
, Social Bookmarking
Cayman Watercolour 2007-03-12 20:13:58 I found this painting in my archives the other day, which was a bit of a puzzle as I didn’t recall painting it, and I don’t use watercolours!
I thought perhaps it was an image someone had downloaded from the web in the dim and distant past, maybe I had even done it myself. It was so very familiar though……..when I mentioned it to my husband he grinned and came over all mischevious. After having his fun he finally fessed up that he was the one responsible - I was surprised to say the least as he is not the painting kind and how on earth could he have found the time to produce a painting without me knowing a thing about it?
The answer is obvious of course……Photoshop, the perverter of so many images. He’d been fooling around with his image editing software and left this picture for me to find! OK, so it’s a phony, but I thought he did a pretty good job, and it serves as a reminder that faking things in this digital age is a very simple Read more:Cayman
Links for 2007-03-11 [Furl] 2007-03-12 07:00:00
http://arteccentrix.wordpress.com/2007/0 3/12/social-bookmarking-feeds/
Preparing For Cayman Islands Million Dollar Race 2007-03-14 23:40:44 The Million Dollar
Race is on!
This Easter holidays sees the return of one of Cayman
’s most exciting sporting events, but my race begins much sooner. Having been asked to exhibit some pieces for the big day, I have been giving a lot of thought to exactly what I should do for the show. The trouble is I’ve been thinking about it for a tad too long and now my own race is on to get things done in time! I am intending to produce 6 to 8 paintings and received an email this morning asking for some images for the pre-event publicity - gulp.
There is nothing like a challenge is there? I have until the end of the week so I’m pretty confident it’s a challenge I can rise to and I’m quite excited about the paintings.  Watch this space for how things come along, although the blog may have to take a back seat for a few days.
The event kicks off on Easter weekend, April 13 and you can find out more at the MDR Official Website and a list of a host of other up Read more:Islands
, Cayman Islands
, Million Dollar
Art Blog Links 2007-03-18 18:59:14 Hi Everyone
I am making a very quick post today and it’s rather business like. I am going to embark on a blogroll cleaning excercise, the plan being to remove all those who don’t reciprocate. If you are currently on the blogroll and don’t link back to me at present, your link will be removed within the next week or so, unless of course you let me know otherwise
My main reason for this is that my traffic is growing rapidly and I think it only fair in this hugely crowded blog world that we give what we get.
If you would prefer more exposure than just a blogroll entry, click on the Links tab at the top of this page and apply for a reciprocal link back to your own site.
That’s all for today, enjoy your Sunday, I’ll be back after the weekend!
Nickola
$100 in FREE Links
Get Reviewed At ReviewMe!
Defining Abstract Art 2007-03-18 02:21:19 Continuing the recent series here at Arteccentrix exploring abstract art, I am publishing another third party’s take on abstraction in its various forms. I think it is fair to say, based on recent feedback, that the debate surrounding the validity of abstract art will rage on and on for a long, long time. I hope that this article will help explain to the uninitiated, a little more about abstract, modern and contemporary painting.
As an artist, abstraction is my first love, to me, there is nothing more challenging or rewarding than completing a painting that I feel is completely original and reflects the emotions, inspiration and maybe meaning that I set out to express.
Defining Abstract
Art by Lynne Taetzsch
The term “abstract art” is like the term “modern music” in the sense that it is a very broad umbrella sheltering a wide variety of art. But like “abstract math,” the general sense of the term is that it is the opposite of the concrete, or “realism.” At one
RSS Feed Modified - Please Subscribe Again 2007-03-20 01:23:24 I have had to modify my feed address and am asking all my wonderful subscribers to please amend your feeds either by using the Add Me button in the sidebar of my blog or by using the following new url:-
http://feeds.feedburner.com/pheedo/WfpR
Thank you everyone and apologies for the hassle.
Nickola
Read more:Please
, Subscribe
, Again
, RSS Feed
Welcome The Pain 2007-03-21 00:59:30
Two years ago I watched the film “Frida Kahlo” which starred Salma Hayek. I was riveted to my seat by what I saw and could not help but relate to it. Today I stumbled upon this site about Mrs. Kahlo-Rivera and I was again reminded of how much I understand this woman and the pains she endured, both physical and emotional. Throughout this suffering, no excuses were made, she loved and lived with a vitality that is remarkable under her circumstances. The love she shared with her partner Diego Rivera, an artist of equal repute, is unquestionable. I can appreciate the passion she felt for someone who understood her as no other. My new husband is not only a friend, but a partner and a soul mate. He understands the creative being that I am, which is a bit bewildering as sometimes I am not even sure I understand me all that much.
As an artist I understand the freedom that comes with physical and emotional pain. Many artists will tell you, upon reflection, that they work best under dures Read more:Welcome
A Real Chance For New Artists 2007-03-20 23:16:55 As an artist I have always found myself greatly influenced by music and it is rare for me to be sitting at this keyboard without music blaring from my speakers, and my painting is usually done with the sounds cranked up even higher.
I love to listen to new artists performing rock, country, R&B, soul……you name it and I’ll give it a test drive, so I was especially pleased to find a new site called Unsigned.com This excellent site is showcasing over 2000 bands and performers who are still waiting for that elusive break. As artists, many of us know what that can be like.
Covering every musical style imaginable it is set to be pretty addictive for music fans. You can register for a free listener’s account now, although you’ll have to wait a bit for access.
Whether you are a fan or an aspiring singer or band, Unsigned.com could be just what you are looking for. The plethora of upcoming features and its already large artist roster suggest that it is going to be making a lot of n Read more:Artists
Rehabilitation 2007-03-23 17:26:50 As someone from relatively humble beginnings and through working with both prisons and other correctional facilities, I have often come face to face with the problems caused by addiction. My late brother suffered with addiction to drugs and alcohol and another of my brothers ruined his life by following similar paths. Anyone who has lived with its consequences will know just how difficult and heartbreaking it can be.
When I came across the website of the Stone Hawk rehabilitation centre in my travels around the web I decided that they were worthy of the publicity they were seeking. Located in south central Michigan, in a beautiful lakeside setting, the centre was founded by Dr Kellog (the man responsible for developing Kellog cereals) and their success rates working with sufferers of both drug addiction and alcoholism are impressive. You can read many testimonials at the website, which contains in depth information about both the treatments they employ and the wide variety of addictio Read more:Rehabilitation
Artist's Projects In Progress 2007-03-22 20:31:08 Wow, where to begin with this update?
I posted a short time ago about the Million Dollar Race and am happy to say that I have managed to finish at least half of the paintings I hope to exhibit. I’ve not posted any images here yet as I don’t wish to prejudice the pre-show publicity that the gallery are spending a great deal of effort on - thanks Morgan Gallery! I am contributing pieces in a wide variety of styles and sizes, including abstracts, semi-abstracts and representational - for both my loyal readers and my own satisfaction I am allowing myself the indulgence of showing you one painting today…..as yet untitled, this is a monochrome acrylic on canvas
The show is fast approaching and I still have much to do, but I’m confident now that the paintings will all be finished in time.
Other projects on the horizon are many and varied. I have been commissioned by a private buyer to produce a painting of old Cayman in a similar vein to the Bygone Cayman Series, Read more:Artist
, Projects
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