From a rainy Bristol here’s a little art to brighten up your afternoons.

Lurvely jubbly.

In the News

The price of Monet: gone for £40m as confidence in the market stays strong
One of Claude Monet’s large waterlily paintings was sold for £40.1m at a sale in London last night, smashing the world record price for the artist.

The bidding in the St James’ auction room at Christies for Le Bassin aux nymphéas, the most important painting from the waterlily series ever to be offered at auction in Europe, was fierce and prolonged.

It moved up in £500,000 leaps until ending in a fight between three bidders, two on the telephone and one woman at the front of the room.
Read the full article

What are Britains 40 Greatest Paintings?
America has chosen its 40 greatest paintings. Does Britain have the guts to do the same?
Read the full article

Bored by the view? Why not take your flat for a spin?
‘It’s the first building that rotates, moves, and changes shape,” says David Fisher, architect of the Dynamic Tower, the latest proposal for a wacky and costly building in downtown Dubai. The 420-metre-high tower is designed to house 80 flats selling from between £2m and £20m. These will turn independently on a central axis, affording residents 360-degree views of the building sites of Dubai. The power to spin the flats around like some architectural funfair ride will be generated not by the burning of costly Saudi oil, but by wind-driven turbines set between each floor.
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The great ecotown land grab
The government wants to turn an idyllic stretch of Oxfordshire into a ’sustainable’ car-free town. What’s wrong with that? Absolutely everything, says Jonathan Glancey
Read the full article

	Artist Profile: raoul mash An amateur artist , but one who takes it seriously. I used to paint when younger, but stopped after school. I took it up again about ten years ago on a holiday to France and haven’t looked back. View raoul mash’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Joe Hawthorn Hello my name is Joe Hawthorn and I am a self trained artist. I have painted all of my life and in my youth I studied many artforms and artists throughout time. This allowed me develop and create my own style of work. My… View Joe Hawthorn’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: stewart wilson Although my studio is located in the beautiful Derbyshire countryside my subject is urban street life and architectural forms. I paint mainly large canvas with thick oil and I use palette knives and fingers to give a ric… View stewart wilson’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Helen Puk View Helen Puk’s art gallery.

Hi there,

We’ve had some really great art on the site lately and loads of new members signing up. May saw our highest traffic to the site so far this year, so I thought it would be a good time to write a quick newsletter to introduce all the new members and an update for the golden oldies!

I also promised to include a press release for an upcoming exhibition of the work of an apob artist - Alan King, which you’ll find below. If you have a press release or any news you’d like to include in our newsletter just drop me an email and I’ll try and include it at some point.

One last point to mention is the new community section on apob that lets you leave messages and ask questions. We had a forum a little while ago but it was taken over by spammers! This new forum has been written especially for apob.co.uk and is limited to just approved members so should be a lot better - sorry if anyone is looking for prescription drugs lol, you’ll have to look somewhere else.

EXHIBITION OF MASSURREAL ART

The Verwood Hub, Brock Way, Verwood, Dorset, BH31 6WW
Tel. 01202 828740
10 June – 9th July 2008

Alan King is exhibiting his particular brand of Surreal Art in a solo exhibition at the Verwood Hub.

Drawing on his knowledge of computer and commercial design techniques, processes and working methods, Alan has developed his own unique and recognisable style. Strong, bold and rich with colour, his vibrant and vividly surreal landscapes bridge the gap between Surrealist imagery and New Media technique. His mathematically sculptural drawing style leaves in the traditional art aspect while the computer allows him to combine the real and the imagined, creating new and intriguing images.
A member of the International Association of Two and Tree Dimensional Artists, and the Society of All Artists, Alan has exhibited in London, Hungary, Germany, Argentina, Italy and Portugal. His work has also been accepted into the Museum Of Computer Art in New York.
As well as doing solo shows in and around Dorset he also does group shows with the Poole & East Dorset Art Society at the Peacock Gallery in Poole, and with the WET-PIXELS digital art group which he founded and runs.
A compilation of Alan’s artwork is about to be published and will soon be available on Amazon.co.uk

Gallery open from 8.00 am until 5pm every day. FREE Admission
Disabled access.
For further details visit www.kingart.co.uk

	Artist Profile: Jason cox Male and green View Jason cox’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Melvyn Randall View Melvyn Randall’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Stephen Quick Stephen Richard Quick (BA) has been a commercial artist for 10 years and exhibits across the South West of the UK. His work for the last four years has been primarily as a filmmaker, so these current paintings reflect an… View Stephen Quick’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Helen Puk View Helen Puk’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Alan King View Alan King’s art gallery.

If you’re at a loose end this weekend head down to the Passenger Shed at Temple Meads, Bristol for this years Affordable Art Fair. We were lucky enough to have a sneak preview last night and were really impressed by the amount of quality of art on show. Paintings were being sold left, right and centre which is always great to see.

So if your looking to buy some art between £50 - £3,000, or if you’re just curious, go along. It will cost you £5 on the door. Check out their website for full information.
http://www.affordableartfair.com

Check out this wall painted animation by Blu. Painted on public walls in Buenos Aires and in Baden (fantoche). It really takes your breath away.. The time and effort that must have gone into making it is astonishing!
http://www.vimeo.com/993998

Have a nice weekend,
Tom

	Artist Profile: Charles Lee Charles grew up in Hampshire England. His second home is Los Angeles California, where he has spent the last 4 years, studying the media industry and selling and exhibiting his works. Currently living back in Europe, He … View Charles Lee’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Jane Cartney Contemporary Scottish Art - Jane Cartney is a Scottish artist who specializes in oil painting and prints. Her work is inspired by form and colour, either in the landscape or in architecture. Recent … View Jane Cartney’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Nadege Druzkowski View Nadege Druzkowski’s art gallery.

Spring is finally here, and we’re coming up to the first of two lovely May bank holidays! So I thought I’d take this opportunity to tell you about a couple of great exhibitions and fairs coming up over the next couple of weeks.

If you’re at a loose end in London this weekend, you might be interested in taking a look at the dank Eurostar tunnel which is temporarily being turned into a huge art gallery for the work of some of the most respected international graffiti artists. The exhibition, entitled ‘The Cans Festival’ promises to be quite a spectacle. The private viewing is tonight and early visitors included Kevin Spacey, the actor and artistic director of the Old Vic. So if you own a stencil and like drawing on walls without the fear of prosecution now’s your chance to join the likes of Banky. Just head down to Leake Street, London on the 3rd, 4th, 5th of May. Check out their website for further details.

If that’s not your sort of thing, then make sure you don’t miss the affordable art fair being held in Bristol on the 16th-18th May.

“55 galleries will exhibit a fresh line-up of contemporary paintings, sculpture, photography and original prints - all priced between £50 and £3,000.”

Again take a look at the website for further details.

So all that remains now is for me to showcase some of the best art I’ve noticed on the site in recent weeks. I particularly liked logging into the site this morning and seeing Rocky! Great work

Until next time…

	Artist Profile: Trevor Heath A lifetime of art. Trevor Heath’s art school training started in 1960 when art schools were about to become the birthplace of much of the music and pop art at the forefront of Britain’s swinging 60s. After two years… View Trevor Heath’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: hanne find I’m born in 1965 in Denmark, where I still live. I started to paint some years ago. My paintings are both figurative and nonfigurative. I havent found “the only way to paint for me”, - so my paintings have a differe… View hanne find’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Dianne Elsworth Welcome to my apob gallery. I am a self-taught painter living in the Derbyshire Dales, England. I am inspired by the moody landscape, changing weather and historic architecture that surrounds me. I have been painting pro… View Dianne Elsworth’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Minimal magic Hi there I am a self representing artist from the west Yorkshire region, who mainly specialises in creating modern abstract art. I am well renowned for my unique metal leaf artwork, which has been adored by many art love… View Minimal magic’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: stewart wilson Although my studio is located in the beautiful Derbyshire countryside my subject is urban street life and architectural forms. I paint mainly large canvas with thick oil and I use palette knives and fingers to give a ric… View stewart wilson’s art gallery.

Hi, and a special welcome to all our new members who have joined apob over the past couple of months, it’s great to have your art online at apob and I hope you’ve managed to get your galleries setup ok. We’ve seen a fantastic selection of new art uploaded to the site recently, some of which I’ve included in this email.

Now, just a few other notices.

Your Own .co.uk Artist Portfolio Website for £10/month

I know quite a few people have commented that they would like their very own website but don’t know the best way to set one up. Well we now have the perfect solution for you; a new, out of the box, artist website for artists and photographers.

In a nutshell it’s very easy to customise, and you just have to pay monthly for the site which includes your very own .co.uk website address as well as website hosting. It’s currently just £10/month for apob members and you can have a great little portfolio website and even take payments online with PayPal. We’ve created this specifically with artists and photographers galleries in mind and I believe you’d really be very hard pushed to find a better deal. Visit artist-websites.co.uk to learn more.

That’s pretty much it for now, so I hope you’ve had a great bank holiday break.

Until next time.

	Artist Profile: Helen Weston I am 32 years of age and painting is my life, I paint In oil mainly but my sketches are generally in all differant types of medium. I Studied silk screen printing and design at the London College of Printing and dis… View Helen Weston’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: stewart wilson Although my studio is located in the beautiful Derbyshire countryside my subject is urban street life and architectural forms. I paint mainly large canvas with thick oil and I use palette knives and fingers to give a ric… View stewart wilson’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Paul Human Paul Human: English painter, graphic artist, singer, songwriter and designer. Paul was born in a maisonette in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire in 1959. After completing his eduation in the local compr… View Paul Human’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Ben Hardman View Ben Hardman’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Lynda Pedley I have enjoyed drawing and painting for as long as I can remember, and apart from lessons from my father when I was a small child, I am basically self-taught. I have painted as a hobby for more than 40 years, first in o… View Lynda Pedley’s art gallery.

All the best things in life are free…

Google, Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, Gmail and now apob!

We’ve scrapped the £15/year basic membership as it was confusing and a bit of a nightmare to administer. I also felt it was holding the site back and acting as a barrier to new artists joining and showing off their work. So it’s gone! If you’ve got a subscription for the basic membership setup then please cancel it with Paypal and your gallery will be as safe as ever. All I ask is that you sign in now and then and upload some new work for all of us to admire! Oh and of course tell everyone that apob.co.uk is the best place to see great art from UK artists.

I’ve picked out a few more of my favourite pieces from the site lately, so please let me know what you think.

Also if you have 5 minutes you might like to take a look at another site we’ve been frantically working on lately called NaturalBornShopper.com. Create a page of stuff you’d recommend to others and earn money when people use your page for their shopping. It’s very easy and pretty cool. (If I do say so myself) and also of course free.

	Artist Profile: Paul Oz I am a self taught artist who returned to painting 15 years after being advised to follow an academic career path over art - so the balance is finally being restored! Please leave comments! Constructive criticism is alwa… View Paul Oz’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Stephen Quick Stephen Richard Quick (BA) has been a commercial artist for 10 years and exhibits across the South West of the UK. His work for the last four years has been primarily as a filmmaker, so these current paintings reflect an… View Stephen Quick’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Basia Roszak View Basia Roszak’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Andrew Mac Gregor The Pieces I Produce Are In Some Part A Form Of therapy As In Life I Find It Very Difficult To Express The Way I Perceive My Connection With The People Around Me And The Guiding Philosophies That Rule My Life View Andrew Mac Gregor’s art gallery.

Hi,

I hope everyone’s had a great Christmas break and recovered from all New Years celebrations!

We’ve just had our 400th member sign up to the site, which is pretty cool. So I thought I’d send a little selection of some of the latest art uploaded.

For those of you with even more money to spend after Christmas. The Winter sale has started at ArtRepublic!. They are offering a very tasty 15% off their normal prices.

Having been to their real life shop in Brighton, I can tell you they have loads of really cool stuff. It might not be the cheapest place online to buy art, but it’s definitely the coolest! They offer free delivery as well, so it’s worth a look.

Happy New Year and all the best for 2008.

	Artist Profile: Christine Derrick Christine began painting in late 1973, as an evening-class student. Despite the distractions of full-time work and higher education courses in laboratory sciences, she maintained all her art interests and began to partic… View Christine Derrick’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Rick Shipley I am a graffiti artist based in Braford West Yorkshire. I have been painting graffiti for 21 years. Visit my website to see samples of my work. View Rick Shipley’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Tina Ashton Tina Ashton Biography/Brief CV/Introduction to the Artist When Tina left school she also left behind her desire to paint and draw since she followed advice to explore a more academic route! However,… View Tina Ashton’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Dmitry Guskov Dmitry’s subjects are creatures from real and imaginative worlds and his inspiration comes from two different (or similar?) sources: nature and dreams. In his paintings Dmitry concentrates on subjects’ personality often … View Dmitry Guskov’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Debbie Wardle Hi my name is Debbie Wardle, I live in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire England have been painting now for just over 2 years my teacher, mentor and friend is a great man called Mr Ken Charlesworth a wonderful artist himself View Debbie Wardle’s art gallery.
	Artist Profile: Sam Bridge Recent Graduate. View Sam Bridge’s art gallery.

Exhibition Opportunity
The Brick Lane gallery would like to hear from visual artists interested in exhibiting in 2008. The Art in Mind group exhibitions are an ongoing schedule throughout the beginning of 2008.

Exhibition Opportunity
2 spaces left in the “Art in Mind” 9th - 21st January 2008 - opening 9th January 6-9pm
For interested artists contact info@thebricklanegallery.com

There’s never been a better time to invest in art, and in particular it would seem graffiti art is taking the auction houses by storm.

Last month the biggest auction yet of original works by cult artist Banksy exceeded its estimated price by £200,000. Buoyed by Hollywood A-lister fans the Bristol artist is changing the way people perceive and appreciate an otherwise under-appreciated and often scorned art form.

But even if graffiti art isn’t your thing, buying art has always been a relatively solid investment. Just 6 years ago Hugh Grant, star of films such as “Notting Hill” and “Bridget Jones’ Diary,” bought “Liz (Colored Liz)” at a Sotheby’s auction for just $3.6 million. This year he received a whopping $21 million in an auction at Christie’s in New York, for the 1963 Andy Warhol portrait of Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor. That’s a growth of almost $5 million dollars for every year in his possession.

Now we don’t all have the spending capacity and funds of Hollywood actors, but there’s never been a better time to invest in the ‘Warhols’ of tomorrow.

This weekend sees the return of the North Bristol Art Trail, featuring the works of dozens of artists from around the region. From photography to jewellery, woodturning to textiles, there’s surely something for everyone and it’s a great day out. So instead of getting your friends and family another boring mass produced present this Christmas, why not give them something unique… You never know they might REALLY thank you for it one day!

References:
North Bristol 2007 Art Trail
Lloyds.com - Graffiti art worth millions - but can it be insured
Hugh Grant Sells Warhol Portrait of Elizabeth Taylor

How cool is this!? I don’t think anyone can complain about this type of graffiti!

http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/01/11/reverse-graffiti/

For thirty-six weeks, a sketchbook was sent in random order between four artists: two in Brooklyn, two in Belfast.

Every Wednesday, one participant would receive book. The following Monday it was sent out, giving each artist five days to complete a spread in response to the one that preceded it.

A small portion of each entry extend on to the following page. Beyond this, there was no communication between the artists concerning the content of book during its making.

book’s first trip across the Atlantic was on 2nd June, 2003. It’s final trip was on 2nd February, 2004. By the time it was completed, book had travelled over sixty thousand miles.

Here is book.