Art gallery marketplace www.DiscoveredArtists.com reports that portraits of flowers are second only to landscapes in popularity among artists and art buyers.

Floral and botanical artworks range in style from anatomically correct fine art photos of wide open blooms, to wild abstract and surreal art composed of smatterings of color suggestive of buds, leaves and stems.  Media formats also are widely varied.  Art gallery images of flowers and plants range from fine art photographs to hand painted watercolors and oils, and even to dried flowers that are pasted into montages and collages.

But, three main categories of floral art are most popular with artists and art buyers. They include fine art photographs, traditional oil paintings, and classic watercolors.

Fine art photos typically are photographed at high resolution in extreme close-ups.  Artists use special, macro lenses to magnify and capture the tiny details of a flower's anatomy and hold it in sharp focus.  Capturing a drop of moisture on a petal, a spec of pollen on the stamen, or a flower's delicate filaments in exactly the right light is what creates a magnificent artwork prized by the artist and by the art buyer.

When professionally enlarged for use as wall art these photographs can be striking, and are especially popular with interior designers, collectors, and of course, flower gardeners.  Limited editions of these artworks signed and numbered by the artist heighten the value and the excitement in owning them.

But, floral artworks that are printed on stretched, wrapped canvas are quickly becoming the most popular format of home decorators.  This format combines the look of a traditional oil painting with the impact of a fine art photo, and is especially effective for showcasing floral art.  The method called Giclee processing preserves the color and detail so important to the artist and the art collector.

Study in Blue by fine art photographer Kevyn Moss is a triptych on canvas.  The digitally enhanced photograph depicts different personalities of the same flower type with a variety of fascinating shapes and textures. The subject of the photograph is a blue waterlily of the family Nymphaea.  The three separate artworks measure 14" x 37" when hung as shown.  As an example, a floral artwork on canvas like Study in Blue will sell for around $250.  Fine art prints on paper typically sell for under $50.While fine art prints effectively capture nature's intricate details, traditional oil paintings are a close second in showcasing the color and texture of florals and botannicals.  Hand applied brush strokes that create lifelike, colorful copies of complicated blooms continue to challenge artists and to please art buyers.

Much study goes into learning how to paint a flower.  Each bloom is unique, made up of a number of different complex parts, soft, rounded shapes and subtle shades of color.  The learning process prompts many artists to paint series of the same type of bloom in the same position and light over and over again.  Each painting in a series becomes more accurate and more striking as the artist perfects his technique.Praise by fine artist Stephen Hackley is a beautiful bright gerber daisy, painted with a view of a flower we don't normally see.  The oil on canvas is an oversized 60" x 48" of the bloom which in the words of the artist "has her petals outstretched, acknowledging life and singing out to whoever will hear."

On a different level in intensity than oil paintings like Praise, watercolors can be the most abstract of popular types of floral art.  Watercolor artists typically paint in an impressionist style where details are less important than the impression or the idea of the artwork.

Watercolor paint and the process lends itself to blurred lines and muted colors, and is especially apropriate for painting natural subjects.  Its delicate transparancy is well suited to images of equally delicate, transparant petals and leaves.  But, when combined with pen and ink a watercolor can show as much or more detail as an oil painting.  Illustrators who use watercolor to enhance pen and ink drawings of botannicals create highly prized, collectible artworks by integrating impressionism with technical drawing.

Grace is a 16.5" x 22.5" fine art watercolor by artist Patrice Dobyn.  The painting won third place in a juried competition for its color and composition.  The artist's works sell in the range of $300 to $400 for an original watercolor like Grace, which is hand painted on acid free paper.With lovely artworks like Grace and a passion to recreate the color and shapes of natural flowers it's clear that floral art will continue to be most popular with artists and with art buyers.  The varied shapes, vibrant colors and uniqueness of each bloom offer a wonderful challenge to artists.  And, for art buyers, owning or collecting floral art creates a year round bouquet that never fades or wilts.  A floral art gallery is always in bloom and never, ever needs watering.

About DiscoveredArtists.comwww.DiscoveredArtists.com is a marketplace for buying and selling original and limited edition artworks.  Independent artists sell directly to the general public.  Prices are set by the artists and artwork is shipped from the artist's studio.   All major credit cards are accepted.  Artwork may be purchased online and is backed by a satisfaction guarantee of a full refund plus return shipping expense.

The author is Business Development manager for DiscoveredArtists.com an online marketplace for buying and selling original artwork. She is focused on promoting the use of original and limited edition artwork for home decorating.
Mission: Original Art for Everyman !
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The Fenimore Art Museum is that rare art museum where one can see diverse collections of American art in rich and eclectic exhibitions. William Sidney Mount, Thomas Cole, Gilbert Stuart, Benjamin West, E.L. Henry, Eastman Johnson, Thomas Waterman, John Wesley Jarvis, Grandma Moses and Ralph Fasanella are all represented in the museum's holdings.

Comprising nearly 850 art objects, the Native American art collection is widely recognized as one of the nation's premier collections of American Indian art. Representing a broad geographic range of North American Indian cultures, including Northwest Coast, Woodlands, Prairie, Plateau, Plains, Southwest, California, The Great Basin, Arctic and Subarctic, The New York Times described it as "a collection any museum in the world should envy."

The exhibition explores the extraordinarily diverse forms of visual expression in Native American heritage. Organized by geographic culture areas, the objects were chosen both for their high artistic quality and to provide insight into the complex cultural, aesthetic and spiritual meanings embedded in the art. The objects span 20 centuries dating from pre-history to today, and celebrate the continuing vitality of Native American art.

Fenimore's folk art collection is one of the nation's largest and finest. Begun with extensive gifts from Stephen C. Clark, the collection includes a variety of paintings, ship figureheads, quilts, weathervanes, trade signs, cigar-store figures, carvings, and decorated stoneware, all created by American folk artists. The oldest piece in the collection, a seven-foot-long panel on which Hudson River Valley painter John Heaton depicted the Martin Van Bergen farmstead in 1733, is considered to be the earliest scene of everyday life ever painted in this country.

The fine art collection contains some of the best examples of American landscape, history, and genre painting. The works of Hudson River School painters are well represented and include Thomas Cole's Last of the Mohicans and Asher B. Durand's Hudson River Looking Toward the Catskills. Historical portraits include Gilbert Stuart's Joseph Brant, Ralph Earl's Baron Von Steuben, and Benjamin West's Robert Fulton.

In addition to the permanent collections, the Fenimore Art Museum has won critical acclaim in recent years for its exhibitions showcasing American masters such as Winslow Homer, Frederic Remington, Grandma Moses, and John Singer Sargent. The museum's traveling exhibitions program has reached hundreds of thousands of people across the country.

­Dr. Paul S. D'Ambrosio is Vice President and Chief Curator at the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, NY

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But, have you ever considered collecting art? Take a look around at the art on your walls to see if there's a common thread or theme that emerges. Do you have a number of florals? More than one landscape? Or, maybe you have a budding art collection of pieces purchased on trips you've taken.

Of course, when we talk about paintings, we're talking about real art. Art that's created by actual, living artists. Not art you'd buy in a department store. So, if you have that kind of art - real art - you can stop thinking of it as a bunch of paintings, and turn it into a budding art collection.

Here's a wonderful example of real art that's collectible and affordable.  This fine art photo could be the beginning of a wonderful Americana art collection.  There are literally thousands of artists who artfully document everything American, including this example of a vintage sign advertising the last privately owned bar in Fort Lee, New Jersey.  The artwork titled The Last One is a 20" x 24" print available for $125 from fine art photographer Nick D'Andrea. http://www.discoveredartists.com/.

A collection of vintage, neon bar signs or advertising symbols from the 1950's could create an interesting, decorative art wall while at the same time become an enjoyable pursuit as you hunt for more Americana artwork.

But, the subject area for art collection themes is wide open.  For example if you absolutely love cityscapes and have photos of skylines and skyscrapers, before you know it you're an Architectural Art Collector. Or, if you have a couple of floral or animal prints, and begin collecting similar pieces, you can build a collection of botannicals or nature artworks

Believe it or not, chickens and cows are very big with collectors.  These are creatures that artists particularly like to paint, often because of the challenge of turning fur and feathers into interesting, lifelike figures with personality.  Rooster 25 is a perfect example of an artist who took on and met the challenge.  This fierce looking bird already has his feathers ruffled, ready to strike without provocation.  The painting is an original 12" x 12" oil on canvas by artist Ilse Kleyn and sells for $100 in the artist's DiscoveredArtists.com gallery. http://www.discoveredartists.com/

So, all you really need to do to become an art collector is to put some thought into your art buying. Before you know it, instead of just buying art, you'll be collecting art.  Decide on a theme based on art that appeals to you. Perhaps you love raku vases, or glass art. Or, maybe you're attracted to bronze figurines. If you're into wall art then cityscapes and watercolors from a particular country could become a theme for your collection.

 Cityscape at Dusk is a wonderfully warm, inviting photo that captures a moment in time at the intersection of North, Damen and Milwaukee Avenues in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood. Collecting photos and original art that takes you back to places you've visited or neighborhoods where you once lived adds meaning to the art that you use to decorate your home or office.  This fine art photo by photographer Kurt Kramer can be purchased for $90 in his online gallery at DiscoveredArtists.com and is just one in a series of collectible, big city neighborhood cityscapes.

So, as you can see, there's no end and no limit to the types of themes for collecting art. In fact, many collectors just buy what they like and create collections comprised of favorite artworks. These are collections that bring the owner years of pleasure and great satisfaction.

In fact, when compared to using art simply to decorate or to impress someone, collecting art gives you an even greater payoff. The process of collecting art is a life enriching hobby that beautifully mirrors who you are and shows the world what you love.  It can return a lifetime of satisfaction and value.

Where to Find Real Art At Reasonable Prices:

At www.DiscoveredArtists.com you can search over 4000 pieces of original and limited edition art created by international, independent Artists. Search by style, color, price, shape, size, and theme. Read artist biographies and search for artists by career experience, credentials, juried status and more.

Artwork is shipped directly to you from the artist's studio. Prices are set by the artist, not by the gallery so you avoid paying gallery markups.  Purchase art using a major credit card using a secure shopping cart. All purchases are backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee including return shipping.

The author is Business Development manager for DiscoveredArtists.com an online marketplace for buying and selling original artwork. She is focused on promoting the use of original and limited edition artwork for home decorating. Mission: Original Art for Everyman !
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Dayal Rushton, the author of this article is a Professional artist. His arts form has gained great popularity and are fabulous. He has helped many interior designers in finding the best canvas art or wall art for office and home décor.
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The photography gallery of Yossi Milo exists upstairs from a taxi garage. The PaceWildenstein's Minimalist mausoleum on West 25th is down the street from old artist's coops. Elite art collectors rub shoulders with auto mechanics as they walk through the streets. But despite this unusual relation­ship, after more than ten years of growth, the Chelsea neighborhood possesses more than 250 galleries that extend from West 13th to West 29th Streets and from 10th Avenue to the West Side Highway in Manhattan, about twice the amount of galleries SoHo had in the early 1990's.

The migration to Chelsea is a large scale New York City event that has never hap­pened before. All species of art galleries exist in Chelsea in different stages of development. Its crop of galleries consists of parallel reali­ties catering to different audiences and mar­kets from the avant-garde to the academic. With art from places as far as India and as close as Williamsburg, Chelsea reflects con­temporary art's global marketplace.

"Chelsea is now the dominant mar­ketplace for art culture in New York," said Renee Vara, an Adjunct Professor at New York University and Lecturer at Guggenheim Museum, where she teaches art history, art theory, and museum studies, and is a private independent curator and art historian. "It offers efficiency and a separate enclave with a collective and attractive element."

The breakthrough into Chelsea be­gan in 1988 with the opening of the Dia Foun­dation, now Dia Center for the Arts. This cul­tural pioneer set up camp in a vicinity where spaces were large and rents were cheap. By late 1994, Matthew Marks, then a young Up­per East Side dealer, expanded to West 22nd Street and started the "art party scene" in the new neighborhood. At the time, it was impos­sible to predict how Chelsea would be trans­formed or how fast changes would happen.

Paula Cooper arrived in 1996. Cooper had opened SoHo's first art gallery in 1968 and then joined about 15 other art dealers and moved to far west Chelsea. The space in Chelsea opened in an old garage on West 21st Street, between 10th and 11th av­enues. Because of Cooper's prominence in the art world and her role in developing SoHo, many art and real estate entrepreneurs took her move as a sign that the neighborhood west of 10th Avenue and bound by 20th and 26th streets was about to be transformed.

The transformation of Chelsea was the answer for rents that had spiralled out of control in SoHo. With most galleries renting and not owning their spaces in SoHo, galler­ies sought out new ventures in other territo­ries where rents were cheaper or the option of owning a building was presented. The idea of Chelsea was ripe for its time when the art world was ready to break old traditions with SoHo. They found them in Chelsea.

As Chelsea dominated the art scene, Mary Boone signaled another stage in her personal evolution as a dealer by estab­lishing a Chelsea branch of her high profile gallery. Gluckman Mayner Architects created a dramatic Chelsea gallery for Boone. Rich­ard Gluckman's association with Boone dates back to her days on West Broadway. He also designed her gallery at 745 Fifth Avenue.

Boone opened her first space in SoHo on Broadway in 1979 moving into the same building that housed Leo Castelli and Ileana Sonnabend's legendary galler­ies. Boone later looked for space on 57th Street in the traditional neighborhood of the New York art world.

The layout and details of the Chel­sea gallery originated from the design of her uptown space. The architect created a pow­erful juxtaposition between the details associ­ated with his work and the rugged quality of original wood trusses and wood plank ceiling, which are exposed arcing over the space. The floors are steel-troweled concrete slab, which mimics the floor treatment uptown. And the fa-cade's storefront of translucent glass reminds one of Gluckman's design at Boone's West Broadway gallery. In Chelsea, all three rooms receive natural light by way of the translucent storefront windows in the reception area and through a small central skylight in the rear. The 12-ft.-wide main exhibition area contains a translucent skylight that traverses the entire length of the 24-ft.-high display wall. Spot­lights provide additional lighting.

As the Chelsea area continued to transform, people moved into the area's first pricey loft conversion on West 22nd Street. Savanna Partners, a young real estate development firm, bought that property at a July 1994 auction for $3 million. Because of zoning requirements, it took Savanna Part­ners one and a half years to get approvals, even though there was very little manufac­turing activity and little hope for any more industrial growth.

Today, Savanna builds huge lofts and rents the street-level spaces to galler­ies and restaurants. Not far to the south, on 17th Street, World Wide Holdings Corp. does something similar, and the Meatpacking District of the far west Village has practically disappeared as old warehouses are being-turned into apartments.

Among Chelsea gallery spaces are other SoHo exiles like John Weber, Barbara Gladstone, Metro Pictures, 303 Gallery, Bose Pacia Gallery, and Agora Gallery.

"Chelsea affords you access to critics and curators that make the rounds regularly to look at galleries," said Dr. Steve Pacia, co-founder and co-partner with Dr Arani Bose of the Bose Pacia Gallery on West 26th Street.

Bose Pacia Gallery, established in 1994 in SoHo, was the first gallery in the West specializing in contemporary art from South Asia. During the last ten years, Bose Pacia has held over 30 exhibitions and is internationally regarded for promoting the South Asian avant-garde. Visual artists from South Asia work within a unique space that is informed by many cultures, languages and re­ligions. Bose Pacia fosters an active discourse between these artists and the international art community by featuring exhibitions that contextualize contemporary art from this geo­graphic region within its rich artistic traditions and current social tensions.

Established in 1984 in SoHo by a fine artist, Agora Gallery more than doubled its space when it moved to Chel­sea in 2003. A gallery without borders, Agora was one of the pioneer galleries pro­viding representation to both national and international artists.

Recent interviews by its director, Angela Di Bello, in Business News Weekend (NBC) Hellenic Public Radio, and the Wall Street Journal have brought additional atten­tion and visitors to Chelsea.

The New Museum also left SoHo for an interim spot in Chelsea but has closed its doors, with the exception of its bookstore space at the Chelsea Art Museum, for a year and a half until the construction of its much anticipated new building on the Bowery is opened. Designed by the acclaimed Tokyo based company of Sejima and Nishizawa/SA-NAA, the new 60,000 square foot, seven-sto­ry New Museum will be the first art museum building constructed in downtown Manhattan in over a century.

Donna Clovis is an acclaimed artist and journalist. Her artwork has been exhibited in art photography exhibitions at Agora Gallery in Chelsea, New York. Her articles are published in the art revue ARTisSpectrum Magazine Digital photography artwork may also be seen on the online art gallery Art Mine
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The Chelsea art community is boasting of the new involvement with the thirty-some­thing crowd. Texting your friends about the newest opening and exhibition is easy. With new artists and emerging galleries experimenting with various concepts and ideas, the diversity of Chelsea has now ca­tered to this new audience and market giv­ing new energy and vitality to art spaces for creativity.

Melissa Sarti, a 32-year-old graduate student from Hunter College stands on the corner of West 25th and 10th Ave. messaging a friend about an art exhibition this Thursday night. "Hey Carl, meet me at 6:30 at White Box," she wrote. "There's an awesome installation I want to see and some friends I want you to meet."

The Chelsea corner where she stands seems to be a remote one with a taxi stand, a gas station and a crumbling warehouse just below an old, elevated railroad line. But she stands on the edge of the Chel­sea art world, the largest museum-like space of contemporary art in the world. The sidewalk crowd builds as she walks toward the gallery spaces. She passes a large glass gallery window and moves closer to get a better glimpse of the huge space within an old brick factory. Melissa peers through the window. She sees them, clutching glasses of champagne and wine, as the crowd of young guests inside mar­vel at a new contemporary painting.

From Manhattan to Queens, the young trendsetters are coming out in droves, and not just for the wine. Last month at a re­ception at Agora Gallery Mary Ellen Hen­derson and Daniel frequent the gallery. "I like to know what's going on in the galleries in the neighbor­hood. It's kind of like for business and pleasure" answers Christina Freeman, a photographer, when asked why she made a point to come to the reception. "We're artists by nature; some of us are fashion designers, so we have an interest in art. We can truly appreciate it".

Erin Walker and Bren frequent the galler­ies on a regular basis, so what keeps them coming back? "It's a good chance for us to catch up with each other, and also look for inspiration". However, The Chelsea galleries are not just for those looking to enhance their knowledge of up-and-com­ing design trends in the contemporary art world. "I like to be able to come out on the weekends, and be able to go from gallery to gallery to gallery. Make an afternoon of it and go to brunch. Get a group of friends together to do something more interesting and define my own taste in art", offered Jennifer Grace, a publishing assistant from Wired Magazine.

New Gangs of Gallerists

Sheri Pasquarella, a young art consultant and private dealer, invested in a 27th Street space that once held the Tunnel nightclub until 2001. Several young art gallerists moved their businesses from other parts of the city to a series of old loading docks along the south side of the former Tunnel site. Wanting to create an instant destina­tion location, Pasquarella led the exodus of emerging-artist dealers to a promised land of barren street-level spaces between Eleventh and Twelfth Avenues. Oliver Kamm Gallery, Foxy Production, Derek Eller Gallery, Clementine Gallery, John Connelly Pres­ents and Wallspace are now located here. This has added up to be just one of the most concerted efforts at expand­ing Chelsea's gallery scene since the art world began abandoning SoHo for the West Side in the mid-1990s.

New Art Networks

Social networks for thirty-somethings in the arts is on the upswing. The Young As­sociates is one of the new social art groups started in Chelsea by a museum space. The Chelsea Art Museum program looks to connect young people with New York's emerging art com­munity, creating an energet­ic presence in the growth of the museum and a network of innovative thinkers within the arts. The group targets recent graduates and young professionals who would like to learn more about art in an intimate atmosphere that can be pro­vided by a smaller museum. They interact with museum curators, meet artists from New York and create a forum within the framework of the Chelsea Art Museum for networking with other young people in the field. They organize special after par­ties following exhibition openings, cura­tor-led art tours, gallery tours, talks with gallery owners, artist studio visits, invita­tional talks on trends in contemporary art, previews of auctions, and holiday parties.

Innovative Investors

Get out your auction paddles. A new generation of collectors, hedge-fund managers, technology entrepreneurs and others in their thirties have plunged into the world of contemporary art. During recent years, as world economies waned, prices in the closely watched top 2% of the contemporary-art market were up to 72%, according to London-based Art Mar­ket Research. In contrast, prices of top-tier works in the Old Masters and French Im­pressionist markets fell by 40% and 29%. Christopher Apgar, a young financial adviser, owns works ranging from Jean-Michel Basquiat, the graffiti artist who became an eighties phenomenon, to a silkscreen of Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol. His current hunt is for artistic creations by Gregory Crewdson, a photog­rapher whose work includes promotional shots for the HBO series "Six Feet Under," and Vic Muniz, known for making sculp­tures of iconic figures out of chocolate and then photographing the pieces.

Most young and new collectors have little interest in the Old Masters that capti­vated the previous generation. Part of the reason for the aversion is the astronomi­cal prices they command. Contemporary works are less expensive and are more likely to double in value in a short peri­od. And today, a young collector doesn't need to spend millions of dollars on a van Gogh to earn the respect of peers. They show they are in touch with the contempo­rary art world by buying up works of new contemporary artists and appearing in the gallery social scene.

And while new collectors may be ap­proaching the art market as if it were a marketing venture of capital investments, there is no guarantee that the payoff will be as lofty. The art market can be volatile. The collecting quirks and interests of con­temporary art lovers drive the market. If a few collectors love ocean scenes, prices rise while less favored desert paintings re­main bargains. Fluctuations can differ due to different collectors entering and leaving the art market at various times. The result is an artist may be "hot" for a few years and when prices plateau and rise again, another collecting generation seizes the artists's worth. The art industry urges young people to buy for eprsonal enjoyment and not just a quick profit. The lifestyle of today's new collectors is not about ball gowns and expensive jewelry. It is all about walking around your home in sweat pants talking with a friend on the cell phone about the contem­porary art plastered on the walls that you look at and appreciate. It is about comput­ers, blackberry's, ipods, and ibooks. Most of all, it is about texting your friends for the next social gathering at a Chelsea art gallery opening on Thursday evening.

Donna Clovis is an acclaimed artist and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing. Her artwork has been exhibited in art photography exhibitions at Agora Gallery in Chelsea, New York. Her articles are published in the art revue ARTisSpectrum Magazine
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The make it out art galleries is depleted interchangeably between an actual art gallery where art is exhibited and sold for a profit and an art museum where collections of art are merely exhibited for the enjoyment and education of patrons. For the purposes of right now introduction to art galleries, the former will be used. Although some of the most famous and sizeable operates of art are exhibited in art museums around the world, they are not for sale. The exhibiting of art for the purpose of sale is the necessary function of the commercial art gallery.

A commercial art gallery exhibits art for the enjoyment of the patrons, but the art is in addition for sale. This means so the collections in an art gallery are changing quite ever as works are purchased and removed from the exhibit. The gallery might often have special exhibits featuring particular artists whose works are the centerpiece of special events. In most cases, the art galleries make their profits from taking a commission on the sale of the exhibited art, although in some cases, admission is charged. This is quite rare in the commercial art gallery business, however. In other galleries, the artist pays a fee to be allowed to exhibit at the gallery.

The majority of work exhibited in art galleries are Residual art through paintings being the most common form. Some galleries furthermore exhibit more sorts of art the as sculpture and photography also. Some galleries the specialize in sculpture are also renowned as sculpture gardens and those that specialize in photographs are celebrated as photo galleries. The hard work art gallery is most often used in place of these terms and many galleries feature all of the a good number of forms of art.

The expression contemporary art gallery performs not refer to a style of art, but is used to describe the modern commercial for-profit art gallery. The term is used to distinguish it from the art museum. Many contemporary art galleries tend to be clustered up in certain regions in larger cities. Greenwich Village in New York City is an example of this although most medium sized neighborhoods will usually have at least one gallery for local artists.

There are also art galleries that are artist collectives and not run for profit, but as a place for the artist to exhibit their own works. Regardless of the type, art galleries and art museums offer the public a possibility to enjoy art of all kinds and moreover the commercial galleries allow them the opportunity to take some of that art home with them to add to their own collections.

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The sad truth is, also, that most people who invest in the more common investment assets, like stocks and bonds, do not understand investment in those more common investments.  I always hear people talking about "playing the market", yet, as any professional investor will tell you (it just so happens that there are so few that odds are that you never met one), although it is a game, it is not a game for novices.

The first person to formalize a mathematical framework for economics and finance was John VonNeumann, a mathematical physicist, who invented game theory as the basis for studying those fields, in the early part of the twentieth century.  Indeed, until the 1980's, most of economics and finance sprang from this basis, and the focus was to assume, just like in playing dice with perfectly symmetrical cubes or flipping a so-called fair coin, that investment was a fair game: there was equal probability of gain or loss and the distribution of outcomes was the bell-shaped curve. 

Since the 1980's the behavioral school has gained ground, in the theoretical realm, by assuming that since people are not perfectly rational, we should examine the actual behavior of people in business and investment situations.  Of course, that is something that investment professionals have been doing for centuries.  Dow and Jones, in the 1880's, said, for example, that at market tops the professionals are already well out of the market.  After a crash, which will always happen because emotional human beings are markets, professionals quietly begin to buy.  Their buying, eventually excites technical market analysts' technical market indicators, which are somewhat based on supply and demand analysis, in real markets, and technicians begin to buy and recommend buying.  Eventually, the general public catches onto this news, which is really very old news, and they jump onto the band wagon.  Everyone tells everyone how smart they are and how much money they made yester day trading on-line.  Meanwhile the professionals have begun to quietly exit the market.  A peak comes; a crash comes.  Then, all of those self-proclaimed investment mavens console each other and support each other in their ecstasy turned agony.  Some run to the authorities and claim that they were duped because they did not understand the complex nature of the mini-bonds that they bought: translation - they were so greedy when they were told that they could make unbelievable returns, and they did not want to hear about the risks.  Another lesson that the theoreticians finally came to admit after the stock market crash of 1987, which, statistically, should not have happened in the whole history of the solar system, was that the distribution of returns is skewed with a longer tail on the down side.

It will be beneficial to understand the basic framework of a market, investing, and basic economics.  Economics assumes that people are self-interested.  Its only fault is that it assumes that people follow enlightened self-interest: no greed, lying, or cheating.  Finance says that there is a difference between price and value: value is what someone thinks that something is worth, while price is the amount that someone actually paid for something.  People make markets.  A market is not, necessarily a place, like the New York Stock Exchange.  Indeed, many people do not even realize that the NASDAQ market is not like the NYSE, it is simply a network of dealers, connected by computers, who maintain bid and ask prices for NASDAQ stocks.  This is referred to as a dealer market or an over-the-counter market (OTC), as opposed to the NYSE, which is one physical exchange through which all orders to buy and sell are funneled.  In fact, many people do not even know that the NYSE is a very special exchange, in that all of the stocks on the exchange are assigned to specialists who are the only one that you can buy a particular stock from.  The specialist maintains an order book of bids and offers, and he has the ultimate in information about supply and demand for his stocks at any moment in time.  As part of his job as a specialist, he can invest his own capital, in his stocks.  All the other layers of the business that deal with the investing public, after that, are in marketing.  A stock broker, for example, is just trying to make commissions when he calls you with a hot tip.  Even at the level of institutional sales, salesmen, analysts and block traders are just trying to get commission dollars.  None of them risk their own capital.  There are also investment bankers who help companies raise capital by issuing new stocks and bonds, and there is a large market effort accompanying that.  An underwriter might risk his capital by agreeing to underwrite the deal at a price for leftovers and may support the stock, in the secondary markets, by buying for a month or so.

So, let's look at the art market.  A market is where supply and demand sort out price and volume.  Art buyers, collectors and investors make up the demand side.  Retail investors are smaller buyers of art, while high-net-worth individuals, trusts, corporations and museums fulfill the role of institutional investor.  Art dealers act as brokers, dealers, and investment bankers for art.  They act as brokers by taking consignments for sale or request to buy from customers.  They buy and sell art for their own account as dealers.  By taking on new, undiscovered artists, by having shows for artists at galleries (much like the road show investment bankers do for IPO's of stock), and by acting as agent or dealer for an artist, they fulfill a role, much like investment banker.  Ultimately, supply is limited, depending on the artist.  Once an artist is dead, supply is fixed.

Value begins, as in all of economics, with scarcity.   It is the same principle that drives the precious metals market, the crude oil market, and the art markets.  As with anything else, quality also plays a role in determining an appropriate price.  However, also, like with many other things, including any type of investment, marketing plays a major role.  Galleries, dealers, and art critics try to tell people what is good and what is bad art.  Sometimes, I wonder about their opinions.  Other times I have benefited, as in the sale of a table made of roots onto which birds were carved, and as one of only two found examples by this unknown folk artist from the 1800's. Sale of the table brought over $4,000, back in the mid-1990's.  These art market analysts play the same role as securities analysts, in the stock and bond markets.  They might even make buy and sell recommendations, and they might estimate values of artworks.  Since art is supposed to make you feel good, your basic starting point should be to look to buy things that you, personally, like, then, check out the price.

In the securities markets, smart investors value things on a comparative basis.  Instead of trying to figure out what prices or returns should be, stock analysts use comparative P/E ratio analysis, comparing one company to other companies, in the same industry, and comparing P/E's of stocks and industries to those of the general market.  In bonds, the yield-to-maturity (YTM) of a bond is compared to current market YTM's of bonds of the same company and to general bonds with similar maturity, coupon rate, and risk.  In the same manner, the value of works by an artist can be compared to one another and to those of other artists.  Normalization, in the context of paintings, involves an artifice: converting prices to price per square meter or per square inch.  One might make similar size normalizations for, e.g., teapot art and sculpture.  However, price per unit of size might vary over an artist's work with larger ones, perhaps, trading for lower price per unit of size, and their more famous works trading at higher price per unit of size.

Having built a comparative pricing system for art, one can compare the prices of one artist to another and the average prices of one artist over, a school, a movement or a period by construction single artist or composite price indexes and looking at their evolution over time.  That also allows you to calculate returns since return is defined as the percentage change in price over time.  You can compare prices from galleries, which is the retail market.  The next layer of the market, much like in other investment markets, is an inter-dealer market.  The final layer is the auction market, which in some respects is like the exchanges, in the securities markets, but it is a stop-out market: a market of last resort for sellers.  The auction markets are more fragmented than the auction markets, in securities; they are not open every day, either, unlike their counterparts in securities.  Price information of one sort can also be garnered from the auction markets for artists for whom there are auction records.  There are also research and information services, in the art markets, mirroring similar services in securities and commodities markets. 

I bought my first piece by a famous artist, Joan Miro, in the mid-1980's.  I was surprised to find that the price was only several thousand dollars.  By the time that I bought my third Miro, I had learned about and used information from the auction record to pay the proper price.  In succeeding years I bought art by many famous artists.  Although the art that makes the headlines makes it seem that all art is out of reach of the man on the street, you will be surprised to find out that art by many known artists, past and present, is not that expensive.  Another little known fact is the good returns that can be made in art, especially when one approaches the market with the tools and techniques as one would in any other investment asset market.  During my decades of trading art, in the U.S., I cannot recall a time when I lost money, and returns have always been exceptionally good, especially when compared to returns of other investment assets.  I can even recall times that I have continued to earn a profit, in art, even during downturns in securities and real estate markets.  

Now, we are investing in and have set up a dealer in Chinese art.  I moved to China four years ago to teach finance and economics at South China Normal University.  I have been immersed in the Chinese social and economic scene, and I have concluded that the best current market in China, today, is the not the export market or the stock market or real estate, but, instead, the art market.  Returns, in art, in China, have been above twenty percent per year over the last decade, in local currency, and the continued undervaluation of the Yuan versus foreign currencies, coupled with other socio-economic factors, make investment, in this market, appear to offer good opportunities over the next several years, especially for foreign investors.

Up through the 1970's and early-1980's, investment in stocks and bonds seemed outside the reach of the man on the street.  By the 1990's everyone and their brother was trading stocks on-line through discount brokers.  Now that we are in the twenty-first century, the next time you think about art, remember that it is just like any other investment asset, like stocks, bonds, and commodities, it is not outside the realm of investment possibilities for the average investor.  Think of the analogies that we have laid out between art and securities investing and markets.  You can also find out more information about investment, art, China, and investment in art in China on various parts of our website. 

February 24, 2009 Craig Mattoli, CEO, Red Hill Capital, owner of Leona Craig Art, Guangzhou, China

An artist, liguist, physicist, arbitrageur who specializes in investment in inefficient, undiscovered, and misunderstood markets.
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Art can be lucrative if you had the eye and if you can research a little.

BUYING ART FOR THE NEWBIES

It is not simply for art for art's sake. You must really know what you want and if you are planning to display it at your house, condo or building. As art is very broad in terms of styles and kind. Asked yourselves if you want a landscape, an abstract, a still life, a pen and ink etc...

How much is your budget? How much are you willing to pay? Most paintings now a days are competitively priced but usually...if you are buying from a relatively unknown artist it can prove to be affordable and the same time it can also be gamble ( hoping the art or the artist in the future can turn out to be another Jackson Pollack, Picasso or Juan Luna).

Well known artist or established artist works are usually high priced but it can prove to be worth your money in the long run. The market value of the art you bought is usually tied up with just how well respected or career driven the artist was. The tendency is his or her price would surely go up if there is a demand for it especially if that artist becomes a national artist---you hit the goldmine!

When buying art works, it pays to asked around either an art curator, professional art dealer, an art gallery owner or used to your advantage harness the power of the net. But really nothing beats when it is recommended by close friends or relatives.

BUYING ART FOR BEGINNERS

1) You must know the difference between buying oil, watercolor, pastel or acrylic. It is important to know what art materials are involved with the creation of that art work you are buying. Materials used by the artist should be high quality so the colors would be preserve or retain for a long, long time.

2) Decide if you are going to buy directly from the artist itself, to an art dealer or go straight to the art gallery. Consider the framing, delivery and other services involved when negotiating with the price or what is included to your payment.

When buying through an art gallery, you usually get to know the profile of the artist and essentially getting a proof or certificate that what your buying is real not fake (as in original) and also verify if it has several reproductions already such as the print version.

If you are buying directly from the artist, you have the option to ask for an authentication paper complete with the artist's signature.

3) Regardless if what you bought is from a relatively unknown artist or considered a masterpiece, you should also know how to preserve or maintain it. As time goes by it will be moisture and humidity to be the art pieces main enemy! Colors can fade. A retouch might be needed. Furthermore, don't expose the painting to the sunlight as the harmful ultra violent rays can affect the colors of the paintings.

4) Your art should reflect your aesthetic taste. Choose art that can help you relax like a landscape or underwater. An art that can make you think like abstracts, an art that reflects your dreams and fantasies like surreal paintings. It brings out your personality and something that brings a certain kind of fulfillment---one that you can be truly proud of hanging at your walls.

5) You must remember value or price of your art work will not go up over night. Hence, treat it like a mutual fund or a time deposit.

6) Always buy from reliable sources. The traditional way is still the best there is.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN RE-SELLING YOUR ART

1) Finding a prospective buyer is not easy. Unless, you have a cultured/art loving network. You can off course go through the expert hands of an professional art dealer or art gallery owner but they also get a great deal of share of your selling price.

2) Keep all the receipts, relevant documents like a copy of artist resume or any proofs of ownership. Especially if is a high end piece of art work.

Later on with enough experience you can build a collection that you can benefit from it in the long run. Always remember...time is your friend; don't assume you can profit from your art work right away. The good news is...art doesn't really decline instead its price usually goes up!

In the meantime, enjoy that priceless beauty of the art work you had purchased.

http://noliespanola.digitalwebdesignstudio.com/

Vernie Evangelista is a freelance writer and former short fiction writer. Who is currently working in the IT-BPO Industry. She had an online portfolio at http://espanolawritingportfolio.wordpress.com
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For interior design, the author recommends MyWhiteWalls.com - a “100% HAND-PAINTED on gallery wrapped canvas artwork” featured website. They offer very fast, FREE SHIPPING for all artworks including canvas wall art sets, metal art, abstract, modern, & contemporary art styles. All oil paintings and canvas arts are ready to hang on your wall.
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Buying authentic masterpiece of art becomes a really tough task, when there are a whole lot of fraud art dealers who claim to be genuine. But with Mirek Klabal of MK fine arts, you can be rest assured of getting the genuine and authentic art masterpieces. The reason is that he has given more than 25 years of his life in disseminating the real meaning of art to many parts of world and has quite a good experience in understanding the creativity behind an art piece. You can also view a set of creative and awesome art pieces that are being displayed at MK fine arts. So, you can select from a variety of paintings.

MK fine arts is quite famous for giving a pathway to various artists, such as Pablo Picasso, Chagall, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro and many others. The art lovers find it one of the most happening places because it gives them everything they want and would like to visit it again, if they get to see what they wish to. Mk fine arts are surely one of the best art galleries that have a good and genuine collection of art pieces. What would happen if you go to buy an art piece of your favorite artist from and art dealer and are handed with fake one? It’s for sure that you will feel bad and think that you wasted your money and got nothing in return.

Every piece of art reflects different moods and aspects of life. Some like joyful mood of art, while others like sad aspect of life. Every other art lover has a different choice. At MK fine arts, you will get to see painting on a variety of moods and aspects of life. The art is meant to infuse a sense of feel in the life of art lovers and if they are really good, then the experience of understanding the true nature of art doubles. Besides having a variety of art pieces, MK fine arts also guarantee the originality of art masterpieces. The reason is Mirek Klabal who takes extra bit of care ion the case of choosing art pieces.

Just selecting art pieces to be displayed at MK fine arts is not just the task of Mirek Klabal. He also takes extra care in meeting those art buyers personally, who buys genuine masterpieces from MK fine arts. In this way, he takes a note of the thing that art piece is going in the right hands and it will be taken care of. If you are at all planning to buy paintings from MK fine arts, you can be assured that proper assistance in selecting and originality of art is guaranteed here.

Arnold Ross is an art collector who has an amazing collection,that makes him the envy of many art lovers.He owes this incredible collection of art to art master Mirek Klabal.If you want to know more about Art masters portfolio,Mirek Klabal and MK fine arts visit www.artmastersportfolio.com
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An art lawyer is a thorough professional who can easily help you to come out of a fraud art case and even win the case for you. Well the circumstances for which you can hire an art lawyer varies but the one thing that you should understand is that an art lawyer should be consulted in any sort of a fraud related to art and you can even consult him before buying a great piece of art. Art lovers love indulging in art pieces and the best thing for them is to buy an art piece from an authenticated art dealer who can provide one with genuine art pieces. However, deceptive art dealers manage to sell fraud art pieces and people generally do not realize that they have bought a fake art piece. In this case, an art lawyer is where one should go to get the legal matters sorted out.

However, an art lawyer not only helps one to fight a legal case for purchasing a fake piece of art but also helps an art dealer to sell the best pieces of art at the best rates and also helps him to get the payments from customers who delay in paying the amount. Practically speaking, hiring an art lawyer to solve cases related to art is the best thing to do. However, before you decide to hire any particular art lawyer you should make sure that you look for lawyer who has a good experience and success record and has won cases for his clients. Then you should see the fee he charges for each case and then if you feel that he suits your needs then you can always go in for the art lawyer.

An art layer is the apt person who can help a person come out of any sort of a fraud that he had to face while buying or selling an art piece. Therefore, if you ever feel that you have been cheated while buying or selling an art piece you can always take the guidance and the help of an art lawyer to solve your case.

Damyel Flower is an exprienced divorce lawyer.He has successfully handled many divorce cases.He gives advice to clients who are looking for Art Lawyer,Divorce lawyer NYC,celebrity divorce lawyer.To hire services of a lawyer in New York and any legal advice visit www.mtllp.com
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world (because of Iranian special geography which was interrelated with Europe either by diplomatic relationship or by invasion. There for, Iranian art includes the beliefs of oriental art, Islamic art and western art.

Orientalism

Iranian art

Islamic art

Relation with western art

Delineation of each art’s territory is not easy. His relation between Iranian art not only in surface level but also in deep artistic concepts is combined. It is a unique combination which concepts are combined. It is a unique combination which was declared to the people of the world as Islamic. Iranian art unfortunately, the complexity of Iranian art caused one dimensional look at this art in the history. Because of lack of special methodology for understanding the hidden and fundamental concepts of Iranian art, it was always superficial. Undoubtedly, moving toward knowing of Identity of Iranian art needs complete study. The first step here is the review of mutual relation of different arts within Iranian territory. This book tries to explain Iranian art as a parallel in a collection. This book defines 3 main stages. The first stage is collecting different art as a descriptive art. In this stage different books have reviewed and the information of them is taken.

In this stage even some of the text have presented without change from different book.

In the second stage it was attempted to describe the unique model for comparing of different arts. By the charts. These charts are the collected on the base of historical times and the recognizing of artistic characteristic. And is formed like a chart. These charts are given in the end of the each chapter as an abstract.

In the third stage, the writer is trying to compare and deduce the basic concepts of charts that are reviewable as a basic principle of Iranian art theory.

Undoubtedly, the third stage that is presented in the end of this book is the only first factor of editing the principle of theory in the Iran's art stage. The completing these theories and understanding the theme of Iran's art as a complete form need to specialized researches in any artistic stage.

2-1 the problems of research

Because the theories sources of Iran's art were limited and in this limited space of science, the most part of the researches have done by non Iranian researchers the editing and deep knowledge of Iran's art is very difficult. The problem of using these artistic sources is presented in three Stages.

In the first stage, Iranian researchers usually have collected information without any editing of research method. In this stage the most information transformed from oral speaking to writing. The focus of attention of Iranian researchers is on the work itself it’s characteristics this factor cause the reasons of formation and creation of one work to be less displayed. There fore, it is impossible to analyzing the art’s substructure

In the second stage foreign researchers have collected works by editing the model of research. But unfortunately, the dominant thinking on the historical division is based on the west history. The difference of understanding history caused the very valuable works of second century to be less important.

Third stage is one dimensional look at art history: the third problem for achieving the historical encyclopedia of Iran's art is non adaptation of different arts and their method of impressiveness on each other. This caused the effect of arts on each other to be less important.

3-1- the method of research

Because the achievement of art encyclopedia needs deep looking, the main center of historical reviewing in this writing is attention to analyzing history. Descriptive history is only presented in the end of each part as a table.

In editing of this collection two hypotheses is the center of collecting studies.

1) The impressionable of art in the field of socio culture

2) Time coincidence of different artistic varieties in these different arts.

The general model of this division is based on the conceptual division of art in which arts divide into general field that is visual arts and dramatic arts. But in the details of this divisions, did not observed the seven art model and the focus of attention is the main arts of Iran that is drawing, music, literature (poem)

The second point in the historical reviewing of art encyclopedia as the knowledge of historical indexes of that art. Arts are analyzed as a form of historical art until can review weak and strong point of each art. Because of this method of research, each art have historical principles and special swaying times for example, while Mongol attack had much effect on drawing art, the Alexander attack on architecture art.

The third point in this system is the collecting of information. Because of the vast scope of historical geographical art of Iran, some of the works have remained out of Iran and the more information has collected as a library. But in collecting of information have been tried that the information sources to be approved by several sources. Until we can refer to them this method of collecting information caused that the information to be valid. But in any case, some of the information remains unanalyzed. The forth point in this writing, is non attention to philosophical meanings of art. It is mean that the writer did not like to define art and have not involved this book in philosophical challenges, there fore undoubtedly; some of the presented works is not artistic works by the view point of audiences. As a matter of the fact that this works play a role in historical evolution of Iran's art, they have been reviewed.

4-1- place territory

One of the problems of editing this writing was non existence of definite place territory. It is mean that the country of Iran, because of special geographical situation, have not definite political border and even caused in the some of the ages the name of this country to be deleted from the broad world. In any case, what has been reviewed in this writing had been the world meaning of Iranian art that undoubtedly the main part of this works is not in political border of Iran in the most historical times of under study Iraq eastern part of the turkey, the south of Russia an common wealth countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan is in the creation territory of artistic art of Iran that in this writing we had paid to it.

5-1- time period

The historical period which is studied starts from the first civilization in Iran and continues up to the current century. Because of that fact we can survey two main historical periods.

a) Before the Arian immigration. It includes the Mesopotamians

  Civilization and independent civilization in Iranian current physical map.

B) after the Arian immigration: It starts from around 3600 years ago and in the end it forms the Medes civilization after immigration and presence of the three tribes, namely, Medes, Parthian and Persia in Iran. This country declared independence and formed Achaemenians governments as a cosmopolitan government.

Unfortunately, almost all academic research and studies separated the Iranians before and after Islam, However the compiler does not believe in that and call it a political separation which was defined and designed by Islam. In case of study of history the Iranian arts formation stages will be crystallized.

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Arman Kohlar is freelance article specialist who writes articles on Art Events and Art Workshops. For more information on Art fairs and London Exhibitions please visit www.artcalendr.com
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Human developmental theories can be found in education, society, and even in peace research: cognitive, developmental, social learning, and socio-cultural developmental theories all have contributed to the educational system that is present today in the United States of America. Researchers such as Darwin, Freud, Erickson, Piaget, Watson, Skinner, Kohlberg, Bandura, Vygostsky, Bowlby, Bronfenbrenner, Gilligan, among many other scientists have done extensive research that today has influenced education throughout the content areas. The purpose of this article is to analyze two human development theories and create a lifelong learning curriculum for the art education throughout the lifespan of a learner.

Cognitive Developmental Theory

To understand is to invent, or to reconstruct by reinventing.                           

  Piaget (1972, p. 24)

Jean Piaget

Even though some critics say that Piaget’s theories are not correct, others support his research. To understand a bit better where the theories originated from lets discuss the origin of Jean Piaget. In 1896, born in a French-speaking part of Switzerland a child was born to a medieval literature professor called Arthur Piaget. According to his father, Jean was a precocious child who developed an interest in natural science (biology and the natural world), and even published a number of papers before he graduated from high school about mollusks. His lifelong passion was to understand how humans create knowledge. Piaget's efforts founded the discipline of genetic epistemology (biological foundations for knowledge), and established a framework that continues to affect the way teachers are trained and students are taught.

He served as a professor of psychology at the University of Geneva from 1929 to 1975 and is best known for reorganizing cognitive development theory into a series of stages, expanding on earlier work from James Mark Baldwin: four levels of development corresponding roughly to (1) infancy, (2) pre-school, (3) childhood, and (4) adolescence. Piaget spent years observing and interviewing young male children in an effort to further his theories about the construction of knowledge. According to Nagarjuna (2006), Piaget “thought that by observing the ways that children create meaning, he could learn more in general about the development of knowledge.”

Development from one stage to the next according to Piaget is the accumulation of errors in the child's understanding of the environment; theses errors eventually causes such a degree of cognitive disequilibrium that the structures within the child require reorganizing. According to Murray (2007), “All development emerges from action; that is to say, individuals construct and reconstruct their knowledge of the world as a result of interactions with the environment.”  According to Nagarjuna (2006), “Cognitive structures are understood to be the ways that young people make sense of the world, given their lack of adult sensibilities.”

Jean Piaget viewed intelligence as a process that help an organism adapt to its environment and proposed four major periods of cognitive development. The four development stages described in Piaget's theory are (1) sensorimotor stage, (2) Preoperational stage, (3) Concrete operational stage, and (4) formal operational stage. Each cognitive structure in Piaget’s theory is defined by a series of traits, and corresponds loosely to specific age. These chronological periods are not rigid rules, just approximate values to set the stages in an order starting from birth to 2 years of age defining the sensorimotor stage, where the children experience the world through movement and senses and learn object permanence. The preoperational stage starts from the age of 2 to 7 years and the child has an acquisition of motor skills. In the concrete operational stage starts from 7 to 11 years and the children begin to think logically about concrete events that are taking place in their environment. In the formal operational stage begins after the age of 11 and it is when the child develops of abstract reasoning of the world around them.

            Based on his life long research, Piaget felt that “students should not be seen as empty vessels to be filled by expert teachers, but rather active participants in the building of their own knowledge” (Nagarjuna, 2006). According to Murray (2007), Piaget concluded “that schools should emphasize cooperative decision-making and problem solving, nurturing moral development by requiring students to work out common rules based on fairness” (p. 2). Even though the explanations offered may be incorrect today, according to the latest adult sensibilities and research, but “the fact that children do offer explanations for these things shows that they are actively working to understand the world around them” (Nagarjuna, 2006).

Following Piaget’s line of reasoning, Selman (1980) examined children’s cognitive understanding of the social world. To understand relations and interactions between people, children need to understand that others also have an internal state which influences how they are behaving. Selman reported that rather young children realize that different people have visual perspectives which are independent from their own. . . . Implying Piaget’s insight in peace education would ask for an active, exploratory process in which conflicting information and social dilemmas are allowed to exist. In such a process, learning to understand the underlying perspectives (visual, social, or emotional) of other people would broaden our possibilities of being confronted with and understanding differences.

Hakvoort (2002)

Lev Vygotsky

The second theory that will be used to write the art curriculum for the lifelong learners is the cognitive theories of Lev Vygotsky. Vygotsky insists that children’s minds are shaped by the particular social and historical context in which they live and by their interactions with adults, explaining why educators will never be replaced with technology no matter the advances that we reach. His social development theories play a fundamental role in the development of cognition. Vygotsky (1978) states:

Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals (p.57).

Vygostsky’s theory of art developed a “dynamic overall approach by (1) the writer’s intentions, era, and background; (2) the form, content, and symbolism of the literary piece; and (3) the readers’ experience and interpretation of the work” (Lindqvist, 2003). Vygostsky did not regards art as something spiritual and metaphysical, which raises the artists genius above the shape and contents of the work being created. Instead, he saw art as a reflection how society touches the people’s lives and how society developed. Art is an excellent tool for studying not only society, but emotions, and psychology. According to Lindqvist (2003), “Vygostsky regarded the psychology of art as a theory of the social techniques of emotions. His analysis reflects the artistic process.”

Art

The Britannica Online defines art as "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others." The first and broadest sense of art is the one that has stayed closest to the older Latin meaning, which roughly translates to "skill" or "craft," and also from an Indo-European root meaning "arrangement" or "to arrange." In this sense, art is whatever is described as having undergone a deliberate process of arrangement. Art can describe several things: a study of creative skill, a process of using the creative skill, a product of the creative skill, or the audience’s experience with the creative skill. Art is something that visually stimulates an individual's thoughts, emotions, beliefs, or ideas. Art is a realized expression of an idea - it can take many different forms and serve many different purposes.

Using this last definition art would be a good tool to used to help students acquire a sense of belonging in their environment. According to Wekipedia, the common characteristics displayed by art are:

encourages an intuitive understanding rather than a rational understanding, as, for example, with an article in a scientific journal; was created with the intention of evoking such an understanding or an attempt at such an understanding in the audience; was created with no other purpose or function other than to be itself (a radical, "pure art" definition); is elusive, in that the work may communicate on many different levels of appreciation; may offer itself to many different interpretations, or, though it superficially depicts a mundane event or object, invites reflection upon elevated themes; demonstrates a high level of ability or fluency within a medium; this characteristic might be considered a point of contention, since many modern artists (most notably, conceptual artists) do not themselves create the works they conceive, or do not even create the work in a conventional, demonstrative sense (one might think of Tracey Emin's controversial My Bed); confers particularly appealing or aesthetically satisfying structures or forms upon an original set of unrelated, passive constituents.

Art Educational Program

But if you ask what is the good of education in general, the answer is easy; that education makes good men, and that good men act nobly.

Plato

            Many schools are now learning how to deal with the diversity among the student and teacher population. Greenman (2007) suggests that art, music, and language are a good way to embrace cultural diversity. Art teachers, need to incorporate the art of other cultures throughout the schools curricula. Just as the scientists that wanted to change the world with their theories on human development artists, art teachers, art historians and other enthusiasts appreciate and value the art of other countries, so perhaps we may facilitate the education of others. Since according to Greenman (2007), “We're all aware that when you know and understand something, you come to appreciate and value its uniqueness.”

Design, Implementation, and Teaching

A child's education should begin at least one hundred years before he is born.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Infants. Infants are children classified from birth to 2 years of age. Through the use of many practices, specialized schools, and educational program for parents, caregivers can start educating their child from infancy using art. Art exposes the child to a world of imagination while it introduces him/ her to the riches of our world (plants, animals, places, etc.). Since infants can’t speak exposing them to bright colors, pictures, cartoons, and other forms of art is the best tool to use. During these delicate years of infancy, the child is developing their sensorimotor skills (uses of all the five senses). Color are the best way to help develop hand and eye coordination by obtaining toys, tools, education material that is bright and contains the main primary colors: red, blue, yellow, green, white, and black. The exposure to more colors helps the students learn to define and identify not only the colors but the objects containing the colors, using their appropriate names if taught by the caregivers.

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.

Oscar Wilde

Toddlers. Toddlers in the other hand are children from the age of 2 to 5 years old. These children are active and have been able to identify colors, shapes, object, and their functions. As the child’s caregiver this is time to expose the children to watercolors, colored pencils, crayons, long white walls, mud, clay, and so on. The student will learn to make lines and circles, which are the basic principals for writing. The use of watercolors, brushes, and color pencils will refine the motor skills they will need in the future. The crayons would teach them to stay in between the lines while making their own masterpieces to share their feelings and their view of the environment.

Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well.

Aristotle

Once a child enters the school system it is the teachers task to become the second parent, the guide need to enhance the lives of the children. At this stage of development, the children are able to identify and recognize variations in their environment. They are able to create art, enhance it, mimic it, copy it, and interpret the art, the culture, and the origin of it. The students learn how to express their feeling, emotions, sentiments, problems, solutions, and soul through their colors. At this ages they also try to experiment by creating their own colors, mixing and matching to create their own identity.

Education is not received. It is achieved.

Anonymous

Adolescence. Teenagers are a strange bread of individuals not quite adults, yet not quite children. These students are full of energy, passion, rage, anger, emotions, problems, and should be taught to use art as a means to release, fix, or neutralize these emotions. The students can at this age create a art festival in which they show the techniques and skills they have learned in previous years. Since art teachers are natural leaders according to Greenman (2007),  high school students can create an “International Festival” in which they can exhibit various works of art from diverse countries, make creative bulletin board of different languages, have a dance contest in which P.E. class are incorporated, use diverse cloth from different cultures, after-school activities, special meals, among other things. As a high school teacher, “students could wear special costumes from their country of origin at the event. The colors, designs, and patterns would add much to the festive occasion. Wearing art from around the world ... a feast for the eyes” (Greenman, 2007).

The Classroom experience is changed when you’re close to the age of the professor and bring similar life experiences into the leaning process.

Gay Clyburn

Young Adults. As a young adult, there are many ways that you can enhance art education among the students population. Personally, the students are looking to enhance their knowledge of the world and environments around them. As the instructor a creation of a diverse art curriculum that includes making colors from scratch, how to make paper, in depth study on how colors where used in Egypt, Greece, Paris, US, Latin America, China, Japan. In these courses, go into depth on how to interpret, appreciate, and create art piece that could teach the students how to blend in to a diverse settings. Teach how to tell a story through time using only colors and art.

Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave.

Henry Peter Brougham

Senior Citizens. As an educator, while teaching an art to senior citizens incorporating acrylic painting, watercolors, and other techniques to help them express what they have seen, lived, and experience through life. Learning how to leave a legacy of love for their loved ones, long discussions on the topic will lead to philosophy, acquisition of others knowledge and the teacher would become the students and the students would become the teachers since their experiences would be much greater than the educators. A deep discussion on the Mona Lisa, could lead us to solve the Dan Vinci code, while trying to create their own mysteries, while realizing that “If you educate a man you educate a person, but if you educate a woman you educate a family” (Manikan).

In conclusion, art education has many benefits for the students and world that we live in, but what has the educational systems have been doing to ensure the survival of these programs since they seem to be the first eliminated when the budgets are cut in schools. According to Holcomb (2007), “as a growing consensus of policymakers, educators, and parents agree that the arts are integral to learning, some districts are seeing a policy shift on the local and state level. In California, education and arts organizations have worked to secure a windfall arts budget that, in theory, would guarantee arts education in every public school in the state. The monies - $105 million in ongoing funds, and a one-time, $500 million line item for classroom equipment – are a legacy of the California Teacher Association’s successful lawsuit on education funding.”

References

Clyburn, G. (2006, November / December). Listening to Students: Dusting Off a Life of the Mind. Change.

Ferrari, M., Pinard, A., and Runions, K. (2001). Piaget’s Framework for a Scientific Study of Consciousness. Human Development, 44: 195 - 213.

Hakvoort, I. (2002, January). Theories of Learning and Development: Implications for Peace Education. Social Alternatives, 21(1): 18 – 22.

Holcomb, S. (2007, January). States of Arts. Art Education. Retrieved February 1st, 2007 from Neatoday.

Greenman, G. (2007, January). Tried & True tips for Art Teachers. Retrieved January 31, 2007 from www.art5andactivities.com

Lindqvist, G. (2003). Vygostsky’s Theory of Creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 15 (2-3): 245 – 251.

Lourenco, O., and Machado, A. (1996). In Defense of Piaget’s Theory: A Reply to 10 Common Criticisms. Psychological Review, 103 (1): 143 – 144.

Malerstein, A.J., Ahern, M.M., Pulos, S., and Arasteh, J.D. (1995, Spring). Prediction and Constancy of Cognitive-Motivational Structures in mothers and their adolescents. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 25(3): 197 – 208.

Murray, M.E. (2007). Moral Development and Moral Education: An Overview. Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago. Retrieved on January 25, 2007 from http://tigger.uic.edu/~Inucci/MoralEd/overviewtext.html

Nagarjuna, G. (2006) Tracing the Biological Roots of Knowledge, in Rangaswamy, N.S., Eds. Life and Organicism. Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture (PHISPC).

Piaget, J. (1976). La formation du symbole chez l’enfant. [Play, dreams, and imitation]. Neuchantel, Switzerland: Delachaux et Niestle. (Original work published 1946).

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Maritza M. Conde
High School Science Educator and Data Specialist
1999 BS General Science
2001 Advance Certificate K-12 Education
2005 M.A. in Curriculum and Technology
2010 EDD in Organizational Leadership
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What kind of lie does contemporary art support today?

What kind of truth are we realizing through the contemporary art?

Contemporary scene of visual art resembles the space filled with broken mirrors, where images reflect each other in the multidimensional sphere of media circus. The technique of cataloguing and classification, creation of categories, could serve as the key to the mapping and understanding of complexity of the multitude of approaches and streams that exists in today’s global art scene. Criteria for both, the creation and the selection are borrowed from random structures, and theoretically are questioning relevance of the evolution of art.

The initial categories for the whole system are those of matter and consciousness. They provide the trunk from which all the various branches of the other categories stem. All elements are so interconnected that, each can only be understood as an element of the whole. -Dialectical Materialism (A. Spirkin)

Determination of the significance of styles or tendencies, of the main art stream, groups or any other structures, will become irrelevant in near future. “Anything goes” was replaced by “And What?” With all the information and tools available today, everybody could become an artist. People of all professions are playing with new media. Does Garage Band make a musician, or graphic software a designer, or using digital camera a photographer? New technologies create a game where in competitive manner consequently everybody wants to win. Winning in art, means also experience “15 minutes of world-fame” and becoming a “superhero.” Consumer society deals with superficial substitution for happiness. Who is going to watch the game if everybody plays. Fortunately we can not play at the same time. Audience varies from small groups (family members and friends) to large social groups. In larger social communities, like national structures, demand for “heroes-artists” diminishes and culture is broken into small pieces of individualized performances of regional character. Researching tendencies of art scene behavior in context of contemporary philosophy of art we tend to accept a concept, that everybody is or could be an artist. The meaning, importance and consequences of such mind stream are very profound and have a great impact on cultural and social live. Why? It requires dropping the concept of conceptual thinking.

My artistic approach is created on such foundations. Not that I would be able to perform non-dualistic processes, but I am trying to pronounce a little speculative futuristic prognoses of the era after the end of art. Sooner or later this trend will be labeled as some kind of Unthinkable Art. Historically, realization of such path becomes a paradox to common sense (especially on collective level); however, similar trends are reflected in the air of the post-postmodern rain, and will soon appear on the sky as a rainbow.

Today’s curators are looking for unique and interesting angles to make their point across when using selective techniques for art shows. The usage of traditional approaches secures the system of art cycle, from creation to the distribution, and protects the capital of cultural bureau. Even the most alternative scenes (Technologies vs. Art, or other forums of so called “new media”) are not resolving the issue of foundation of the role of art on the contemporary global cultural platform, because they are based on the traditional curatorial, selective and preconceived mechanisms. What do I mean by that? I refer to the study of the designation processes of mind in relationship to the definition of what we labeled: The Art. As a reference to dialectic philosophies is an example of demonstration the potential of the idea pronounced by A.Danto, about art becoming philosophy. Such Ideas would need to be adopted, not only by artist themselves, but especially reformulated by structures that officially support the larger cultural platforms.

What are results of the conference that took place in Teheran in 2001? Art is still presented to the public in the manner of presentation from early 20 century. Structures that support such static views certainly do not elevate the public consciousness and awareness of issues of modern art world. The Artist Mark Kostabi makes allusion to the idea, of the art being a servant of market. Some curators are trilled by this statements. In the global picture of westernization, M. Kostabi’s phenomenon is becoming a guide – a hero, who is ideal combination of qualities, that contemporary artist should posses. It is also the best demonstration of lie that helps us to realize the truth about art of today.

Like a flashes of neon sign, art is reflected, from the pieces of mirrors everywhere.

Looks like a new quality of question have arisen since Arthur Danto published his ideas in book called “After the end of art, 1998. “Over a decade ago, Arthur Danto announced that art ended in the sixties. Ever since this declaration, he has been at the forefront of a radical critique of the nature of art in our time.” Art is becoming a philosophy.

I always believed in finding the answers in the space between, looking for the middle course. Neither postmodernism nor new media approaches are answers to the understanding of the positioning of the art of tomorrow. Postmodern world is a world of entertainment. It’s like an amusement park, where possibilities are endless and we feel overwhelmed for a while, but we have a need to relax from excess information and go back home.

Kostabi is one of those, who understood the art market, and because of his intelligence he penetrated the system, took advantage of it, so he can do whatever he wants. We pay for expensive tickets out of our pocket. I admire him because he realized the dream of every artist. Or is it not a dream of every artist to get recognized and sell art work all over the world?

If not, what is?

Is it still relevant to ask question, such as, what is Art? How do we deal with it? What is the nature of beauty? I would like to refere to the dialog between Einstein and Tagore from 1930.

EINSTEIN: There are two different conceptions about the nature of the universe - the world as a unity dependent on humanity, and the world as reality independent of the human factor.

TAGORE: When our universe is in harmony with man, the eternal, we know it as truth, we feel it as beauty.”

E: If there were no human beings any more, the Apollo Belvedere no longer would be beautiful?

T: No!

E: I agree with this conception of beauty, but not with regard to truth.

T: Why not? Truth is realized through men.

E: I cannot prove my conception is right, but that is my religion.

T: Beauty is in the ideal of perfect harmony, which is in the universal being; truth is the perfect comprehension of the universal mind. We individuals approach it through our own mistakes and blunders, through our accumulated experience, through our illumined consciousness. How otherwise can we know truth?

- by Dmitri Marianoff, published in NewYork Times, August 10, 1930

“Contemporary artists would never approach new horizons. One of the reasons of this failure seems to be the separation of artistic activity from speculative thinking.“

2001 Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, International Conference on the Philosophy of Art.

What happened since the time of the conference? How to overcome speculative thinking, if it arises as a cultural result of values supported by society we live in?

How to identify or place individual art work into the world of already so complicated and diverse art scene, without compromising originality, respecting evolution in art? How do we deal with the fast passing, minute to minute changing tendencies of art? How the individual artist contributes to the art of its lifetime, and not just contributes to the 15 minutes type of history? What are the values, reasons of art of tomorrow? Is there analogy in art history to the situation of our era? What are the future forms of the visual exploration? What will the production of art going to be in near future, 10 years from now? What is the role of new media? Does artist have to be involved in the philosophy of art? Could individually created piece of art be created in isolation? If so, how are art processes structured on individual level and on the global level?

It is intriguing to think about becoming a pioneer of the new Era of Art. My motivation is to explore the field of possibilities. In have no interest in inherent aspect of art rather I am interested in the evolution of possibilities of artistic thinking. In 1999 I have graduated in Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, with installation inspired by I. Kabakov, where I exhibited my workspace with drawings and prints on floor and the white canvases, with intention to question the meaning of the art itself. White canvas was there to raise the question of reason for continuation of mark making and the End of art narratives. I have seen closed circle of possibilities. If anything was possible, and everything was an art; than nothing was an art anymore, so Art was Death. But as I realize today, that was just the beginning of my long journey to the realization of truth about art.

The Incredibles (2004) refreshed feelings about the End of Art.

“When everybody is a superhero than nobody is superhero”.

In order to continue in activities leading to product that is labeled as an art, I had to formulate and reconsider following facts:

1. Analysis of situation.

2. Underlying misconception of self and wrong motivations.

3. Formulating the solutions and strategies.

4. Continual fabrication and visual symbioses with reality.

1. ANALYSIS OF SITUATION

From the Teheran’s conference: Post-Modernism & Contemporary Art,

27 April - 1 May 2002

The Problems of Contemporary Art:

- Aesthetics in Contemporary Art

- The Fine Line between Artistic & Non-Artistic Work

- The Language & Expression of Contemporary Art

- Contemporary Literature & Art

- Contemporary Art & Technology

- Globalization & Contemporary Art

- Post-Modern Art: Features & Characteristics

- The End of Art

Post-Modernism & Trends of Contemporary Art:

- Minimalism

- Conceptual Art

- Land Art

- Video Art

- Body Art

- Anti-Art

- Local Art

- Feminism

- Post-Modern Architecture

Theoretical Origins of Post-Modern Art

Theoretical Principles of Modernism from the viewpoint of Modern Philosophers:

- Humanism

- Rationalism

- Subjectivism

- Nihilism

- Aesthetics

- Enlightenment

2. UNDERLYING MISCONCEPTION OF SELF AND MOTIVATION

I have slightly touched topics of traditional dilemmas of dualistic mind. The acceptation of dual aspect of things, leads to judgmental thinking, not only in art. Creation of categories is beginning of the tragedy of the era after the end of art. This is why Beauty and any other category could be defined, which leads to the continual labeling.

Definition of other reasons of misconception is based on juxtaposing Nietzche’s and Malraux’s models of art and processes of creation.

Nietzche

a. One seeks for oneself a less artistic public. The superstitious belief in the "genius"

b.One harangues the obscure instincts of the dissatisfied, ambitious, self-disguised spirits in a democratic age: importance of poses.

c. One transfers the procedures of one art to the other arts, confounds the objectives of art with those of knowledge or the church or racial interests (nationalism), or philosophy.

d.One flatters women, sufferers, the indignant, etc. False "intensification".

Malraux Andre

Art is a display of universal creativity of individual. Through art work man was, and is, opposing and transcending limitations of his physique, his personal and social (historical) destiny. Malraux refuted to explain art works in relation to the biography of their creators, and was against this method in explaining motives and contents of art.

3. FORMULATING THE SOLUTION AND STRATEGY/ VISION-UTOPIA

a. Revival of Iconic Quality.

Because of the degenerated Era of Spiritual Values and the End of time of Old Gods; which migration and multicultural blend is responsible for, I am looking for Possibility of New Sacral Form. This is not a creation of transcendental art. It is a search for artistic form that allows the content to respect dialectic evolution of social wisdom, where an essence of sacral secrecy is highly respected. It is a new level of the sphere of new colors, shapes and structures. Renewal of art forms is based on reevaluation of sacral attributes from history and than elevating the forces of modern era which define motives and perspectives of redefined sacral forms. It is revival of existing symbols, on global level. It is not a creation of a new religion, but it is a new level of social consciousness. Form remains the same, mind is different. Technology, art and philosophy are integrated into continuous symbioses.

b. Role of the Artists, Galleries and Cultural Industry. Combination of Two Worlds. New Cultural Wisdom. Utopia.

This would be the end of “…marketing game governed by art dealers, Gallerists and publishers, who have to run the business of Cultural Industry.”

The society on global level would be governed by New Cultural Wisdom. Creation of art is not considered anymore as the act of creation. “The art will be spontaneous as breathing.” Artist is producing form, that is instantly and naturally blending into the environment, so the sub-consciousness is directed by wisdom that eliminates the dilemma of hierarchic model. Gallery space is no more required and the whole space is becoming a showcase. The whole space does not require the poses. It is an art of conscious depiction of picture plan, from retinal experience, or selection of the picture frame in consciousness and placing the required aesthetics upon it. Artists are fabricating art that is already blended into environment as natural portion of space and serves as perceptive potential for public depiction. Cultural Wisdom is defined by human consciousness that provides unlimited potential for defining the pictorial framing of reality, and its limits are limits of understanding the phenomenon of reality.

c. Clash of Civilizations. Global Culture. Meta-code, and New Artistic Religion.

We experience on global level formation of new cultural qualities that are based on cultural clashes. (Example: Global cultural experience is formed in LA house, with my Persian and Mexican friends listening to the Japanese techno music, eating Bulgarian cheese with Arabic bread, Russian pickles and drinking French wine while discussing Slovak culture, or latest fashion trends in London.) East meets west or south meets north processes are not completed yet and it is hard to predict the results from the cultural clashes. But we need to look at the presence as the formation of the universal space, where cultural identities will be redefined. This will result in temporary crisis of individual identities but eventually will lead to the identity of global consciousness.

Americanization of world can serve as model of globalization of globe with its positive and negative aspects. Migration to caves is limited. S.J.Lewy

4. CONTINUAL FABRICATION AND VISUAL SYMBIOSES

I would like to scratch the surface beyond the point of A. Danto’s philosophical questions about the end of art. Not that I would have “the guts” to elaborate on his ideas from philosophical perspective, but I just want to reflect on some fragments and articulate them strictly as an artistic vision.

"A philosophical question arises whenever we have two objects which seem in every relevant particular to be alike, but which belong to importantly different philosophical categories.

…and this is no less the case when seeking to account for the differences between works of art and mere real things which happen exactly to resemble them.

…for example, regards paintings as very complex perceptual objects. So they are, but since objects can be imagined perfectly congruent with those which are not art works, these must have equivalent complexity at the level of perception. After all, the problem arose in the first place because no perceptual difference could be imagined finally relevant. But neither can possession of so-called "aesthetic qualities' serve, since it would be strange if a work of art were beautiful but something exactly like it though not a work of art were not. In fact it has been a major effort of the philosophy of art to de-aestheticize the concept of art. It was Marcel Duchamp, a far deeper artist than Warhol, who presented as "readymades" objects chosen for their lack of aesthetic qualities - grooming combs, hat racks, and, notoriously, pieces of lavatory plumbing. "Aesthetic delectation is the danger to be avoided," Duchamp wrote of his most controversial work, Fountain, of 1917. It was precisely Duchamp's great effort to make it clear that art is an intellectual activity, a conceptual enterprise and not merely something to which the senses and the feelings come into play. And this must be true of all art, even that most bent upon gratifying the eye or ear, and not just for those works which are regarded as especially "philosophical," like Raphael's School of Athens or Mann's The Magic Mountain. Were someone to choreograph Plato's Republic, that would not, simply because of its exalted content, be more philosophical than Coppelia or Petrouchka. In fact these might be more philosophical, employing as they do real dancers imitating dancing dolls imitating real dancers!

Where are the components for a theory of art to be found? I think a first step may be made in recognizing that works of art are representations, not necessarily in the old sense of resembling their subjects, but in the more extended sense that it is always legitimate to ask what they are about.

Now of course not all representational things are works of art, so the definition has only begun. I shall not take the next steps here. All I have wished to show is the way that the philosophy of art has deep questions to consider, questions of representation and reality, of structure, truth, and meaning. In considering these things, it moves from the periphery to the center of philosophy, and in so doing it curiously incorporates the two things that give rise to it. For when art attains the level of self-consciousness it has come to attain in our era, the distinction between art and philosophy becomes as problematic as the distinction between reality and art. And the degree to which the appreciation of art becomes a matter of applied philosophy can hardly be overestimated." - A. DANTO

I believe that art should reach the level, where its own representation would be representation of the pure existence. What do I mean by pure existence? Ii is purification on the level of non creation. All creation is pregnant by its causes. Consequently purifying the causes of creation will purify the act of creation itself.

Global consciousness on the level of cultural wisdom will create the platform, where all representational things will become work of art. It would be consciousness and its possibility to frame the fragment of reality and apply the aesthetic quality upon it. The reality in cultural wisdom level is ultimately de-aestheticized. Marcel Duchamp’s idea of the danger of aesthetic delectation would be eliminated and his vision completed.

Every aspect of reality could become art, but Wisdom Culture does not allow the reality in dualistic (judgmental) sense to become the art neither on collective level, nor on any regional level. It would only exist as a potential view, on the level of one’s consciousness. However in later stages of development of wisdom culture, in the stage of ultimate equanimity, the nonjudgmental aesthetic experience of reality as ultimate art could be realized simultaneously in more than one person. Evolution of collective experience could follow. The result of such parallel experience manifests the evolution of human kind toward the subtle spiritual qualities and realization of inseparable quality of beauty from the existence itself. It is experience of highest aesthetics. This will lead to the formation of new social structure, where “shamans” will protect the global Sanctum.

The essence of the Sanctum is present in every aspect of reality, which holds the door to the potential creation, where the seed of the nature of beauty could be found.

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Among all the remarkable action/martial arts movie stars over the last 20 years or so, several of them truly stand out such as Jackie Chan, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, probably Jean-Claude Van Damme.(Maybe you have your own favorites that haven't been mentioned here. Let me know by sending in your comments.)

There are movie performers most people remember and who are quite frankly household names.

One such martial artist and movie performer I am always impressed with is Li Lianjie.

"Who the heck is that?", you ask.

I admit I also only knew him by his stage name, Jet Li.

For many years, Jet Li has worked extremely hard to get where he is now in his career.

And obviously his hard work and determination have paid off for him and his family.

Especially if you consider that his mother had to somehow pull him, his bother and two sisters through as a widow in Beijing during the Sixties.

As a teenager, Jet Li rigorously trained in Wushu for several years, winning countless titles and national gold medals.

Jet Li became a member of the high-acclaimed national Wushu team that even performed for then-U.S. President Nixon in the United States.

In those days it was an extraordinary honor and opportunity for Chinese to be able to travel overseas and even more so to perform in front of "the leader of the free world". Jet Li was still just a teenager at the time!

His abilities and achievements as a Wushu forms practitioner paved the way for Jet Li's acting in martial arts movies that started in China, then Hong Kong and ultimately the United States. He has become a global superstar throughout the years.

You might have seen him in some of his movies such as:

Shaolin TempleOnce Upon A Time In China

Lethal Weapon 4(This was the first time I had ever seen Jet Li and I was impressed!)

Romeo Must DieHero Cradle 2 The GraveFearlessWar (with Jason Statham)The Forbidden Kingdom (with fellow superstar Jackie Chan)

I have learned that Jet Li is a cast member along with Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Jason Staham, Arnold Schwarzenegger to star in  "The Expendables" which is scheduled to be released in 2010. More on that at a later date.

But there is also another side to Jet Li such as his charitable activities, notably after his near-death experience in 2004 in the Maldives during a tsunami.

Reportedly, Jet Li's "The One Foundation" supports international disaster relief efforts with the Red Cross and other efforts, such as recovery in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

Jet Li continues to impress on and off the big screen.

If you enjoy watching Jet Li either at age 14 performing Wushu form for his first championship or as the bad guy in Lethal Weapon 4, stop by TheMartialArtsReporter.com

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Coming from a Shotokan karate training background I will admit that studying Wing Chun was a real change of pace, if you know what I mean.

But after having read about some other famous practitioners such as Ip Man, Bruce Lee, Ip Chun, Leung Ting, Emin Boztepe, I just had to give it my best shot.

I studied under Sifu Francis Fong, one of the finest kung fu instructors in the U.S.

Wing Chun, translated into English, means 'Eternal Spring or Beautiful Springtime' and refers to the name of Yim Wing Chun, who received Chinese boxing training from a Buddhist nun. At the time the style was nameless.

Yim later married and taught her husband this style of fighting. He then simply went ahead and gave the syle her name, Wing Chun.

There are a number of theories and versions about how this style originated. I like the one I just gave you.

The typical stance is supposed to be like a piece of bamboo, firm but flexible, rooted but yielding.

Wing Chun favors a high, narrow stance with your elbows kept close to your body and your arms are positioned across the vitals of the centerline.

Attack and defense follow along an imaginary horizontal line drawn from the center of your chest to the center your opponent's chest. The prime striking targets are on or near this line, including eyes, nose, throat, solar plexus and groin.

With the emphasis on the center line, your vertical fist straight punch will be your most common strike.

Your kicks are to be kept below the waist. This is typical of southern Chinese martial arts, in contrast to northern systems which apply many high kicks.

Chained vertical punches are used a lot.

You develop your reflexes by searching unsecured defenses through use of sensitivity. Training through Chi Sao ('sticking hands") with a training partner, one practices the trapping of hands. When an opponent is "trapped", he or she becomes immobile.

Wing Chun also offers forms that are meditative, solitary exercises to develop self-awareness, balance, relaxation and sensitivity. They also help you in the fundamental movement and in generating the correct amount of force.

This style generally consists of three empty hand, one "wooden dummy" and two weapons forms.

There you have it: Wing Chun in a nutshell.

Enjoy this exciting martial art and always protect your centerline!

TheMartialArtsReporter.com

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Follow these simple instructions to create your perfect wine glass painting in oil.

FIRSTLY DRAW YOUR OUTLINE IMAGE IN A SINGLE COLOUR. I LIKE TO USE BLUE BUT THE COLOUR DOES NOT MATTER.

USING A LIMITED PALETTE OF BURNT SIENNA,ULTRAMARINE BLUE, YELLOW OCHRE AND TITANIUM WHITE ROUGH IN THE COLOURS OF THE GLASS.

STRENGTHEN THE DARKS WITH A STRONGER COLOUR AND CREATE MORE DIMENSION STILL USING YOUR LIMITED PALETTE.

USING A FULL COLOUR PALETTE, PAINT THEGLASS AND BACKGROUND TO CONCLUSION.

A Profile of Peter Kotka

I started painting full time during the 1980's. I then took time to read about painters and their techniques and was inspired by the landscape paintings of John Constable. Infact, this was time well invested as many years later I copied Constables ‘Haywain' for an American client, half full size.

After some surprising success with a Gallery, and early commissioning of works which sold quickly, successful Exhibitions followed and my professional career had started. I explored different techniques and followed the detailed style such as that of Dutch Landscape painters of the 16th Century, Jacob van Ruysdael in particular. Royal Doulton also requested him to paint a series of designs for collector plates entitled 'Harvest Home' and numerous card designs followed for Hallmark and Polytint. I also started undertaking an adult education teaching post with a local College, and the classes proved so popular that I still run local classes to this day. Occasionally, if requested,  bespoke ‘painting holidays' are organised for small groups of artists in fine wine areas of England, France and the US.

I decided to find a new challenge and direction and focused on perfecting ‘Still Life' painting specialising in wine, which was also something that I was starting to take a great interest in. I have developed a unique blend of working with both contemporary and traditional styles, colours and techniques, and this gives my paintings an individuality, detail and atmosphere. I don't try to recreate a photographic style like others in the field. To me, art must be art and creativity even in realism and should envelope each work in a different way and is an exploration of an idea.

In 2004 I was invited to take part in a prestigious Still Life exhibition in California, where I was the bestselling artist in the show. I have continued to paint fine wines in a still life style and have achieved much acclaim and recognition for my work.

Why not visit my website and review my latest blogs along with fine wine updates and the galleries of my current and past works of art.

www.peterkotka.com

Fine Wine artist. Paintings of fine wine by Peter Kotka
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If you're looking to explore the artistic offerings of the capital city, the following exhibitions are currently running:

Former Turner prize-winner Chris Ofili is exhibiting at the Tate Britain until mid-May. His artwork is coloured with rich layering and shows an inventive used of mixed media, including glitter, resin, map pins and elephant dung. His work is noted for its references to his Nigerian heritage. Ofili won the Turner Prize in 1998 and was selected in 2003 to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale, where his work for the British Pavilion was done in collaboration with the architect David Adjaye.

'Victoria & Albert: Art & Love in London' is the first exhibition to focus on Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's love of art. The exhibition spans the length of their marriage and includes over 400 items from the Royal Collection, most of which were exchanged between the pair as tokens to mark special occasions. The exhibition at the Queen's Gallery runs until October.

The National Portrait Gallery is exhibiting over 60 portraits as part of their 'Indian Portrait' exhibition. It includes portraits of Mughal emperors, courtiers, holy men and some depictions of Europeans by Indian artists. This is complemented by an exhibition of work, and a trail, by the Singh Twins. The two London-born twin sisters are acclaimed British artists, and the exhibition will provide a contemporary response to the portrait exhibition. It runs until June.

Art fans looking for something a little more quirky will enjoy 'the Music of the Fans' exhibition at the Fan Museum. It draws together a selection of intricately designed fans featuring musical instruments and musical themes. The museum, heralded as one of London's hidden gems, is home to over 3,500 antique and contemporary fans dating from the 11th century on wards. The exhibition runs until July.

History buffs will be drawn to the Ministry of Food exhibition at the Imperial War Museum. It explores the rationing of food which was introduced by wartime government 70 years ago. It shows how people adapted to the 14 year ration by growing their own food, trying different recipes and eating communally. It includes a wartime greenhouse, a grocer's shop, cookery demonstrations and family events and will run until 2011.

About the author: ArtCalendr is freelance article specialist who writes articles on Art. A special recommendation from Art Calendr, for more information on Art fairs and Art Workshops please visit www.artcalendr.com
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ArtCalendr is freelance article specialist who writes articles on Art. A special recommendation from Art Calendr, for more information on Art fairs and Art news please visit www.artcalendr.com
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A fantasy art gallery of screenshots, concept art, and other promotional artwork from pc games, video games, mmorpg games, or online games. Because art lovers shouldn't have to play games to enjoy great digital art!
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We are always on the lookout for new artists who will inspire you to buy online art and in Simon we are certain you will love the quality of his work. It is our goal to give our customers the opportunity to buy original art online, and from a trusted gallery, that is why we work very hard to ensure you have the best artists available to select from.

A professional artist and also having been a professional musician as a bass player it is clear that artistry and creation is in his heart. With collections in Greece, South Africa and Edinburgh the worldwide appeal of Simon's work is clear for all to see. Currently he has work on display at Inspired Art and also in New York.

"My aim as an artist is to produce as much quality, experience based artworks as possible. I loosely adhere to the principles of Transpersonal Art. I believe that art is, in its archetypal form, a means for Man to transcend the obvious and the physical, manifesting the spiritual reality of himself. I believe that through the process of creating my work, and the materials and meditation employed, a transmutation of substance occurs. This process is a spiritual journey, a process of cleansing and healing that even though mostly misunderstood by myself, leaves me with a sense of connection to the world around me, and a general feeling of well being."

Simon's work is in high demand and this is partly down to the process used to create his work "Some pieces evolve over many months, even years, the ageing and deterioration of substances and materials manifesting the creative process over time." If you want to view Simon's work in more detail then you can do so here Simon Pontin Art.

Everyone at Inspired Art would like to make Simon feel very welcome in our team and we hope our Inspired Art Club members are as happy with Simon's work as we are.

Join the Inspired Art Club? Join The Club Members of the club receive regular updates on Inspired Art and the new artists we have onboard.

Inspired Art
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If you have a liking for abstract art paintings on canvas then Vesna Abstract Art is the place for you. It is here that you will find most inspirational spiritual art pieces that will timelessly remind you that we all connect as One-Song.
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The Art Project is based out of Vancouver, BC and was created by two guys with a passion for art and the World Wide Web. The Art Project has created an environment with the artist in mind. It is a space where artists can set their own price, submit art pieces that they choose, and control many aspects of their own content without the hassle of building their own site. The Art Project is also a place where artists are not paying high art gallery fees which in turn allows buyers to get the best possible deal on amazing art, and the artist are compensated for their talent.

The Project:

The Art Project is a project that will let the artist display their work to the world. To aid the Art Project with marketing and promotions, we have teamed up with online marketing experts Fogg Industries to give artists the greatest internet exposure possible. This project was developed by artists for artists and is a place where an artist can be in full control of their art by choosing which art pieces to display, as well as how much they wish to charge per piece.

If you would like to sell art online at the The Art Project please see the submit section of our site. Or if you are looking to buy art online check us out too!

Why Choose The Art Project?

We have several unique programs:

1) Unique homepage gallery that features 3 artists per month.

2) Gallery Events

3) Partnership with Googles Picasa and Flickr.com for maximum online exposure

Also

- Over 30,000 website hits a month

- The artist decides the price that their art is listed for

- Great section for art collectors that want to sale their collections online

- Two unique and flexible payment plans Either cheap monthly rates or 20% commission* on sold art

- Partnerships with websites such as whole9, flickr.com, picasa.com, Artists in Canada, the Art Ads Network and Art in Canada guaranteeing maximum exposure

- Amazing organic Google search rankings, many of our artists and collections are on the first page of Google!

- Manually reviewed and updated ensuring that only high quality art is submitted onto the website.

- Buyer pays the shipping so the artist does not need to worry about extra shipping fees

- Easy submission and sign up

- Updated blogging

Thank you for using our site!

*The 20% commission only applies to online sales, art displayed in gallery events are subject to high commissions based on the gallery.

cofounder of the art project
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