He’s been in town for a few weeks and is all moved in, now it’s time for a homecoming.
‘Tin Man’ sculpture dedication set for 10 a.m. Thursday
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7 Helpful Tips for Better Landscape Photography
Landscape photography is a challenging genre that requires a wide range of technical and creative skills, a lot of perseverance, and often, just a bit of luck. If you would like to improve your landscape work, check out this helpful video tutorial that features an experienced photographers sharing seven useful tips sure to put you on the track to better photos.
Coming to you from Nigel Danson, this great video tutorial will show you seven tips sure to improve your landscape photography. Of them, the one I think that is most often overlooked is using longer focal lengths. It is natural to use a wide angle lens for landscape images, but longer focal lengths allow you to leverage effects like telephoto compression to create drama and can also simplify overly busy scenes by excluding some of the elements and creating a simpler and more direct compositions. And in a genre where just getting to the location can take a significant amount of time and effort, getting all the shots you can out of a single scene is highly beneficial. Check out video above for the full rundown from Danson.
And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out our latest tutorial, “Photographing the World: Japan With Elia Locardi!”
43.3 foot tall Golden Spike Monument sculpture makes stop at Golden Spike Tower in North Platte
The Golden Spike Monument, a 43.3 foot tall sculpture honoring those that made the transcontinental railroad possible, made its stop at North Platte’s Golden Spike Tower & Visitors Center Monday
Roslyn unveils new sculpture in partnership with Yakama Nation
Hand in metaphorical hand, the Roslyn Downtown Association and the Yakama Nation showed their commitment to move forward together at the Creator’s Law sculpture unveiling Thursday, Oct. 12.
‘It’s insane’: Springfield native vying for Grammy nomination
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – A Springfield singer and rapper is up for consideration for a Grammy. A rhythmic pop artist from the Springfield area has been placed on the official ballot for the upcoming Grammy awards.
She’s hoping to make the final list of nominees.
“You wait all this time for these moments, and then when they happen, we’re all stunned,” said Taija New.
Excitement has taken over Springfield native Taija New because this pop singer and rapper now adds a high note to her resume: being under consideration for a Grammy award.
“It’s insane,” expressed New. “I cannot even believe that Taija New and the Grammy’s are in one sentence. It’s so weird.”
New began her career about 10 years ago, doing some writing and open mic stuff while attending umass Amherst.
Since then, she has been recording songs and performing with her team across the country, as well as Canada.
Now, the recording academy has placed her on the official ballot for the Grammy awards’ best melodic rap performance, thanks to her song over your allure.
“When I worked on the song, I knew it was going to be something because I liked it,” explained New. “I wrote it. It’s basically about being in a situation where it’s kind of toxic, but you’re just feeling like ‘I think I’m over the glitz and the glamour of this situation and I just want to move on.’”
Whether or not new wins the award, she said she wants to set a clear example for other young aspiring artists.
“If you really, really put yourself to it, if you really work hard, you can do it,” said New.
But if New wins, she gave Western Mass News a good idea of how she would react.
“I probably wouldn’t even get up from my seat,” expressed New. “I’d probably be just, like, stunned and shocked. Someone would probably have to drag me up the stage, honestly.”
New said she has received a lot of support from family, friends and the community.
Recording academy members have until October 20 to vote for their top five nominees, and the winner will be announced at the Grammy awards on February 4.
New asks anyone who knows a voting member to ask for their consideration on her behalf and if you do not know anyone, you can still spread the word through email and all social media platforms.
Copyright 2023. Western Mass News (WGGB/WSHM). All rights reserved.
Art Market Continues to Falter
Christie’s auctioneer Jussi Pylkkänen in London last week during the sale of Kees van Dongen’s La Quiétude, the top selling lot for the single-owner evening sale from collection of the late entrepreneur Sam Josefowitz.
Courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd. 2023
Major auctions of modern and contemporary art in London last week offered additional proof that the market is softening.
Combined, the evening sales at the three top auction houses—Christie’s, Phillips, and Sotheby’s—sank 28.1% from a year earlier to £114.2 million (US$138.7 million) before fees, according to an analysis by ArtTactic, a London-based data and analysis firm. The total, which amounted to less than a presale estimate of at least £123.8 million, followed weak evening sales in Hong Kong for both Sotheby’s and Phillips. Christie’s holds its major Hong Kong sales at the end of November.
“Jittery London auctions show that the art market remains fragile,” ArtTactic wrote in its analysis.
Though a reason for the jitters isn’t entirely clear, the big London sales began on Thursday, soon after the start of the Israeli-Hamas war. That injected a huge amount of additional uncertainty into a market already experiencing the effects of geopolitical tensions in Europe and Asia and higher interest rates throughout the world. The results for the art market create a worrisome backdrop ahead of the biggest fall auctions of the year, which will take place in the first half of November in New York.
Still, Christie’s delivered some good market news last week, achieving £62.69 million in sales of modern and contemporary art—3.7% better than a year earlier—at two evening auctions on Friday: a 20th/21st Century evening sale and an auction of the single-owner collection of the late entrepreneur Sam Josefowitz.
That total doesn’t include an additional £16.1 million realized for the Josefowitz collection for 14 lots of antiquities, Old Master Prints, and Asian sculpture and design, ArtTactic said. The collection, which will continue to be featured in three upcoming Paris sales, is expected to realize more than £80 million in all.
Sotheby’s, however, did not fare well in London, with the £37 million total for its two evening sales on Thursday representing a 55.5% decline from last year and its lowest London evening sale total since 2015, according to ArtTactic.
A major reason for the overall drop was the failure to sell Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild, 1986, which was estimated to fetch between £16 million and £24 million. That led to a total for its modern and contemporary evening auction of £24.4 million, below a presale estimate of at least £39.9 million. Sotheby’s “The Now” evening auction of ultra-contemporary art realized £12.5 million, within expectations.
Phillips’ single evening auction of 20th-century and contemporary art on Friday achieved £14.5 million, just above a presale low estimate expectation of US$13.9 million, a 4.2% drop from a year earlier.
The top lot of the week was Kees van Dongen’s La Quiétude, 1918, fetching £9.1 million during Christie’s auction of the Josefowitz collection. Other top sales in London included Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Future Sciences Versus the Man, 1982, which realized £8.8 million at Christie’s 20th/21st Century evening sale, and Francis Bacon’s Study for a Portrait, 1979, which achieved £3.5 million at Sotheby’s modern and contemporary auction.
Works by ultra-contemporary artists did not sell well in London, following similarly weak sales in Hong Kong, providing more evidence that surging prices in this sector may be over. In Hong Kong, results for works by artists under age 45 fell shy of expectations at HK$95.6 million (US$12.22 million), nearly 55% lower than in the spring and 5.5% lower than a year ago, ArtTactic said.
Last week, sales of ultra-contemporary works totaled £6.29 million, within expectations, but down 50.6% from a year earlier, ArtTactic said. Only 68% of 39 lots offered across all three houses in London sold above the middle of their presale estimate range, compared to 79.4% that did a year ago, the firm said. The biggest sale was for Caroline Walker’s Fragranced, which achieved £445,000, above a £150,000 high estimate.
In its analysis of the Hong Kong auctions, ArtTactic noted that the results showed sellers’ expectations were too high. Of 99 lots offered at Sotheby’s via three auctions, 26 didn’t sell, and 24 sold below the low estimate, for a total sell-through rate of less than 74%. In all, Sotheby’s Hong Kong sales were 0.03% lower than a year earlier.
In percentage terms, Phillips sold more works in its Hong Kong evening sale on Oct. 6 (95.7%), which ArtTactic said could have been a sign that sellers were willing to accept a lower price after witnessing Sotheby’s sales the day before. Still, its total of HK$153 million was 51% lower than the HK$315 million realized at its comparative December 2022 auction, the firm said.
ArtTactic also detailed that appetite in Asia for works priced at HK$10 million or more was clearly fading. There were 26 lots in this price range, and 14, or more than half (nearly 54%), went for less than expected; another 12 sold on or above the low estimate, ArtTactic said.
Artist Erica Everage highlights feminine power through her paintings
Art can elicit a lot of emotions for people and in this week’s Java with Jamie we meet Los Angeles native, Erica Everage, who is known for her works highlighting feminine power and beauty.
Her works of art are displayed on the wall at Figeroua Hotel and that’s where Jamie Yuccas sat down with the artist to talk about her journey. The hotel also has an artist suite decorated by Everage herself.
The hotel also has an extensive coffee list from specialty lattes to matcha tea, Café Fig has a little something for everyone on their menu.
Everage’s artwork is featured in her new exhibit, which is part of the hotel’s 2023 Featured Artist Program.
“The hotel itself, the history and the ethos of it, really match with my art practice and what I’m about as an person and an artist. Women empowerment, specifically women’s bodies and the safety of women’s bodies, and women being the subjects not the objects of our stories,” said Everage.
Figeroua Hotel opened in 1926, funded by women and for women, who weren’t forced to check in with a male chaperone. Now, Everage’s nearly 20 hung pieces expand the idea of bold female figures.
What inspires you when you create these pieces?
“History. Right now I’m really into the archeology. Visually my pieces are already abstract and very curvy and mysterious. So I like I like to use all those elements,” said Everage. “I like to use my own body to paint from. I used to be a dancer and I use my dance so make paintings. The connection is that I like to make my paintings larger than life rather than shrink them down.”
Everage says that she spent a lot of her life trying to shrink down her body and minimize her curves, but now she wants to show that she can be a woman and be proud of her gender expression.
Her parents are interior designers, so creativity in the art space has always been part of her life.
Did you grow up knowing you wanted to be an artist?
“No, but I was always drawing fashion in my room at age 12 and my mom noticed I was always doing it a lot and said, if you’re spending all of this time drawing, you should learn how to draw well. So, I got sent to figure drawing class and it became by favorite by of my week.”
Her mom and dad are not only her biggest fans, but also her biggest supporters. When Everage found out about the hotel’s new featured artist suite, she enlisted ‘Krista & John of Everage Design, Inc.’ to help decorate.
Before blasting onto the art scene, Everage wanted to become an actress. She was featured in a Barbie commercial in 1996 and although she went to school study acting at Northwestern, Everage found her way back to her paintbrush.
“It feels incredible and so free. I feel so much freer than when I was an actress. I feel in charge of my own destiny and I don’t have to audition to get the job,” said Everage.
Eventually Everage wants to open her own studio and teach others about art, painting and powerful female expressions.
Halloween Harvest Festival coming to Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City Oct. 28
Oct. 16, 2023 By Ethan Marshall Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City will be hosting a Halloween Harvest Festival from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday,
Brooklyn cafe bans some photo taking and video recording in store
Lincoln sculptor’s bust of Omaha native Malcolm X chosen for Nebraska Hall of Fame
A Lincoln sculptor will create the bust of Omaha native and human rights activist Malcolm X to be installed in the State Capitol next year.
