The third annual Sandscapes festival will be held at Dubai Park next weekend with an art exhibition, workshops and live music among the activities lined up.
The exhibition will feature the work of Russian, Syrian and Asian art students, and funds raised from the sale of paintings will be used to buy art supplies for students with special needs who study at the Mawaheb studio in Dubai's Bastakiya area.
"The idea behind this event is to provide a platform where art and music can come together for amateurs," said Manupriam Seth, a Dubai-based artist who organises the festival together with his wife Harpreet, an architecture professor at Ajman University.
"This is a community event and all the participants are based here. So this is an opportunity for residents to come together, meet each other and paint, draw and sing," said Mr Seth.
Local bands will perform a variety of musical styles, from jazz and rock to Indian classical music, at the festival. The line-up includes a band of students from Emirates International School.
Festival-goers will also be able to buy T-shirts and a fabric-painting kit for Dh30, and take part in a group painting session.
The organisers hope to attract more than 300 art lovers to Sandscapes 2012, which will take place on January 6 from 3pm to 9pm at the Dubai Park in Oud Metha, opposite the Ismaili Centre.
About 150 people took part in the event last year, when it was held at the Emirates Marine Environmental Group reserve at Ghantoot.
"There was complete integration at last year's event so we are really looking forward to this," said Gulshan Kavarana, an art teacher at Mawaheb.
"Last year, there were families with children with special needs and other families as well, and their real focus was on the art. That's what all the people truly cared about."
"It was great for the children because the show is held outdoors and draws different people from all walks of life."
2011年12月29日星期四
2011年12月28日星期三
Employee purchases retail legacy in Downtown Truckee
Brooke Bentley, Truckee resident and longtime employee of La Galleria recently purchased the 30-year-old retail store in historic Downtown Truckee with her husband Chad Bentley. La Galleria is a community staple providing products globally featuring art, home décor, fashionable clothing and jewelry.
Originally from Chico, Brooke Bentley has lived in Truckee for 12 years. “Like many of us who move to the Truckee-Lake Tahoe area, I had the intention of living here for just one season to be a ski bum. One season quickly became two seasons, five seasons and then in a blink of an eye, 12 years. I now have a beautiful family with my husband Chad, two children Cortez and Pearl, our dog Leo and a business I have always wanted,” she said.
Bentley's love for traveling, meeting new people, exploring different cultures of art, jewelry and clothing, made her admire La Galleria's products from around the world. Her passion for the store began early as a customer and then shortly after, she applied for a part-time position as a sales associate. As time went on, Bentley was promoted to store manager and recently, she was presented the amazing opportunity of purchasing the store for herself.
Bentley's experience at La Galleria during the past 10 years as a sales associate, store manager and now owner has earned her a following of local customers, frequent visitors and credible designers for the unique and knowledgeable shopping experience she and her staff provides.
Bentley and her husband Chad travel to Bali, Mexico and South America to discover different artists and bring affordable one-of-a-kind gifts for any occasion, any age group, of all prices.
Bentley also employs an expert staff who are artists specializing in jewelry design, paintings and glass. She values her employees and encourages their artistic growth by displaying the staff's art for sale in the store. Brooke's employees are also able to conduct jewelry repairs and travel to customer's homes to consult in interior design.
Originally from Chico, Brooke Bentley has lived in Truckee for 12 years. “Like many of us who move to the Truckee-Lake Tahoe area, I had the intention of living here for just one season to be a ski bum. One season quickly became two seasons, five seasons and then in a blink of an eye, 12 years. I now have a beautiful family with my husband Chad, two children Cortez and Pearl, our dog Leo and a business I have always wanted,” she said.
Bentley's love for traveling, meeting new people, exploring different cultures of art, jewelry and clothing, made her admire La Galleria's products from around the world. Her passion for the store began early as a customer and then shortly after, she applied for a part-time position as a sales associate. As time went on, Bentley was promoted to store manager and recently, she was presented the amazing opportunity of purchasing the store for herself.
Bentley's experience at La Galleria during the past 10 years as a sales associate, store manager and now owner has earned her a following of local customers, frequent visitors and credible designers for the unique and knowledgeable shopping experience she and her staff provides.
Bentley and her husband Chad travel to Bali, Mexico and South America to discover different artists and bring affordable one-of-a-kind gifts for any occasion, any age group, of all prices.
Bentley also employs an expert staff who are artists specializing in jewelry design, paintings and glass. She values her employees and encourages their artistic growth by displaying the staff's art for sale in the store. Brooke's employees are also able to conduct jewelry repairs and travel to customer's homes to consult in interior design.
2011年12月27日星期二
Old Masters Set Records Amid Meager Offerings
Record prices were achieved at Christie’s auction of old masters and British paintings in London on Dec. 6. The evening auction reached close to $38 million overall with 73 percent of the works selling above their pre-sale estimate.
The records were made, in part, due to the scarcity of fresh new works coming to the market, with buyers competing over what was available.
Art consignors in this category are tending to hold onto their works during the recession. The vendors are doing their best to entice them to sell with overly high sale estimations, many of which were not met at Old Masters Week this month for Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Bonhams.
The few world-record prices at Christie’s were a great result, considering that many of the 36 works were fairly unimportant and over-estimated. Sotheby’s, with its meager 38 works, had less luck securing new-to-market works for its evening sale—likewise for Bonhams.
“The Battle Between Carnival and Lent,” by Pieter Brueghel II, sold at Christie’s for a world-record price of $10.8 million, doubling the pre-sale estimate of between $5 million and $7 million.
Christie’s described the painting as one of the most recognizable from the Brueghelian canon, as it exemplifies the unique blend of storytelling, acute characterization, and riotous anecdotal detail that has endeared the work of the Brueghels to generations of art lovers.
Christie’s sold one of the highest-priced paintings to an online bidder and was surprised to see an increase in Asian buyers for the genre.
Up for auction for the first time in 150 years, “Dutch Men-o-War and Other Shipping in a Calm,” by Willem van de Velde II, sold for $9 million, a world record for this artist.
The painting was in exceptionally good condition. Ever since it was first documented in 1778 at the Servad sale in Amsterdam, the painting has received unanimous acclaim, according to Christie’s, for its technical excellence, and the serene harmony of its composition.
“An Old Man at a Casement,” 1646, by Govaert Flinck, sold for $3.6 million, another world-record price for the artist at auction.
Christie’s describes the painting as a rediscovered treasure once acquired by Catherine the Great of Russia as part of one of the greatest collection-building campaigns in history. “An Old Man at a Casement” is considered one of Flinck’s most powerful paintings. Flinck trained in Rembrandt’s workshop in the 1630s.
As explained in a recent New York Times article, for the old masters market to stay strong, collectors need to sell their works. If the auction houses are forced to cut down from two sales a year to one, market momentum will slow because a certain pace is needed to maintain interest and bidders.
The records were made, in part, due to the scarcity of fresh new works coming to the market, with buyers competing over what was available.
Art consignors in this category are tending to hold onto their works during the recession. The vendors are doing their best to entice them to sell with overly high sale estimations, many of which were not met at Old Masters Week this month for Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Bonhams.
The few world-record prices at Christie’s were a great result, considering that many of the 36 works were fairly unimportant and over-estimated. Sotheby’s, with its meager 38 works, had less luck securing new-to-market works for its evening sale—likewise for Bonhams.
“The Battle Between Carnival and Lent,” by Pieter Brueghel II, sold at Christie’s for a world-record price of $10.8 million, doubling the pre-sale estimate of between $5 million and $7 million.
Christie’s described the painting as one of the most recognizable from the Brueghelian canon, as it exemplifies the unique blend of storytelling, acute characterization, and riotous anecdotal detail that has endeared the work of the Brueghels to generations of art lovers.
Christie’s sold one of the highest-priced paintings to an online bidder and was surprised to see an increase in Asian buyers for the genre.
Up for auction for the first time in 150 years, “Dutch Men-o-War and Other Shipping in a Calm,” by Willem van de Velde II, sold for $9 million, a world record for this artist.
The painting was in exceptionally good condition. Ever since it was first documented in 1778 at the Servad sale in Amsterdam, the painting has received unanimous acclaim, according to Christie’s, for its technical excellence, and the serene harmony of its composition.
“An Old Man at a Casement,” 1646, by Govaert Flinck, sold for $3.6 million, another world-record price for the artist at auction.
Christie’s describes the painting as a rediscovered treasure once acquired by Catherine the Great of Russia as part of one of the greatest collection-building campaigns in history. “An Old Man at a Casement” is considered one of Flinck’s most powerful paintings. Flinck trained in Rembrandt’s workshop in the 1630s.
As explained in a recent New York Times article, for the old masters market to stay strong, collectors need to sell their works. If the auction houses are forced to cut down from two sales a year to one, market momentum will slow because a certain pace is needed to maintain interest and bidders.
2011年12月26日星期一
After 80 Years, Women's Market Still A Bethesda Staple
The Montgomery Farm Women’s Farm Cooperative Market will celebrate its 80th anniversary next June. But as far as its remarkable staying power, President Barbara Johnson is as baffled as the next.
“I don’t know why it’s so popular,” she said. “It just is.”
It could be that the market has 77 vendors — 27 inside displaying everything from cheese, spices and meats to seafood, baked goods and tea, and 50 more outside, flaunting flea-market fare. Or it could be the ideal location in the heart of downtown Bethesda on bustling Wisconsin Avenue.
But Johnson said in the end, it probably comes down to customer satisfaction — year after year, decade after decade.
“We have everything they want,” she said. “It’s the only market around here like this.”
It’s certainly not the usual stands-on-the-street setup. The market fills an entire parking lot, plus a low, white building standing in the backdrop. And while some of the usual foods and trinkets line the tables, much of it ranges from the exotic to the stuff of your grandparents’ attic.
There’s vintage furniture, hand-knit hats, antique silverware, oriental rugs, scarves, boxes of silver rings and even a table full of men’s button-downs wrapped in plastic.
Reshma Ali, who has sold her wares at the market for about 15 years, lands on the exotic side. She and her colorful display of beads and all the fixings of jewelry-making hail from India.
Her supplies may be for the hobby-minded, but not for Ali.
“This is my living,” she said.
Eric Perine of Frederick has also been at the market for about 15 years. He does his own framing of various prints -- photos, paintings, deco and art nouveau -- from handheld to full-poster-sized and sold for anywhere from $18 to $300.
The local stuff sells the best, Perine said -- like bird’s-eye views and maps of Washington, D.C.
Also popular is what he calls “guy art” -- skiing images in the winter and golf in the summer.
His customers range from the amateur to the collectors, who are always coming back for more.
“The only reason I lose them is if their house is full,” he said.
Joe and Linda Cicero of Potomac are two of those customers. On a Saturday morning, Joe Cicero paused in front of a particular print, trying to remember.
“I think we already have that one,” he said. His wife paused, then agreed.
And then there are the first-timers, like Brian Hopkins of Alexandria, who stopped by with children Jake, 6, and Kaylee, 3, after lunch at Mongolian Barbecue across the street.
Jake and Kaylee were pleased, running around in knit hats with renderings of fuzzy zoo animals and pompoms dangling from the ear flaps.
“I figured, what the heck,” Hopkins said of making the trip.
Mainstays like Mary Ann Sheffler have helped keep the market alive for so long.
Sheffler has come every Sunday for 32 years now, selling antiques she picks up from various auctioneers back in Waynesboro, Pa. There’s a series of plates painted with “Gone With The Wind” images, a redheaded doll next to an old typewriter, glass and silver tureens.
To the untrained eye, it looks like garage-sale junk. But the occasional expert knows what treasures are to be found there.
“Every once in a while, you’ll get someone who knows what things are,” she said.
The Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative Market is located at 7155 Wisconsin Ave. between Willow and Leland Streets. The indoor market is open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The outside market is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., weather permitting, on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
“I don’t know why it’s so popular,” she said. “It just is.”
It could be that the market has 77 vendors — 27 inside displaying everything from cheese, spices and meats to seafood, baked goods and tea, and 50 more outside, flaunting flea-market fare. Or it could be the ideal location in the heart of downtown Bethesda on bustling Wisconsin Avenue.
But Johnson said in the end, it probably comes down to customer satisfaction — year after year, decade after decade.
“We have everything they want,” she said. “It’s the only market around here like this.”
It’s certainly not the usual stands-on-the-street setup. The market fills an entire parking lot, plus a low, white building standing in the backdrop. And while some of the usual foods and trinkets line the tables, much of it ranges from the exotic to the stuff of your grandparents’ attic.
There’s vintage furniture, hand-knit hats, antique silverware, oriental rugs, scarves, boxes of silver rings and even a table full of men’s button-downs wrapped in plastic.
Reshma Ali, who has sold her wares at the market for about 15 years, lands on the exotic side. She and her colorful display of beads and all the fixings of jewelry-making hail from India.
Her supplies may be for the hobby-minded, but not for Ali.
“This is my living,” she said.
Eric Perine of Frederick has also been at the market for about 15 years. He does his own framing of various prints -- photos, paintings, deco and art nouveau -- from handheld to full-poster-sized and sold for anywhere from $18 to $300.
The local stuff sells the best, Perine said -- like bird’s-eye views and maps of Washington, D.C.
Also popular is what he calls “guy art” -- skiing images in the winter and golf in the summer.
His customers range from the amateur to the collectors, who are always coming back for more.
“The only reason I lose them is if their house is full,” he said.
Joe and Linda Cicero of Potomac are two of those customers. On a Saturday morning, Joe Cicero paused in front of a particular print, trying to remember.
“I think we already have that one,” he said. His wife paused, then agreed.
And then there are the first-timers, like Brian Hopkins of Alexandria, who stopped by with children Jake, 6, and Kaylee, 3, after lunch at Mongolian Barbecue across the street.
Jake and Kaylee were pleased, running around in knit hats with renderings of fuzzy zoo animals and pompoms dangling from the ear flaps.
“I figured, what the heck,” Hopkins said of making the trip.
Mainstays like Mary Ann Sheffler have helped keep the market alive for so long.
Sheffler has come every Sunday for 32 years now, selling antiques she picks up from various auctioneers back in Waynesboro, Pa. There’s a series of plates painted with “Gone With The Wind” images, a redheaded doll next to an old typewriter, glass and silver tureens.
To the untrained eye, it looks like garage-sale junk. But the occasional expert knows what treasures are to be found there.
“Every once in a while, you’ll get someone who knows what things are,” she said.
The Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative Market is located at 7155 Wisconsin Ave. between Willow and Leland Streets. The indoor market is open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The outside market is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., weather permitting, on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
2011年12月25日星期日
Wild collection of art, rare photos displayed in Lancaster’s Ladybird’s
First you see the rack of brightly painted wooden clogs, direct from the Netherlands. Just one pair is still its original brown color.
A few steps away are old cans full of artist paint brushes, and half-squeezed tubes of paint piling out of a battered suitcase.
They sit below a pieced-together circa-1924 poster of former Boston mayor James Michael Curley. Beside that is a cardboard box full of dusty papers, with a 1729 deed from New Haven, Conn., on top. The surrounding walls are covered with paintings of disembodied people — mostly half-naked women — and much of the floor space is taken up with large wooden sculptures, also mainly of folks missing torsos and stomachs.
“I am not fond of fat people,” said Tom Stanford with a slight smile.
He is the creator of this wild collection of art, rare photography, and ephemera (printed material.)
Mr. Stanford, 61, recently opened his new Ladybird’s Gallery — named after his aging dog — at 78 Rigby Road, a wooded area on the Clinton line. His house is beside the gallery.
He got the idea after a trip to Taos, N.M., where he checked out numerous art galleries.
Shuffling around his gallery in a pair of orange clogs, Mr. Stanford, who previously operated a gallery of collectible documents and prints in Clinton, explains his unique style of painting, which he has dubbed “subtractionalism.”
“Basically, a portion of the anatomy, usually muscle and bones, is missing,” he said of his Picasso-meets-Warhol-like abstract oil paintings. “It did not start out that way, it just came upon me.”
His sculptures, which were carved from single trees cut down during nearby construction, (“I dragged them across the street”) are a world onto themselves.
One shows a Greek god entwined with a swan-woman. Another huge sculpture (the trunk is upside down) depicts a sailor, a mermaid and a serpent. Mr. Sanford said he worked 12 hours a day for seven months on that one.
When asked how he came up with the theme, he responded: “I just looked at this big piece of tree and said, ‘What the hell is that?’ ”
Its $25,000 price tag reflects the effort.
His oil painting prices range from $200 to $7,000, depending on size; and his prints average around $150 each.
The best selling print, he said, is “Lady Dancing with Death to the Tune of the Harmonica Player,” done in carved aqua Linoleum. As the title suggests, there is a harmonica player, a grim reaper-like figure, and a nude woman.
A former house painter who grew up in Wilmington, Del., Mr. Stanford, the father of two grown children, had an artist mother and a father who gave up a job with DuPont to start his own vineyard — in Delaware.
Mr. Stanford, who has had a penchant for art since he was young, moved to Massachusetts in 1980, and soon after obtained his first cache of historical documents in Bolton while working as a house painter. He came upon a box of old railroad show memorabilia and asked the owner for it in lieu of payment for the paint job.
“I took that to a railroad show, and we blew people away. I got $10,000 for it, and I realized there was a better way to make a living than painting houses,” he said.
A collector by nature, he started his rounds of attending auctions and estate and yard sales, picking up old photographs, maps, posters, stamps, envelopes and letters — pretty much anything involving paper — although he managed to grab a few death masks, a bunch of pocket watches and a vial of kidney stones along the way.
He found a photograph of Mae West autographed to Anne Bancroft in a New York City trash container. It’s for sale for $500 in his gallery. He has all sorts of rock music-related items, including original Woodstock programs, autographed photographs of the original Rolling Stones, and photographs of the Grateful Dead on tour. There are wanted posters of Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger.
His most valuable photograph, he says, is a full-plate 1852 picture of someone at Niagara Falls.
“It was very popular to get your photo taken by the falls,” Mr. Stanford said.
Also in stock are hundreds of original cartoon illustrations by noted artists such as Mischa Richter, who was with the New Yorker for years; and with New Masses Magazine in the 1930s and 1940s. Mr. Stanford, who was the winner of the 2004 Jacob Knight Award, said he became friends with Richter when they both lived on Cape Cod.
“He sold everything he had, about 1,500 pieces,” Mr. Stanford said.
A section of Mr. Stanford’s inventory is devoted to old “girlie” magazines and prints — not suited for a family newspaper. But to balance that off, he proudly shows off his large signed portrait of Mother Teresa.
A few steps away are old cans full of artist paint brushes, and half-squeezed tubes of paint piling out of a battered suitcase.
They sit below a pieced-together circa-1924 poster of former Boston mayor James Michael Curley. Beside that is a cardboard box full of dusty papers, with a 1729 deed from New Haven, Conn., on top. The surrounding walls are covered with paintings of disembodied people — mostly half-naked women — and much of the floor space is taken up with large wooden sculptures, also mainly of folks missing torsos and stomachs.
“I am not fond of fat people,” said Tom Stanford with a slight smile.
He is the creator of this wild collection of art, rare photography, and ephemera (printed material.)
Mr. Stanford, 61, recently opened his new Ladybird’s Gallery — named after his aging dog — at 78 Rigby Road, a wooded area on the Clinton line. His house is beside the gallery.
He got the idea after a trip to Taos, N.M., where he checked out numerous art galleries.
Shuffling around his gallery in a pair of orange clogs, Mr. Stanford, who previously operated a gallery of collectible documents and prints in Clinton, explains his unique style of painting, which he has dubbed “subtractionalism.”
“Basically, a portion of the anatomy, usually muscle and bones, is missing,” he said of his Picasso-meets-Warhol-like abstract oil paintings. “It did not start out that way, it just came upon me.”
His sculptures, which were carved from single trees cut down during nearby construction, (“I dragged them across the street”) are a world onto themselves.
One shows a Greek god entwined with a swan-woman. Another huge sculpture (the trunk is upside down) depicts a sailor, a mermaid and a serpent. Mr. Sanford said he worked 12 hours a day for seven months on that one.
When asked how he came up with the theme, he responded: “I just looked at this big piece of tree and said, ‘What the hell is that?’ ”
Its $25,000 price tag reflects the effort.
His oil painting prices range from $200 to $7,000, depending on size; and his prints average around $150 each.
The best selling print, he said, is “Lady Dancing with Death to the Tune of the Harmonica Player,” done in carved aqua Linoleum. As the title suggests, there is a harmonica player, a grim reaper-like figure, and a nude woman.
A former house painter who grew up in Wilmington, Del., Mr. Stanford, the father of two grown children, had an artist mother and a father who gave up a job with DuPont to start his own vineyard — in Delaware.
Mr. Stanford, who has had a penchant for art since he was young, moved to Massachusetts in 1980, and soon after obtained his first cache of historical documents in Bolton while working as a house painter. He came upon a box of old railroad show memorabilia and asked the owner for it in lieu of payment for the paint job.
“I took that to a railroad show, and we blew people away. I got $10,000 for it, and I realized there was a better way to make a living than painting houses,” he said.
A collector by nature, he started his rounds of attending auctions and estate and yard sales, picking up old photographs, maps, posters, stamps, envelopes and letters — pretty much anything involving paper — although he managed to grab a few death masks, a bunch of pocket watches and a vial of kidney stones along the way.
He found a photograph of Mae West autographed to Anne Bancroft in a New York City trash container. It’s for sale for $500 in his gallery. He has all sorts of rock music-related items, including original Woodstock programs, autographed photographs of the original Rolling Stones, and photographs of the Grateful Dead on tour. There are wanted posters of Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger.
His most valuable photograph, he says, is a full-plate 1852 picture of someone at Niagara Falls.
“It was very popular to get your photo taken by the falls,” Mr. Stanford said.
Also in stock are hundreds of original cartoon illustrations by noted artists such as Mischa Richter, who was with the New Yorker for years; and with New Masses Magazine in the 1930s and 1940s. Mr. Stanford, who was the winner of the 2004 Jacob Knight Award, said he became friends with Richter when they both lived on Cape Cod.
“He sold everything he had, about 1,500 pieces,” Mr. Stanford said.
A section of Mr. Stanford’s inventory is devoted to old “girlie” magazines and prints — not suited for a family newspaper. But to balance that off, he proudly shows off his large signed portrait of Mother Teresa.
2011年12月22日星期四
Desert artists collaborate to share art in our valley
A small confederacy of local artists has joined together like the Three Musketeers — all for one and one for all — to present its art and services to the community.
Called the Desert Artists Gifts and Collectibles, it displays wall murals and oil paintings, faux finish and stained glass, gem stone jewelry and ceramics for sale, even more if you scour the nooks and crannies of the new store.
Opening day was Wednesday at 370 N. Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs. The store is only 900 square feet in size but packed floor to ceiling with art and collectibles, including vintage “Herend” Hungarian porcelain and hand-crafted jewelry.
“We have six artists now,” said Veronkia Pickett, a Palm Springs resident who speaks with the remnants of a Hungarian accent from her birthplace in Budapest, tempered by her formative years in South Africa. “But we will have more in the future.”
Pickett plans to feature guest artists four times a year at the store. To cover the rent and overhead, the artists pay Pickett 10 percent of the sales price of their artwork, “which is affordable and practical” for each artist, she said.
Pickett, who moved to Palm Springs in 1989, is a faux artist who can transform a beat-up piece of furniture from a garage sale into a thing of beauty. Using paint, stains and glaze, an old wooden table can be restored to appear like marble, stone or oak. Faux is a color-blending technique that can be used on walls, floors, furniture, countertops and other places. She sells instructional videos in faux painting and offers classes in the store.
Represented at the co-op is Barbara Andrik of Palm Springs, known for her murals, some of which have graced the homes of Liza Minnelli and other stars. The exterior mural at the original Las Casuelas restaurant next door is one of Andrik's. So realistic are her murals that one person walked into a wall thinking a door painted on it was real, she said.
Randyn Seymon, a painter from Cathedral City, is also a singer known locally for his musical renditions ranging from Frank Sinatra to the Beatles. Self-taught in both art and music, his paintings could be classified as photo-realism. He is currently showing images of pears on a large canvass, some measuring up to 8-by-8 feet.
A local photographer, Brook Pestana, has a display of photos printed on canvas, showing architecture from Spain and France. Alongside the photos are pieces by Laura Knight, a specialist in metal art with a soft and curvy quality depicting horses and other animals.
If the artwork is not enough for your senses, you can sample the tea in the shop or take some home. Pickett has blended Rooibos tea, which is touted as a soothing antidote for headaches, insomnia, indigestion and other ailments, with raspberry, orange and other teas to create an aromatic and healthy beverage.
Called the Desert Artists Gifts and Collectibles, it displays wall murals and oil paintings, faux finish and stained glass, gem stone jewelry and ceramics for sale, even more if you scour the nooks and crannies of the new store.
Opening day was Wednesday at 370 N. Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs. The store is only 900 square feet in size but packed floor to ceiling with art and collectibles, including vintage “Herend” Hungarian porcelain and hand-crafted jewelry.
“We have six artists now,” said Veronkia Pickett, a Palm Springs resident who speaks with the remnants of a Hungarian accent from her birthplace in Budapest, tempered by her formative years in South Africa. “But we will have more in the future.”
Pickett plans to feature guest artists four times a year at the store. To cover the rent and overhead, the artists pay Pickett 10 percent of the sales price of their artwork, “which is affordable and practical” for each artist, she said.
Pickett, who moved to Palm Springs in 1989, is a faux artist who can transform a beat-up piece of furniture from a garage sale into a thing of beauty. Using paint, stains and glaze, an old wooden table can be restored to appear like marble, stone or oak. Faux is a color-blending technique that can be used on walls, floors, furniture, countertops and other places. She sells instructional videos in faux painting and offers classes in the store.
Represented at the co-op is Barbara Andrik of Palm Springs, known for her murals, some of which have graced the homes of Liza Minnelli and other stars. The exterior mural at the original Las Casuelas restaurant next door is one of Andrik's. So realistic are her murals that one person walked into a wall thinking a door painted on it was real, she said.
Randyn Seymon, a painter from Cathedral City, is also a singer known locally for his musical renditions ranging from Frank Sinatra to the Beatles. Self-taught in both art and music, his paintings could be classified as photo-realism. He is currently showing images of pears on a large canvass, some measuring up to 8-by-8 feet.
A local photographer, Brook Pestana, has a display of photos printed on canvas, showing architecture from Spain and France. Alongside the photos are pieces by Laura Knight, a specialist in metal art with a soft and curvy quality depicting horses and other animals.
If the artwork is not enough for your senses, you can sample the tea in the shop or take some home. Pickett has blended Rooibos tea, which is touted as a soothing antidote for headaches, insomnia, indigestion and other ailments, with raspberry, orange and other teas to create an aromatic and healthy beverage.
2011年12月21日星期三
Taylor auction is a gem, sales top $157 million
Auctions of Elizabeth Taylor's collection of jewels, gowns, art and memorabilia broke records last week on their way to totaling more than $150 million worth of live and online sales, Christie's said on Monday.
Four days of live auctions in New York and a 10-day online auction from the Hollywood film legend's collection took in a total of $156,756,576, or more than three times expectations.
Taylor's world-renowned collection of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, pearls, emeralds and more accounted for the vast majority of the haul, selling for a combined $137 million and becoming by far the most valuable jewelry sale ever.
Records were set for pearls, emeralds, and Indian jewels, while per-carat records were broken for a rubies, yellow, and colorless diamonds.
"My mother always acknowledged that she was merely the temporary custodian of the incredible things she owned," said Taylor's son Chris Wilding, who is a member of the Elizabeth Taylor Trust.
"My family is proud that our mother's legacy as a celebrated actress, tireless AIDS activist, and accomplished businesswoman touched so many people's lives that they wanted to have a part of it history," he said.
Taylor's couture gowns and apparel sale also set a record for the most valuable private collection ever sold at auction, taking in more than $5 million including commission.
The marathon sales' statistics spoke for themselves and highlighted the worldwide interest in the Hollywood legend who rose to fame as a young star of the movie "National Velvet" and went on to claim two acting Oscars for "BUtterfield 8" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf."
Taylor, who died in March at age 79, lived a glamorous life of numerous marriages to often wealthy and powerful men who lavished her with jewelry and other fine things.
Among the highlights of the sale: every one of the 1,778 lots offered sold; 26 items sold for more than $1 million and six sold for over $5 million; final prices soared to as many as 400 times their pre-sale estimates; bidders at the live auctions spanned 36 countries.
Since September, some 58,000 visitors viewed highlights of the collection on a world tour that stopped in Moscow, London, Dubai, Paris and Hong Kong, with nearly half that total paying $30 to see the offerings at New York's 10-day exhibition.
The online component alone took in nearly $10 million, with more than 57,000 bids.
Even catalogs -- some signed, limited edition offerings priced at more than $2,000 -- were a hot item. Proceeds of a portion of the exhibition, catalog and other related events went to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
The top price paid during the series of auctions was $11,842,500 for the historic La Peregrina, a 203-grain (equivalent to 55 carat) pear-shaped 16th-century pearl once owned by England's Mary Tudor and later by Spanish queens Margarita and Isabel.
Taylor's husband Richard Burton bought the pearl in 1969 at auction for $37,000, and Taylor commissioned Cartier to design a ruby-and-diamond necklace mount. The piece was estimated to sell at $2 million to $3 million.
Taylor's famous 33-carat diamond ring, another Burton gift now renamed The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, went for $8.8 million, setting a per-carat record for a colorless diamond.
Even the star's charm bracelets drew intense competition, with one estimated at $30,000 soaring to more than $325,000.
Similarly, the top lot of the online auction -- Hiro Yamagata's "Portrait of Elizabeth Taylor" from 1991 -- sold for $108,000, against a pre-sale estimate of about $250. Other top prices paid online for ranged from $45,000 $78,000.
Among memorabilia, Taylor's script from "National Velvet" fetched $170,500, against a $2,500 estimate.
More artwork from Taylor's collection will also be offered in February at Christie's in London during its auctions of old master paintings and Impressionist and modern art.
Four days of live auctions in New York and a 10-day online auction from the Hollywood film legend's collection took in a total of $156,756,576, or more than three times expectations.
Taylor's world-renowned collection of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, pearls, emeralds and more accounted for the vast majority of the haul, selling for a combined $137 million and becoming by far the most valuable jewelry sale ever.
Records were set for pearls, emeralds, and Indian jewels, while per-carat records were broken for a rubies, yellow, and colorless diamonds.
"My mother always acknowledged that she was merely the temporary custodian of the incredible things she owned," said Taylor's son Chris Wilding, who is a member of the Elizabeth Taylor Trust.
"My family is proud that our mother's legacy as a celebrated actress, tireless AIDS activist, and accomplished businesswoman touched so many people's lives that they wanted to have a part of it history," he said.
Taylor's couture gowns and apparel sale also set a record for the most valuable private collection ever sold at auction, taking in more than $5 million including commission.
The marathon sales' statistics spoke for themselves and highlighted the worldwide interest in the Hollywood legend who rose to fame as a young star of the movie "National Velvet" and went on to claim two acting Oscars for "BUtterfield 8" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf."
Taylor, who died in March at age 79, lived a glamorous life of numerous marriages to often wealthy and powerful men who lavished her with jewelry and other fine things.
Among the highlights of the sale: every one of the 1,778 lots offered sold; 26 items sold for more than $1 million and six sold for over $5 million; final prices soared to as many as 400 times their pre-sale estimates; bidders at the live auctions spanned 36 countries.
Since September, some 58,000 visitors viewed highlights of the collection on a world tour that stopped in Moscow, London, Dubai, Paris and Hong Kong, with nearly half that total paying $30 to see the offerings at New York's 10-day exhibition.
The online component alone took in nearly $10 million, with more than 57,000 bids.
Even catalogs -- some signed, limited edition offerings priced at more than $2,000 -- were a hot item. Proceeds of a portion of the exhibition, catalog and other related events went to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
The top price paid during the series of auctions was $11,842,500 for the historic La Peregrina, a 203-grain (equivalent to 55 carat) pear-shaped 16th-century pearl once owned by England's Mary Tudor and later by Spanish queens Margarita and Isabel.
Taylor's husband Richard Burton bought the pearl in 1969 at auction for $37,000, and Taylor commissioned Cartier to design a ruby-and-diamond necklace mount. The piece was estimated to sell at $2 million to $3 million.
Taylor's famous 33-carat diamond ring, another Burton gift now renamed The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, went for $8.8 million, setting a per-carat record for a colorless diamond.
Even the star's charm bracelets drew intense competition, with one estimated at $30,000 soaring to more than $325,000.
Similarly, the top lot of the online auction -- Hiro Yamagata's "Portrait of Elizabeth Taylor" from 1991 -- sold for $108,000, against a pre-sale estimate of about $250. Other top prices paid online for ranged from $45,000 $78,000.
Among memorabilia, Taylor's script from "National Velvet" fetched $170,500, against a $2,500 estimate.
More artwork from Taylor's collection will also be offered in February at Christie's in London during its auctions of old master paintings and Impressionist and modern art.
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