Category: Art Boat Stuff

13th March 2016

Win A Hand Finished Print

It’s that time again! Another chance to win one of my Hand finished Prints. I marked the end of the Artists on The Canals tour last year with a prize draw for one of my Hand finished Prints and the response was excellent. This time I am marking the beginning of The Art Boat tour 2016. The last competition was run from my facebook page, but this time I want to show off my brand new website and blog, so the prize draw will be run from here.

What is a Hand finished Print?

The prints are all taken from images of Jan Vallance original paintings.

NOT JUST A PRINT. Printed on real cotton canvas, the canvas print has gold and other highlights added by hand using artist quality acrylic paints. It is then finished with varnish to protect. Each print measures 7½ ” x 7½ ” and is supplied in a 12″ mount. This prize draw is for one print only

How do I enter the prize draw?

It is very easy to be in with a chance to win:

Subscribe to my blog during March and you will automatically be entered. Don’t forget to….
Comment on this post, and include the number of which print you would like. The available prints are all shown on the accompanying picture at the top of this post and are numbered 1 to 6

How and When will the winner be announced?

The competition will close at midnight on March 31st, and the winner will be announced on Friday April 1st. I am hoping to be able to video the draw again as that was very popular last time.

There will only be one winner, but everyone who subscribes in March will be sent a code for 15% off ANYTHING in the shop. You can find out more about my prints in The Art Boat Shop

7th March 2016

ACEOs, Mini Mondays, and why I am addicted…

ACEO

Once apon a time, a long time ago, when my children were knee high to (ok…they were probably a bit bigger than that), I needed a way to earn a bit of extra money from home. I was browsing ebay to see if it was a possible avenue for some of my smaller paintings, and I kept seeing the word ACEO pop up. I hadn’t a clue, but I researched and discovered that ACEO’s are playing card sized works of art that were being sold and traded all over ebay. Mostly in the US at that time.

So what exactly is an ACEO?

ACEO stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals. They are tiny works of art, measuring only 2.5 x 3.5 inches. They can be displayed in an album or framed individually or in groups. ACEOs are very collectible. They provide a wonderfully low-cost and affordable way to purchase an original piece of work direct from the artist. ACEOs are an offshoot of ATCs (Art Trading Cards). This wikipedia article will tell you lots more about both sorts of cards

And they are Addictive?

Absolutely! I can guarantee once you start painting them you will find lots of reasons to make more.

I use them to: make family gifts, swap with other artists, paint in series, and try out ideas. You can experiment without wasting vast amounts of materials. There is only one rule …they must measure 2½ x 3½ inches. The rest is up to you and your imagination…

So where does Mini Monday fit in?

A couple of years ago I started a daily painting series. I painted a sheep painting a day for a year. I loved the project and I found the discipline that was needed to complete one every day was really good for me and has stayed with me since that time. I started the Mini Monday series, because I wanted to do something similar that would fit in with the Waterways paintings I am doing at the moment. So once a week (usually on a Monday!), I paint a miniature waterways painting. Today I completed Mini Monday 7 (the swan painting at the top of this post). So keep a look out for my Mini Monday …Tiny Tuesday…Wee Wednesday… Paintings. I will be adding them to the Miniature Paintings Gallery each week.

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget you can have immediate notifications of blog updates if you subscribe to email updates.

Oh, and if you want to know any more about my Mini Monday paintings, or are wondering how to get started making your own aceos, Just leave me a comment.

6th March 2016

Hello and Welcome to The Art Boat

The very first Blog post from The Art Boat…

Don’t let the sleepy exterior fool you. There is so much to do to get Tonka ready for the Spring and Summer months of travelling as The Art Boat. All has been extremely busy on Tonka over the winter. As well as preparing for the journey, there are paintings to be signed, varnished and got ready for my first exhibition with The Guild of Waterways Artists at Audlem in a weeks time….aargh. Where has the winter gone? I suspect a lot of it has been spent getting my brand new Website, shop and blog (Ta…dah!) built. I have certainly not seen as much of my studio as I would have liked over the past couple of months, and I am hoping to see a lot more of my paintbrushes in the coming weeks.

I will keep this first post short. I just wanted to say a quick hello to everyone. Don’t forget to subscribe, it’s free, and you can cancel at any time … Coming up in the next few posts are details of The Art Boat’s itinerary and information on how to enter my March competition to win a handfinished print.