Art And Photography

Gordon and Alta Solomon – “Sweet Life Infinite Games” Exhibition

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We are delighted and proud to announce that Arteccentrix Fine Art Gallery Ltd is once again preparing for another unique and fresh solo art exhibition and sale, this time featuring another of Cayman’s most talented and well loved artists, Gordon Solomon, together with his wife Alta Solomon.

The show, entitled “Sweet Life – Infinite Games” is scheduled to open on September 23rd at 6pm and all are welcome to join us for an evening of fine art paintings and photography, accompanied as always by some fine wines courtesy of our show sponsors, Tortuga Liquors, to whom we are forever appreciative for their support both of the local arts scene in general and many of our own openings and shows. (The featured wine at this event will be Alice White for the vino lovers among you).

Pepper Patch Gourmet Pepper Jellies another of our regular sponsors will once again be on hand to add a little Cayman spice to the evening’s proceedings.

As with all of our solo shows, the work on display will be entirely new and not seen anywhere before. Whilst we do not wish to give too much away at this early stage, Gordon’s approach to this show has been to produce an entirely unique collection of works which may surprise even those who are already familiar with his trademark styles.

Fountain Of Youth - Gordon Solomon

Alta will be showcasing some of her photographic work although at the time of writing we can’t say too much about the theme or content of her pieces.

This husband and wife outing is a first for Arteccentrix although Gordon and Alta have collaborated in the past with shows both locally and internationally.

The show will run from September 23rd until October 9th and we will post more images here and at the Arteccentrix Gallery Facebook page after the show’s opening for anyone who is unable to attend.

We are thrilled that we are able to launch the upcoming season here on Cayman with such an exciting show from two of the nation’s best loved and passionate artists and hope that you will be able to join us, and take the opportunity to meet the artists, on the opening night at Governor’s Square.

Doors will be open from 6pm onwards and we look forward to welcoming you on the night. If you know of others who would be interested in attending, all are welcome so please pass on our invitation to friends and colleagues.

Please remember that if you would like to be notified by email of all the gallery news you can sign up for our newsletter using the form on the right hand side of this page. Please also visit our sponsors who help us to make these wonderful events possible for all art lovers in our community.

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Sep 02, 2010 | Art and Photography, Cayman Art News, Cayman Islands Art and Artists | Leave A Comment »

Fine Art Services In The Cayman Islands

Arteccentrix Fine Art Gallery Ltd offers a lot more than a commercial gallery space and a little look behind the scenes reveals a whole lot more to Nickola McCoy-Snell’s passion when it comes to her business.

As a well known artist herself, Nickola brings years of invaluable experience and insight into the local art scene and can help you with a host of services related to her knowledge of art in the Cayman Islands. Drawing on an unrivaled pool of contacts and her experience gained as a teacher and outreach officer during her time at the National Gallery, Nickola lives and breathes art, something reflected in her own award winning and extremely collectible work. This deeply ingrained passion and determination has made Arteccentrix the first port of call for those at the leading edge of the blossoming local art community and those looking for just that little bit extra.

Arteccentrix has worked on various projects with corporate and private buyers, consulted on government projects and can help you with your art project too, no matter how large or small. Representing many of Cayman’s leading artists, the gallery can help you source original works of art, whether existing or commissioned pieces, can assist you in deciding on the best fit for your space and budget, and consult with you every step of the way, whether you are looking for art for a lobby, conference or board room, or an entire office suite we can help you secure the art that suits your taste as well as your pocket.

If you are in the business of real estate and are seeking artwork for a project of any kind, we can help with that too. Contact us to see what options are available to you and how we can help you on anything from a single property to a condo development or similar.

Those seeking artwork for their own homes are welcome to call in at any time or contact us by telephone or email. If you would like help in selecting a Painting or sculpture that perfectly emphasizes a special space we can make a home visit and assist in finding the perfect piece.

We realize that original art represents a significant investment, particularly at the top end of the market, and we want to make sure that you are happy with your choice and to this end we will bring the artwork to your home and leave it with you so that you can be sure you can live with the art that you buy. We understand that sometimes, just seeing a beautiful painting hanging in a gallery does not always give you the same feeling as when you see it displayed in your own environment. If after seeing a painting in the comfort of your own home you decide it is not for you, we will collect it and try to help you find an alternative that you can be genuinely happy with. Nickola will do her best to ensure that you show any artwork in its very best light in terms of placement etc.

An additional and often unseen part of Arteccentrix’s services is the production of high quality fine art prints. Nickola’s husband has overall responsibility for the production of giclee prints on paper and canvas and works on every piece himself, from initial digital image production right through to stretching the final canvases. Every single print is hand made and finished to exacting standards – we do not use any outside services and all our prints are produced to order in-house.

If original artwork is outside of your budget, prints can be a much more affordable option for the home or for corporate and business projects and with a wide selection of artwork available as prints from top local artists there is no reason why you cannot enjoy beautiful paintings at a fraction of the cost of an original. Whatever your requirements, we aim to provide a quality product and service whether you are looking for a single print or a large number of paintings. Call us to find out how we can help you – we are always more than happy to work with you and help you beautify any area with local fine art.

What is more, we will deliver island wide at no cost to you, be it a large original painting or a print order, just let us know where you would like your art delivered and we will get it done for you. If you are visiting, we will ship worldwide or prepare any piece for travel if you prefer to take it home with you. Finding and owning your own piece of beautiful Cayman art has never been easier.

Latest Gallery News

The following video is a quick tour of the gallery during a recent re-hanging of the space and shows some beautiful never before seen original pieces from artists including Al Ebanks, Gordon Solomon, Renate Seffer, Mikael Seffer, Teresa Grimes, Randy Chollette, Robert McKendrick, Avril Ward, John Broad, Moyra Curtis, Suladda, Patrick Broderick and Steve Joscelyn.

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Jul 27, 2010 | Art Galleries, Art and Photography, Cayman Art News, Cayman Islands Art and Artists, Videos | Leave A Comment »

“10″ Fine Art Group Exhibition and Sale : July 1st 2010

Cayman Artists Score a Perfect 10

George Town, Grand Cayman.

A cross section of established and emerging artists are all exhibiting at Arteccentrix Fine Art Gallery’s latest group exhibition entitled: “10″: Love, Hope and the Pursuit of Happiness”.

The exhibition, which runs from 1^st to 23^rd July, features artwork specifically in a 10” x 10” format and all of the works depict the theme of the show as interpreted by the artists.

Cayman artists Avril Ward, Randy Chollette, Gordon Solomon, Moyra Curtis, Theresa Grimes, Sue Howe, Renate Seffer, Mikael Seffer, Nickola McCoy, Robert ‘Bob’ McKendrick, Patrick Broderick, Steven Joscelyn, Alta Solomon, Suladda, John Broad, Dora Williams, Joseph ‘Gumba’ Betty, Sandra Salangana, Carole ‘Caz’ Mayer, Al Ebanks, Maureen Lazarus and Peggy Leshikar are all exhibiting their works.

Arteccentrix owner Nickola McCoy-Snell says the idea for the show came about as she and her husband Maurice decided it would be great to incorporate some new and up and coming artists in addition to well-known established artists in the show, to give them the opportunity to become part of the thriving fine art community in Cayman.

The Arteccentrix Fine Art Gallery is situated in Governors Square and opening hours are from 10am until 6pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 4pm on Saturday, so don’t miss the chance to see this eclectic mix of all that Cayman’s art community has to offer – concentrated in some beautiful artwork measuring just 10″ x 10″.

This is a great opportunity for collectors seeking new names to add to their fine art collections as well as first time buyers taking their first steps into purchasing original fine art from local artists in Cayman as all pieces are priced extremely affordably with no one work costing in excess of $1000 CI and most priced at considerably lower than that imposed ceiling.

You can view many of the pieces that will be included in the show below – click on any image for a larger picture of each. If you cannot make it to the opening night which will begin at 6pm on July 1st, and are interested in acquiring any particular piece, you can contact the gallery by email or telephone or call in to see us in person at Governors Square during normal opening hours.

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Jun 28, 2010 | Art Galleries, Art and Photography, Cayman Art News, Cayman Islands Art and Artists | Leave A Comment »

Arteccentrix Welcomes Steve Joscelyn

Steve Joscelyn is a full time photographer living and working in the Cayman Islands and we are pleased to announce that we will be showing a selection of his beautiful fine art photography at the gallery in the days and weeks ahead.

Whilst fine art photography is not a medium we have ever specialized in, we feel that the diversity it brings to the gallery will be enjoyed and appreciated by many of our visitors and we are confident that the quality of Steve’s work puts him amongst the top photographers working on Grand Cayman at present. We are very happy to be working with him and to have the chance of displaying a wonderful selection of his strictly limited edition prints.

Each photograph will be limited to a run of just twenty-five high quality canvas prints. Once they are sold they will not be available anywhere else, at any time. The prices for these limited editions, whilst reflecting the quality of the work and limited availability are very reasonable indeed and if you love photography, or indeed any kind of art, you will not want to miss them.

Steve Joscelyn Cayman Islands Fine Art Photographer Selecting what we considered to be some of his most beautiful pieces took a whole morning of his time but we are confident that art lovers will be impressed with the wide variety and choice of subject matter and the execution of his art. Through technical excellence and a talented eye, the results, from bold abstracts to beautiful shots of birds and seascapes, are certain to inspire the viewer and visitors will almost certainly find something that will appeal to them in this collection of beautiful photographs.

All of the prints have been made here in the Cayman Islands and are on stretched canvas ready to hang.

If you are not familiar with Steve Joscelyn’s photography, you can find him online at the following sites and view some of his portfolio at his Facebook gallery – Steve Joscelyn – Cayman Fine Art Photography

Steve Joscelyn Fine Art Photography at Zenfolio

Steve Joscelyn Fine Art Photography at Pbase

With Al Ebanks’ show finishing tomorrow, the gallery will be returning to our regular exhibition format featuring a wide selection of fine art from all of our top artists. In addition to our first mini photography exhibit there will also be new pieces on display from artists like Greg Lipton, Gordon Solomon, Avril Ward, Horacio Esteban and others and there will of course still be some of Al Ebanks’ pieces available.

Watch this space for news of our next solo exhibition and opening which will feature the beautiful Caymanite sculptures and art of Horacio Esteban. If you would like to be notified of future events, opening nights and news of the fine art world on Grand Cayman please enter your details in our newsletter subscription form on the right of the page and we will keep you updated with all the gallery news.

We look forward to seeing you again soon, or indeed meeting you for the first time!

Nickola & Maurice

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Apr 29, 2010 | Art and Photography, Cayman Islands Art and Artists | Leave A Comment »

Photographing Your Art

When it comes to printing your artwork it is extremely important to start out with a high resolution digital image of the best quality possible.

As we have mentioned before, this can be achieved by scanning or by taking a digital photograph. For many artists nowadays, photographing their work themselves has become an attractive option for several reasons. Firstly, they may well already have a good quality digital camera and maybe an interest in photography; secondly it makes sense to produce their own images as it will represent at least some cost saving in the printing process.

However, it can be both a blessing and a curse for various reasons too, because taking a good photograph, like many things in life, does require some practice and a basic understanding of digital photography. Once mastered however, it can be very rewarding and learning to photograph your art will hopefully lead to greater and understanding of your equipment and the principles of photography and, in turn, perhaps give you another artistic outlet as well as a lot of enjoyment from taking better photographs on of all kinds of different subjects.

Image By Effie Yang

This is just a brief outline of what you will need to know and understand in order to produce a digital image of sufficiently high standard for a printer to be able to produce a reproduction of good quality which is, after all, what you want as an artist.

In terms of equipment you are going to need a DSLR camera and currently these are available from a few hundred dollars all the way up to several thousands. You won’t need to buy at the high end however, most modern entry level DSLR’s from the big names like Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony etc. are usually perfectly sufficient due to modern technology and the fairly high resolutions (megapixels) at which they can capture images. Ideally you should also have a suitable tripod to ensure a nice steady camera when photographing your paintings.

If you are new to digital photography, there will be a lot to learn. Most modern cameras can be used on fully automatic settings just like a point and shoot digital camera but when taking pictures of your art, you really will need to understand a little more about some of the settings and options if you are going to get the best results.

There are thousands of books on the subject of digital photography, many available online in digital format as well as physical publications, but a good place to start is often the manual that is provided with the camera itself as these usually contain not only instructions but often some useful basic photography tips.

You can download a short free report on how to shoot quality digital pictures from the website “Learn Digital Photography Now”

When shooting your artwork it is best to do it in natural daylight, ensuring that there is no glare from lighting or the sun reflecting off of the surface as this will ruin your results. You will also need to pay particular attention to things like the white balance, and of course focus. Preferably you should shoot in RAW format – different cameras have different capabilities, some can shoot both RAW and high quality JPEG simultaneously so you need to understand what you want and how to make your camera behave accordingly.

Shooting in RAW produces much larger file sizes and preserves far greater detail in each image. For printing purposes, RAW files are much easier to work with and as they are uncompressed there is no loss of image quality. You may find that you will be unable to view the resulting images on your PC as it requires specific image editing software. Some camera manufacturers include a version in their camera software and some do not. If you have a camera capable of taking RAW/JPEG together, you may prefer this as you will always be able to look at the JPEG on your computer even if you can’t see the RAW image.

Additionally, make sure that you are taking the photo at 90 degrees to the flat surface of your Painting – if it is tilting away from or towards the camera, it will make cropping the final image much more difficult and you may end up losing significant areas of the painting. Of course, the image needs to be horizontal as well, with no sloping right or left. Try to fill the frame as much as possible with the painting itself – the background is of no interest as far as printing goes and the larger the image of the work, the better.

These are very basic guidelines but if you follow them you should end up with a very acceptable basis from which to print your work. If you ask a professional to do it for you it is going to cost you every time, so the investment in a DSLR for a few hundred dollars will pay for itself in fairly short order if you are intending to make prints of your art on a fairly regular basis.

Effectively you are already making money with your camera! With this in mind, I thought I would finish this post by expanding a little more on this interesting topic.

If you move your thinking a little further, you could also find yourself doing the work for others once you have become proficient, perhaps making a small charge for your time and work. Owning a DSLR might well awaken a whole new artistic streak in you, adding photography to your love of creating beautiful pictures. There are many ways your investment can start paying you over time – if you become even reasonably good at taking photographs, there are countless opportunities for you to turn that ability into new streams of income as many amateur photographers have found out for themselves.

I have included a glossary below of several sites that can help you realize additional income from good quality digital photographs – if you have the camera and a computer with an internet connection there is no reason why you cannot eventually start earning some extra money with your new found skills. This is not exclusive to artists of course, anyone can apply these methods as a means of generating income with their camera. They are not listed in any particular order and we do not vouch for one over another but all have been established for some time and without exception offer solid money back guarantees should you be in any way dissatisfied, so we feel comfortable in listing them here.

Many will include information on microstock photography – you can learn more about microstock at one of the leading online sites, called Shutterstock or you can try this list of some of the other stock photography sites. For a more detailed guide on stock photography try Going Digital by Larry Stepanowicz

Resources for Digital Photographers Wishing To Earn Money From Their Work

Free Report – How To Make Money With Digital Photography

DigiCam Cash – Earn Money With Digital Cameras

Camera Career – Freelance Photography

Profitable Photography – Starting A Photography Business

Camera Dollars – A Homebased Internet Photography System

Get Paid To Draw – Selling Drawings, Designs & Photographs Online

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Nov 24, 2009 | Art and Photography | Leave A Comment »

Artists Photographers & Copyright In The Digital Age

Art and photography have long gone hand-in-hand and have sometimes been friendly enough bedfellows and sometimes not. The advent of the digital age has certainly brought with it some new challenges for both camps.

No, this is not an intellectual debate about photography versus art and the merits of one over the other – those have been going on for years and will probably continue to do so. It is, however, something that will be of interest to those involved in both disciplines whether in an amateur or professional capacity.

The main reason behind this post is to explain to both artists and photographers how conflict can be avoided when mixing art and photography in the same bowl. Yes, conflict between those wielding a camera and those hefting a brush may sound a little melodramatic, and it is also nothing new, but things have certainly become a little more complex in recent times.

Image Courtesy Of MikeBlogs on Flickr

Let us first take the artist. An exhibition in a gallery (solo exhibition/group exhibition commercial/public gallery it matters not) is a very important aspect of an artist’s life and living. Art galleries come in all shapes and sizes and are essential if an artist is to become more widely known and appreciated, so public exhibits of their work is very important. During the course of the exhibition, visitors walk in with modern digital cameras, cellphones, point and shoot, DSLR etc. and photograph the two dimensional work of the artist in question.

Some galleries may forbid photography, or they may permit the taking of pictures for personal use and they may or may not make their policies clear. They should certainly have a policy of some kind, but it is likely that regardless of the official stance, people will take photographs – the explosion of technology facilitating it is just so great nowadays and short of confiscating every cellphone and mobile device at the doorway there is little that can be done to prevent it.

I read a piece online the other day where a journalist complained about one artist’s strict stand against anyone taking photograph’s of his work, regardless of their reasons for wanting to do so. The writer was also a photographer and whilst her arguments and objections held some water, she seemed oblivious to the basic right of the creator to have complete control of his creations – after all, surely she would expect that right with her own images. Maybe in her view the artist’s policy was a little foolish but it does no alter the fact that it is his right.

You may well be able to see where this is leading already, because digital photography and the internet have introduced a whole new set of complexities to the equation. It is more important than ever that artists and photographers understand and respect each other and their work.

Financially speaking, an artist cannot succeed without showing their work to the world at large but you do need to take precautions to protect your rights. Many people fail to understand, or even completely ignore the fact, that a two dimensional work of art remains the property of the creator. Even if an artist sells an original Painting, the rights to that image do not automatically pass to the new owner, normally they remain firmly with the painter unless the artist specifically passes rights to the buyer.

Those rights have value for the artist and that value is something they have earned by creating something entirely unique. With many artists taking advantage of modern reproduction techniques, they are finally on a par with writers and recording artists in being able to earn money through royalties and ongoing sales of their work, beyond the sale of an original painting.

The photographer, whether they consider themselves an artist or not, may well have the right to capture that image but must be careful what they then do with it. There have been famous cases in the past where photographers argued that because they took the photograph, it was a work in its own right and they therefore had ownership of it. This has been argued even by people who took photographs of other photographs. The truth of the matter is, that if you photograph a painting, it does not entitle you to use the resulting picture for anything other than personal enjoyment. You cannot publish it or use it for commercial purposes of any kind without the express permission of the original artist. If that permission is sought but is not forthcoming, you cannot proceed.

As an artist, publishing your work on the web is something that you may well wish to do – there is, after all, a huge audience out there, and therefore an equally huge potential market. Follow a few simple rules to protect your artwork.

Make sure that you post a copyright notice on your website, and that any other sites you may choose to host images of your work do not demand you relinquish any rights to them. Do not upload high resolution images of your paintings to the internet – just keep them large enough to be comfortably viewed. Use use watermarks to render them difficult to copy, reproduce or distribute by others. This will help to prevent misuse of the images of your work.

However, none of that will prevent the misuse of photographs taken by others of your paintings. Anyone with a good modern DSLR camera can capture high quality images of your work and this is where the real threat comes from, particularly in conjunction with the internet.

If you are a photographer and you have taken a nice picture of a painting that you would like to share with the world, think before uploading it to an image sharing site or your own website. The best advice to follow would be this – contact the artist and seek their permission as a first step. You may well be able to come to some agreement that is acceptable to both parties. If it means a bit of publicity for their work, a lot of artists may well agree to you publishing a limited size image on your site, perhaps also requesting proper attribution to them as the painter and a link to their own home on the web. Sometimes however they may not grant you permission and if they do not, it would be foolish to proceed. If you cannot contact the artist, think again before forging ahead because you may find yourself in a sticky situation further down the road.

To a photographer this may seem a lot of nonsense to have to go through and yet the internet is full of photographers complaining bitterly about theft of their own images by others. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Photographers rightly protect their own copyright in relation to photographs, and artists need to protect their own source of income too. Artists are like anyone else and have bills to pay and mouths to feed – if they can do this through their own unique talents and creativity they do not deserve to be ripped off either. At the same time, striking a balance between being too protective and benefiting from good publicity is another important consideration.

In recent times we have had to take action against a couple of websites for copyright infringement. Fortunately the outcome in those cases has been amicable enough. In two cases, the offending material had probably been posted by a third party to a website owned by someone else entirely.

There is an individual on this island currently who seems to think it is acceptable to photograph artwork in galleries and even retail outlets and then post those large high definition photographs to the web. The photographer in question even has the temerity to crop these photographs, basically rendering them print ready for anyone who wants to run off as many copies as they wish. Whether this is done in all innocence or ignorance it poses a big problem, not only for the original artist but also those who work with them in reproducing their work and selling their work. Whatever the photographer’s intent, you can read why it is no excuse later in this post.

As an artist, if you find your work has been published online without your consent, the first thing to do is call or write to the offending website. Often, a polite email will result in a polite reply and an outcome that is agreeable to both parties. Sometimes however, it will be ignored and you may need to take further action. Large image sharing sites will invariably remove copyrighted images from their sites if requested to do so, and will usually write to the member concerned asking them to refrain from doing it again at risk of losing their membership of the site.

It is hard to monitor the internet, but services such as Google Alerts can be very useful and places like CopyScape can also help you prevent misuse, although probably more effectively for the written word. Sometimes a quick search on your name or the name of a painting can help you locate those who may be infringing your rights. Of course, a digital image file can be renamed easily but by being vigilant you can certainly prevent the more obvious image thieves.

If you contact a website regarding copyright infringement and they ignore you, your next step would be to issue a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice to their web hosting company. This will invariably work if the company hosting the site are in the U.S.A. but will often be honored by hosting companies in a lot of EU and other regions who have similar laws protecting copyright. The DMCA is a US law, and hosting companies there are required to take action by contacting the offending customer and asking them to remove the offending content. Failure to do so can make them liable for prosecution themselves so they will normally act on your behalf. Even if the customer remains stubbornly defiant, the risk is the loss of their website through closure of their hosting account. It isn’t really worth it for them.

If you are unsure of how to establish who is hosting a website, try WhoIsHostingThis.com which will give you all the information you are likely to need.

Once things begin to get official, most people will comply and remove your copyrighted images quite quickly.

Of course, situations can always arise on the internet where your chances of enforcement are far less. Plenty of countries around the world have no regard for laws passed elsewhere and will blatantly ignore or flout convention. In those cases, unless you are prepared for a very costly legal war with no guarantee of success you may just have to suck it up and move on. The internet is never going to be 100% secure by any means but you can try to limit your losses and by making your images a slightly harder target you will often cause the lazy to move on to easier pickings.

I hope this post will educate the photographers and artists. Working together is usually the best way forward – respect the rights of others, understand why they take the stance they do and there is no reason why conflict should arise. There is no reason why the two art forms cannot exist side by side and compliment each other.

Ignorance is no defense in law most of the time either, so think before you act too hastily after pointing your camera at something and pressing the shutter. If the photograph contains copyrighted material you need to know your rights too. More useful information regarding photography and copyright can be found here.

Further reading at Legal Guide For The Visual Artist

I suppose the most succinct advice for anyone, online or off, when it comes to copyright issues is this: if in doubt, ask first. Your comments are welcomed whether you are a photographer, artist, webmaster or none of the above.

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Sep 02, 2009 | Art and Photography | Leave A Comment »