tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50267286847313161472024-03-14T08:23:48.019+00:00Andy Mercer's Art Blog..... so there !Extracts from the occassionally exciting artistic life of <a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk">Andy Mercer</a>.Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.comBlogger112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-43980550837385837552019-09-20T19:28:00.003+01:002020-04-24T15:12:21.196+01:00I voted to Leave.<div class="MsoNormal">
I voted to Leave. </div>
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And if I have to, will vote to Leave a second time. </div>
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There is so much anger, hysteria and plain nastiness floating around
on this issue, that I have decided to limit
my engagement with it all. I don’t think my opinion is that important in the
great scheme of things, and I certainly don’t think it is worth falling out
with anyone because they hold a different opinion to my own. I believe our views and political persuasion are
generally shaped by our life experiences, which as we all know can be very
different. I generally enjoy exchanging opinions. </div>
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I decided to write all this down to make my position absolutely clear to anyone interested. I’m not expecting you to agree with it, neither I
am looking for any sort of response. I’m putting it out there so that anyone
interested will have an understanding of my position and hopefully this will
avoid pigeon holing and general misunderstandings. I’m not interested in winning the argument and purging the internet of those who disagree with me. </div>
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I am not interested in receiving “you are plain wrong”
statements but might be interested in your sincere genuine and considered response. As this
subject is large and complex I don’t claim to have the full picture. </div>
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I fall into that not well represented group these days who voted Leave in the absence of genuine
EU reform. I have given up on the EU willingly reforming itself. </div>
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I became concerned about the EU's general direction at the
time we signed the Lisbon Treaty. I was not influenced in my leave vote by
Aaron Banks, Nigel Farage or Vladmir Putin. Some of their arguments I agree with some I
don’t. I don't think one side of the political spectrum has a monopoly on truth. </div>
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My general opinion is that Leave won because enough people
like myself voted to Leave rather than continue to argue for serious reform. Far right nationalists
were always going to vote Leave but people like myself came to this conclusion
gradually. </div>
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Do you remember the two main arguments during the referendum
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1. Remain and fight for reform within. </div>
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Very few people argued during the referendum campaign to
stay in an unreformed EU. I believe one poll at the time showed less than 5% of
the UK population were happy with the EU as it was. </div>
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It is very noticeable to someone like me how that first
position has shifted since the referendum, and now seems to have become “Remain regardless
of reform". </div>
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<b>Democracy</b></div>
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Democracy is hard to define, no system is perfectly
democratic but people generally know when a system is becoming more or less democratic. I believe that the democratic process is vitally important and gives
you and I some protection from those who would impose their beliefs on us
against our will, these people exist in every country, in every political
movement and in every government system and I believe we should always be on
our guard against them. And insisting on the validity of the democratic process is one of the few safeguards we have. We weaken it at our peril. </div>
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I believe I owe it to previous generations who struggled to achieve
these democratic rights, that I should fight to maintain and protect them in order that they are handed on intact to the next generation. </div>
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I do not believe that temporarily elected politicians have
the right to give away the permanent powers we grant them via the ballot box. </div>
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I believe the people are sovereign not Parliament. </div>
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The core of this belief is that a democratic decision made
by the people must be implemented.</div>
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I might make the odd exception if a referendum advocated war
or the unfair treatment of a particular group in society. Politicians cannot ask the
people to decide on an issue and then claim it was only advisory. </div>
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In my view the people
are sovereign and if they are asked to make a decision that decision in almost
every circumstance must be implemented.
If the decision is not implemented then this weakens all our hard won and imperfect democratic
rights. </div>
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I would feel the same if Remain had won. I would continue to argue it was a mistake
but I would accept that for a generation
that decision had been made. You can’t
run any system if every decision is always being challenged. </div>
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<b>The Commission</b></div>
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The unelected Commission controls the EU’s legislative
process, it creates the legislation and controls the process by which it
becomes law. Elected MEP’s can only vote YES or NO to this legislation. A good
example of this was the recent election of <span style="font-family: "linux libertine" , "georgia" , "times" , serif;">Ursula von der Leyen </span>as Commission
President, hers was the only name put forward by the Commission and MEPS could
only vote for or against her appointment. </div>
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I don’t consider that democratic. </div>
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The elected MEP’s in the European Parliament do not have the power
to create legislation. This is written into the Lisbon Treaty and can only be changed by changing the treaty. The irony is that when the combined Westminster opposition
took control of the legislative process in the House of Commons recently (to
push through in record time Brexit delaying legislation), that process simply
could not have happened in the European Parliament. The freedom our political system affords MP’s is being utilised to bind to us to a less free EU system. </div>
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There is no elected government in the EU and there is no
means that you and I can influence the EU's policy direction. I know that if I vote for
Jeremy Corbyn I will get a very different set of policies to the present
government, there is simply no way of doing that in Brussels. That is not
acceptable to me, I won’t vote in support of such a system. </div>
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I see the EU
operating a less democratic system with voters further removed from and less able to
influence legislation and I simply can’t support that. </div>
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I know there are serious shortcomings with our UK political
system, but we retain the ability (just) to remove one government and replace
it with another, and with it change policy direction and we don’t have that ability with the EU. </div>
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I don’t really have a problem with the basic idea of
European co-operation. I agree that “jaw jaw” is better than “war war.” I would
support a genuine Common Market and did back in 1975 but will never support
European political union. </div>
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I believe many of things decided by Brussels should be
decided by national governments and I want a return of these powers. Trade, industrial and fisheries policies being the most well known examples. </div>
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I believe that the UK will ultimately gain from once again having
an independent trade policy. I believe the EU will make it as hard as possible
for us to succeed in this, but I believe in it and remain committed to it. </div>
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I acknowledge that the UK with its ageing population relies
on immigration to keep our economy functioning.
But I believe the UK migration policy should be operated by the UK parliament. </div>
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I
believe in free movement for those with jobs to go to or the means to provide
for themselves. </div>
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I agree the world is getting smaller and people are moving
around the world and will continue to do so. </div>
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I don’t agree with the general
viewpoint that taking down national borders is sensible. I
think ultimately it will lead to the destabilisation of society. Do you run your PC or
laptop without a security and a firewall ? Borders are international firewalls.
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<b>Business and trade. </b></div>
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I believe that restoring a UK independent trade policy is
the real benefit of Leaving. I don’t accept that the EU’s one size fits all
trade policy works in our interest and can’t be improved on. </div>
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I don’t believe trade with the EU will decline significantly
with the imposition of trade tariffs. The UK has a deficit on EU imports, we
pay them more for their goods than they pay for ours. I would like a Free Trade
Agreement with the EU and don’t see any genuine reason why this can’t happen. I
don’t see the point in not having an FTA because the lack of one hurts both
sides, why would anyone argue for that ?
The reason a free trade agreement has not been negotiated is purely political
and not economic, the EU believes it is the government of Europe and fears a
successful UK outside the EU will highlight its economic failings and weaknesses.
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The comparison between the EU and the USA is a stark one.
The US in the last 30 years has seen major global companies emerge and create
new products that dominate world markets. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Ebay.. the list goes on and on ? More recently a company like SpaceX s has
massively reduced the cost of getting to space, and is a fine example of a company using innovation to push society forward and succeed over less
innovative competitors. </div>
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Can you name any European company that has emerged in the
last 30 years and produced a product that has changed or revolutionised a world
market ? The answer should tell you something about EU business culture. </div>
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The share of global GDP of both the US and the EU has
declined over the last couple of decades as developing countries have generally
caught up. But the US’s share of global GDP has declined from 30% to around 24%,
the EU’s has declined from 25% of global GDP to 16%. The EU started at lower
GDP than the US (even with a bigger population) and has seen its smaller share
of global GDP decline further. In my opinion this should set alarm bells ringing.</div>
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Yes we can criticise the US for many things but creating new
and successful products and selling them to the world isn’t one of them. </div>
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Business creates the wealth that pays for public
services, I generally do not see business as the enemy as many seem to do. I regard any person who risks their own money
creating a business as a hero. There is nothing wrong in getting a return on
capital risked in creating a new product or service. I must make an important distinction here, I believe the
impact of neo liberalism is largely negative.
Neo Liberalism seeks to create private monopolies for big businesses by manipulating
politicians which allow them to hike prices rather than encouraging
competition. These business are wealth extractors rather than wealth creators. A business that seeks to restrict competition is already moribund
and regressive. It is not a co –incidence that Neo Liberals love the EU and want us to Remain.</div>
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I believe in business competition, plurality, risk taking and
innovation. I believe the EU is doing exactly the opposite, with an army of
corporate lobbyists influencing Commission policy making. Business is not the enemy of a developed
society, but certain monopoly businesses are the enemies of competition,
plurality, risk taking and innovation. </div>
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I believe that businesses should pay fair taxes.<br />
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I'll leave the final word on Brexit business and economcs to Paul Krugman the respected economist who is opposed to Brexit.<br />
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/opinion/brexit-borders-and-the-bank-of-england-wonkish.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/opinion/brexit-borders-and-the-bank-of-england-wonkish.html</a></div>
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<b>The Euro and Greece</b></div>
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I consider the Euro to be failed experiment. The most
obvious victim of this failed currency are the Greek people but other countries are also caught in the Euros economic
stranglehold. </div>
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I believe that those countries that want to be part of the
United States of Europe should become one country and have one economic policy
and one currency. I don't want Britain to be a part of that. You cannot have different countries with different economies
but the same currency and expect that to work. </div>
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Greece went bankrupt because its politicians made financial promises
they couldn’t keep, they are certainly not alone in doing that. In normal
circumstances on bankruptcy a countries currency would collapse and the process
of rebuilding would begin from the bottom. The bankrupt country’s low value
currency would make its products and services look much cheaper to buyers
around the globe and they are attracted to take advantage of this countries competitive prices.
A country going bankrupt is never painless but at least countries like
Argentina have been able to recover. In Greece’s case its membership of the
Euro has denied it this route out of its bankruptcy. The ECB has protected the
Euro at the expense of the Greek people. Their economy has shrunk by an
extraordinary 25%. Sacrificing an entire nation and its economy is unforgivable. </div>
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The European Central Bank bailed out Greece but the money
went directly to the mainly German and French banks that hold most of the Greek
debt. It has not been used to reinvigorate the Greek economy. The Greek Syriza
government proposed expanding its economy and rescheduling its debt and was
bluntly told by the European Central Bank that if they did not comply with
austerity measures imposed on it, the ECB would starve its banks of funds and
the banks would collapse. The Greeks are now having their economic policy
dictated to them by the ECB/EU, they have been forced into extensive privatisations (selling off key national industries and services to global big business) as a price of bail outs they never received, and have no way of escaping the straight jacket. </div>
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Italy is also in a deep financial mess and also faces no way
out of its problems without leaving the Euro. Spain and Portugal aren’t far
behind. </div>
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I do not support the EU’s policy in supporting the Euro at
the expense of the people of Greece for the failures of Greek politicians and am not prepared to risk the EU doing similar to this country if
the opportunity arose. </div>
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I see no genuine reason why those countries that wish to
participate in a United States of Europe cannot do so, and those that don't want that can't have different legal and political arrangements focused primarily on free trade.Why does "one size have to fits all" ?. </div>
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The last few paragraphs should set alarm bells ringing. </div>
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<b>So
what is the core problem with the EU ?</b></div>
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The basic problem is its bureaucratic and unaccountable
structure. In a conventional democracy if things don’t go well the population
have the opportunity to change the economic policy by changing the government,
we have no way of doing that in the EU. The Commission faces little in the way of a political
challenge and continues to operate as it always has, even when it is not
working.<br />
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I don’t have any strict party political affiliation. I do
not believe any party or political philosophy has a monopoly on truth, they all have good
and bad aspects. If a policy works I support it, if it doesn't I don't. </div>
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I accept the basic Tory argument that business risk taking and innovation create the wealth (no that doesn't mean I am uncritical of business, wealth extractors v wealth creators) to pay for public services. I also agree with the lefts advocacy of things
like universal healthcare and education (but not at any cost). <br />
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<b>So where are we now ? (Sept 19)</b><br />
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Not in a good place.<br />
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The EU won't talk trade which is just about what every Brexiter wants until a political agreement is signed and sealed. In my opinion the EU is fearful that if the UK is successful after Brexit that this will encourage other countries to question its purpose. This is already happening right across Europe, the media labels it "populism" but fails to identify what is causing this widespread disaffection. Populism and anti EU sentiments are a symptom of a problem with the EU. <br />
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To someone like myself this refusal by the EU to conduct and agree a trade deal even without political agreement.is plain crazy. The EU is treating Britain as an adversary. If no trade deal is struck it risks thousands of jobs on both sides of the Channel. A study by a University in Belgium put the potential job losses at over a million.<br />
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The refusal to agree a trade deal is more evidence that the EU puts preserving its own power and authority ahead of the welfare of its own people. I'm afraid I don't want to be a part of such an organisation.<br />
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I believe with goodwill the possible negatives of Leaving could be reduced to near zero. Sadly there seems to be little goodwill about. Britain does not deserve to be treated like some pariah state.<br />
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You'll notice that I haven't mentioned UK politics much here, the reason for that is simple. Brexit is less about simplistic RIGHT BAD LEFT GOOD of UK politics and is more about the direction and operation of the European Union.<br />
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I don't expect you to agree. But thanks for reading all the same.<br />
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I'll put a video that outlines a very similar position to my own.<br />
I don't so much agree with his politics but his analysis of the EU and its faults are very close to my own.<br />
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https://youtu.be/nwK0jeJ8wxg<br />
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<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/">Andy Mercer's website</a>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-40110145170549917452017-04-25T18:22:00.001+01:002017-04-25T18:22:52.644+01:00Andy Mercer - Older works II <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxx8BtaY8wh_ODdnGFO-Cfk6O9zvw_ok8oWVb8RS4GTeI9vcX5hLvcudzAW9cQRY4CyqWwNpTKcL-RBgeEPP9obTa2MtVQsecfpK5NPD_0__tYpJX_baDwwXs6-cVr50uQfOAw4_kro92/s1600/3+old+Ladies+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxx8BtaY8wh_ODdnGFO-Cfk6O9zvw_ok8oWVb8RS4GTeI9vcX5hLvcudzAW9cQRY4CyqWwNpTKcL-RBgeEPP9obTa2MtVQsecfpK5NPD_0__tYpJX_baDwwXs6-cVr50uQfOAw4_kro92/s320/3+old+Ladies+2.jpg" width="252" /></a></div>
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"Three Old Ladies in the Park". </div>
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..is a painting from way back. It was a finalist in a televised art competition. </div>
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It was also reserved for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. </div>
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A few months after leaving college I was walking through the park and spotted these three old dears sitting amongst spring blossoms. </div>
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It feels like a picture from a different age.. </div>
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<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/">Andy Mercer's website</a>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-51865964697709309642015-09-20T09:51:00.003+01:002017-01-19T11:35:58.757+00:00It's a digital world and artists need to get use to it.. Fine artists and Fine Art experts (so called) have been getting their knickers in a twist about "digital art" for a few years now. This culminated recently in my work being pulled without explanation by an art site.<br />
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Many "fine" artists will tell you digital art isn't real art or is inferior in some way. In order for it to be real art the artist must have produced it by hand preferably with a brush. Now this really is nonsense. <br />
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It's a digital world and some Luddites in the art world need to get used to it.<br />
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But first lets talk about rocket engines.<br />
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Elon Musk CEO OF SpaceX is a very clever guy and as far as I can see he creates rocket engines by waving his hands around in front of a monitor. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/xNqs_S-zEBY" width="420"></iframe><br />
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He makes rocket engines using his computer digitally and then guess what he prints them using a 3D printer and titanium. Nobody dare say to Elon.. "these aren't real rocket engines because you didn't personally hammer them into shape". I suspect if they did Elon would laugh in their face and show them out.<br />
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Are his rocket engines worse because he designs them and alters them digitally with his computer ? Nope they are likely to be better. <br />
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Ok I hear you say.. "there's a difference between rocket engines and art." True.. so lets talk about music.<br />
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Does anyone say to musicians they should stop going into studios to produce music.. because the end result is digital and therefore not real music. Real music has to be played live. I like live music.. but it is nonsense to say only live music is real music.<br />
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Even live musicians are recording their music, which is a digital process.<br />
So if a musician decides that the crowd was noisier in Pittsburgh than in Delaware but the performance in Delaware was better.. and decides that he will take the crowd noise from Pittsburgh and add it to the performance in Delaware. Is that bad or good ? If you buy a download.. that's a digital download should I complain about it ? Of course not.. nobody cares.<br />
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Does anyone even refer to it as "digital music".. no ! Nobody is hung up about it, Which makes the often heated debate amongst fine artists even weirder.<br />
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Have you looked at art online ? All of that art is digital to an extent.. even the paintings.<br />
I hear you say.. "Why" ?<br />
Because it has been photographed and that creates a digital image that can be uploaded and viewed online. So when someone labels an artwork as a painting.. this isn't 100% true. I've yet to see painting dripping from inside my monitor. What you are looking at is "a DIGITAL photograph of a painting". Heaven forbid the artist decides he will alter a color or line in the photograph because with each tweak it is less of a photograph of a painting and more a new digital work. This is the way this new digital world works.. it allows you to carry on being creative when you've finished a painting or drawing or photographing or designing a rocket engine.. whatever.<br />
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Supposing a I have two paintings one of the right side of my garden and the other is a painting of the left.. and I decide I will join the two photographs of these painting together digitally to make one picture of the whole garden. Of course if I tell you this work is a painting.. then that is a lie. But it isn't really digital art either.<br />
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Does this somehow mean it isn't valid anymore ? Does it fig,<br />
That's like saying recorded music isn't music ? Of course if you paid for a live concert and all they played was recorded music that would also be a lie.<br />
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In my case I take images.. quite often loads of images and blend them digitally into one new image. Does this make it inferior in some way ?<br />
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I like you reader so I'm going to give you an image.. if you like it print it, hang it your wall, have it as my little present to you for putting up with my ramblings on all things digital.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw6LVi5unEYCF7sUNg-gipNj8rThc0ArbsplAYvw2kkYMLehu9gEHli29PgEj_G5qC668byaXzl_YZx0QforrP6ll3hLwvQgtAZ_4dshMSLYqafjjjCSx5jQoMMuPQfiwBBBC34vYBHNUJ/s1600/Halcyon+Days2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw6LVi5unEYCF7sUNg-gipNj8rThc0ArbsplAYvw2kkYMLehu9gEHli29PgEj_G5qC668byaXzl_YZx0QforrP6ll3hLwvQgtAZ_4dshMSLYqafjjjCSx5jQoMMuPQfiwBBBC34vYBHNUJ/s1600/Halcyon+Days2.jpg" /></a></div>
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It's a bit wide for this blog but I hope you like it. It's a panorama of Limasoll Bay in Cyprus. I was a bit sad really because Rita Ora jogged past and I missed taking a photo of her because I was too busy asking my wife who that woman was.. because she looked familiar. I thought it was Rihanna. But I digress.<br />
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"It's a photograph".. I hear you mutter. Well sort of.. its about ten different photographs.<br />
In the days before you could easily do a panorama on your Iphone I created this image by merging these images together digitally (not that well, to be honest). So it is more a digital work than an actual photograph of the place. On the left hand side you can see the same couple both in the water and out of it. I'm not in the habit of painting my toe nails either so I admit my wife took a couple of the shots.. so the work becomes a digital photographic montage collaboration between myself and my wife. I'm also in the photograph doing an Alfred Hitchcock I'm the guy with the straw hat.. so I am included in a work I created digitally. "What a fraud" I hear you say "how can that be art if you didn't take the picture yourself ?" Why not ? It was my idea<br />
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When Ansel Adams (the famous photographer) was asked which equipment he used to make his photographs he replied "his eye". I'm quite sure Ansel wouldn't be worrying about whether digital works are art.<br />
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That photograph (see how easy it is to still refer to it as a photograph) may be a good example of how "digital" is everywhere in art but it isn't really typical of what i do. In my case my creative process continues when I scan in drawings, paintings, photographs etc. Instead of finishing there I continue to work on them (digitally) until you can hardly recognise the original images.<br />
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At one end of the spectrum you have genuine 100% digital art where none of the image exists outside the computer and these images can even be generated using mathematic formulae. (Fractals), and at the other you have very slight alterations to say a photograph. All of the images produced from one end of the spectrum to the other are "digital" to an extent. But some retain almost all of their original non digital imagery and at the other end of the spectrum you have 100% digital imagery.. should all these images be classed as digital ?<br />
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I think this is where the whole debate about digital v traditional art becomes a nonsense. Because we can safely say that almost all the people viewing "art" are seeing it as a digital image most of the time, via monitors etc nobody worries one iota about it. Even the paintings of the most traditionalist painters who spend their time attacking digital art are most likely seen by most as a digital image (photograph). The distinction between traditional and digital art exists only in the minds of a few artists.. its ALL just art. The ART is the creative part not the way it is produced.<br />
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In my case I tend to start with real drawings and scan them. I might also add in bits of photographs some digital some not, I then get to work on these bit using image manipulation software. The software can't make a bad image good.. that it is still down to the skill of the artist.<br />
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Here's an example of my art. You may or may not like it.. that's your choice. But in what way does the digital process of its creation make it not art ? You can see quite a lot of the image is drawn.. they are scanned drawings. But other parts are taken from photographs.. and other bits are scanned bits of text. The red sun is a red sticker taken from a jar of jam. When folks order this work I look for a sticker in the kitchen I can stick on the print I send them. What I like abut working this way is the ability it gives me to produce a different kind of imagery and to be flexible. I can alter almost every print I produce.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJisVQguBX65E0GHHXuOpo_Qo3Mvtq0Xtv5tQNtLXWPTYnH8WLCgj5Hi_xl49PjhYpyxE-dtrF4-QUY-aCmJdJ9FM9-JpelfG0Sa7uUYO_ht6kjwO5AFXpZh_GGSTlp-bZe9Ueb0BL-cP/s1600/BADManchesterLR2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJisVQguBX65E0GHHXuOpo_Qo3Mvtq0Xtv5tQNtLXWPTYnH8WLCgj5Hi_xl49PjhYpyxE-dtrF4-QUY-aCmJdJ9FM9-JpelfG0Sa7uUYO_ht6kjwO5AFXpZh_GGSTlp-bZe9Ueb0BL-cP/s640/BADManchesterLR2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here's an another..<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXR4q0il6vF477Ll6CKLJwYpOiNTRlq9Js9doqr0Ez9luF6FYnjPL8gh77940r7P5QKIjLHuWyOKSJsbR6uL0zjuspa1m-tNEwkVtod6JQDAsK8zOzmTsHGmRspFjUKUxqG7XvmVceR6x/s1600/Food+PlateJ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXR4q0il6vF477Ll6CKLJwYpOiNTRlq9Js9doqr0Ez9luF6FYnjPL8gh77940r7P5QKIjLHuWyOKSJsbR6uL0zjuspa1m-tNEwkVtod6JQDAsK8zOzmTsHGmRspFjUKUxqG7XvmVceR6x/s320/Food+PlateJ.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now is this a drawing or a digital work because it isn't the same as the original drawing it is based on ? I moved the sausages so does that mean it is now digital art ? The whole debate is very silly when you think about. It doesn't really matter to me what it is called but for the record I would label this a "print taken from a drawing" for a customer. </div>
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In no other area of human endeavour does the use of digital technology cause a similar debate.. its a digital world and visual artists need to get used to it.<br />
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Right thanks.. I got that off my chest and can go to sleep now.<br />
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<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/">Andy Mercer's website</a>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-38083453139007906972015-07-06T18:06:00.002+01:002015-07-06T18:13:20.546+01:00Andy Mercer - Older works<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I decided it would be a good idea to let folks see some of my older works. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Triple Kings II </b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgimpPf4Dtbw-C8xQAPFVBiPNCD1WxbX751JcqsHsow0E5oZCaWhJlZbdXhJA3SUcAh5l0Zw6yKIVou58uX1oF-fzxZ6cb1Xc1cjhaVsUHTvRwM-qMEY4WlHRGrXvfX_a4OO0Z532ok6A4c/s1600/TripleKings5+smallest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I created this work for a competition to design a Christmas card back in the 1990's. It was selected as a finalist and exhibited at Bonhams auction house in London. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a combination of a pastel and pen drawing with extra drawn elements laid over the top. So its a sort of collage. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's quite interesting because it pre dates my digital works but has quite a few similarities. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has sold regularly since as a <a href="http://www.greetingcarduniverse.com/holiday-cards/christmas-cards/religious/nativity-manger/triple-kings-iii-265908?aid=134099" target="_blank">Christmas card</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As an image I think I prefer the one below but it is maybe a bit dark for a Christmas card. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO5ZflHM-89nFvAoMF3vQZGGfS-WTM8Pisjx5wsKJ6gnHWD2kJ_Pool-MT4Fv6ypATeRguKXpAGJSu1QQyBJJs5LTWIuH3R0i1-hFLFyWAFZqAjz2KmzdOZdsrXunXWYrTdY8yf8ewNyw3/s320/Triple+Kings2+small.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="215" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://andy-mercer.artistwebsites.com/products/triple-kings-ii-andy-mercer-greeting-card.html" target="_blank">Triple Kings III</a></td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andy Mercer's website</span></a>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-11805362143363524132014-08-17T19:07:00.001+01:002014-08-29T10:02:49.231+01:00City Lines <br />
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Latest version of my CITY LINES animation<br />
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Had a lot of fun and hit a lot of snags along the way with this. It sort of seemed logical as I like line drawings to string them together. Personally I like images that are rough at the edges so I'm happy with it, I know it will probably drive serious animators round the twist.<br />
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I'm indebted to the very talented <a href="http://memoriata.com/" target="_blank">Dorothea Baker</a> of Melbourne Australia for allowing me to use her music.<br />
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<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andy Mercer's website</span></a>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-3067751105661186942014-03-29T18:30:00.002+00:002014-04-05T19:13:05.071+01:00A busy week.. <span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hi </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There have been a number of interesting developments over the last week. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Zatista</b> is a US based website selling original art and limited edition prints. I've not heard of it myself but OneKingsLane is a premier US home decor site. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"We are thrilled to announce that <span class="il">Zatista</span> will be doing a curated event with One King's Lane, the premier e-commerce site for home decor, fashion and accessories. </i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: white;"><br /><a href="https://www.onekingslane.com/" target="_blank">https://www.onekingslane.com/</a><br /><br />A special collection from <span class="il">Zatista</span> has been selected to be offered for sale on One King's Lane from 30th March to Aprilt 15th For the duration of the event we will be placing the selected works on hold on <span class="il">Zatista</span> so that they are exclusively offered to the One King's Lane audience.<br /><br />The even better news is that your work has been chosen by the board of curators to be part of the collection! This opportunity provides incredible exposure to millions of potential buyers." </i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I have got to be pleased that three of my works have been selected from among many thousands on the Zatista website. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of days ago I was approached by Alice James Books, a nonprofit poetry press based in the US, to inquire about using one of your pieces on the cover of one of their forthcoming books. The piece they are interested in is:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Urbanización 3"</span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt9zLZqyCtaWW5mogGgZ-RRsd0XihKuJIA90n5IE5qjyTrSldY6yP4jqqn6Kc7WVnp-6YmnpjhK7-3eMdClnCBoY0MOH12VR2VNYtrw2PsCIkBQO-FK6Qu-sebaJvS14LTZLp1IzBLB3Zv/s1600/Urbanizacion+3+MBFirst+Choice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt9zLZqyCtaWW5mogGgZ-RRsd0XihKuJIA90n5IE5qjyTrSldY6yP4jqqn6Kc7WVnp-6YmnpjhK7-3eMdClnCBoY0MOH12VR2VNYtrw2PsCIkBQO-FK6Qu-sebaJvS14LTZLp1IzBLB3Zv/s1600/Urbanizacion+3+MBFirst+Choice.jpg" height="320" width="206" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They want to use it as a c</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">olor picture for the cover of a book of poems, entitled</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Refuge/es </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">by Michael Broek with a publication dates of May 2015. I hope to post pics of the final cover when I get a copy. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="background-color: white;">New Mills Art Festival 2014</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><i style="background-color: white;">"Congratulations! We are delighted to inform you that your work has been selected for New Mills ArtsFEST 2014 Town Trail." </i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">I'm always pleased to find new and different locations to show my art, and the New Mills Art Festival appealed to me. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">From </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">17th May – 1st June m</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">ore than 30 artists, from across the UK, display their work in unusual places and </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">spaces, windows and pop-up venues across New Mills, as part of the annual </span><span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">festival. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Turning the town into a gallery, the trail can be viewed at any time, and creates </span><span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">opportunities for residents and visitors going about their daily business to encounter </span><span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">a wide range of contemporary art</span><span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic', 'Apple Gothic', AppleGothic, 'URW Gothic L', 'Avant Garde', Futura, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">New Mills Arts</span><span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic', 'Apple Gothic', AppleGothic, 'URW Gothic L', 'Avant Garde', Futura, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">, founded in 2012, is an artist-led initiative passionate about the promotion of contemporary art and raising the profile of New Mills.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">I'm also pleased to announce the installation of the artwork below which was produced as a collaboration with Yr 5 at Dean Gibson Primary School Kendal. The work has been installed in their learning lab. (Site pictures to follow) </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">The kids created the majority individual elements and I brought them all together into one digital work. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">I love the way kids don't have any boundaries.. they just do it ! The work is printed onto acrylic </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">and the colours really zing. Well done kids ! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">And last but not least this week my work has been featured in the <a href="http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=cab05aa04fc6aa9576d99dc35&id=25424fb105" target="_blank">Artfinder</a> "City Life" newsletter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Many thanks to all the above for supporting for my work. I can't wait for next week ;)</span></span></div>
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Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-27830339411426825532013-08-25T21:04:00.000+01:002013-08-25T22:08:44.341+01:00Miro at the train stationOn holiday (vacation) in Puerto Pollensa on the island of Majorca, we decided after a few days relaxing in the sun to take a trip through the mountains to the north coast of this beautiful island. We stopped at the wonderful Lluc Monastery the spiritual heart of the island. It always amazes that people without any faith who never step foot in a church will happily pile into churches and religious sites while on holiday, but thats another story.<br />
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After a couple of short stops we reached Port Soller, a delightful coastal town on the north coast of the island. The town is known for its charming position surrounded by high mountains, orange groves and its delightful harbour. Majorca has been a favorite destination for Brits since the 1960's and flights to the sun first became affordable to the masses. This is the less developed part of Majorca with none of the large hotels and apartment blocks.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harbour side Restaurant in Port Soller </td></tr>
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Port Soller is linked by an old tram with the town of the same name a mile or two inland. The plan was to transfer from the tram onto the scenic railway that would take us back through the mountains towards the city of Palma. The tram clattered and wobbled it's way through the orange and lemon groves into the town of Soller and the journey ended at the railway station, where we were informed we would have to wait an hour for the train to depart. So finding we had an hour to kill in the Soller we started to walk back down into the centre of town in the 30C heat. It was then I spotted a poster showing unmistakable Miro work outside the station. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The town of Soller surrounded by high mountains</td></tr>
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I thought "surely not".. an exhibition of Miro works in the train station ? But there they were inside the train station in what was probably once a waiting room. And not only that there was a separate exhibition of Picasso ceramics in another room. (I have to admit I'm not a massive fan of Picasso) Either of these collections would warrant a major show in London with security, massive queues and big big publicity but here they were almost unnoticed by the majority of folks waiting for the train in this small sleepy town in northern Majorca.<br />
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Miro's work is almost synonymous with modern Spain and he is unique in being an artist whose work has somehow taken on a life of its own. It doesn't appear dated. Miro and Gaudi are the two artists who we have come to be identifiedwith modern Spain, and especially the great city of Barcelona.</div>
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He created the "Espana" logo widely copied adapted for Spanish tourist brochures around the world. </div>
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<a href="http://goodlogo.com/extended.info/espaa-logo-3045">http://goodlogo.com/extended.info/espaa-logo-3045</a> </div>
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Could you imagine an important exhibition of art works at some small town rail station in Britain or the States ? I love exhibitions in random non art locations, I tried to arrange an exhibition this year at Preston Bus Station but the powers that be seem intent on knocking it down.. the fools. (But that is <i>also</i> another story) So these show's ticked boxes for me. </div>
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So if you are in Majorca and want to get away from the holiday crowds its definitely worth a visit to Soller station.</div>
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<a href="http://www.mallorcaweb.com/reports/monuments-and-buildings/the-soller-station/">http://www.mallorcaweb.com/reports/monuments-and-buildings/the-soller-station/</a><br />
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The trip back via the mountain railway is also spectacular.Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-31064688308332478152013-07-11T18:23:00.000+01:002013-07-11T19:03:56.951+01:00Marc Chagall at Liverpool Tate. Twenty years ago I had to travel to London to see Chagall’s work exhibited now he has moved nearer and come to Liverpool. In another twenty years maybe he'll be showing next door ?
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Having spent most of my life in the 20th century, 21st century orientated folks will have to excuse my going on about Chagall.
For reasons I barely understand I never tire of his work. It's hard to say anything new, for me it's like visiting an old friend..<br />
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There's a nice quote on the wall in the gallery attributed to Picasso<br />
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"When Matisse dies Chagall will be the only artist who knows what colour is." </div>
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He was "dead" right. I always feel the need to get in close to Chagall's work... and get my head round the logic of the illogical. From a distance things looks like a church, a person, a house, but up close they often make little sense visually. The eye is led a merry dance. Why should a guy who mainly painted Russian Jewish peasant life have such a hold on my/our imagination ? Not many Jewish Russian peasants at the show.<br />
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Some folks have a song or music as the anthem to their lives, but for us this role is probably played by Chagall. The artist with his love flying above his head while holding her hand was made for us, but in reverse.
Chagall doesn't care if the line is scratched, the forms don't make sense and the colour isn't flat and neither do I, so maybe that's a part if it. It seems an insult to analyse his work by any conventional artistic standard.<br />
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Chagall is to Russia what Warhol is to the USA. At first it’s like looking at the pieces of a unmade jigsaw but magically over time the whole thing comes together. The sum is greater than the individual parts. Don't look too long, Chagall gets under your skin. Months later you will see a pic and know instantly he painted it. Go and have a look !<br />
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He doesn't preach, he isn't overtly political, arrogant or sentimental. His works goes against the current prevailing tyranny of photographic realism that cries out from all directions from every advertising hoarding and TV commercial. Chagall just is. I would happily hang a Chagall pic on my wall.<br />
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Which brings me on nicely to..
I'm not sure what the rest of Liverpool Tate is about. On the ground floor there was something about “Hangmen” I looked into for 30 seconds. I didn't see any Hangmen but maybe I didn't look hard enough.<br />
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How have visual art venues been hijacked by this stuff ? I'm all for experiments but I’ve been seeing similar obscure visual experiments in the majority of galleries for 40-50 yrs now. In what way is this still breaking boundaries or experimental ?<br />
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I suspect Duchamp understood he was on a road to nowhere and decided to do other things.<br />
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How did this “Cult of Obscurism” take over almost every gallery ?
And why not theatres, cinema's, science labs or music venues ?
Did Karl Heinz Stockhausen take over the Royal Albert Hall to the almost complete exclusion of all other forms of music? Did Beckett and his followers take over all the West End theatres ? No.. so why has this stuff taken over so many galleries ? IMO it's plain weird.<br />
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I get the impression if grant funding was withdrawn (austerity could have an upside) the whole lot would vanish overnight. It feels like the Soviet Union of Art, appearing big and all encompassing but hiding its bankruptcy, then without warning “pop” it’s all gone. A very nice lady first brought me here when it opened, (apart from Mark Dion's ship disappearing down the gallery plug hole).. I hated the whole thing and remember being quite vocal about it. I think she was shocked. But for me art will be always have to incorporate colour and line.. I really don't understand anything else. I’m unashamedly partisan. I really don't care if some guy sticks old plates on a wall and calls it art.. I'm not interested.<br />
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I like the gaudy plastic chandelier in the foyer though.. it doesn't take itself that seriously.<br />
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Anyway still enjoyed the exhibition.
Great to see Liverpool on a lovely sunny day bursting with international visitors and looking every inch the major European city it deserves to be. But that is a whole different story.<br />
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Liverpool Tate Café 12.50 11th July 2013
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<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/">Andy Mercer's website</a> Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-35075444611678592262013-06-03T21:35:00.001+01:002013-06-04T17:47:30.658+01:00Pixelation.. is it always bad ?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quite a lot of my artworks incorporate pixelation.. and I quite often get comments from photographers and printers about it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">>In my experience many photographers and printers judge image acceptability according to photographic criteria.. and they use the same standards to judge artwork as they do photographs. They look at the work through a magnifying glass to check for clarity and that pixels are not blown. I often deliberately blow the colours and incorporate pixelation, I'm not really interested in good photographic quality, it's not what my work is about. I want to stretch the digital medium to its limits.. I like to think this "rough unfinished look" is in part what attracts clients and buyers to my work and I do have plenty of buyers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I look on it this way.. if someone is painting you wouldn't reject the painting because the brush strokes are visible. So why is it a problem if pixelation (which is an inherent characteristic of digital art work) is visible or deliberately incorporated ? I want my images to have unplanned elements and rough edges
I wonder if in 100 years from now.. the ever more detailed and clean digital photographic images will be of any more interest than the old grainy black and white photos of the pre-digital era ? Personally I doubt it.
If a printer/client/photographer is going to judge my work by photographic standards my work is always going to fail.
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For me the above detail has lots of interesting contrasts and nuances going on.. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not ashamed of the fact that I am using the digital medium.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Constructive comments welcome</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andy Merer</span><br />
<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andy Mercer's website</span></a>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-53645352820383730682013-02-22T15:41:00.001+00:002013-02-25T21:17:03.819+00:00 Facebook Sages <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsKIg9963B9MY81n_GRqsKm1xyW78e9xutQguJIko-K8_-oKwlVI4SJVur6dWlBmd8_vTtwhJXD7TVB01vPXAFlaGlIap1fkwWJ2eQcSSNRnE0VcTJjphPXMGHr1Mtq7mgrvFesLlx3Wj/s1600/fb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsKIg9963B9MY81n_GRqsKm1xyW78e9xutQguJIko-K8_-oKwlVI4SJVur6dWlBmd8_vTtwhJXD7TVB01vPXAFlaGlIap1fkwWJ2eQcSSNRnE0VcTJjphPXMGHr1Mtq7mgrvFesLlx3Wj/s1600/fb.jpg" /></a></div>
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As a keen observer of social media (I try to participate as little as possible) I am struck by the number of posts that offer advice on the human condition, life and the universe.<br />
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I would characterise these posts as something along these lines.. a picture of a mountain or a wood with flowers with the words of wisdom superimposed on top.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57ifAXBohyLzEXHjQXUmJA9j2UQEbCwi5dV0w2UiQ2gPO701KujmqtW1YeQNXVnsbJAIigmjZUiRzV96c6bmNi3vqNMNAfZEhsqUi1537uxYZzT4crpZ9CKqgjuXjQSjrL65DgP7NhewL/s1600/Facebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57ifAXBohyLzEXHjQXUmJA9j2UQEbCwi5dV0w2UiQ2gPO701KujmqtW1YeQNXVnsbJAIigmjZUiRzV96c6bmNi3vqNMNAfZEhsqUi1537uxYZzT4crpZ9CKqgjuXjQSjrL65DgP7NhewL/s320/Facebook.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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These words usually take the form of things like "Know your inner self and the universe will be healed". I can safely say having dutifully read these posts for about ten years.. that I have not been inspired one jot by any of them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ErKSH6y2Y5YFJg2zbI68uW9-QyYgPr0otOJsSuq_tXBiy7RVoN3m6toD2yGgD9-iyUhOlf35UTpv9BXnKKwFTIpjKNqCgXqXPUtdNRUBk2tYdLlrnYV8v0CIWJPxFYsrs7fwKd5WaiKd/s1600/face1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ErKSH6y2Y5YFJg2zbI68uW9-QyYgPr0otOJsSuq_tXBiy7RVoN3m6toD2yGgD9-iyUhOlf35UTpv9BXnKKwFTIpjKNqCgXqXPUtdNRUBk2tYdLlrnYV8v0CIWJPxFYsrs7fwKd5WaiKd/s320/face1.jpg" /></a></div>
With the above example I'm tempted to ask if this also applies to using Facebook and eating ? <br />
If all these Facebook and G+ sages really know the answer to the problems of mankind and the planet, and can deliver it in an easy one liner.. how come the problems of planet and the people are getting worse ?<br />
I would like to add that I have no idea how to resolve the worlds problems.<br />
Rant over.<br />
<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/">Andy Mercer's website</a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUiisJJLw8j_MVOtsgAPYQLLHdRrg3YPtInugYzyD1S_f9cs_Ekiyz5TGCZi2lkNp48YcgqpXQS8eOAxrG9F6RDrtaaWs6X6KQtSKPPTMBtzfia3uHK_HCzrWXUdFDBzm6HaPDZrqBSwl/s1600/Truism2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUiisJJLw8j_MVOtsgAPYQLLHdRrg3YPtInugYzyD1S_f9cs_Ekiyz5TGCZi2lkNp48YcgqpXQS8eOAxrG9F6RDrtaaWs6X6KQtSKPPTMBtzfia3uHK_HCzrWXUdFDBzm6HaPDZrqBSwl/s320/Truism2.jpg" /></a></div>
Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-10777391394078376742012-07-25T11:19:00.001+01:002013-06-04T17:45:17.829+01:00Going Global.. whoosh !<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Going Global.. whoosh</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got several folks signing up to my mailing list last night. I've also noticed my website hits climbing steadily for a month so. So this morning I checked my website stats and they have gone through the roof and I still wasn't sure why. So I started do a little digging. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My work appeared here yesterday</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.isthisthefuture.co.uk%2F2012-olympics-graffiti-street-art%2F&h=7AQHEcqTB" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.isthisthefuture.co.uk/2012-olympics-graffiti-street-art/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then overnight a French site picked it up and ran pretty much the same article</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.rue89.com/rue89-sport/2012/07/24/le-street-art-britannique-detourne-les-jo-234113" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.rue89.com/rue89-sport/2012/07/24/le-street-art-britannique-detourne-les-jo-234113</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course the first two didn't ask permission or offer any payment. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now I've got ESPN in the States emailing for permission to use my image for a similar article. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/visuals/post/_/id/6251/banksy-other-street-artists-take-olympics"></a><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stayed tuned to see what tomorrow brings ;)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andy Mercer</span><br />
<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andy Mercer's website</span></a>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-69519065365278333182012-05-11T21:09:00.000+01:002013-06-04T17:48:22.521+01:00Fraudulent Websites stealing artists work.<br />
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I became aware of these fraudulent sites a week or two ago. This is much worse than one or two image being stolen and used without permission, this is mass image theft for use in an industrial scale fraud.<br />
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Buyers searching for your art are likely to find it being offered at lower prices via these fraudulent Chinese sites because they are being given equal prominence to legitimate online retailers by Google. </div>
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I would encourage every artist at the very least to sign the petition below and raise the profile of this issue with the powers that be.. the bigger the stink the more chance there is of getting this sorted.</div>
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<a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/protect-artists-businesses-from-fraudsters" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002288; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.change.org/petitions/protect-artists...</a>#</div>
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A big difference between this and other scams is that the sites are being replicated massively (see the list below) and are gaining google rankings. They are not only stealing artists work they are then using our work to fraudulently to obtain payments without delivering anything. In addition they are also prominently displaying trusted logo’s which make them appear legit. Verisign, Paypal, Amazon, FAA etc. </div>
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So far attempts to remove them from their servers have been unsuccessful. Hopefully by the time you check the links below they will be gone. If you want to do more to get Google to delist these sites, full details of what to do can be found at the FAA forums in the “Is this a legit affiliate” thread.<br />
<a href="http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=709043" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002288; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?mess...</a></div>
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Please check and see if your work has been stolen.. mine and many others have.<br />
Unlikely as it may seem a google search of scam sites reveals that people are being ripped off by these sites. Enough people believe if it is listed prominently on Google it must be a legitimate online retailer... </div>
<div style="background-color: light grey; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 1em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The major problem here is that if these fraudsters can get away with pretending to be an affiliate of Amazon and using trusted logo’s like Verisign, Paypal etc and have Google search rankings then people will be ripped off. (Google, Amazon and the server hosts so far appear complacent and disinterested). Many of these fraudulent sites are also making income from Google ads.. this again makes them appear legit. The failure of Google etc to act on this issue threatens the very credibility of online trading.</strong> As you can see these sites are replicating massively.</div>
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It won’t be long before victims start saying “and the artist did nothing about it”.<br />
People are being ripped off for hundreds of dollars by these sites. Google “Scams NanYang ESC International Trade Co Ltd” which is a China based company associated with this.</div>
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<a href="http://www.scaminformer.com/scam-report/nanyang-esc-international-trade-co-ltd-myinvoice-i-c73816.html" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002288; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.scaminformer.com/scam-report/nanyang...</a></div>
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Please feel free to link to this and copy and paste this and spread the word.</div>
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This is a list of all “China Wholesale Sites” we know of so far<br />
The first link is always the mainpage. The second link is always the print & posters category where you can look up and insert your own works<br />
…and the ones which end with xml are the google-sitemaps of the requested sites</div>
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<a href="http://h.toolshomes.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002288; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://h.toolshomes.com</a><br />
<a href="http://h.toolshomes.com/Wholesale-prints-posters_c2" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002288; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://h.toolshomes.com/Wholesale-prints-poster...</a><br />
<a href="http://h.toolshomes.com/sitemapcategories.xml" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002288; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://h.toolshomes.com/sitemapcategories.xml</a><br />
<a href="http://home.toolshomes.com/sitemapcategories.xml" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002288; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://home.toolshomes.com/sitemapcategories.xml</a><br />
<a href="http://desktop.toolshomes.com/sitemapcategories.xml" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002288; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://desktop.toolshomes.com/sitemapcategories...</a></div>
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<a href="http://video.toolscameras.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002288; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://video.toolscameras.com</a><br />
<a href="http://video.toolscameras.com/Wholesale-prints-posters_c2" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002288; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://video.toolscameras.com/Wholesale-prints-...</a> <a href="http://audio.toolscameras/Wholesale-prints-posters_c2" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002288; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://audio.toolscameras/Wholesale-prints-post...</a><br />
<a href="http://audio.toolscameras.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002288; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://audio.toolscameras.com</a><br />
<a href="http://audio.toolscameras.com/Wholesale-prints-posters_c2" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002288; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://audio.toolscameras.com/Wholesale-prints-...</a><br />
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<a href="http://fan.audiogoshop.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #002288; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://fan.audiogoshop.com</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/">Andy Mercer's website</a>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-3872663218856134932012-05-04T09:02:00.000+01:002012-05-04T09:36:31.197+01:00Work<div style="text-align: center;">
A work about.. err.. err.. work !</div>
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<a href="http://fineartamerica.com/featured/work-andy-mercer.html" size="20"><img alt="Photography Prints" src="http://fineartamerica.com/displayartwork.html?id=3564917&width=250&height=131" style="border: none;" title="Photography Prints" /></a>
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<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/">Andy Mercer's website</a></div>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-22439199435443637522012-04-29T11:05:00.001+01:002012-04-30T17:33:32.819+01:00"All inclusive" by Andy Mercer | RedBubble<a href="http://www.redbubble.com/people/recrem/works/8789895-all-inclusive">"All inclusive" by Andy Mercer | RedBubble</a>:<br />
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<img height="281" src="http://ih2.redbubble.net/image.11837992.9895/flat,550x550,075,f.jpg" width="400" /></div>
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Cyprus is a lovely island and the people are very friendly but it is very hard to escape the feeling even when you fly in for a week and for the most part stay within the hotel grounds that there is a lot going on all around you.. in Syria, in Turkey, in Greece, in Israel and across the region.<br />
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Even more curious is that Cyprus seems more British than just about anywhere else in the Med, everyone speaks English… full English at breakfast with a few olives.. milk in their tea.. distinctly British looking traffic lights.. and they even drive on the right side of the road. It's a Britain in the sun.<br />
<br />
I have to say things generally tend to happen to us when we go on holiday (vacation)<br />
<span style="line-height: 1.5;">One day my wife and I were taking in the spring sun by the sea.. when I noticed unusually that there were no pleasure or cargo boats out at sea. Within a few minutes a military patrol boat came up the coast and took up position close the marina. </span><br />
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A few minutes later a Rihanna (type) jogged past with her security guard, who I thought was a perve following a young lady so closely but my wife put me right on that one. Surely even Rihanna or her look alike doesn't warrant a patrol boat ?<br />
<br />
In the distance another two ships came into view.. they looked a different shape to the cargo ships that you can regularly see on the horizon and they were moving much quicker. A few miles from shore they slowed and stopped. Then a small black dot lifted off the back of one of the ships.. flew around the ship a couple of times and then flew over us and away.<br />
It was military.<br />
<br />
We watched engrossed by it all.. not a single pleasure boat went down this busy tourist coast but there were now several large vessels on the horizon. One looked like an aircraft carrier.<br />
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After the departure of the helicopter nothing much happened for awhile. So we decided to head back to the hotel while keeping one eye on the sea. <br />
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Throughout the rest of the day I kept on checking the horizon but things remained pretty much the same. Three or four ships on the horizon and the military patrol boat anchored near the marina.<br />
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As we prepared to go and eat I switched on Sky news. Kofi Annan and John McCain were in Turkey supporting the Turkish after Syrian troops had been shooting refugees inside Turkey and Lebanon just across the water. After his speech to the camera's the UN General Secretary was shown climbing onboard a military helicopter as he left.<br />
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A few minutes later we heard a helicopter in the distance, it flew out to the same ship and landed on the back.<br />
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Within a few minutes all the ships were gone or leaving. So was it the edge of international politics or is that the trouble with creatives doing nothing on holiday ? Sadly Hilary Clinton didn't turn up at our hotel for a press conference. </div>
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The war ships on the horizon.. the helicopters.. made it feel like “all inclusive” in the danger zone. </div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5;">After a few days of doing nothing but bringing up the vitamin D levels, just for a change we decided to take a trip over the green line and visit a place that </span><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">doesn't</span><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5;"> officially exist The Turkish Republic of Cyprus. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.5;">When the week ended we flew away to “normality”</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/" style="line-height: 1.5;">Andy Mercer's website</a></div>
</div>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-16875336178639331332012-04-18T10:02:00.002+01:002013-02-22T16:25:41.560+00:00The stark facts about selling art via POD sites.Every few days on a art forum someone posts somewhat forlornly asking "if anyone is making sales on this or that site."<br />
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If anyone thinks they are going to make "sales" simply by uploading their work to a POD (print on demand) site they are going to be disappointed. The ratio of sales to artists is not good. As an example there are almost 100k "artists" registered at Fine Art America.. and over 2 million images.. lets say 100 pics sell on the site everyday.. I think it's less than that but it makes the maths easier. For example 100k "artists" divided by 100 PICS SELLING per day = 1 sale per artist per 1000 days.<br />
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Now bear in mind many artists on the site by their own efforts sell more than this so this reduces the odds further for anyone just uploading and "hoping" for a sale. And also those odds are increasing everyday because the number of artists registering on the site is increasing more than the number of sales. The more popular the site the harder it is to make sales because of this basic sales to the number of images ratio.
So the likelihood of making a sale for most is one sale per artist every 3-5 years. Of course there are many who sell more than this but if you simply put you work on a POD site and leave it at that then those are the basic odds.<br />
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The most the vast majority of artists will get from a big POD site is the occasional POD sale, some exposure.. and some interaction with other artists ! Most POD sites are social networking for artists, a place where they can gather with others and show their work, which is fair enough if that's what you are looking for.
You might also sell the odd original by having images on a POD site.. so you need to consider any POD site as a part of an overall online strategy to generate income. For the vast majority it is unlikely to ever be enough to live on. Uploading your work is only the first stage.<br />
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The plain fact is.. if you don't sell many pictures in the real world being on a POD site isn't likely to change that.
Sorry.<br />
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<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/">Andy Mercer's website</a>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-83916801378553838532012-03-29T09:08:00.000+01:002012-04-27T18:34:21.578+01:00Urban Picnic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.urbanpicnic.co.uk/uploaded/spring-exhibition-2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="700" src="http://www.urbanpicnic.co.uk/uploaded/spring-exhibition-2012.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
http://www.urbanpicnic.co.uk/current-exhibition/
<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/">Andy Mercer's website</a>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-76774671420012655402012-03-18T17:44:00.001+00:002012-04-27T18:35:31.219+01:00Artists and the MegacityMy work recently featured in this interesting blog
<a href="http://http//www.tentimesone.com/artists-vs-the-megacity-interpreting-urban-sprawl/">Artists-vs-the-Megacity-interpreting-urban-sprawl</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/">Andy Mercer's website</a>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-39978719478735479932012-03-08T10:08:00.002+00:002012-03-08T10:33:28.890+00:00How to blog an artists work without getting into trouble !Many people use an artists images without consent or acknowledging the artist.
Images available on the internet are very often <b>NOT</b> in the public domain.
This is the correct way to feature an artists work in a blog or on a personal website.
Amiria features my work <a href="http://www.amiria.co.nz/artist/line-drawings/">here</a>
My name is shown with the work and there is a link to my website. I have no objection at all to this type of use. Amiria who owns the blog has lots of very good info for students of art.
There really is very little reason to use an artists work without acknowledgement.
Just to be 100% certain the blogger sent me this message
<i><blockquote>"Hi Andy,
Just letting you know I have featured one of your awesome artworks in a blog post I wrote to help high school art students: Line Drawings
I have credited the image to you and linked back to your website.
Hope you don't mind! (If you do, I will remove the image at your request).
Keep up the great work! :)
Amiria" </blockquote></i>
Do it right and the chances are most artists will "thank you" for promoting their work.
Steal an artists image (yes it is stealing) by using an image without consent or acknowledgement and you risk being "named and shamed" or even being sued. If you think its unlikely you will ever be caught think again.. you would be surprised how many people report artists images being used without consent on art forums. Many artists routinely search on their image names to see where they are being used.
If you want to build a reputation for blogging you'd be surprised how much damage taking images without consent can cause.
Is it really worth all the aggravation.. when many artists will "thank you" if you do it the right way ?
<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/">Andy Mercer's website</a>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-64115997724665585602012-01-29T22:06:00.003+00:002012-01-29T22:22:22.910+00:00Whats my favourite musicSomebody recently asked me what is my favourite music.. now that is a very big question and it could take a long time to answer.
Here is a couple for starters
M People.. Search for the hero.
http://youtu.be/Ie78VtBtwBI
The theme from American Beauty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al21Vtlsg4A
<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk">Andy Mercer's website</a>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-36824251805451036592012-01-08T12:04:00.001+00:002012-01-08T12:04:46.743+00:00Corona Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (4)<div style="margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0; font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 1.6em;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/billboardartproject/6632484481/" title="Corona Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (4)"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7011/6632484481_49f3abe0cb.jpg" alt="Corona Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (4) by The Billboard Art Project" /></a><br/><span style="margin: 0;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/billboardartproject/6632484481/">Corona Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (4)</a>, a photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/billboardartproject/">The Billboard Art Project</a> on Flickr.</span></div><p>A sequence of my images as shown at San Bernadino as part of the US Billboard Art project 2011. I'd recommend viewing these as slideshow.</p>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-3175120038533241672011-12-15T18:22:00.001+00:002011-12-15T19:20:57.375+00:00New Orleans Billboard Art Project 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2nlHUfQdeG_LCHUwco18PNZbU_w5cuHgNZ8zfg0NJ8j7P5t-X7G1Cx2eAT9AZrwn02GZFDR0kweDKdyFi9F5U3OjrXo5HO31OGh5NGqWq-NGP967xJJ54x9BwGWLeWsWrl6oeensXCf9/s1600/Billboard+Art+New+Orleans+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2nlHUfQdeG_LCHUwco18PNZbU_w5cuHgNZ8zfg0NJ8j7P5t-X7G1Cx2eAT9AZrwn02GZFDR0kweDKdyFi9F5U3OjrXo5HO31OGh5NGqWq-NGP967xJJ54x9BwGWLeWsWrl6oeensXCf9/s320/Billboard+Art+New+Orleans+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Following the link below for more of my images as shown at the New Orleans billboard art project 2011 <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/billboardartproject/6489488369/in/set-72157628364964607/">Billboard Art Project 2011</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/billboardartproject/6489472461/" title="New Orleans Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (1) by The Billboard Art Project, on Flickr"><img alt="New Orleans Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (1)" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7154/6489472461_568cd6f98f.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/billboardartproject/6489477433/" title="New Orleans Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (5) by The Billboard Art Project, on Flickr"><img alt="New Orleans Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (5)" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7026/6489477433_887d11096e.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/">Andy Mercer's website</a>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-65438065983901544102011-11-26T14:57:00.001+00:002011-11-26T14:59:06.430+00:00Baton Rouge Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (3)<div style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/billboardartproject/6380815137/" title="Baton Rouge Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (3)"><img alt="Baton Rouge Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (3) by The Billboard Art Project" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6220/6380815137_d3cd2d577a.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/billboardartproject/6380815137/">Baton Rouge Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (3)</a>, a photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/billboardartproject/">The Billboard Art Project</a> on Flickr.</span></div>
Another shot from the US Billboard Art projectAndy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-191587710345950952011-11-26T12:42:00.001+00:002013-02-24T17:38:59.284+00:00Baton Rouge Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (2)<div style="font-size: 0.8em; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/billboardartproject/6380812267/" title="Baton Rouge Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (2)"><img alt="Baton Rouge Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (2) by The Billboard Art Project" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6093/6380812267_ce07676591.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a><br />
<span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/billboardartproject/6380812267/">Baton Rouge Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (2)</a>, a photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/billboardartproject/">The Billboard Art Project</a> on Flickr.</span></div>
My work being exhibited in Baton Rouge as part of the Billboard Art project<br />
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<a href="http://fineartamerica.com/art/all/urban+art/posters" style="font: 10pt arial; text-decoration: underline;">urban art posters</a> <a href="http://fineartamerica.com/art/all/urban+art/canvas+prints" style="font: 10pt arial; text-decoration: underline;">urban art canvas prints</a><br />
<br />Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-62602005647853052782011-10-22T12:07:00.001+01:002011-10-22T12:09:15.206+01:00Microlawns.. don't ya just love em ?<a href="http://microlawns.tumblr.com/">http://microlawns.tumblr.com/ </a><br />
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Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all had one of these !<br />
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Andy Mercer's websiteAndy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5026728684731316147.post-87080150777677477962011-10-21T19:07:00.001+01:002011-10-22T12:12:55.048+01:00US Billboard Art Project - New Orleans Map, showtimes, & artist biographies for the New Orleans Billboard Art Project. Four weeks of art interspersed with advertising.<br />
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My work is featured in week 4<br />
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<a href="http://www.billboardartproject.com/cities/new_orleans.html">http://www.billboardartproject.com/cities/new_orleans.html</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk/">Andy Mercer's website</a>Andy Mercerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06049601450828420140noreply@blogger.com0