Too much information

Everywhere we look we are surrounded by piles of useless information.. and small print.. should we read it all to make sure we don't leave ourselves ill informed or worse ? Ignorance is no excuse when it comes to the law.

You know if I don't fill in the paperwork and get my image copyrighted it might be stolen.. and if i don't get my vehicle licensed it might be towed away.

My meter is constantly turning.. how many units have been used today ? How many vitamins or calories do we need to be happy ? And the TV tells me everyday we need to know about events in Emerdale, Afghanistan, the Big Brother House, and Tibet ?

They released hostages in Columbia yesterday and it rained before the pound rose against the dollar. What's the score at the US Open ? In case I am asked ? I must recycle because the planet is dying. My interest rate has gone down ! The lovely female weather forecaster tells me I need to know there is high pressure over the Atlantic.. the traffic on the M25 is bad today and there are delays after an an accident involving a 71 yr old which is causing long delays for anyone waiting to use the bathroom.

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Just sold a 7ft x 4ft print..

To Gainesville in Florida...which is now officially my favorite US place (today). Its the largest POD print I've ever sold.. FAA are going to need one of those big US trucks to deliver it.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/white-city-andy-mercer.html

I reckon they've paid over $600 dollars for it.. amazing for an unsigned work. I figure it must be for restaurant.. or an office. I've sold quite a few of these to commercial clients. I think we can safely say its going to be a centre piece.. somewhere.

Thank you buyer from Gainesville.. for a similar amount I will fly over and sign it !
Sent a signed version of the same print to New York a couple of weeks back as well..

I can tell the kids they are eating tonight !

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Best of the Day at Zazzle

This work is the Best of the Zazzle..
http://www.zazzle.com/city_sun_2_print-228393176674849214

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Sold 4 prints last night

Last night I sold 4 prints to an Urban Planning Consultancy in Brisbane Downunder.

It would get a bit boring if I announced every sale but when a decent sale comes along I think it provides a decent opportunity to let folks know that I do sell works regularly around the world.

So if you live in Brisbane and you spot your local urban planning consultants office.. tell him you don't know anything about planning you've just come to admire his collection of "Andy's work" !

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Rogue image search engines bypassing watermarks..

A few days ago I posted about a new type of image search engine effectively giving away artists images. There appear to be a number of sites involved... and the list is growing. These site appear to be deliberately avoiding the images that are watermarked on POD sites and picking up on thumbnails and sales pages where the images are not protected by watermarks. So this is not a case of a search engine accidentally finding our images.. it strikes me they are deliberately bypassing the copyrights and watermarks protecting our images.

It would seem they are basically using our images to generate Google advert income using a network of referring sites.. which don't make it all easy for anyone searching to get to the original site where your image was posted.

For more detailed information I've posted about this in some detail on the Red Bubble forum.

POD sites need to be reviewing their image security...

Please spread the word !

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Many thanks..

Thank you very much for all the Birthday best wishes.. (there have been literally dozens and dozens on forums, via Facebook and email). I am genuinely surprised and touched. I don't think I've even had previous communication with the majority of the people who have sent "best wishes". No disrespect.. but folks I've had contact with you sort of anticipate.. but how amazingly generous of so many folks who really hardly know me to make a point of sending their "best wishes". I must admit I am quite a business like person.. I try to avoid much of the personal internet stuff.. so I am left wondering what I've done to deserve it ?

There are many examples you see everyday of how humans generally do wrong in the world.. but I must say I feel like the recipient of some
simply sincere and positive intentions today. How wonderful that even though we don't always see eye to eye artistically.. that you can set that aside without reservation.

I spent most of the day at an "arts" conference which was interesting and quite rewarding.. on my return my family whisked me off to a local restaurant and we were treated well. So all in all.. its been a good day and I would like to thank you all for contributing to an enjoyable and uplifting birthday.

I'm sure you don't need reminding how solitary an artists path can be.. how we often walk alone in perusing this vision we have.. we make our art works in isolation often with little certainty of how the world will respond. So it is very gratifying for me that aside from family and friends, so many fellow artists of so many different persuasions.. disciplines.. known and unknown have made the effort to pass on their best wishes.

Thank you very much.. I sincerely hope all your good intentions are returned to you ten fold..

Andy

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New marketing idea from Fine Art America

Great new feature on Fine Art America !

Its a type of link exchange - pick a search term that you have used to tag your art. On the first page of results, above the 3rd row of images, there is a link you can click to promote your work. Copy & paste the code somewhere else on the internet (like here). Type in the url where you placed the link & click Submit. In a matter of seconds, it verifies the link and your art appears on the 3rd row on the 1st page!

Here are a few examples..

urban prints
urban drawings
cityscape prints
city prints
graffiti prints
graffiti canvas prints
urban art prints
urban art digital art

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