That was one of the most amazing concerts I’ve ever seen. I can say that this is the new wave in whole world rock movement. The lyrics, the music, the atmosphere… all was unbelievably deep and clear.
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©, A.Safari for «The Universe»/TUT by Mike Dooley
There are some, who believe in God’s power, some, who believe in the power of monarchy, king or president. There are some who lost their heart and faith, and believe in nothing. I believe in myself and a power of an individual. It’s somewhat close to “The Secret”, which I heard about long before the TV’s trumpets and books invasion. To be more precise, it’s the “Law of attraction”. I’ve got the link from my friend on the other side of the globe, which led me to a hidden Internet site written in some unknown language, with only this text in English. After all of my Indian adventures I took this idea as granted.
Many take this philosophy as magic and fairy tales. I think it’s because of glamorous mass media packaging. In any case, “magic” here means something that science cannot explain and voltmeter cannot measure.
I made a contribution to one of “The Secret”’s project called “The Universe” (by Mike Dooley). The project is focused on people’s motivation towards the heroic deeds and a fight with circumstances. I won’t go any deeper into details, but personally, I receive a newsletter with “everyday recipes”, which hit the nail on the head for me very often and help me go further and further, even if it seems that a road ahead is blocked with a metal gates and crocodiles in the moat.
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Hello again fellow-Creative-Beings. I hope that since my last article you have had a chance to digest the new information from “Designing 101” and apply the knowledge to your décor in some way. For those of you that were brave enough to comment on my article, I salute you.
Today I come to you with a question that you probably do not hear often. What are you hanging on the walls of your offices or homes? To be more specific, do you know how it’s printed? Do you know what compounds are in the inks, dyes, pigments, and papers? Does it outgas or offgas? Is it healthy? Do you care?
Creating sustainable, healthy interior graphics for interior decor in commercial and residential settings does not happen accidentally. Sustainable, “Green” fine art and photographic reproductions of the highest quality are infused with a high degree of care and detail while being produced. Many clients do not even realize these factors exist when shopping for printed art and simply never ask about it.
«Trinity Of Fire», 18″x24″, ©,A.Safari
Recently I inquired about Anastasiy Safari’s printing and mounting methods, in particular the Fire and Wood piece. I think you will be just as impressed as I was when you find out how many steps this extraordinary piece had undergone before it reached the white walls of the gallery it rests on today.
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Recently I’ve created a panel for Photshop CS4 for better colorpicking. Actually I made it for myself tired of that tiny modal dialog that lets you pick colors in PS. Meanwhile it got spread on Adobe forums and then they even wrote about it in official Adobe blogs:
http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2008/12/cs4_color_picke.html
http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2008/12/photoshop_gets_1.html
So, here’s the Christmas gift from the blog to all of our creative readers 
here it goes:
1. Download colorpicker.zip from here: ColorPicker Panel for Photoshop CS4 from Anastasiy Safari
2. Create a folder inside Adobe Photoshop CS4 in /Plug-ins/Panels named “ColorPicker”.
3. Then extract the files from the colorpicker.zip into that folder
4. Restart Photoshop - and open the new colorpicker panel from Window | Extentions | ColorPicker
Features: non-modal genuine Photoshop panel, smart resizing, works in full-screen mode when Tools are hidden, returns back focus to Photoshop after choosing a color - so you can immediately use PS keyboard shortcuts.
Merry Christmas!
Strangers (click to enlarge)
Framing new works. That was an interesting exercise. For starters I had to pick which works from the previous show will not make it to this one. That was a heart breaking experience with every matted work i took out of the frame. All of them seamed to have matured while waiting for the next show. In addition this venue had perfect track lighting to bring out the colors in all of the darker works.
My back is killing me (my basement)
Reality check is in the house (Esti)
40X60 peice of 3/16 foamboard(damn monster)
Making a frame for Key to the forest. That was rather insane proposition. The only thing that I did not have in short supply for this project was determination. The artwork is 28″X39″ and I was building a frame from scratch without many tools to fall back on. Luckily in the process I complained enough about it to by standers for one of them to step in and offer to make a frame for me. Brad has a nice set of wood working tools and a stack of black walnut that he was eager to take for a spin. He made me a wonderful frame with a natural oil finish that matches the artwork wonderfully. I took it to a local framing shop with an artwork and had it glassed and dust sealed right on the day that I was hanging the exhibit.
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If you think we’re disappeared – that’s not true. We were in a rush preparing the new show. So…
ILYa GotFRYd presents Anastasiy Safari Fine Art Photography show.
In the spirit of modern times Safari brings you uplifting decorative show . On Nov 29th at 5:00PM you will have an opportunity to brighten your day. Open your mind to the possibilities and your wallets for a chance to win one
of the artworks on display. Wine and cheese reception will feature raffle with the chance to win an artwork of your choice. We are looking forward to seeing you in Cleveland, OH, USA at Lake Erie Artist Gallery in Tower City. The Opening is Nov 29 @ 5:00 pm.
We’re also celebrating this day the birthday of our distinguished friend and art agent (as well as our main blog author). Don’t miss the opportunity to meet him in person and let him take you away into the aerial world of art with his unquenchable energy flux and friendliness.
Happy birthday, Ilya!
Remember to park and ride to protect the environment and save on parking.
http://www.gcrta.org/ro_park.asp
Matt’s Pino Noir is as smooth, well natured and flavorful as his personality. This wine maker and art connoisseur can wield a samurai sword and nourish his 13 year old pup to health. His meaty warm hand shake and “Sure, Sure…” that fallowed my suggestions was a welcome change of pace for me. Studio of 5 rings was suggested to me by a co-worker that only heard about it, but never had a chance to visit. I walked into this studio above a store front in Rocky River and was pleased to find a well setup show room with racks of wine and well hung and lit pictures on the walls. Selling Matt on Anastasiy’s work was not difficult in part due to Asian centric portfolio of Anastasiy at the time or so I think. We scheduled the show to open in 6 months and left it at that.
Opening night at Studio of 5 rings
About a month before the opening, based on my previous experience, I started worrying about a promotion. After staying in the shadows for almost half a year I contacted Matt about promoting the show and was pleased to receive immediate response. To my pleasant surprise he had covered all of the local free outlets and sent press release to several local media outlets. In addition we have received some coverage on a web page of a local newspaper. Later we have thrown some resources together to run promotions in local newspapers. Safari had created several promotional templates for the occasion.
I dedicated a day to come in and hang a show. I ended up helping Matt with this task, which he executed masterfully. All of the walls were patched up and bared no scuff marks from the massive paintings that occupide them a week ago. Everything was hung by the meter stick and exactly in accord with artist’s specifications. I was getting an uneasy feeling of having little to worry about. It is a very strange feeling to have everything done ahead of time.
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Hello to all creatively inclined beings,
I am excited to be given this opportunity to voice my two cents on Safari’s blog. My hope is that my passion for art and design will shine through even if I would seam to ramble at times. Passion for beautiful things can not be hidden, it cannot be taught, it cannot be subdued. You either have it or you don’t! I found many beautiful things on Safari’s website and I am excited to blog about them here going forward. Other Creative Junkies as myself who may find that my opinion rubs you the wrong way, please feel free to put in a few cents of your own. Now for a little taste of my world view.
Professional Designers, amateur decorators, and everybody in between have probably had an instance where they can relate to the following situation. The room that you have been designing for months finally has the walls painted just the right shade, the furniture complimenting the window shades perfectly, the flooring is simply amazing, and the only thing keeping your room from being design magazine worthy is a bare and empty wall.
Admit it, finding art is one of the most difficult parts of designing! For some reason it is the item that most people save for last when it comes to picking out design elements for a space. Once the room is almost complete, it is very difficult to find a piece that will match with paint on the walls, window treatments, flooring and the rest of the many colors and textures that are already within the room.
Many homeowners will select paint color for their walls as the first element in their design process, while designers will choose a single item as their inspiration. The truth of the matter is that paint comes in thousands of colors. If you still can’t find the perfect shade of fuchsia, then Sherwin Williams would be glad to make up a custom batch for you. Designers on the other hand, realize that rare and unusual pieces are what make a space. A table centerpiece may be the last thing that somebody’s eye may go to when they walk into a room, but it will be all they can see within the room for the rest of the night. Not to mention that interesting works of art make great conversation pieces.
Establishing the basis for a room design is not easy, but it is very simple to fall in love with art. If you can fall for a piece of art, then you already have a starting point. For example, take Anastasiy Safari’s photograph “Black Sea Oblivion.” If the designer establishes that photograph as the basis for the room design, she has several routes to take; one option is to pick up on the shades of blues and grays in the picture and utilize those colors in the fabric (seating, window treatments, cushions) or wall coverings. The other option is to pick up on the water/nature theme in the photograph. An example of this would be to place a shallow glass bowl on a table filled with smooth, shiny rocks and some peat moss surrounding the stones. If you aren’t worried about kids or pets knocking the bowl over, then fill it with water. This would mimic the 2-D ocean scene in the photograph but in 3-D in your own room. No matter what the theme is in the photograph, the most important thing is that it speaks to you. Once you can ‘hear’ what the art piece is saying to you only then can a beautiful dialogue emerge in your room.
Creatively Yours,
Reggie V.
This is a spur of the moment writing that resulted from a comment in a previous post. From my experience there are several criteria dictating the price of an initial sale that I can tell you about right off the bet.
Step one. A relatively quick research of the local artists can tell you what to start with. You can, pick an existing photographer, print and frame your images to be of the same quality as his and put up a price close to his. This implies several things: you are showing to the crowd that he is showing to, your works strike you as similar in quality (craftsmanship), your image measurements and your framing are truly adequate or surpass those of his, he is actually a selling artist.
Next one would be pricing from experience. There are tones of art fares and shows held through out States. Pitch a tent in one, set up shop, look around at the prices of others and set yours. Have sets of large original prints at respectable price and put together a bin of knock-offs(mat only, 1/4 of the original, price accordingly). Play with the price in the small bin and see when people will buy. Try 4X the prices on the large works. Also if a person is interested in a small image try to sell her a large version of one.
Third approach is a gallery set price. It is good to show your works as much as possible, however you can tell experienced gallery curator if they can price your work for you. The reasons they can are as follows: they advertise regularly and know the abilities of their clientele, they have a reputation to uphold so the price has to be with in range, they have a general sense of which works would be more attractive to a client. If you have been selected by such a gallery you have a solid price for your works.
Another good criteria is a first sell. If you have sold a work of certain size and certain packaging for a certain price you have a good standard to measure against. In fact if going forward you become better known and the prices of your initial sales go up it will imply that the prices of your earlier works are now higher. This is where art as an investment comes in.
On the note of setting a good price for your works, there is a noble way to go about it. Either donate your work to a charitable auction or as a charity to sponsor your work and donate proceedings to that charity. Some artists would even put a plexiglass bin and have people throw in recipts for a fraction of the artwrok’s cost with an opportunity to win it and proceedings going towards a charity of artist’s choice. In this instance you get publicity, a price for your works and a good feeling that your works really ment soething for a number of people. The only true risk in this instance is to end up with a low price for your work or an unsold work due to a price that is too high for an auction. That is however something you would have to gamble with.
There are dangerous pitfalls to worry about. A price attached to an artwork can have a direct effect on people’s perception of it. If you price an artwork as one of our readers suggested (cost of materials and assembly labour + a little bit for artists daily expanses) you are running a risk of ruining your true worth and your image. Humans tend to attach emotions to money, so if you try to appease their financial abilities you are running a risk of turning your work of Fine Art into another addition to their decor.
Looking forward to being flamed for the last paragraph,
ILYa
In this installment of “buying art” I am looking at a very basic attraction to a work of art. I am performing a dissection in attempt to analyze this particular force in visual art acquisition. While enjoying a work of art from the “sex appeal” category you might point out a great choice of color, an originality of a pose or a facial expression. There will always be polite remarks about some sort of details in the remaining background or wonderful details in the shading of the draping cloth. Some of you would be as honest as to state that an image is risque. I guess only the last admission will actually describe the basic reason for an attraction – it is after all sex appeal. An artwork can make it acceptable to have a nude in plain sight without raising questions of impropriety.
To the left we see a prime example of “sex appeal”. An exposed curve of human body catches your eye. This image carries very simple significance, it’s sexy. It does help greatly that the image is a worth while composition with an attractive character. That the fleeting moment looks so precious and that the framing of the image makes it look almost voyeuristic. It is filled with textured media and symbols of hidden significance. In a way the symbols might even give you a sensation that this is a start up guide. The kind of paper with few basic instructions that comes with your newly acquired gadget. Oh, the implications of these arrows – handle with care, this side up. This work takes you right to the destination of its purpose – sex appeal.
This next work has a flavor of exhibitionism to it. The darkness in it is of “the secrets of the high society” flavor rather then a touch of goth. The choice of camera included in the shot and the cloth of the characters garment add to the certain lighting quality of classy gentleman’s magazine pages. A mix of vintage in the soft tones of the room disappearing in the depth of field and the sharp modern look of the synthetic clothes and subject’s physique. Yet the basics of the shot remain the same, it is after all sex appeal.
There is however much more to the sex appeal then forms, textures and skin tones. It can go much deeper then cloth covering the nude body and the bone, muscles and fat tissue that that shapes it. A lot of sex appeal can be drawn from subtleties of chracter’s actions. Throw in the surrounding atmosphere and you can read a lot from an artwork at times without even knowing it.
It is interesting that the following image is made by the man on the left just as much as it is made by the woman to the center right. By the look of the eclectic surroundings he is not dressed for the occasion. The variable redness of his skin however indicates that he is actively partaking in the festivities. Yes he is mildly intoxicated, by the wine and the atmosphere. You can see it in the eagerness of his clapping as well. He is, however so mesmerized by the woman in front of him his entire head and neck is perfectly still and turned towards her. Moving on to the centerpiece; You can read so much drama in her that you would have hard time finding a place to start the description. We can tell that she is dancing for him, because her shoulders and even hips are clearly turned towards him, however the movement of the hands and the turn of the head try to hide these signs in the pattern of the dance. The mixed smile could be compared in complexity even to Giaconda. It has desire for happiness and signs of uncertainty and possibly even a hint of disappointment in these reoccurring feelings. This mix of emotions, desires and disappointment touches observer through paths other then logic. These signs of action short circuit the brain and take you right to the core sensation of sex appeal.
ILYa.
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