I’m really good at making lists. I’m a list person. Without lists I watch too much tv, surf the web, or read too much.

I create lists that are too ambitious as I rarely ever complete the jobs on them. Which in some ways shows the masochist in me as I know I’m setting myself up to fail, but in other ways it gets me off my fanny (I have always wanted to use the word “fanny” in a sentence as it makes me laugh. In Australia the fanny is different to what a fanny is in the US).

Here’s my To Do List for Art News Blog this year. I figured if I published the list it would make me more likely to do it.

• Create or pay for a new blog design. Art News Blog has a pretty ordinary design and it hasn’t changed much in more than 5 years. I might even get a designer to create a new logo. I might even add a little color to the design.
• Move the blog to another blogging platform. Blogger is making some hosting changes so I figured now might be a good time to jump ship. Not because I don’t like Blogger but because I just want change.
• Post at least 5 times each week.
• Allow more guest posts by other bloggers and artists.
• Monetize the blog. I currently make about $0,000.00 on the blog so it shouldn’t be too difficult to increase that amount. I’m thinking, offer advertising spaces to artists, which might be a challenge as artists are TIGHT, like duck’s ass tight when it comes to spending money on marketing themselves. So I might look at approaching some art supply companies, galleries, art publications or just go the affiliate route.
• Post reviews on more products. Encourage companies to send products to me (I love receiving gifts in the post) and mention them. It could be win/win/win if done right. I get a surprise in the mail, the company gets exposure, and you learn about a wonderful new product! Competitions could be an option too, where I just tell the company to send the products to a reader of the blog.
• Respond to emails and comments!! Argh, sorry if I haven’t replied to you! Don’t take it personally, I suck. I do read everything, I just haven’t been replying to much lately.
• Keep up to date with what is happening and write about it! Pretty straight forward this one, I just have to look at my domain name to remind me; artnewsblog.com.
• Do more artist profiles. If I find an interesting artist online, I should do a post on them.

Anyone know of reasonably affordable blog designer that can make me a spiffy new blog and tranfer Art News Blog from Blogger to.. umm.. Wordpress or that other blogging platform that I can’t think of right now? Perhaps I should see a logo designer first.

People are really good at making excuses and I’m no exception. I try not to accept my excuses though as they’re usually pathetic, just like all of your excuses for not getting off your butt and doing what you really should be doing now.

Here’s my pathetic excuses for not posting lately..

1. There’s not enough hours in the day
2. I have been overdosing on art
3. I need a break (those close to me would find this excuse funny)
4. My head has been in the clouds
5. The blog doesn’t make any money anyway (well duh, put ads on it!)
6. When I paint everyday I become sensitive to everything and everyone
7. Sometimes I have nothing to say and all the news bores me
8. I don’t feel like it
9. Just because
10. C.

Here’s a recent painting of Melbourne (click for larger image)..

I sometimes wonder why? What’s the point? Why make art at all?

It’s usually only after days like today, days that are physically, mentally and emotionally draining.

Everything will be alright tomorrow.

I’m susbcribed to a whole bunch of newsletters and am bombarded with all kinds of promotional emails, most of which I never open. But one that I always open is from Other Criteria. It is a collective of artists, pushing all kinds of limited editions, prints, and publications, but I really only look at what Damien Hirst is selling.

I find the man endlessly fascinating. How can a man that sells deckchairs and clocks still pull off auction sales like he does? I’m sure I’ll tire of him someday and hate him for what he’s doing to art, but that day hasn’t come yet. I still love him, even if I don’t care much for his art. I almost bought the Damien Hirst clock below, but I just bought a whole bunch of art supplies (why is cadmium so damn expensive?!), so my art budget has blown out this month.

Innocence Lost
Damien Hirst
2009
200 x 50 mm
Glass bottle with sauasge and alcohol

Innocence Lost, a glass baby’s bottle containing a pork sausage pickled in alcohol, makes foul, connotative paradoxes out of ideas of nourishment and nurture. Visually, the work is a reminder of Hirst’s formaldehyde pieces as well as the surreal performances of pantomime and Punch & Judy shows. It is at once humorous and disturbing.

The glass bottle is engraved with the edition number, Hirst logo and signature.
Price: £5,200.00

Large Spot Clock
Damien Hirst
2009
35 cm diameter
White powdered metal case and metal back
German Quartz movement

The clock uses Hirst’s popular spot paintings as its face, the front of which is printed with his signature and the Hirst/Hirst logo. The rear is printed with the Other Critera logo and the clock name.

Price: £475.00

The Other Criteria newsletter is really worth subscribing to, especially if you’re an artist that thinks art is precious or that art and commerce shouldn’t mix.

This news is a little late as I have been a very absent blog editor lately, but I keep telling myself that it’s better late than never.

This month the art news site Art Daily turned 13! In internet years thirteen is almost ancient.. well done Art Daily.

Here’s to another 13 years!

Five years no longer sounds old to me.

Art News Blog is FIVE years old. That must make me some kind of blogger or arts writer or something. I’m most comfortable with the “something” label though. Someone called me an art critic recently and I didn’t know how to react. He said it in a way that was supposed to be flattering but I was actually very offended.

If I was forced to label myself it would be Wanderer or Watcher of things. If I had to put something serious on my business card (which I don’t have.. even though ALL artists should have one) it would be Painter.

I’m really not a fan of labels and boxes though. We get too comfortable wearing them and before long we can’t live without them. It doesn’t matter if the label is one of power and influence or it’s one of lack and degradation, we cling to them like our life depends on them. A lot of opportunities are missed and interesting paths not taken because of labels and our fear of peeling them off.

Ok, I’m starting to rant and getting off topic. Happy Birthday Art News Blog!!

Thanks for reminding me Woo

Just a quick post to try and rank on Google for two active art scammers at the moment. I have been getting emails and new comments on old art scammer posts about “Janet Gillian” and “Jeff Carter” of Expressmover.

Janet Francis has magically morphed into Janet Gillian and is busy trying to scam artists at the moment.

Jeff Carter of Expressmover or Express Mover has been their imaginary delivery man for a while now. Expressmover is a fictional mover invented by a Janet or a Jeff.. who knows. The names are not so important, it’s their method of scamming artists which is most important. Janet Francis turns into Janet Gillian and Expressmover might be Express Packages next week.

This particular little group of cockroaches seem to like the names Janet and Jeff. My apologies to most Jeffs and Janets out there, but if a Janet or Jeff contact you using worse English than mine, make sure you ask them to pay with Escrow.com and they’ll scurry away back to their dark and sad little holes where they belong.

Here’s a comment by an artist..

I have just been royally scammed by “Janet Gillian”. I was about to contact the FBI when I decided to google the address of the mover. Yes, all “her” emails are almost identical to those posted. I believe she got me for $2700. I received a check via UPS overnight in an amount which was $2700 over my asking price. The check was drawn on Lowe’s Inc. Same story–the overage was to cover moving costs and should be wired to the moving company before they come to pick up. I asked for a contact name for the movers who would be picking up and ignored the fact that I never got one. I am feeling really foolish even though my instincts told me there were strange inconsistencies. I could rationalize all of them away on the basic notion that this is an honest person. My question now is what to do. Someone mentioned contacting the company the check was drawn on. How does one do that? Who do I contact at Lowe’s Inc.? I will go to my bank and the bank the check was drawn on to see if they can do any investigative work. Otherwise, I would appreciate concrete feedback.

By the way, here are the names they used:

Janet Gillian:
(jann.gill00l@gmail.com
Jeff (“her” “husband”) he actually
called me! Maybe I spoke to
the real “Janet”
James Carter, the moving agent
who signed “his” name Jeff
Jeff Moll whose name was on the
check from Lowe’s

“She” told me they were moving from NJ to “Jo’burg” and actually gave me both addresses so I could put them on my mailing list. I could quite understand why the check came from Lowe’s in North Carolina. (Red flag ignored!)

When I got her first email I googled her but couldn’t put anything together. I got to this site by googling “expresmover kings cross”

Thank you so much for all your comments. Any advice anyone can give me would help me regain a little confidence.

See more Art Scammers.

I’m not sure how legal this fake Damien Hirst blog is, but it’s funny. Im surprised Mr Hirst hasn’t shut them down.

This fake Damien Hirst work of 44 peanut M&Ms is called “The fear of becoming fat expressed in the joy of being colorful”

Other works include Thoughts on eternal life by someone living a mundane life in a tiny flat, The price of being a virgin in the world dominated by people who’s virginity could never be proven, and Snow White and the seven dwarfs without the seven dwarfs actually being the seven dwarfs. See more on the Damien Hirst spoof site here.

Found on ArtWorldMag.

The 20 year old me would have been horrified at hearing that an artist has 120+ assisstants. (Thirteen years ago I also thought money was evil, politicians were looking after us, life was endless, and people were good.) But now I think it’s absolutely amazing that one artist could sell enough work to support 120+ workers. The purist in me still wants to rant but I just don’t go there anymore.

The Art Newspaper spoke with Jeff Koons in his studio about his current exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London and his studio/factory.

Here’s a Q&A from the Art Newspaper interview..

TAN: It must be daunting running an operation of this scale. Are you ever tempted to go back to making work by yourself?

Jeff Koons: I used to make all my own sculpture, my paintings, but if I did that it would severely limit the range of projects that I could be involved with. I follow my interests in some way that feels profound to me, those that seem to have a deeper meaning. I feel completely free to do whatever I want to do. But I have to edit my work a lot, because of the process, the amount of time it takes to actually make things, you really have to make the things you want to make, otherwise you’re wasting a lot of energy.

Read the full interview here.

The Serpentine Gallery exhibition in London is showing until the 13th of September. It’s a collection of paintings and sculptures from his Popeye series.

Jeff Koons
Popeye 2003
Oil on canvas 274.3 x 213.4 cm
© 2008 Jeff Koons

I was going to say that Jeff Koons also has one of the best websites of any super-famous artist, but he ruined it by using Flash. Now I can’t even get past his splash screen. I click Enter and nothing. Artists have no idea with websites. I don’t want moving, flashing, screaming, multi-colored, or cluttered artist websites. I just want to see art.. clever websites are just stupid. Here’s a link to an internal page of his website as I just couldn’t get past his silly welcome page.

I usually follow trends when they’re about to die or years before they’re fashionable, so this means that Twitter is about to die or I have finally become a good sheep and now run when the herd runs. It could be the latter as I have become quite a sell out lately.

I still haven’t worked Twitter out yet, but here’s Art News Blog on Twitter.