Imagekind Blog | Buy, Sell, Create and Discuss Art

You ever look at your art and regret you ever created it? Well, you’re not alone. In fact, Tim Nyberg, one of our witty member artists, is hosting a pretty comical art show where he will be exploring just that phenomenon. It’s called the Plain Error Festival and is a humorous take on the “Plein Air” festival happening at the same time near his hometown in Wisconsin.

But, because Tim has fair skin and sunburns easily, “even when liberally doused with sunscreen,” he can’t paint outdoors. “So, he’s launched the indoor “Plain Error Festival” at Gallery Forty Two in Juddville.” Plain Error is his take on Extreme Makeover, Gallery Edition. At the festival, Nyberg will be pulling previously painted images (his “errors”) straight off the wall and repainting over them to create newly made-over works of art.

Fridays through Sundays, July 21st through August 2nd the artist will be painting over some of the most grievous errors he’s ever placed on canvas. Paintings will be yanked off the walls and painted over in full display of the viewing public. There will be ample wine available to calm the nerves during this daring display of public humiliation.

You can find out more about the festival by reading the full press release.

I love the witty humor of this. What other comical or clever gallery showings have you participated in or attended?

- Nate

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Pat Graham, the official photographer for Modest Mouse, recently signed up with Imagekind to start selling his photographs of the band on the site. Being a Modest Mouse fan myself and thinking this is a great way to utilize Imagekind to help sell your artwork, I got in touch with Pat to give us some insight into what he does. Pat was cool enough to take some time out of the current Modest Mouse tour and answer some questions about the tour and his photography.

You can purchase exclusive limited edition photos from the Modest Mouse concerts from his collection, Limited Editions from Last Nights Gig.

Got a question for Pat yourself?

- Nate

So, you’re the official photographer for Modest Mouse. How did you get hooked up in that role?

I have been very close with Isaac and Modest Mouse since the band started. Isaac and I were roommates in Arlington/DC area before Modest Mouse was around. We hit it off with our love for music, and photography. Isaac started Modest Mouse and then asked me to go along on the first tour as a roadie/driver/merch guy and photographer.

Isaac, Eric, Jeremiah and I hit the road in April of 1997. After thousands of miles covered and thousands of photos taken, the band has grown in popularity and creativity.

Now, I have the privilege of being the bands only photographer and web blogger.

You are currently just finishing up the tour with Modest Mouse. What, in your opinion, was the coolest show? What was your favorite venue?

I photograph Modest Mouse every night. All the shows have a different element. The band takes around 2 hours a night just to decide on the set list!

The show that really stands out the most this tour would be the one in Council Bluffs Iowa. A storm was headed towards the outdoor venue so we had to wait around to get the all clear.

We were waiting on stage and talking with the fans, and all of sudden the sky started to heave down ice cube sized hail stones…followed by buckets of rain. The fans stuck it out though.

Issac, Joe, and Jeremiah got some buckets for drums and an acoustic guitar then headed out into the center of the crowd and downpour to play a song. The rain stopped after a percussion only jam and MM kept playing while lightning was flashing in the sky. The fans, band, and Mother Nature were all amazing that night.

My favorite venue this tour would have to be either Red Rocks or the Gorge.

What is your favorite photo from your current collection of the Modest Mouse tour?

As for the live stuff, my favorite is probably the shot of Isaac in Brooklyn with his guitar spinning at him. This was a great show; Modest Mouse went on at 2:30 am. This shot was in the second song. The hours of this show are truly Isaacs’s peak hours. The band was on it from the first note.

You have been photographing Modest Mouse since the beginning right? What’s it been like to progress with them?

Yeah, I’ve been photographing them since 1996. The settings and some people are a little different but the whole attitude and way things are done remain pretty much the same. Things in general are more positive overall.

Your work has a very intimate feel. When lining up a shot, what do you try and focus on and what do you hope to convey through your photographs?

I try to be as subtle as possible. I don’t want myself or the camera to change the way things are unfolding.

I try and focus on eyes or light, hopefully conveying a sense of space and time of the event.

What’s your favorite location or angle to shoot from - the crowd’s POV, the band’s, both? How do you determine which one throughout the show?

All spots, really. I go where I can fit without getting in the way, and where the light looks good. Lately I have been crawling around on stage behind Isaac and Johnny’s amps, wearing earplugs of course.

Do you get a chance to just enjoy the show much or are you constantly looking for the next shot?

I get enjoyment from looking for that shot and listening to what’s happening. It’s a full on visual sound experience.

There must be thousands of great opportunities throughout the course of a concert. How much do you shoot versus waiting for a great shot? What type of signs do you look for before capturing such fantastic shots?

It’s all about patience and timing things with what Steven the lighting guy does…and of course the actions of what the band and crowd do.

The signs are in the crowd, band members’ faces, and certain songs tend to bring out a lot in both band and crowd.

Have you worked with any other bands?

Yes I work with a lot of bands; I have been shooting musicians for almost 20 years. I have a book of photos called Silent Pictures that just came out last year on Akashic Books. Check out the Pat Graham Imagekind galleries as well as my web site www.patgraham.org.

Before I met Isaac in Arlington/Washington DC at the time I was photographing bands like Bikini Kill, Fugazi, etc.

Bands I have toured with include: Tortoise, The Sea and Cake, Make Up, June of 44, Shins, and more.

What did you like the most/least about being on tour? Any particularly favorite/bad experiences?

I like being able to live with my camera and document everything. Also be able to spend time with close friends who I don’t get to see much otherwise.

This tour we have had a lot of great times. Mostly on the bus; The Brockies film festival, human bowling, walking through the Florida woods at night, just being with friends.

I hate being away from my family, that’s very hard. Also trying to communicate with home can be difficult which gets frustrating…looking for a good internet connection, etc. and catching up with time zones.

Anything else you are currently working on or have planned in the near future we can let your fans know about? What should we be looking out for?

Definitely check out my current book Silent Pictures, it covers a lot of my work going all the way back to that first Modest Mouse tour and farther.

I also have done a limited edition photo poster with Modest Mouse and Raen optics.

Another book is in the talk about stage and my photos can also be seen in the Raen optics Through the Eyes Of… series.

This year looks to be busy with various commercial projects coming together with my personal work. I have a mailing list on patgraham.org that will keep people up to date on my whereabouts and the projects.

Cheers,

Pat

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We heard some fantastic news the other day.

Imagekind was recently nominated as one of the most innovative companies in the world by FastCompany.com. Now, we need your help to get us in the top 50!

On July 15, the editors of FastCompany.com will select the 50 most innovative companies worldwide based on participants’ overall feedback and rating.

You can read the submission, vote and comment about why you think Imagekind is innovative at FastCompany.com.

Every year Fast Company magazine highlights the most innovative companies around the world that take business to new creative heights. Imagekind was nominated as one of those companies because of how Imagekind is revolutionizing the way people experience, interact with and enjoy art.

The more comments we get and the higher the votes we receive, the better our chances are of getting into the top 50 most innovative companies worldwide. Read, vote and comment and show why Imagekind is the best community for buying, selling and creating art.

- Nate

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It’s really cool to see how artists are seizing opportunities to help promote their artwork for sale. Two of our Imagekind artists got some great press this last week in their local newspaper and I wanted to pass it on. In the article titled Connecting with Cameras, Notley Hawkins and Chris Wolters share some helpful tips on how to use Flickr to promote their art print sales on Imagekind.

How do you use Flickr to help promote your artwork?

Checkout the article below to read how some artists on Imagekind use Flickr to help promote their artwork. Not only are they seeing an increase in art print sales, but they also share some helpful tips and advice on how they get their work published and recognized. Imagekind’s strategic partnership with Flickr not only gives artists a great way to help promote their work, it’s really just as easy as a few simple clicks to get started.

Read the full article here.

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Imagekind has been getting featured all over the place it seems for our Mother’s Day gift ideas. People are really catching on to all the different options they have when shopping for artwork at Imagekind. It is exciting to see what people think about our artist community where they can shop for artwork from our members’ collection or choose to create their own.

Take a look at some of the great things people are saying about Imagekind over at HGTV, King 5 TV and the moms and baby blog, Baby Scoop. Also, make sure to watch Rob explain some great gift ideas for mom including Imagekind greeting cards and prints on canvas.

More and more people are discovering how easy it is to upload their own personal photos and digital images and have them custom framed and matted, or printed on canvas. However this year, with our newly launched greeting cards and the recently released, Imagekind exclusive Story Frames, shoppers are finding fresh, creative ways to give their moms truly unique and one of a kind gifts.

After only a few simple steps, shoppers are able to upload and create unique gifts specifically tailored to their moms. You can upload family, vacation, wedding, baby’s firsts, and thousands of other special moments and have them printed as special gifts for your mom. Whether it’s a custom framed family portrait, your children’s’ unique school art project printed on canvas, or just a unique snapshot to give as a greeting card, you can create them all at Imagekind.

Remember to use promo code MDay2008 at checkout to receive free shipping on all your great Mother’s Day gifts from Imagekind.

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Hey, check it out! Imagekind got featured on Apartment Therapy, a website whose mission it is to “[help] people make their homes more beautiful, organized and healthy by connecting them to a wealth of resources, ideas and community online.” They are currently running a contest where one lucky winner will win a $100 gift card to Imagekind. Pretty sweet, huh?

Apartment therapy is a fantastic resource for all things decorating and all-around home and lifestyle improvement. Readers are encouraged and inspired to connect with others to share their collective talents and resources.

Imagekind is participating in this contest to give one lucky winner the chance to win some new art for their walls.

Take a look at the contest, and make sure to read some of the fantastic comments.

-Nate

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Just wanted to drop a quick note about a sweet new collaboration with REDEFINE, a nationally distributed, independent magazine based in Seattle, dedicated to helping independent artists and musicians get the attention they deserve. Redefine magazine offers an alternative to the mainstream by highlighting independent artists and musicians. An equal opportunity magazine not limited to a narrow style or genre, Redefine covers a large amount of submissions sent to them by highly talented, yet relative nobodies.

However, in addition to the lesser known artists, they also feature extremely talented, well known artists like Dean Zulich who was featured on VH1’s “The Shot.” You can purchase signed, limited edition copies of Dean Zulich’s prints (including the one above) from the REDEFINE website, which are printed by Imagekind.

Image: Bones by Andy Haynes
http://redefinemagazine.imagekind.com

You can shop for other prints available from participating artists by visiting REDEFINE’s Imagekind gallery at:
http://redefinemagazine.imagekind.com.

To find a location near you where the magazine is sold, check out REDEFINE’s distribution list.

Nice!

Nate

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Imagekind is happy to announce an exciting collaboration with Debra Gould, the Staging Diva, creator of the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program. With this strategic cooperation, Home Stagers are now able to find art quickly and easily when decorating their clients’ homes for sale. Prior to offering artwork from Imagekind, Home Stagers had few options when trying to outfit a home with specific and appropriate artwork. However, as Debra explains,

Finding appropriate art that will enhance the home without taking over and getting it in the size and framing needed has been challenging until now. I created the Staging Diva Home Staging Art Shop to make this easier and I’ve created specific art galleries for every key room in the house. So you don’t have to wonder if a particular work of art is more appropriate for a master bedroom or dining room for example.

Offering artwork from the Imagekind community for the Staging Diva network creates a valuable resource for professional fulfillment on-demand, and is another addition to our continued pursuit of building the best community for buying, selling and creating art.

About The Staging Diva:

Debra Gould, creator of the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program, has staged millions of dollars worth of real estate, including seven of her own homes. Debra is the President of Six Elements which offers Home Staging, Interior Redesign and Color Consulting services, as well as the StagingDiva.com website.

Gould has gained international recognition and has been featured in major media in the US and Canada including: HGTV, CNN Money, CBC National News, CBS Radio, GlobalTV, CityTV, The Wall Street Journal, Woman’s Day, Reader’s Digest and more.

You can read more about this collaboration from Debra Gould on her blog, The Business of Home Staging.

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Imagekind’s constant growth is a true testament to the innovative way artists can show and sell their work. We recently announced that Imagekind is now offering art from over 50,000 artists, to a fast-growing marketplace of over 250,000 users. Kevin says it best when he explains what this really means for artists and the new way Imagekind can help artists sell their work.

The fact that the Imagekind artist community has grown from just a handful of artists to over 50,000 in just a few years really shows that up-and-coming artists are looking for new ways to display and sell their work. Imagekind is creating a new democracy that allows little-known artists to share the landscape with better-known and established masters. Imagekind’s print-on-demand model allows artists to create their own galleries where they can set their own prices and connect with art lovers looking to discover unique pieces that can be custom framed and delivered to their door within days.

At Imagekind, artists of every medium and style - painters, illustrators and photographers - create online galleries to showcase and sell high-quality prints of their work. Visitors can purchase art prints, create custom framed masterpieces and order newly available greeting cards. In this way, emerging artists are discovered, and established professionals find new clients without relying on agents. Many artists are on track to make $60,000 a year or more in passive income just from their sales on Imagekind.

Three of Imagekind’s featured artists - Eli Halpin, Richard Stine and Sion Lee - are featured in the announcement as having generated new and loyal audiences for their work through their online galleries. Read on to find out how.

(more…)

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We are thrilled to have Rob join us and are excited by his wealth of knowledge and experience in marketing, brand building and advertising strategies.

Rob brings over 17 years of experience in marketing and organizational development to Imagekind, spending 14 of those years working with our hometown NBA team, the Seattle SuperSonics. Prior to joining Imagekind, Rob worked with Tully’s Coffee as vice president of marketing and production.

Read the full story to find more information about Rob and see what both he and Kevin think about this outstanding addition to our artist community.
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Robert Martin Joins Imagekind as Chief Marketing Officer

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