Inspiring words from Steve Jobs, arguably the biggest cultural influence of our times. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc&feature=player_embedded#! “No one wants to die, even people who want to go to Heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be. Because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It’s life’s change agent; it clears out the old to make way for the new. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise…

Long time industry personality and Seattle based rep  Ben Edwards is asking for your compassion and help. His two beautiful granddaughters suffered a horrible accident recently in which they were severely burned.  Ben is asking the art materials community to aid in raising funds for their medical expenses. Ben worked in the past for Seattle Art and Crescent and now is with Daniel Smith. Fundraiser for the Strode Sisters Please Help Brooklyn and Addison Brooklyn was at Harborview for 24 hours while Addison was a Harborview patient for 48 days and endured 3 skin graft surgeries to her face and hands. Grandpa Ben is skydiving with one of the amazing Harborview Burn ICU nurses (Jenny a skilled skydiver)  to raise funds for his grand-daughters medical expenses…

Billionaire entrepreneur Charles Wyly, former chairman of arts and crafts retail chain Michaels Stores Inc., died Sunday August 7th after suffering injuries in a car crash in Colorado. He was 77. Wyly and his brother, Sam, bought a controlling interest in Michaels in 1982; Affiliates of two private investment firms, Bain Capital Partners LLC and The Blackstone Group LP, bought the majority of Michaels’ common stock in 2006 for about $6 billion. Wyly was involved in numerous philanthropic efforts in Dallas. Outside business and philanthropic circles, the Wyly brothers are known for their contributions to Republican political candidates and causes. Our condolences go out to the Wyly family. Anne Marie Moesch, Senior Product Manager…

In 2008 the Sam & Adele Golden Foundation began its commitment to providing living and workspace opportunities for artists, with the development of an artist in residence space in a hundred year old barn located on Bell Road, just a 5 minute walk from the GOLDEN facility. On August 20, the Foundation will proudly be opening its doors to the public for a preview of this new artist residency space. Visitors will have a chance to tour the building while enjoying live music from the band, “Caravan of Thieves.” SAVE THE DATES – August 19 & 20 – for events at Golden Artist Colors August 19, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm : VELOCITY : Larry Poons VELOCITY is an exhibition of selected…

End of an Era Hot off the press, Blick Artist Materials has inked a deal to buy Portland, OR iconic independent retailer Art Media. Founded in 1974 by Dave Moser, Kathy Christian, Gail Vines and David McNiven it has grown over the years to three stores located in Portland, Beaverton and Happy Valley. Within the next 6 months Blick will open a super store close to the current Art Media Portland location. The Beaverton store will be upgraded and remodeled. All three of the Art Media owners plan to work for Blick. The Happy Valley store is slated to close before the end of 2011. With regret and sadness Kathy Brennan and…

Strathmore Artist Papers™ recently introduced new Mixed Media Fine Art Pads to meet the needs of a large and growing segment of consumers. According to research, “9% of all art pieces created are considered mixed media/collage.”  Mixed media is described as a “new and growing segment of the artist market.”* The program is another example of Strathmore’s commitment to develop innovative new products that help grow the market and create in-store news and excitement for retailers. Mixed Media is also popular among “crossover consumers,” defined as crafters crossing over to art materials and techniques. Strathmore Mixed Media Fine Art Pads are specifically designed to meet the growing consumer demand for paper that offers true performance for both wet and dry media. They combine  the characteristics…

Congratulations to Olivia & Judd! The picture says it all! Congratulations to Judd Meininger and Olivia Plyler who were married two weekends ago.   Sharpie and Prismacolor parent Newell Rubbermaid has tapped Unilever executive Michael B. Polk as its new president and CEO. Polk, 50, has been a Newell Rubbermaid director since 2009, and was most recently president of global foods, home and personal care at Unilever. He will succeed Mark Ketchum, who announced his retirement plans earlier this year. Ketchum intends to remain a director until the company’s next board elections in May 2012. Nebraska Book Co., an operator of a nationwide chain of college bookstores, sought bankruptcy protection with a pre-arranged plan supported by noteholders…

At Elmer’s Products, there is a belief that responsible actions lead to long-term success. They want to assure consumers and retailers alike that their products, when used as intended, are safe through their entire life cycle. Their continued cultural dedication makes our communities safer and promotes a cleaner environment for future generations to enjoy. From the workplace to the classroom, they integrate sustainable initiatives into their daily routines. Reduce- Their foaming agent is 100% ozone-friendly and the process is formaldehyde-free. Their Statesville, NC, plant has been recognized for its commitment to reducing energy consumption through low-energy, programmable lighting efforts, installation of programmable thermostats and adoption of intermodal transportation. Additionally, their Statesville plant has reduced…

Congratulations to David Flax, Mike Pendleton and the tireless staff at Sam Flax in Orlando, FL on the opening of their amazing new store just down the street from their old location. Visiting this store will be a must at next year’s NAMTA show in Orlando! Golden Artist Colors has been named 2011 Top Small Company Workplace! On May 23, 2011, Inc. Magazine and Winning Workplaces recognized Golden Artist Colors as one of the winners of the 2011 Top Small Company Workplaces competition – an annual recognition that highlights the nation’s 50 best small and mid-sized company work environments – in Inc.’s June issue. Canson News: Roy Cavicchi, Sales Manager at Canson North America has left to pursue other interests.  For the…

Our friends at Creative Catalog Concepts (CCC) have been hard at work improving the functionality and flexibility of the art materials e-commerce web sites. Check it out!  

Nora Faria, the spirit and inspiration behind Artel’s Art Center in Modesto, CA passed away on Sunday at the age of 57. She will be deeply missed by all of us at MacPherson’s who came to know her as smart, principled and generous. Her warmth and kindness were driven by a very big heart. Nora dedicated her life to art and was a proud supporter of Memorial Medical Center’s Art Therapy Program. She is survived by her husband Ed, son Aron, daughters Megan Faria and Galen (Jared) Martin, mother Ursula Gobets, brother Dennis Gobets and the pride of her life, grandchildren: Jonah Martin, 2 yrs, and Logan Martin, 2 mos.…

With great sadness we report the peaceful passing of Mark Stanley Sethre of Allard’s Art in Fresno, CA from complications of juvenile diabetes. He was 56 years old. He was a talented woodworker and loved to create things for others. Mark loved the outdoors, often kayaking at local lakes. He also had a huge heart for animals, and loved spoiling his dog, Odis. He is survived by his mom, Gladia Stanley, father Bill Sethre and sisters Sheryl Johns, Tracey Spawn and Lisa Heard. There will be a memorial next Saturday 5/21 at 11am at Hope Lutheran Church in Fresno.  The family requests that remembrances be made to the American Diabetes Association Keeton’s Office & Art Supply…

Creativity has gone mainstream, and today’s consumers are constantly looking for ways to learn and engage with others.  Capitalizing on this trend, Strathmore Artist Papers launched its Visual Journal Online Workshop Series and earned the 2011 Business Innovation Award at the Art Materials World trade show and convention on April 14th. Through the creative use of technology, Strathmore designed the workshops to deliver both the educational and social benefits of learning, in an online classroom environment.  The Visual Journal Online Workshop Series has attracted more than 7,200 students. The free series features workshops taught by experienced visual journaling instructors.  Each workshop includes educational content in the form of instructional videos, downloadable instruction sheets and inspirational tips from the instructor. Social benefits include the visibility students have with others…

Big changes to report at industry group iAMart, as facilitator Dave Thompson phases out over the next few months to gain back some time for his family and his rep group duties. Moving gradually into the role of facilitator on a full time basis will be Marilyn Hajjar, the groups’ president and the manager at Arch in San Francisco, CA. ColArt is back from another awesome NAMTA show & boy did they raise money for a cause – artsie style! They would like to thank everyone who participated in the raffle and donated at the show; together they raised $3200! 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross…

The Jay Shapiro Legacy Arts Foundation has been set up as a non-profit entity to help students in need of financial assistance that wish to pursue a career in the visual arts in the local metro Atlanta area. There’s a a kick-off event on May 12th at the Mason-Murer Gallery (an Atlanta Fine Art Gallery) that hopefully will not only raise awareness of the foundation, but also raise money for this great cause. Please feel free to pass this information along. There you will find information about the foundation and information about the event as well.

Jim Schmitz, president of Strathmore’s parent Pacon, announced the acquisition of Baywood Paper Limited, a paper converter located in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Baywood converts private label paper for the Canadian and US Retail and Educational Markets.  The business was started by the McCormack family over 30 years ago and has realized excellent growth and success during that time.  Deirdre Cullingford and Brian McCormack, who led Baywood through the years, have agreed to a long term consulting arrangement to continue to manage the Baywood business and its 75 employees. After 12 years as the head of Germany’s LYRA company Andreas Blaul has left to form a product development consulting company called Blaul Consult GmbH. In…

ColArt, the makers of Winsor & Newton and Liquitex, will be holding a raffle to auction off a large mural to raise money for the Japan Crisis. The mural will be painted in the ColArt booth during the show and 100% of the proceeds will be matched by ColArt and then donated to the Red Cross to the Japan relief fund. This 6’ x 15’ mural will be painted by ColArt’s Resident Artist, Jimmy Leslie using Winsor & Newton Oil Colour and Oil Bar and is titled Desert Motel which is very fitting for the NAMTA 2011 location! Tickets are $10 each and can be purchased at the ColArt booth…

University Art has been honored with Palo Alto, CA’s coveted Tall Tree Outstanding Business of the year award. Congratulations to UA who has been supporting local art for decades since 1980. Tall Tree awards have been conferred on individuals and businesses (or nonprofit organizations) that have demonstrated “exceptional civic contributions and service to the community.” University Art was selected “based on their local impact, breadth of contribution, diversity of individuals impacted, timeliness and originality of contribution,” according to the nomination form. “A comfortable space in the core downtown, it is well-known for its generosity and genuine interest in our entire community,” Tall Tree nominator Barbara Gross wrote of the retailer. University…

Announcing Neptune™ Brushes by Princeton Princeton has done it again. Almost 20 years ago, Princeton gave artists a synthetic version of sable that was almost the equal of fine Kolinsky and is still the standard for performance amongst its rivals. “When we set out to create a new synthetic version of squirrel we developed a brush that may actually outperform the natural version.” says Howard Kaufman, owner of Princeton Artist Brush Co. “We spent seven years developing the the hair and blending technique for this range. Experts in natural hair have been have been fooled that this is actually a synthetic.” Neptune™ is Princeton’s thirstiest brush ever delivering oceans of color to…

ColArt Americas visits the Savannah College of Art and Design During the week of January 10th 2011, Savannah, GA became the destination for ColArt’s annual sales meeting. The location was chosen because the Savannah College of Art and Design is one of the premier art colleges in the United States. As the manufacturers of leading fine art brands, such as Winsor & Newton, Liquitex and Conté a Paris, ColArt offers products that inspire artists to create their own masterpieces. Meeting with faculty and students from SCAD, provided the entire Marketing and Sales teams at ColArt the opportunity to hear ideas on how they can better meet the needs of today’s…