Winsor & Newton was honored this year to be a sponsor of World Watercolor Month in July.  Charlie O’Shields whose love of the medium inspired him to create a movement dedicated to inspiring the use of watercolors and encouraging creativity originated the World Watercolor Month concept.  Winsor & Newton was one of several brands that provided products for prizes. Winsor & Newton Watercolor Markers were shared as giveaways and watercolor sets were won as prizes.  Additionally Winsor & Newton provided over $1,500.00 in art supplies for the Dreaming Zebra Foundation, a charity dedicated to providing underprivileged children and young adults around the world the opportunity to explore creativity and the arts. This exciting event encouraged over 9,000 artists to join the movement and hashtag their…

Hurricane Harvey Houston, TX Art Stores Quick Report   Art Supply (Vikki Trammell & Ben Russell)  No flooding. The store will open on Wednesday. Vikki Trammel is asking NAMTA members for donations of art supplies for those artists who have been hit so hard.  She will be working through Printmatters (she is on the advisory board) and another non-profit to make your donations tax deductible. At this time, if you are able to contribute, please begin to set the product aside and as soon as the Houston area is able to receive deliveries again we will notify you and provide detailed shipping information. Texas Art Supply Co. stores at Montrose and…

Simply put, LeFranc & Bourgeois will no longer be available in North America. This is due to their new global marketing focus and the cost to re-certify most of the product range to be compliant with USA health and safety laws (ACMI testing). The good news? MacPherson’s will continue to carry the unique and ever popular LeFranc & Bourgeois Flashe, an extra fine, vinyl-based professional grade of matte permanent colors.

Calligraphy and hand lettering continue to trend and open doors to a whole new demographic of customers. In honor of this, Manuscript has launched World Calligraphy Day! They will be celebrating this on social media and hosting an event at the Pen Museum in Birmingham, England. Retailers can maximize on this event by hosting demos, classes and/or promotions during the month of August and specifically on the 16th. Make sure you shout it out on social media and make your customers aware. For retailers that do not currently have a robust calligraphy department, this is the time expand! Great ways to do this are with several easy assortments that we…

Derwent has been making high quality drawing materials including colored pastel pencils and graphite lead pencil sets since 1832, when they were known as the Cumberland Pencil Company. Rumor has it the story dates even further back to the 1500s, when a violent storm uprooted many trees and the shepherds discovered a black material under the soil with which they could mark their sheep. This turned out to be graphite, and a local business began making pencils with the discovered material. Today, Derwent has an unswerving reputation for innovation, inspiring artists with new products like Procolour, Inktense, Graphik Line Painters and Tinted Charcoal, alongside their classic range of Artists, Graphic…

The well respected industry personality Arthur Long passed away on July 5, 2017 in Dallas, TX. He was 59 years old and battled heart disease for a short period. His last position was Vice President of Fine Art Channel at Dixon Ticonderoga. He received the President’s Club Award for Outstanding Sales Accomplishment from ColArt Americas, Inc. in 2002, and was Salesperson of the Year for Canson, Inc. in 2013. Arthur is survived by his spouse, Jocelyn, his brother, Charles, and his sisters, Linda and Laura. Donations are welcome in his honor to the Wounded Warriors Project(https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org). The Orlando Sentinel has written a piece about Fila/Dixon Ticonderoga, owner of Canson and Daler…

Strathmore is excited to expand their initiative to offer consumers educational information as it relates to art. The video series called “Artist How-To” videos launched in May, 2015, and in these short video segments, Strathmore has paired with professional artists to offer artist tips and techniques as it relates to a specific type of art and mediums. The newest additions to the collection of “Artist How-To” are three new videos created by artist Justin Maas. In these short 2-4 minute videos, Justin explains his tips and techniques for creating portrait artwork using toned papers. This content is great for artists just starting out with toned papers, or for those who have interest…

Liquitex is launching a new range of Basics 400ml squeeze bottles, Basics mediums, and Basics sets developed for students and artists who are looking for dependable quality at an economical price. Basics 400ml provides a size option between the 250ml tube and the 946ml jar in an easy-to-use squeeze bottle. The squeeze bottles are available in 24 colors at the end of July. Liquitex launched eight new mediums in July designed to help student artists explore their creativity. In addition to Gesso which already exists, the new products consist of core mediums: Gloss Gel, Modeling Paste, Iridescent Medium, Coarse Texture Gel, Gloss Fluid Medium, Matte Fluid Medium, Gloss Varnish, and Matte Varnish.…

Ready to show off your creativity? In celebration of the newly launched Winsor & Newton paper and canvas range,  Colart has announced a new contest! Take a picture of your display, share it with us and get rewarded if your display is the best of the bunch. The reward: $1,000 of Colart product at MSRP. One winner will be chosen and featured in their next newsletter. Submit your paper and canvas display photo to getintouch@colartusa.com by September 1, 2017. Colart looks forward to your submissions!

The owner of Blaine’s in Anchorage, Rene Haag passed away Saturday June 24th after a valiant fight with pancreatic cancer. Much loved within the art material supplier community for her generous spirit and renowned hospitality, she will be missed and much remembered. Her husband Dave Haag survives her.  Rene’s Memorial will be held Saturday July 22nd at 2pm at the 1st United Methodist 725 W. 9th Ave. Anchorage, AK 99501 Preferred Florist: (she did ALL of Rene’s events!) Hummels Flowers phone: 907-272-78Z57. Any donations can be made to: Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (Pancan) www.pancan.org/ways-to-give/ Stacey Smith of Binders wed Rich Wetzstein on May 6th.   Stacey’s son, Jarren was happily included in the…

MacPherson’s Dealer Workshop – with thanks from Colart! Thank you to all the retailers who joined us at the MacPherson’s Annual Dealer Workshop and checked out the launch of the Liquitex Cadmium Free range and Winsor & Newton surfaces. The annual conference is always a special time to connect with our retail partners and offer you a glimpse of new products. This year was no different as we offered demos and workshops for Liquitex in one room and Winsor & Newton and Arches in another. In the Liquitex room, Cadmium Free demos were the focus. Attendees tested the product side by side with the Cadmium paints and saw just how…

MacPherson’s Dealer Workshop A Great Success (a thank you note from GOLDEN) Thank you to MacPherson’s personnel for hosting an incredible workshop! Your planning and preparation led to a very organized, valuable event. The hands-on demonstrations were interesting and informative for all. We were pleased to see so many retailers in attendance. Having such commitment and enthusiasm from our retail partners in support of all three GOLDEN brands is appreciated tremendously! Williamsburg Oils Brand Strategy This Spring, Golden Artist Colors introduced a new digital marketing campaign to drive awareness and trial of the Williamsburg Handmade Oils brand. The campaign integrates new informational videos on the brand, a new dedicated Instagram…

Faber-Castell has appointed Daniel Rogger to be the successor to the late Anton-Wolfgang Graf von Faber-Castell, who died last year. It will be the first time the 256 year old German pencil-maker has filled the position of CEO with a manager from outside the family. Rogger joins the company as an experienced senior manager in the luxury goods industry previously working at the Swatch and Richemont Groups. Roggers most recent position was as CEO for the family-owned eyewear maker Silhouette International where he was responsible for the worldwide business. Gerhard Berssenbrügge, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said, “We exercised the utmost care in searching and selecting a suitable candidate, and are certain…

            Dear Valued Customer, As many of you will recall, from our first trade newsletter last November or from various conversations and communication with any number of the Colart team, we went live with our new ERP system, M3, on schedule at the start of March. We are acutely aware that this has been a challenging time for many inside of Colart and more importantly for you our customers. Be it the year end closure for a full stock count (important to ensure integrity of information transfer to M3) or the slower than expected restart after M3 ‘Go Live’ we appreciate the support you have…

Great news from One-Shot paint! There will be a mid-year (May 1st) retail price adjustment that will coincide with an increase in dealer discounts. At the same time, a price policy (MAP) is being established and enforced to fully support Brick-and-Mortar retailers. Click here for a copy of the 2017 price list with the new list prices and price policy. MacPherson’s new discounts on May 1st are: 43% and 45% (EC+). There is more exciting news from One-Shot to come, including marketing support materials, color charts and strips for retail presentation. Also, retail displays are coming soon (with aggressive drop-ship discounts)!  

On April 6th MacPherson’s welcomes its newest member. Our category manager Lacey Elia gave birth to a boy, Nico. He is a very healthy (9lb. – 11oz.) and happy baby. Congratulations to the entire family! In an effort to create focus within its brands and market channels, Sharpie & Prismacolor maker Newell Brands Inc. announced that it will sell its Pine Mountain® fire starters and fire logs business as well as its Diamond® matches to Royal Oak Enterprises LLC, a leading manufacturer of charcoal and grilling products. Jo-Ann Stores announces acquisition of Creativebug, which is based in San Francisco. The digital company was founded in 2012 and offers an extensive…

Jack Wayman the well respected Northern California Sales Representative has passed away at his home near Houston, TX. He was 79 years old. In the early 1970’s Jack moved his family from Texas to the Bay Area where he continued his career in the art industry for Western Art Supply, Grumbacher then Strathmore. Jack’s infectious personality and industry knowledge made him indispensable to his loyal following of customers large and small. In short, his customers loved him. He is survived by his sister Cynthia; wife Nancy; daughter Jennifer Reeve, her husband Tom and daughter Savannah; son John and his wife, Konnie; stepson Rick Tindal, his wife Carrie, their children Hayden…

Natasha Nicholson-Bjerre, MacPherson’s VP of HR, is leaving the company for educational pursuits. Natasha started an MBA program last year and will be taking a year off to focus on completion of her degree. In the 11 years she has been here Natasha’s contributions to MacPherson’s have been many, and she will be missed greatly by all of us. As a member of the Senior Leadership Team she has been a key contributor to the strategic leadership of the company and made HR a critical factor in our recent success. We wish Natasha much success with her education and in the future. We are actively recruiting for a Director of…

On December 30th, 2016 Artist & Craftsman Supply became a 100% employee owned company (ESOP) after purchasing Larry Adlerstein’s remaining ownership interest. They began the ESOP journey in 2009 when they purchased 48% of the company from Larry. Steve Kenney, the long time team leader and now new president of the company, states proudly, “It has been a privilege to have worked with Larry and to be involved in this wonderful industry for the last twenty four years. It is even more my privilege to lead our team and continue to foster and grow the creative spirit of our great nation and beyond. We are now 34 stores strong and…