Winning or Losing? Find It Out Yourselves

Ambitious artists spend money to enter competitions and in the past, receiving a notification of the result if their entries were accepted or not was the norm. 

Now that has begun to change.  A very depressing trending is spreading in the art world - many competition organizers now don't bother to inform artists if their submissions have been accepted or rejected.  Instead, those artists were advised to go back online after a certain date and find out themselves of the results.  Even the accepted entries!  That's not only discourteous, it also demonstrated the care and effort, or lack of it, those organizers would put into the show.  Therefore, this practice argues against artists' participation in such events, short of a compiling reason.  It might make artists suspect that those galleries would not take good care of their  best works, or would not spend time and money to promote the events.  Instead, they might simple use entry fees to these competitions as there cash boxes.  Even if there are more innocent reading into is, it still demonstrates their lacking of business common sense.

There are numerous competitions and each one of them cost ranging from $25-$75, averages probably around $35.  It can be quite a burden to the aspiring artists, considering many of them have to make arrangement to have the artwork shipped to and from the galleries.  Artists don't make money nowadays and who can blamed them for being picky on the galleries.

On another front, artists are overwhelmed is the online services - either simply posting their artworks, or services allow them to sell prints and/or originals, eve fancier kind online galleries in 3D virtual format.

These services can be free or with a fee.  It is human instinct to go with the cheapest services; however, it might not be the best services one needs.

Online galleries are numerous and often those galleries hosts numerous artists with their numerous artworks.  To stand out from those fierce competitions are really difficult.  From viewer point of view, it is good to have many selections; however, if the choices are too many, they are overwhelmed and frustrated.  Therefore, the shortcomings or fallacies of the free services.  Services for a fee would have deterred some less committed artists from using their hosting services, therefore, screened out some competitions.  The service hosts can rely on the fee to promote their services to buyers much more readily than free one, generally speaking, and that definitely argue in their favor.

Remember, often, what you get is what you paid for.


Exhibbit: 3D Virtual Gallery for a fee.  Artists will be able to sell online soon.

My Next Show - Prince Street Gallery, Chelsea, New York

Earlier this year, I made a statement that I would have chance to show my work in Chelsea, the mecca of contemporary art in the US.

It was rather a boast and I am very glad and relieved to receive a notification from Prince Street Gallery, in Chelsea, New York City, that my "White Dress" would be included in their annual national juried exhibition, 12 - 30 July 2011.  The juror this year is William Bailey, who is represented in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art and was elected to the National Academy of Design and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. 

The notification letter informed me that Mr. Bailey selected 64 pieces from 934 images out of 259 submissions.

Opening Reception: Saturday, July 16, 3 – 6.

Prince Street Gallery is located in Chelsea and originated in SoHo in 1970. The year 2010 marked the gallery’s 40th anniversary.

530 West 25th Street
New York, NY 10001
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 11-6

My selected work "White Dress" was also shown in ViewPoint 2007, 39th Annual National Juried Art Competition, Cincinnati Art Club, Ohio, November 2007.

White Dress
Oil on Canvas
20" x 16"
Completed in 2005

© Matthew Felix Sun
www.matthewfelixsun.com

Is It Name's Day or Birthday? Depending on If It's Chekhov

Last Friday, I attended a very engaging performance of "Three Sisters".  It was publicized as a new version by Sarah Ruhl, based on a literal translation by Elise Thoron of Anton Chekhov's play.

There has been a trend to stage seminal plays with "new versions".  This concept of new versions often baffled me.  After having attended several performance of such new versions, I realized that some free adaptations were involved, often remove some historical and cultural references not imminently familiar to average American theatergoers.  It often succeeded in making the plots and dialogues easier to follow, in exchange, sacrificing the richness of the details and subtleties.

Ruhls' version was elegant and eloquent - however, a sense of innate melancholy was shortchanged by melodramatic and some Americanized jokes made no sense in Chekhov's imperial Russia.

I am limiting my discussion here to one point.  The first act of the play took place on a special day.  Which day was it? Depending on if you are asking Chekhov or Ruhl.  Chekhov would tell you that it took place in the youngest sister Irina's "name day" while Ruhl told us that it was Irina's birthday.



One can argue that the change was not a big deal.  In a way, it didn't change the trajectory of the plot and pacing, and would not confuse audience who are not familiar with the concept of name day or name's day, it indeed warrants little objection.

However, it affected the characterization of Irina.  She chimed joyously how happy she was on that day since she got up.  Here, if we knew it was her name day, we would have understood that she felt especially blessed by her patron saint on that special day, and there was a larger celebration and meaning to that day - a day of her particular blessing, a second birth, and a connection to holy purpose and mystery.

When we sat in the audience, hearing her chirping about her joy in her birthday, it was hard not to feel narcissistic streak in her, which Chekhov didn't not give to her characteristics.

Another well-known name day party in Russian literature is Tatiana's in Eugene Onegin by Alexandr Pushkin.

Therefore, this small deal not not really too small, and I, once again, champion a strict literal translation.

Ruins in Sanxingdui (Three-Star Mound) and Jinsha (Gold Sands), Sichuan, China

The current exhibit (February 19, 2011 - May 8, 2011) at De Young Museum, San Francisco, Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico is very fascinating, allowing us a glimpse into that veiled page of long-gone civilization.  The description of this exhibit on De Young's web site states:

Considered the "mother culture" of Mesoamerica and recognized as America's oldest civilization, the people known today as the Olmec developed an iconic and sophisticated artistic style as early as the second millennium BC. The Olmec are best known for the creation of colossal heads carved from giant boulders that have fascinated the public and archaeologists alike since they were discovered in the mid-19th century. The monumental heads remain among ancient America's most awe-inspiring and beautiful masterpieces today. Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico, featuring more than 100 objects, drawn primarily from Mexican national collections with additional loans from over 25 museums, is presented at the de Young Museum. Included in the exhibition are colossal heads, a large-scale throne, and monumental stelae in addition to precious small-scale vessels, figures, adornments, and masks. Olmec brings together for the first time new finds and monuments that have never been seen by American audiences and reveals new scholarship on Olmec culture and artifacts.

This kind of exhibit often poses more questions to visitors than it answers. I remember that in 2007, I had an extended tour of inland China - from Sichuan Province to ancient capital Xi'an and Xianyang.  Two of the most impressive museums were ruins of ancient civilizations modern people could understand very little and there are no apparent connections to the current life and culture in that land.

The first one was Jinsha (Gold Sands) Site, in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, where the archeological site, dating back to Shang and Zhou period (1600-256 B.C.), was incorporated into a vast museum and one could see massive elephant trunks in their burying sites - elephants were not aboriginal animal to that region.

There were many mysterious and beautiful religious artifacts which could be mistaken (or not) for gifts from outer space, such as the "Sun Bird" gold foil, the center piece of the museum:









It was so ancient and so refined and beautiful that I was moved to close to tears.  There are tortoise shells with primitive writing for divining purposes and perfectly made jade products.







A couple hours drive from Chengdu was an even more extravagant Sanxingdui site.  Sanxingdui culture existed contemporaneously with the Early and Late Shang (ca. 2050 BCE–ca. 1250 BCE).  Sichuan, due to mountains and rivers, had been isolated from the cultures we typically identify as ancient Chinese culture (in Yellow River and Yangtze Delta regions) and had a distinctively different flavor.  It's shamanism religious is as foreign to a modern day Chinese as the Olmec culture.

The most impressive artifacts in Sanxingdui were massive bronze, sometimes with gold inlays, statues, heads and masks.  The figures and heads had many birds motifs and their strange bulging eyes made them like an ancient astronauts.  There were also huge bronze trees - Money Tree and Holy Tree and they both breathtakingly beautiful and regal.

Interestingly, I first saw the warrior statue with giant hands holding the missing, unknown object in De Young Museum many years ago and ever since I dreamed of visiting Sanxingdui.  Sanxingdui Museum is not as well known as Terracotta Army in Xi'an but deserve the same recognition.







































Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst: 
- Last Chance to See Terracotta Warriors in San Francisco Asian Art Museum

- Famed Terracotta Warriors and Their Intriguing Successors
- Weep for Ancient City Walls of Xi'an

3D Adventure "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" by Werner Herzog

Today, on NPR's Fresh Air program, Terry Gross interviewed the great film maker Werner Herzog on his new 3D film "Cave of Forgotten Dreams":

In 1994, three French cave explorers discovered hundreds of prehistoric paintings and engravings on the walls of the Chauvet Cave in southern France.

Carbon dating has since shown that the depictions of rhinoceroses, lions, cave bears, horses, bison, mammoths and other animals are between 30,000 and 32,000 years old.

That doesn't mean the ancient drawings are any less sophisticated than what artists create today, says filmmaker Werner Herzog.

"Art ... as it bursts on the scene 32,000 years ago, is fully accomplished. It doesn't start with 'primitive scribblings' and first attempts like children would make drawings," Herzog says. "It's absolutely and fully accomplished."

The acclaimed German director, who has produced, written and directed more than 40 films, gained exclusive access to the Chauvet caves. He tells their story and the story of the world's oldest cave paintings in The Cave of Forgotten Dreams, a 3-D documentary film.

Herzog described part of the reasons he was attracted to these paintings was the knowledge that tens of thousands of years ago, humans had the instinct to make art in order to represent the world around them.

According to the interview, "making a documentary inside the Chauvet caves was a difficult endeavor — in part because the cave has so many restrictions. All visitors are required to obtain permission from the regional French government and wear protective body suits to prevent the spread of bacteria and biological growth within the cave. Herzog had to convince both government officials and scientists that he would film inside the cave for only one week."

He also explained the reason to film this documentary in 3D - not the flashy kind aiming to awe the audience but to represent a hidden world most people would not gain access to, according to Terry Gros.

Herzog stated that, "when I saw photos, it looked almost like flat walls — maybe slightly undulating or so. Thank God, I went in there without any camera a month before shooting. What you see in there is limestone, and you have these wildly undulating walls — you have bulges and niches and pendants of rock, and there's a real incredible drama of information. The artists utilized it for their paintings. ... So it was clear it was imperative to do this in 3-D, in particular, because we were the only ones ever allowed to film."





His film seems the most appropriate way of using this technology, instead of employing it to film opera singer's denture cavities as Royal Opera House, Covent Garden has done.

I wish someone will follow Herzog's lead and start to film, with 3D technology, many cultural and natural treasures off-limits to most, such as the inside of Pyramides, and the labyrinth like Mogao Grotto in China and the invaluable Buddhist paintings and sculptures there.

What to Expect from Record High Chinese Overseas Students

BBC News reported that Chinese overseas students 'hit record high'

Officials say there are now some 1.27 million students attending foreign universities.

In 2010 alone more than 284,000 Chinese went abroad to study, most of them privately funded.

At the same time, more Chinese students are choosing to return home to work after graduation.

Chinese officials say the country has the largest number of overseas students in the world.

In the 2009-2010 academic year, for example, the University of Cambridge had nearly 1,000 Chinese students, mostly from mainland China, reading for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in engineering, sciences, mathematics, international relations, economics and finance, and administration.

While Chinese students have brought money to foreign colleges and universities hard-hit by the global financial crisis, China is getting the knowledge and skills needed to drive the country's rapid growth.

In the past 30 years or so, more than 630,000 Western-trained students and scholars have returned home, about one-fifth of that number in the last year alone.

Many of them are now engaged in research and development that is boosting China's global competitive position.

The fact is very interesting and somewhat sobering.  China, has definitely become a force to reckon with.  However, this great close contact between the west and the brightest young people from China, does not necessarily translate into a better understanding of the West - its system, its value, its culture, and its believe - by China or Chinese people.

Many of those students, came with pre-existing values, often only interact with the natives minimally, and stick to one another in their own circle, and don't gain much societal knowledge and insights.  That might come if they stay on for years and really try to understand the local cultures often quite different from their own.  If they return home before that, they go home with classroom knowledge and not much more.  Considering the much inflated nationalist pride those young people cherish, and certain disdain to the countries they are studying in, the barrier to a better understanding between those countries and China remains.  Anyone has doubt about my this assertion, should try to remember the red flags all over the world when the Olympic torches paraded from all continents before it triumphantly entered Beijing. 






On 24 April 2008, the Olympic torch reached Canberra, Australia. 15,000 Pro-Chinese, most from Sydney and Melbourne, marched together in an act of patriotism, against the Tibetan protesters. Filmed using a Nokia N95 by benlisquare

A more compelling case is on China's entering World Trade Organization.  Before its entry, Chinese government made all the promises of fair play and yet, and its supporters in the political and business arenas all over the world claimed that by opening up the business to the world, it would inevitably introduce democracy into China.

Yet, Chinese's currency Yuan is artificially high; its internet censorship made Saudi blush; its trade imbalance grew bigger by the month; China's inequality are approaching and surpassing the U.S.; its people arrested and made disappear daily.

It's absolutely wonderful to have such exchanges between the west and China but pinning much hope on those bright young men and women from China is perhaps foolhardy.

Revolutionary Way to Shop for Clothes. What About Frames?

I just saw a news story on Deutsche Welle, on the new way to shop for clothes.

Kleider kaufen, ohne lästiges Probieren – das könnte die Zukunft sein. Forscher des Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Instituts in Berlin haben eine digitale Umkleidekabine entwickelt, in der das aufgenommene Videobild des Nutzers auf Wunsch unterschiedlich bekleidet im virtuellen Spiegel erscheint.

Buy clothes, without the hassle of trial and error - this could be the future. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute in Berlin have developed a digital dressing room, where the captured video image of the customers in different dresses on request will appear in the virtual mirror.

from Video des Tages | Deutsche Welle

It is very interesting development and this kind of product is the way I have been begging framing shops to introduce, so the customers can upload a digital image of the picture they want to frame, and compare the stock frames the shop has to offer, including colored background, so as to better simulate the reality.

Currently, most shops offer corners of frames for customers to compare and select.  Without seeing the frame in its entirety, it is very difficult to make the right judgment. 

In my April 1, 2009 blog, Baby's New Clothes, I praised an online framer Frames By Mail.com for its effort to give customer some ideas of what the picture with any complete frames would look like. However, it doesn't have the right scale and the frames often appear much thicker than the reality.

I hope some developers will take the cue and revolutionize the way we choose frames for artworks.


Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
- New Presentations of My Yearly Artworks
- Unexpected Successes of "Stringed White Dresses - An Installation"
- "White Dress" Series Continues - A New Drawing and a New Painting
- 2012 Recapitulation - Video Presentation of Paintings Completed in 2012

- Before and After - A Painting Framed
- Baby's New Clothes

Alleged Han Han's Article: "Goodbye! Ai Weiwei" Goes Viral - 网传韩寒被和谐的文章：再见！艾未未

[originally posted on 此岸，彼岸 ... - This Shore, that shore ...]

中國最著名的藝術家艾未未的消失引起了國際社會的強烈抗議， 但在在中國的反應，主要是沉默和冷漠。然而，有一篇关于這個敏感的話題的文章，據称由中国最有影響力的博客韓寒撰写，已在网上疯传。韓寒的博客上無法找到 此文，這可能意味著这篇有明显韓寒風格文章的作者是其他人，借用韓寒響亮的名字，以吸引注意力; 或他的文章已經被政府的網路控制器 "和谐"（消音）。

The disappearance of the most famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has caused a great outcry in the international community but the response in China was largely muted and indifferent. However, there was an article, allegedly written by the most influential Chinese blogger, Han Han, on this sensitive topic, has gone viral.  This article cannot be found in Mr. Han's blog, which can mean either the article was written by somebody, clearly in his style, else and used his famous name to attract attention; or his article has been "harmonized" (censored) by the government's internet controller.

對於那些誰不熟悉韓先生，請閱讀我以前的博客：韓寒-极有影響的中國博客 Han Han - Influential Blogger in China。

For those who are not familiar with Mr. Han, please read my previous blog: 韓寒-极有影響的中國博客 Han Han - Influential Blogger in China.

这篇文章可以在很多地方找到，比如Literary City“文學城“。下面是原文字，及我的英語翻譯：

The article can be found in many places, such as "Literary City".  Below is the full text, followed by my English translation:

韩寒：再见！艾未未

现在艾未未不能说话了，我们谁来为艾未未说话呢？

昨天听说艾未未被捕了。作为一个普通人，我十分揪心。我很难想象一个像艾未未这样的人也会被逮捕。但是想一下自己是在中国，再想一下被囚禁在家中的陈光诚和即将面临起诉的冉云飞，也就想通了。这里是一个连法律都不能做挡箭牌的国家。

艾未未，胖子，有大胡子。和我们一样爱捣鼓一些稀奇古怪的玩意，也爱翻墙出去看新闻。从不计较送朋友东西，也爱拍真实的故事。追求真实，反对虚假。遵从邓小平爷爷“求真务实”的号召。也为国家奥运会工作做出了极大的贡献。

他先前被限制出行过，被警察殴打过。但是被拘留超过24小时这还是第一次。以我有限的社会常识也可以猜到这次与以往不一样。或许，再过几天张思之大律师就 会多出一个客户。从此，再也看不到绝伦的艺术品，再也看不到推特上狂野的回复。我抽屉里的几颗陶瓷葵瓜子也许会寂寞，但是我身上印着板砖的文化衫依旧会坚 挺出现在街上。

我已经不想呼吁什么，我也无力号召什么。从一九四九年本朝开国算起：反右、文革、严打、学潮、维稳，每一个时期都有无数揣着自己良心走进监狱的人，也有无数揣着自己良心被割下头颅的人。五星红旗为什么是红的？是无数还有良知的人鲜血染红的。

艾未未曾经为上访者说话，为三聚氰胺奶粉受害者说话，为汶川地震遇难的小学生说话。现在艾未未不能说话了，我们谁来为艾未未说话呢？如果连凭着良知说一句 真话的勇气都没有了，那么我真相信历朝历代“吾皇万万岁”的口号都实现了。最后，我想用李志的一首歌来作为结尾：“人民不需要自由，这是最好的年代”。

译文 Translation:

Han Han: Goodbye! Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei is now unable to speak, who amongst us will speak for Ai Weiwei?

Yesterday, we heard that Ai Weiwei was arrested. As an ordinary person, I am very worried. I can not imagine that someone like Ai Weiwei would also have been arrested. But remembering that I am in China, and remembering Chen Guangchen, who was under house-arrest, and Ran Yunfei, who was facing prosecution, it all made sense. Here is a country that laws cannot be used to shield us.

Ai Weiwei, fat, big beard. Like us, he loved to fiddle with some strange stuff, and love to climbe over the [internet] wall to look for news. Never hesitated to give things away to friends, and loved to shoot true true stories. Pursuing truth, against falsity. Followed Grandpa Deng Xiaoping's call of "pragmatism". Made great contribution for the State's Olympic Games.

He had previously been restricted from traveling, and beaten by the police. But being detained for more than 24 hours, this is the first time. With my limited social knowledge, I can guess that this time it would not be the same as the past. Perhaps, in a few days, the famed barrister Zhang Sizhi will have one more client. From now on, we can no longer see superb works of art, or read uninhibited replies on Twitter. The few ceramic sunflower seeds in my drawer might be feel lonely, but the culture T-shirt on my body, with the print of brick would again appear in the street, stubbornly.

I do not want to appeal for anything; I have no power to call for anything. Counting from the founding of current dynasty in 1949: the anti-rightist, the Cultural Revolution, Severe Punishment of Crimes, student unrest, stability maintenance - each period, there were countless people walked into prisons with their consciences, and there were also countless people had their heads cut off for their consciences. Why is the five-star [national] flag red? It was dyed by the blood of those countless people who still had consciences.

Ai Weiwei had spoken for petitioners, for the victims of the melamine milk powder, for the primary school victims in Wenchuan, Sichuan earthquake. Ai Weiwei is now unable to speak, who amongst us will speak for Ai Weiwei? If we no longer have the courage to tell the truth with conscience, then, I truly believe that the slogan every dynasties had been striving to achieve "Ten-Thousand Years, Our Emperors!" have finally realized. Finally, I would like to use the lyrics from a song by Li Zhi to end this article: "People do not need freedom, this is the best of the epoch."

这篇文章是否出自韩寒之手已不重要，重要的是它的存在及广大反响。

If this article written by Han Han or not is not very important now; it is very important that it exists and its great impact.


艾未未行为艺术——腾飞不忘挡中央 -- 在他手中, 一个叫草泥马(操你妈)的玩具, 因此, 此图可以被读成 [草泥马(操你妈), 挡中央(党中央)].  几年前, 一个叫草泥马(操你妈)的YouTube视频, 造成YouTube在中國被屏蔽.
Ai Weiwei Performance Art - Taking-Off Did Not Forget to Block the Center (挡中央 (Blocking the Center), homonym 党中央 (Party Center)) -- in his hand, a toy named Cao-Ni-Ma (Grass-Mud-Horse, a homonym with a most insulting Chinese cursing phrase, Fuck Your Mother, therefore, the whole images can be read as Fuck Your Mother, Party Center.  Several Years ago, a YouTube segment of Cao-Ni-Ma (Grass-Mud-Horse) caused the blocking of YouTube in China.

Exhibbit.com - Another 3D Virtual Gallery

Recently, a new 3D virtual gallery called my attention - Exhibbit.com. According to Exhibbit.com,

The driving passion behind 'exhibbit' is the concept of freeing art and the artist from the limitations of the physical exhibition space.

An 'exhibbit' virtual exhibition provides the artist with unlimited space to work with, as well as a stunning environment to showcase their art.

We have been continuously developing 'exhibbit' for 6 years now. Our latest virtual gallery spaces really do rival the finest bricks and mortar galleries for ambience, decor and lighting.

Professional Artists
Imagine having the power to create the impact of a gallery exhibition when ever you wanted. To leverage your investment in a physical exhibition by hosting your exhibition online for the entire world to see.

Your finished exhibitions are shared on your website, and through social media platforms such as Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.

Emerging Artists
Can't afford to exhibit your work in a gallery? Perhaps you’re being encouraged by your friends and family to show your work to a wider audience but don’t know how to go about it.

We can help set you up with online marketing tools for your exhibitions, and even create the exhibtions for you if you wish. This will provide you with a fully professional looking showcase of your work to show to artists agents and buyers. Take that first step today!

Curators and Artists Agents
'exhibbit' can faithfully recreate your entire gallery in virtual form, and provide you with powerful tools that allow you to accurately and quickly visualise your exhibitions before committing them to your physical gallery. Apart from providing you with an online version of your physical exhibition, you also gain the power to market other exhibitions simultaneously to the web, greatly expanding your visibility and increasing your potential market size.

It seems have covered a vast ground, and quite useful as well.  Further investigation of this website demonstrated how this particular virtual gallery works, regarding set up process, fee structure, etc.  Below are a few screeshots I took while visiting exhibbit.



The "galleries" costs $30-$90/month, or $15-$45/month on annual subscription.  Exhibbit will help to handle artwork for a fee of $10 per work.

It took me a while to find some existing galleries and that cries out for an improvement.  The galleries are relatively easy to navigate, if one is familiar with this type 3D online presence.  Since I have published my artwork on another 3D virtual gallery (see A New Showcase - 3Dvas Gallery), therefore, it posed no challenge for me.  However, using arrow keys to move around is not clearly marked and that might create frustrating experiences for many.







Similar to the 3D Virtual Gallery I use - 3D Virtual Art Space (www.3dvas.com) - this one require the viewer of these galleries to download of a software to view the 3D models - Unity Web Player: "As of today, displaying three-dimensional content online is no trivial matter.  The Unity Web Player enables you to view blazing-fast 3D content created with Unity directly in your browser, and auto updates as necessary -- 3Dvas FAQ".

This requirement might give many potential users pause.  I have not been able to convince some of my friends to download this software, despite testimonies from many fronts.  This definitely is a disadvantage but without the back of companies like Google (see 3D Virtual Galleries via Google), artists at this moment have to rely on such software to create a 3D virtual gallery.



So far, the main difference between Exhibbit and 3D Virtual Art Space (3Dvas) are the fee structure.  3Dvas is free for artists and on 3Dvas, artists are free to sell their creations in the galleries free of charge.  A sales house will be set up soon to offer selected works from the system. This service will involve payment.  Exhibbit has not mentioned the ability to sell through their service yet. 

However, free service is not necessarily putting 3Dvas ahead of Exhibbit.  Remember, often, we got what we paid for.

In the age when websites are as many as ants, to distinguish oneself is not easy.  There are many websites, claiming 100,000 memberships.  How a member can be notices amongst so many is an almost insurmountable challenge.  Therefore, pay certain premium in order to be in a more selective group might be a better choice.   This touches upon a very important issue and I will discuss this in further detail in future blog.

One more caution to novices: any online presence is not going to make your art take flight any time soon.  It demands constant and relentless care and patience.  Hoping a 3D virtual gallery can bring admirers all over the world happens infrequently if not rarely.  An online presence is only a small part of the game - to be a successful artist, in the social media age, one needs to mount multiple front assaults, and many sacrifices.  Use all the tools at your disposal and be persistent, and one day, you might get notices.

An April Day in Berkeley

A few days ago, I blogged about One Fine Day in Berkeley, which was a day in March. Now, I want to share an April day in Berkeley: