Author: monikablichar

Monika Anna Blichar was born in Latina, Italy in July, 1982. After immigrating to Canada in the early 1980’s, the family lived in Red Deer, where they bore a second daughter, and then moved west to B.C. in 1996. Monika has completed a B.A. in English and French from the University of Victoria and has also obtained a teaching credential with the B.C. College of Teachers. Primarily self taught, she has also studied art at Camosun College where she learnt various techniques and strategies in creating contemporary pieces. She continues to pursue creative projects and is exploring various professional opportunities in the arts which include body painting and events coordination. Her interests include the Humanities, writing, traveling, and being outdoors. Art has played a significant part of Monika’s life and continues to be an expression of her flowing imagination, appreciation for beauty, and a reflection of seeing beyond the obvious. Monika is currently living and working in Vancouver, B.C. She is the owner of MAB Ventures Inc., An Arts & Entertainment Agency, and is President of Make and Break Arts Foundation. Her notable projects and initiatives include founding Art World Expo, Diamond Dolls Women's Networking Group, MAB Arts Studio & Boutique Gallery and THE FAB Art Program.

The Art World in Mexico-Mario Brondo

It’s always a great thing to connect with aritsts from around the world. Afterall, when we are professionals in our industry, we should mingle with our colleagues near and far. Connecting with others in the Art World can be especically rewarding. Not only does it give us joy to connect with others in the arts, it also gives us a glimpse of how culture and creativity are doing in other areas of the world.

This week, please check out Mario Brando in Mexico. A unique artist working on ‘mapping the useless’. Visit Mario’s website HERE

“A mapping of the useless, I’m developing other sciences cacopedia:

the infinitesimal calculus: Using statistical and graphing software, the points are searched in the tables where a change of value does not constitute almost no difference with the rest. We looked at variations, 00000001%

the esclerpatomitencia: The art of killing the dead.

History: It is an exercise that utiiza media images and other registry some medieval archaeological sources, some premodern, which have little or no relevance to the historical moment in which they were developed. They, however manage to give us a sincere approach to history. Although the idea ranging from ancient history, right now I’m focusing on the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

Artificial Intelligence: Finding cracks in the universe, focusing on the automated, I analyze in different media robotics stupidity. The piece feedback is just a microphone near a speaker. The feedback sound becomes so large that the speaker and microphone sometimes break down. Awkward voices short, they are wrong in their diction; google searches that give amazing results on the frequency of people’s emotions.

mariobrando

Art World Tips: How to Sell Your Art Online

by Monika Blichar

As an artist, you want to be sure that your work is sellling. Sure you could stock pile it and hang on to it, but that would mean you would have to take a day job, making money somewhere else to support your work. If you are a full time artist, you will understand that the necessity to sell your art is likely the most important process of being a full time artist today. Some of you might be emerging or even established and you’re wondering how to possibly sell more art without booking so many shows, events and working directly with clients. Have you tried selling your work online yet? Here is our three step process to listing and selling online!

1-Build an Online Store

YES! How can people buy something from your site; without visiting you at a show, event or coming to your studio, if you don’t have anything to sell online? Sounds pretty simple and it is! No matter what website platform you are working with, many of them will have an option to either create an online store or to add in PayPal links to work that you want to sell. Check out our sister brand MAB Art Studio & Boutique Gallery’s store HERE This site store is built on Yola, a simple but effective way to list multiple products. Another way to do it is simply open up a PayPal account and link html codes to images that you want to sell.

2-Marketing the Store

Now that you have your store set up, you need to get people to go there to check out your work and buy it. HOW? Well, be sure to PROMOTE your online store. No one else but you is going to do this, especially in the beginning. Use every kind of resource that you can think of; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and of course, list in your community’s sites like Craigslist, Kijiji, or even on community boards with old school flyers! Yes, old school still works too!

3-Run a Contest or Promotion

One of the most effective ways to build a brand and awareness of it is to run a great contest or promotion. What can you offer without feeling like you are selling your soul? Be fair to yourself and to your market, but also be sure that you are offering something people will actually want! (Don’t be re-gifting that old pair of mittens you got at Christmas from Auntie Jean last year as a contest giveaway!) Think about things that you would actually want. A $5 Starbuck’s card with every purchase of a necklace of over $50. A free movie ticket when you buy an art class or even a free art card with the purchase of any of your paintings. The possibilities are endless here! You will not only help sell your product by increasing excitement about it, but you will also reward your customers…everyone loves rewards!

If you have a comment about this tip, be sure leave it below. We also love when you share our tips with your artsy friends. Help another artist out by sharing this post. Come on, you know you wanna!

Keep Being Creative!

Art World Tips: How to Increase Your Social Media Following

by Monika Blichar

Are you an artist struggling to get traffic to your website? You are doing all sorts of things to boost your social media ranking but seeing no results. And now, you are frustrated and feeling deflated! Here our our top three tips to help you gain more followers and see results on social media! Be sure to share these tips with your art friends and if you like, leave a comment and let us know how you are doing!

1-Be Consistent

Social Media is all about being consistent with your content. If you are inconsistent, your website, blog, Instagram or Facebook will be inconsistent to your fan base. Think of your social media as if it were a store. If you are open all sorts of hours and nothing is ever the same, how do you think your customer will feel? Likely; they will be confused, disappointed and despite coming to your storefront, they leave feeling as though there just wasn’t anything there to buy! Treat your networks exsactly like a storefront. Be consistent with your content and you will gain many followers who are looking for what you have to offer.

2-Cross Promote

One of the fastest ways to grow your network is to cross promote with other artsits. Are you a visual artist but have a good friend with a tea shop? Ask your friend to run a promotion with you for one month where you both promote a piece of your art; a card, a print, or even a product with your art on it, and something from the tea shop. By cross promoting, you BOTH gain followers from one another’s networks and help each other out. Think outside the box for this one. Cross promotions are social media win wins.

3-ENGAGE

Are you posting every day but no one seems interested? Not getting any likes or comments is a big sign that you are doing something wrong on social media. Think back when you were younger and your friends reminded you that no one likes a bragger when you told them all about winning that dance competition. It’s much of the same thing on social media. If you are always posting only about yourself, your events and your products, people might become disengaged. Try to offer engaging content that is related to your industry so that people can comment or leave their opinion. Post other people’s work or events and share community news in your area. You’ll notice that your following will quickly increase and that your followers will appreciate your new strategy!

Social media can be difficult, but one of the great things about it is that it can connect you to so many potential opportunities so quickly! Be sure to try our tips this week and let us know how you are doing!

Keep making art!

Art World Expo

Art World Expo at the West Coast Women’s Show!

Art World is always looking at new and innovative ways to share creativity! Last weekend, for the first time we participated in the 15th Annual West Coast Women’s Show. The premise was to pull together local and independent aritsans, jewellers, writers and one of our sponsors, all women in business, into a group booth featuring just a small selection of some of the works we feature annually. What a great concept and what a fantastic show!

Big congrats to all of our participants who made great sales, got a ton of exposure and hopefully, made lots of new connections!

Art, Jewellery, Fashion, Accessories and even Booty Bras! We had it all at this event!

Big thanks to our sponsors at Jenny Craig for handing out guests healthy snacks at our booth all weekend!

Would you like to be featured at one of our community exhibitions? Learn about how you can participate in group exhibits at large shows with us by sending an email to artists@theartworldexpo.com or by calling 604 999 6177

Urban Ubiquity-Opens in Brooklyn November 1, 2015

The Creativebloch Gallery, located at 145 Front Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn is pleased to announce our fall/winter show, “Urban Ubiquity” scheduled to open November 1. The show will feature local artists and photographers with themes relating to NYC and will run through December 5^th. For more information please visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1651829538429642/1652127815066481

Some of the artists and photographers include, Chris Lyzcen, Chad Martin, Joanne Borek, Nicole Maron and Joe Bloch.

Creativebloch is a studio/gallery/shop that promotes emerging artists. Joe Bloch is the artist in residence and curator. He has over 25 years experience in both the commercial and fine art world. He became well known for his medical art and has illustrated countless books and journals for many top surgeons and physicians around the world. Over the span of his career, he has branched out as a painter, creative director and curator. His goal with Creativebloch, is to support community efforts to keep artists and art in the creative post industrial neighborhood of DUMBO, Brooklyn.

Joe’s highly textured acrylic paintings are part of the permanent collection at Creativebloch. He draws on his illustration and art background and gritty Brooklyn history for inspiration. Many layers are built up over a period of weeks in Acrylic.

For more information visit www.creativebloch.com.

Aidan Liban-Street Artist in London

London Big Ben at night, UK, United Kingdom

Aidan Liban first started doing street art in London in 2013. When he debuted his cops and robbers street art in 2013. The concept was fantastic. The tongue-in cheek of it is essentially the most poignant aspect of it. The fact that a robbery is taking place whilst a police van is in the background makes this artwork so daring, fun and unique.

He’s always had a flair for stencil and graffiti art and his body of work best demonstrates that. Here are some of his pieces:

Pictured 1 Cops and Robbers (2013)

Pictured 2: Kangaroo Rumble with the King (2015)

Pictured 3: London Jungle (2013)

Last but not least, earlier this year Aidan showcased another piece that blew people’s mind. ‘The kangaroo Rumble with the king’. It’s his most elaborate work to date and requires some serious skills. He demonstrated an incredible level of artistic skill to create this magnificent street art. This is based on a stencil of a photo of one of Muhammad Ali’s famous fights. And by adding a kangaroo to the mix it’s a great juxtaposition which is typical of graffiti street art. This makes it this light hearted and magical.

You can view more of his work on his twiiter : https://twitter.com/AidanLiban_Art

And check out his Facebook: Aidan Liban Art

Thank you TORONTO!

We had an excellent event in Toronto and are so pleased with all who participated and attended! Here is a sampling of what happened, thank you to POPNSHOP EVENTS for covering the event!

A full list with the respective winners of the 2015 Art World Expo TORONTO Body Painting Competition will be posted shortly!

Enjoy!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS-ART WORLD EXPO TORONTO!

Schedule of Events – October 2nd, 2015

HARD ROCK CAFE

279 YONGE STREET

PHOTO ID REQUIRED

NO MINORS

7:30pm -Doors Open

7:30-10:30pm -Live Painters-Bid Now!

8:30pm -Musical Performance Indigo Sound

9:30pm -Art World Expo 2015 TORONTO Body Paint Competition

10:30pm -Musical Performance ChefDolo

11:00pm -HULA Performance Hoop You

12:00am -Silent Auction Close-Proceeds support Make and Break Arts Foundaiton

1:00am -Event Close

Thank you for supporting independent artists!

Testing the Limits: An Interview with M.U.A. Mark Boyer

Artist Spotlight Mark Boyer

by Alyssa Laube

Mark Boyer of 3BArtistry is a creative renaissance man. Under his company name, he works in set design, makeup artistry, body painting, and sculpting. It’s hard to imagine how someone could juggle so many professions without having a specialty, but that’s exactly what Boyer claims to be. In other words, he’s a jack of all trades in the art world. Although he’ll be partaking in the body painting competition at the Art World Expo, he doesn’t seem to limit himself to any one field. Instead, he views his combined talents as a single area of expertise.

“My specialty is actually blending all of [my skills],” he illuminated. “Whether I’m sculpting flesh wounds in silicone or clay, body painting someone green, or creating a wearable piece of art like a monster suit, it’s all a form of makeup to me. When it’s most powerful, the different elements all come together to make someone look beautiful, or different, or scary.”

All three of those adjectives perfectly describe 3Bartistry’s portfolio. His work with face and body paint focuses on changing the whole person to be something surreal and illusory. Almost every piece looks like something you’d find in a circus or haunted festival, though there are still times when a simple eyeliner-and-lipstick looks is also needed. The diverse talent coming out of 3BArtistry has also led Mark in another direction: working on film sets. This makes sense when attention is drawn to his latest goals.

“I’ve progressed towards special effects geared to the film industry, and one of my current projects is as a SPFX technician for film. When I’m not on set, I take gigs in everything else for variety and to keep my skills sharp. Plus,” he added, “I like to stay busy!”

Maybe that’s why he practices so many art forms in so many environments. Ten years ago, Boyer worked as a face painter and “wanted to gain a better sense of what [he] could do with makeup as a medium.” To satisfy this desire, he attended Complextions International (CMU College) and was excited by all of the opportunity he discovered. That excitement led him to Bodyssey, where he partook in his first body painting competition and met his now-girlfriend, Red Herring. After that, Boyer spent two years sculpting mascots and, finally, returned to freelancing with other forms of makeup.

Herring and Boyer collaborate on many of the looks produced by 3BArtistry. “We’ve been painting together for over 7 years. She knows my style and what I can do,” he added. “She likes to test my limits.” The back-and-forth between the two artists must contribute to what makes their art so unique. The audience is guaranteed to get something creative out of 3BArtistry at the body painting competition, as foretold by Boyer’s plans for the event.

“I’m thinking about a darker feel in the fairy world since my thoughts are moving closer to Halloween. Trolls, giants, and evil kings interest me so, unsurprisingly, I’m a huge fan of Tolkien, Brian Froud, and H.R. Giger. To start, I’ll pick out a character and a few ideas. Then i’ll dig through my house full of props and sketch out a body template design, but nothing specific. Sometimes I make significant changes once I get on-site. At these competitions, I see a lot of great competitors out there and I like to challenge myself to create something unique. It will also come down to my models ability to live within my work; I have a few people in mind who are exceptional at acting and posing,” he contemplated. “Ideally, everything will work in harmony and I’ll be able to craft something that really wows the audience.”

Come see what 3BArtistry creates at the Toronto Art World Expo’s body painting competition!

Leaking Awesome: An Interview with Entrepreneur Simon Martin

Art World Expo Artist Spotlight: Simon Martin

by Alyssa Laube

Leaking awesome is a brand new t-shirt printing and design company stationed in Greater Toronto. The project, run by Simon Martin and his brother, had a humble beginning. It didn’t start out as a business venture, but rather a personal medium for self-expression. “To be honest, I just started making shirts for myself,” admitted Simon. “My desire wasn’t to make a business out of it, but people like my shirts, so I decided to sell them.” It seems to be simple as that. Simon received so many compliments on the shirts he designed and wore that he decided to share them with the world. Of course, the first step was to choose a name for the project.

“I went through many different names before coming to Leaking Awesome,” he explained. “One time, I made a Facebook status that read, “I’m leaking awesome,” to say that my awesomeness is just oozing out of me. When looking for names, I thought, “That’s kind of like my shirts.” So I settled on that name.”

Unfortunately, things got a little more complicated after that. Simon had the designs, the demand, the name and the end goal. The only thing he didn’t have was a way to efficiently produce the shirts. Because Leaking Awesome is still a relatively small company, it would be pointless to mass-produce hundreds of the same product. However, for t-shirt printing brands, that’s one of the only ways to do it. As a result of this system, Simon’s been left with a dilemma: deal with the unfitting circumstance of mass-production, or purchase his own machine? Thus, a Kickstarter was born.

“The Kickstarter is for a machine that allows me to create more custom(izable) designs, he said. “Currently, the custom shirts are poor quality, overpriced, and mass-produced. I would like to change that by purchasing a machine that allows them to be high quality, affordable,and personalized.”

To help raise money for this cause, Leaking Awesome will be selling the shirts they have made at Toronto’s Art World Expo. Their starter line-up, which will be released on November 7th, will be the Leaking Awesome’s first official designs. “I gathered from the reactions of those who have seen them that they were the right ones to start the brand with,” responded Simon, about how he chose the first designs. Fans can look forward to some of those posted on the web site, including the most popular twist on Nike’s iconic design, pictured below.

So Leaking Awesome is definitely on the right track; they just need a little bit of help to get to their destination. As it is, the company is just Simon and his brother. Although the company does have help from volunteers ranging from videographers to models, they participate out of their own good will. “People help because they like the clothes and believe in Leaking Awesome,” Simon added, and when it all comes down to it, that’s why he’s there, too.

“The goal with Leaking Awesome is to grow. If that means opening a store, awesome. But if it’s just giving a few people some cool t-shirts, I’m happy with that.”

Help Leaking Awesome achieve their goal of owning their own t-shirt printing machine, visit them at Toronto’s Art World Expo, and support Canadian businesses!