a k a Anne Herbert

To 'Sir' With Love...

2010-07-22T01:27:00.000-07:00

I stood watching Garry with increasing pride as he put together this large piece for a customer yesterday and was inspired to photograph him as he worked. "Why do you do it?" I asked him. My eyes welled up with his answer "Do you have any idea how proud I am of working with all these creative people?" It was a question I could answer myself on any day. "Yes...", I replied, "...I do". I was emotional because of his passion which resonated with me. He genuinely loved what he was doing and he was committed to making sure that every bit of attention was paid to every tiny detail, even the lovely scented polish he was using.

While I pondered his response, it struck me not for the first time how very privileged I am to be doing something I really love and I guess that is how Garry must have felt as well as he lovingly and carefully polished the mounted print before making up the packing case.

We feel even more privileged to be in a position where we see nothing but beautiful creations each day, every one of them being unique in their own right. You see we print and mount loads of pictures every day and no two are ever alike.

The piece Garry was working on was sent to us by a regular client (of a number of years), Ken Lewis. Ken is a talented nature photographer and also has a wonderful portfolio of skylines from his native Liverpool. This 3 metre long print which was mounted on 3mm aluminium Dibond(tm) had been commissioned by his client to be hung in their reception area.

So when our customers call or email us to thank us for the print they have just received, we are able to respond genuinely... "the pleasure is ours, really it is."

When women artists could not exhibit their work

2010-07-03T15:51:00.000-07:00

Did you know, a mere 153 years ago, it was considered too shocking for a woman artist to display her work in London? When a few rebellious women formed their own society in 1857, there was no shortage of women artists, but some changed their name to protect their families.

The Society of Women Artists (SWA) is that same Society. Vibrant as ever, far from clinging to the modern world by their fintertips, they are proud of their history and bursting with talented artists vying to show their work at their 149th annual exhibition.

The show was opened by HRH Princess Michael of Kent, patron of the Society at the prestigious Mall Galleries in London on June 30th.

You can imagine how excited I was when on the evening before the show opened, I received a 'phone call saying my painting 'Harbour Market at Elmina II' had received an award for 'most original oil painting' and I was to be presented with the award by HRH Princess Michael of Kent.

My anxiety soon turned to concern when I realised I did not have the required 5 days I would need to groom myself and paint my toe nails. Would I need to learn how to curtsy and how would I address Her Royal Highness?

My anxiety soon turned to pride when I arrived at the gallery to find it heaving with people and a delighted Princess Michael soon put me at ease by wishing me well. She was very complimentary about the vibrancy of the painting.

So here I am in yet another proud moment of my painting career with HRH Princess Michael and Barbara Penketh Simpson, President of the Society.

I was both honoured and humbled. The talent in the room was overwhelming.

If you want to see the show (and it is worth seeing), it's on until 10th July.

From Behind The Surgical Mask

2010-06-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

Greetings and welcome to my latest blog which comes to you this month from behind a surgical mask. You see I am one of millions of people who suffer from hay fever; my allergies being specific to grass pollen at this time of year and today, the pollen count is off the scale.

Today has been the hottest day since the beginning of the year and whilst I seem to spend my time waiting for summer (you see I don't like the cold wet winters either) I find it ironic that having now received the sunshine I so badly craved I am complaining as much as I did during the winter months. There is no pleasing some I know.
So I write today in great discomfort from the heat and the allergies. I am sneezing louder than a vuvuzela and my eyes are bloodshot red!

Speaking of vuvuzelas; England sadly went out of the world cup today in what most will describe as their worst performance as a team in a very long time. Already the jokes have begun..."Breaking News... England have a new coach. It will come tomorrow morning to pick them up and bring them home..."

'We wasn't robbed!"... I feel could be an appropriate caption for the image on this blog. All due credit to whoever created it.

On the other hand my beloved Ghana has made her way through to the final 16; an achievement of no mean feat and I am extremely proud. I will be glued to my set on July 2nd as they come up against Uruguay and hope to cheer them to victory.

So for all those who managed to make it to South Africa and not only managed to see your favourite teams play, I hope you managed to get some sight seeing done as well.

Without making it look like I am pushing my wares too hard (ok I am but we all got to make a living don't we?) - don't forget you can turn your photos in to quality large format prints on a range of mounts. If you have loads of them - try getting yourself a beautiful montage and if you really feel like pushing the boat out to make you feel better about England's sad demise (there's a good name for it - retail therapy) well try one of those acrylic matriix things we do.

So until the next time, when the weather will be milder, the surgical mask removed and Ghana the proud winners of the world cup... sayonara my dear friends, see you soon.
Anne

No More Tears Over Spilt Milk

2010-05-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

I am acutely aware that I have not updated my blogsite since November 2009 but an article in small business section of The Sunday Times (18th April 2010) helped me come to terms with a situation I had been dealing with for quite a while...

The article entitled "Failure - it's the million dollar MBA" was very apt in my situation. Having to close a business down is probably one of the most painful things I have ever done in my lifetime (to date anyway). Anyone who knows me; friends, relatives and even customers will understand the passion with which I ran my business and those closest to me will have seen the real agony I shared with them and the support they had to provide day and night.

The fact is that in March this year, I was forced to close down my beloved company PhotoArtistry. The details are not relevant now but what is supremely important; and a point that was highlighted in the article '...think about what you have learnt. You may have lost a business but you have gained a lot of knowledge...' resonates deeply with me.

I'd like to share the highlights because I feel there are many who will have some empathy with my situation and doubtless many who will judge me. I cannot help the latter and can only thank the former but anyway here goes...

Take the time to mourn the loss of your business. It was your dream and now it has gone, it is healthy to grieve that.

Reconnect with the network of people you know, both business and personal. You may find a lot of warmth and support.

Analyse in detail what went wrong so you can avoid making the same mistake next time.

Don't get obsessed with finding someone to blame. It is pointless and destructive.

Think about what you have learnt. You may have lost a business but you have gained a lot of knowledge

I do feel quite privileged in that PhotoArtistry may have died as a company and whilst she was critically ill, I did all I could and spared no expense to save her but eventually the life support was pulled and she passed away peacefully. However her demise was not due to a lack of customers and so out of her ashes came a new birth; a new daughter we have christened anneherbert.com. AnneHerbert has all the good qualities, creativity, energy, passion and intentions of her mother and is wiser - a lot wiser from the lessons she learned at the feet of her dying mother. I feel very privileged indeed.

I had to tell this story as I felt unable to move on unless I did. We have to accept the mistakes we make and ultimately the buck stops with us. Now it is time to move on.
anne :-)

Just Digitally Yours!

2009-11-08T07:20:00.000-08:00

PhotoArtistry played host recently to the fun loving Northampton based Just Digital Photography Club .
This is how it happened; Dawn Rogers, the chairman of the club wrote to us after reading the article in Digital Photo Magazine where we won the Gold Award for being one of the best canvas printing companies in the industry. Well as we were local, Dawn wrote to ask if we wouldn't mind awfully coming round to one of their club meetings to share a bit about our company and our products. We thought we could do a little better than that after all we have the space to accomodate about 100 people in our gallery so we invited them over for a party.
25 members of the club turned up and we had a merry time talking about the company and the products and learning more from the photographers own mouth (in a manner of speaking) about their printing requirements.
Do read more about Just Digital on their website, they do get up to some real fun activities and if you are part of a camera club and want to visit us for a little party, please get in touch and we'll arrange it.

Well who would have thunk it?!

2009-10-31T07:55:00.000-07:00

Here I am on one of the proudest moments of my life and of course I have to share it all with you. Two weeks ago, I submitted four of my paintings, see NY Series 1 - Hot Dog Man on my other webiste annesimages.com. Well it was a juried show so you have to have your work accepted. I was chuffed to bits as usual but even more so when I received a phone call to say I had been awarded the Presidents Prize.

The show is the very prestigious Northampton Town and County Arts Society and they have been around a very long time. Last night's event was the preview evening of the 96th annual exhibition and the standard of work there is so high I felt really humbled by the award.

So here I am standing very proudly in front of the award winning painting. I feel very privileged and very very inspired.

Thanks to all who voted for me.

Anne

And the winner is...

2009-09-12T06:22:00.000-07:00

I am so so proud to announce PhotoArtistry has been given the prestigious Digital Photo magazine Gold Award for being best canvas printer in the industry. The magazine provided a glowing write up about the quality of the product; the top notch construction of our frames, the skillful wrapped-round canvas, the neat and tidy corners, crisp and neutral colours all of which made you feel you had a high end quality product.

It's great to be included in reviews of this nature as it certainly keeps us on our toes. Now that we have won it, we intend to hang on to it and will continue to improve on our products and services. We are all very proud - well done the team. It's well earned and well deserved.

Digital Photo is a market leading photography magazine which has an audited monthly circulation of 68,687 and a massive national readership figure of 365,000 making it the number 1 selling photographic magazine in the market.

It's always a pleasure

2009-08-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

It is really amazing that after nearly 8 years of producing bespoke prints for our customers and having done thousands of these in that time we get so excited whenever we complete a new project. None more so than our recent one which we did for the TV presenter, photographer and author Chris Packham of the BBCs Springwatch fame. Chris came to us highly recommended by a fellow cameraman and after visiting our premises in Northampton chose us to produce a range of stunning photographs on acrylic Perspex, canvas, aluminium and our popular deep box mounts.

The images were used in a recent exhibition at the Rutland Bird Fair.

The picture shows Chris posing with some of his pictures in our gallery. Chris's pictures are now available for sale online at http://www.chrispackhamphotos.com/

Clearing up clutter

2009-08-02T15:55:00.000-07:00

Rachel Elnaugh's webinar with feng shui guru Marie Claire Carlyle was very interesting and so inspirational it spurred me on to embark on decluttering my surroundings and I have to say I feel better for it. The title of the webinar was 'How to become a money magnet' and that drew me onto the call if nothing else.
I have to admit I don't know too much about feng shui and was introduced to it by Rachel at our very first meeting a couple of years ago. I do have a personal conflict between feng shui and my personal faith but I can understand it's practicalities.
So this weekend, I attacked my house with gusto starting not with my wealth sector but with my bedroom, followed by my creative sector - my sun room following which I was able to add another five hundred words to my book.
I have now settled into bed after a shower and as I look around my clutter free room I feel very settled in my mind and can think more clearly. I haven't quite finished yet, next weekend I will be attacking the book shelf and the racks of CDs and in the next few weeks I will go deep into the garage.
Unfortunately the webinar ended abruptly due to some technical issues and so I am not sure how the money magnet bit comes in but I think I have a fair idea.

A Budding Young Rapper

2009-06-30T02:16:00.000-07:00

Rap hasn't really been my kind of music. I'm from a different generation and as I grow older and my hearing grows dimmer I find the only way I can hear anyone speak is if I look at them closely and lipread... but a very talented young man has helped me to see and hear things very differently. It may be that I am slightly biased, I've known the lad since he was born. I was his mother's birthing partner and was with her the day he arrived into this lovely world of ours. She called him Shasa after her friend Rolf Harris and Rolf became Shasa's godfather and 'grandfather' of sorts.

Shasa has turned out to be a very talented young rapper who goes under the name BB Manik. He acquired his interest in music from his father Michael and like all young musicians these days his hero was the great pop legend Michael Jackson.

Shasa is a very confident young man and has a real passion for music, he raps as though rap music was made for him and his dance routines are as fluid as his great hero Michael Jackson.

Shasa played at Glastonbury this year with Rolf Harris to some fantastic reviews from NME and the Sunday Mail. After a hearty intro of 'I say Rolf you say Harris', they did a rap rendition of 'Pavlova' together.

I am really really proud of the lad and prouder still of his mother, my friend Seiwa Cunningham who encouraged him all the way. Being Ghanaian by birth, we come from a very different culture where success is measured by the level of academic qualifications you have, where everything else is frowned upon and considered less successful.

I am looking forward to a very long and bright future for the young man who goes by the name BB Manik whom I will always call Shasa.

To use his own language - I say Big Up!! BB Manik!

Experienced people need not apply

2009-06-15T06:02:00.000-07:00

I have shamelessly caught both the blogging and twitter bugs and spent most of this weekend writing and following and learning (who says you can't learn from social networking sites). Anyway, I emailed all my friends and demanded they follow me or I would cut them out of my birthday list and then received this reply from my mentor Rachel - I think it's really good advice for first time bloggers and twitters. If you know all this stuff already you can fast forward and go straight to the comments section.

Anne

WAYS TO GET A BLOG FOLLOWING:-

Use the little 'chain' tool to link keywords to other people/sites in your blog posts, that way the authors of those sites get alerts and will come to your Blog and make their comment eg 'In looking into this I came across an interesting blog on alcoholism.' The more links you include and the more people that link to you the bigger your following will grow- Set up Google Alerts on all topics you are interested in. This sends you an email every time an article is published on that subject; you can then comment on it and link to it. Tip: make sure you use a specific search term or you will be inundated! eg I set up an alert for Dragons Den which provided lots of useful fodder for comments about the show.- Cover as many topics as possible and BE CONTROVERSIAL! eg my Obama & Bush Blog post was my most successful ever - it attracted something like 200 comments- That said, if the intention behind the Blog is purely commercial, I would suggest you focus purely on your art/art topics - look at what Hani O'Keefe is doing at http://wwwhaniokeeffeartistcouk.blogspot.com/- Shameless plug now... Get hold of the Marketing Magicians DVD and you can hear the story of Thomas Mahon from the horses mouth about how he went from not being able to afford a chinese takeaway to establishing himself as an international tailor with royalty as clientele simply through his blog English Cut Amazing stuff!

WAY TO GET A TWITTER FOLLOWING

I learnt this tip at Mark Attwood's SEO & Internet Marketing Clinic last Friday... Find people in your space (ie artists) and look at their followers - then follow them all! You will find many will reciprocate. I did this with 250 of Peter Jones' list of followers on Saturday and immediately picked up over 50 new followers. The downside is of course you get flooded with tweets !!! But you can then unfollow ones which aren't on topic.The great thing about getting a big Twitter following is when your book is published you have an instant market to buy itHope this helpsRegardsRachel

Not happy with the lad!

2009-06-14T02:46:00.001-07:00

Got a call last night to fetch my 15 year old son from a barbecue he attended yesterday - they called me because he was completely drunk and his friends were concerned about him. I have very mixed feelings about this ranging from am I a bad mother to WTH were they doing serving him alcohol? The barbecue was part of their football presentation evening and the bar was open?! To 15 years olds?!

As we drove home he spewed all over the car - completely without warning! We had to finish the journey with the windows wound down. Thank God it was a warm evening.

This morning after a strong lecture about teenage drinking and the dangers of liver poisoning and cirrhosis of the liver (yes he has heard the whole lot) - he was quiet and I hope suitably contrite but I suspect his head was banging so it was probably better to sit very still. He has been cleaning the car, both inside and out (including all the s***t the birds left on the bonnet). His one big concern - was his mate Luke in the car when he threw up? Yes Luke was there, Luke kindly phoned me and kept his mobile phone so he would not lose it, and Luke saw to it that he got home safely.

So thanks Luke - George isn't in bad company after all - and he is worried you are going to tell everyone how he was sick in my car. Spread the news, Luke, make posters (I'll help you with that) and tell everyone about it!! Let's hope it will help him see the folly of his ways and not bring him additional kudos.

Phew - Glad it's all over!

2009-06-10T22:53:00.000-07:00

It was good to hear on Radio 4 this morning that the recession has bottomed out and we are on the road to recovery.
Having talked up the storm of the recession it's good to hear the media speaking of a recovery - hopefully they will talk it up in the same way - with good stories of companies in recovery mode. Then we can all go back to the business of running our business.

My world in pictures

2009-06-10T22:40:00.000-07:00

I am getting used to blogging and have to admit I am rather enjoying it. It helps me with my routince and gives me yet another good reason to wake up early in the morning to get my day going.

I mentioned I trained as an artist and I recently got an honourable mention in the Art-Interview online competition. I forgot to do two things and have discovered you can't edit your blog once it has been posted (or if someone knows how - please let me know).

So here they are - 1. The image of my winning picure and 2. A link to my paintings website

http://www.annesimages.com/

Oh and 3 - I still paint under my maiden name - Anne Blankson-Hemans

Your comments (be kind to me) as usual...

2009-06-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

A very proud artist

I am really pleased to have received an honourable mention in the Art Interview 16th Online Art Competition which ran from January 1st to March 31st 2009. My painting 'The Fish Sorters' was one of six that received an official recognition of merit. 633 works were submitted from 209 different artists.

The Art Interview - International Online Artist Competition is a quarterly, international, juried exhibition of paintings, drawings and sculptures in any medium. It is open to all living artists worldwide aged 16 and up.

The competition is run completely over the Internet, which eliminates the need to send slides or arrange for physical transportation of artworks. Artists have the opportunity to gain international recognition for any artwork submitted.
To find out more about the exhibition, please visitart-interview.com/CompetitionWinners/competition_winners.html

Also known as Anne Herbert

2009-06-07T04:14:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to my blog

My name is Anne Herbert, I am 48 years old and I live in Northampton UK with my family.
I run a small business creating bespoke fine art prints for artists and photographers. We provide these prints on a variety of mounts including canvas, acrylic perspex and aluminium. We try to provide some new and unique that differentiates our customers from their competitors.

Lately, we have entered the world of interior decoration and provide fine art prints encapsulated in Perspex which we design into furniture. My mentor Rachel Elnaugh has a picture of one of my desks on her http://racheleelnaugh.blogspot.com/2008/08/million-desk.html blog.

I am also an artist, I paint loads of figurative pictures based mostly on scenes captured from my native Ghana - you can find out more about these on my other website www.annesimages.com

I will be posting here on all aspects of life that interest me; the arts, politics, culture, business and children.

I would welcome your comments.