Art Materials Retailer Q1 2020 by Fahy-Williams Publishing

See us in Chicago #1403

For People Who Sell Art Supplies

Q1 2020

HOT STUFF

Mark and Debbie’s Nevada Fine Arts store is a stop along the way to Burning Man

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G R A P H I T E

L I N E

The Graphite Line has been specially designed for artists. This very complete collection allows all specialists to explore the shades of black in all its forms and offers immense freedom of applications and techniques: washes, water colours, shading, sketches, graduation, blurring and mixed techniques. The line includes graphite pencils, graphite cubes, leads of pure graphite and water-soluble graphite coloured pencils. Caran d’Ache, Swiss made excellence since 1915.

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Art Materials World booth #1501 13.05.19 13:39 3/6/20 11:10 AM

e r s p e c t i v e

Return to Sender by Kevin Fahy

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I like products that are well made. Whether it’s a wristwatch, a lawnmower, a washing machine or a paintbrush, I appreciate meticulous engineering and solid manufacturing. Automobile manufacturers call it “build quality.” I also like shopping for those products, comparing their design and execution down to an almost ridiculous level of detail. The internet feeds this sort of obssesiveness, because there are plenty of people out there who are even sillier than I am, and will argue at great length about the optimum width of the rear tires on a lawn tractor. Above all else, I value durability. Do you remember the old Timex commercial, “It takes a licking and keeps on ticking”? Well, I couldn’t design a more effective ad for people like me, but my pursuit of durability does create something of a catch-22. I love to shop for these things, but I buy such solid ones that they never need to be replaced. It almost makes me root for the dishwasher to break down. I have a stationary bike that I bought more than 20 years ago, and have used about three times a week ever since. That’s something like 3,000 workouts, and the machine has shown little if any wear. The guy riding it, however, has shown a great deal. One of my knees no longer bends very far, and the repetitive stress of a stationary bike is too much for it to tolerate. After some experimentation I decided to replace it with a treadmill, which can be used with a limited range of motion. As much as I hated to let go of my old companion, at least it gave me a chance to indulge my shopping proclivity. I knew virtually nothing about treadmills, which made the whole process even more appealing to me. I had to figure out what the key components were and what made them better. Should the motor be three horsepower or four? How much should it weigh and how much weight should it be able to bear? How fast should it run and how much incline should it offer? This being 2020, you also have to look at the electronic interface. I’ll spare you another antitechnology rant, and let it suffice to say that I am not a big fan of “smart” products. I don’t need my refrigerator

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For People Who Sell Art Supplies

Quarter 1 2020

10 12 13 17 24 28

Perspective Return To Sender by Kevin Fahy

A Brave New World NAMTA Heads Home Visit Our Advertisers Store Profile Show Intel 10 Questions

Sweet Dreams

Endcap

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32 34 38 42 44 44

Industry News Business Notes New & True Artful Behavior

Index of Advertisers AMR Welcomes 5 New Advertisers!

On the Cover: Mark and Debbie on the playa at Burning Man, photo by Ales Prikyl, aka Dust to Ashes.

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Design Journey Journey range range Design

A collection collection of of art art product product that that A celebrates exploration exploration and and creativity! creativity! celebrates

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For People Who Sell Art Supplies Publisher J. Kevin Fahy kfahy@fwpi.com Editorial Director Tina Manzer tmanzer@fwpi.com Graphic Artist Christopher Cornett Christopher@fwpi.com

About Fahy-Williams Founded in 1984, FahyWilliams Publishing specializes in magazines, directories, e-newsletters and other promotional material for a wide variety of niche markets. Here are just a few.

Advertising Director Tim Braden tbraden@fwpi.com Ad Sales Representative Ashley Cavanagh ashley@fwpi.com

Around the Table a publication of the Game Manufacturers Association

Enewsletter & Online Advertising Manager Rick Kauder rkauder@fwpi.com

edplay dedicated to the specialty toy industry

Production Manager Mark Stash mstash@fwpi.com

Educational Dealer for retailers who sell to teachers, parents and schools

Marketing Director Amy Colburn amy@fwpi.com

Education Market Association’s EDspaces tradeshow For the school furniture industry

Subscriptions Yesenia Rangel accounts@fwpi.com

About Art Materials Retailer AMR has been meeting the unique needs of a creative industry since 1998. It combines the latest information on art supplies with profiles of manufacturers and stores, artist interviews, and business advice from experts, to keep storeowners on top of trends and emerging markets. Its targeted readership and high-quality presentation make it an effective marketing tool for manufacturers of materials and tools for artists.

Life in the Finger Lakes a lifestyle magazine for New York’s Finger Lakes Region

Richard Rockford creates art from discarded wooden panels, old ink-stained blocks, and torn metal from crumbling bridges. He positions them just so as “bursts” (“100 Lots” above), so-called “because they represent a burst of energy and appear to burst from the surface they sit on,” he explains. “Some come together in minutes; others take days to get the objects and angles right.” At 73, Richard has been creating masterpieces with landfillworthy objects long before recycling was fashionable. Now that it is fashionable, art-supply stores are selling products considered more craft than art to an increasing number of assemblage artists. See the article on page 46.

NAMTA’s Art Materials World Tradeshow Directory for the fine-art supply industry ONCanandaigua a publication of the Chamber of Commerce, Canandaigua, NY ROBEX the publication of the Builders Exchange of Rochester, NY

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“Perspective” from page 3

to decide that we’re running low on orange juice. That ship has sailed. At this point any sort of sophisticated vehicle, or appliance or, yes, treadmill, is going to offer internet connectivity and onboard applications, so you need to treat those things the same way you treat other features. How well do they work and how reliable are they? Reliability and durability, by the way, are not exactly the same thing. The former means that it always does what it’s supposed to do, and the latter means that it does so in spite of time and hard use. Measuring the two qualities can get exceedingly tricky. Consumer Reports and other organizations try to measure them through surveys and various kinds of testing, but such efforts are rarely very scientific. Internet testimonials are notoriously misleading, as it is nearly impossible to know for sure who wrote them or to what purpose. There is another way to estimate reliability, which is at once more subtle but probably more significant. Simply take a look at the warranty and/or return policy. My brief but intense study of treadmills revealed that there are a surprising number of brands, like 20 or more, but on close examination I found that some companies produce multiple brands. In that way it is much like the car business. It seems to me that the guarantees offered by these companies, like those written by other companies in other industries, can be divided into two categories. First, there are policies that express confidence in the product and consideration for the customer. Second are the ones that are expressly designed to protect the company from unsatisfied buyers. Take for example the return policies of two of the most popular treadmills on the market. One of them says that you may choose to return their product for any reason within 30 days. There is no charge to the consumer, and the company will actually pay the $300 shipping cost. The other one charges $300 for shipping, plus a $200 “restocking” charge. You would have to really hate a product to be willing to pay $500 to get rid of it, and it certainly gives you the feeling that the warranty is more about the manufacturer than it is about you. About 10 years ago, I made the mistake of buying

continued on page 8

a very expensive German-made SUV. Its build quality was indeed impressive, but it was diesel powered, and within a month a trouble light came on, indicating that it was low on something called diesel exhaust fluid. The service manager told me that it was probably the result of cold weather, topped up the fluid, and handed me a bill for $40. I said that I thought fluids were covered by the warranty, to which he replied that

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“Perspective” from page 7

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they were only covered at regular intervals. “So, you’re telling me that the warranty covers something when it’s working properly, but not when it isn’t?” Before he could answer me, one of the other customers in the waiting room flipped out, and started hollering at the service manager, telling him how much I had paid for the vehicle, and how absurd the policy was. I felt like asking the guy if I could hold his coat. The dealership waived the charge, but over the course of the next four years I continued to have to fill the thing up with exhaust fluid every couple of months. As soon as the warranty expired, another trouble light came on, and the service manager told me that the diesel exhaust system had to be replaced, at a cost to me of $5000. It turned out that their cold weather explanation had been faulty, and the fluid had been slowly leaking out over the years, corroding everything it touched. Fortunately, I still had a copy of that $40 invoice, and after I waved it in their faces and threatened to sue them, they determined that the manufacturer would pick up 90 percent of the expense. I took the deal, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. First of all, what’s the point of the 90 percent? It felt like they were saying they would pay most of the cost but not admit that it was really their fault. Secondly, how about an apology for four years of inconvenience, or a discount on a new car, or a free sweatshirt, or anything at all? Somehow they managed to add insult to injury. A friend of mine drives a brand of car that is known for its reliability. He once told me that he took his car back to the dealer with a serious problem, long after the warranty had expired. The dealer fixed the car at no charge because “that problem should not have happened” to a car with that number of miles on it. Treadmills and automobiles are not art supplies, but I’m betting that you can make a direct connection between the attitudes of those manufacturers and the companies that you deal with every day. I’m sure you could tell me who has the best return policy, or warranty, and who has the worst. If I were your customers, it’s something I’d like to hear about.

You can e-mail Kevin at kfahy@fwpi.com.

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A Brave New World

Increasing attendance at Art Materials World is a top priority for NAMTA’s executive director by Tina Manzer

NAMTA in good shape,” Leah says, and she wants to keep it in good shape. For the short-term, she has three specific priorities. 1. Grow attendance at Art Materials World. 2. Transition it to more of a conference to increase value and excitement. 3. Listen to members for good, new ideas. New at the show This year’s fine-art supply tradeshow will be held independently for the first time in four years. “Our collocation with CAMEX allowed us to share costs with the National Association of College Stores,” explains Leah. “Feedback to the partnership was positive, and we would have kept it going. However, NACS is going through a strategic reorganization that impacts the show; it was their decision.”

With 500 or so exhibitors, CAMEX was much larger and served a much larger industry, but among the wide range of categories sold at college store are art materials. “Collocating helped to create new buying and selling opportunities for some of our members,” she adds, “although a big advantage of going it alone is that we have the ability to control the show’s timing and location – things that our members wanted.” Changes you’ll notice at this year’s Art Materials World include the addition of educational sessions on Saturday, April 25, the day before the show opens. “We’ve offered education in the past, but not in recent years,” explains Leah. “In response to our most recent surveys, members asked for it so we’re bringing it back.” New in the exhibit hall is Demo Alley, with scheduled demonstrations conducted by exhibitors. “We offered them free, three-hour time slots on Sunday and Monday, April 26 and 27,” says Leah. “Based on availability, exhibitors can sign up for more than one session. Up to 24 companies can do their demos at the same time, at tables set up near the NAMTA booth. We’ve had a great response with 40 slots filled so far.” Another addition is “NAMTA Bucks,” an incentive program designed to encourage buyers to write orders at the show. An advocate for NAMTA members A graduate of Purdue University, Leah had been a full-time mom for seven years before she joined NAMTA. Today, her daughter Jenna, age 26, lives in Dallas and is getting married in September. Leah’s son Brendan, 23, will graduate from East Carolina University in May, and Hallie, 19, is a sophomore at the University of Arkansas. Leah’s professional experience was in sales. As senior sales manager at the Charlotte Marriot City Center, she sold to both the association market and the sports market. “I worked with many of the NFL teams that came to continued on page 14

n January, Leah Siffringer became NAMTA’s executive director, the position left vacant when Reggie Hall retired. “You know, I didn’t aspire to be executive director – I didn’t think I’d be here that long,” Leah explained in a recent interview. “In 2008, I joined the staff in a very part-time capacity. Little by little, Reggie increased my role. He started bringing me to meetings and shared his wealth of knowledge. “Reggie’s experience managing associations was evident, and he put it to good use for NAMTA,” she continued. “During his tenure, we restructured our internal operations, right-sized our board to match the size of the association, and started building our reserve funds. NAMTA also revived its grant program and became very active in art advocacy. “Reggie made sure to leave

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NAMTA Heads Home

by Tina Manzer The International Art Materials Trade Association was founded in Chicago, and Navy Pier has been a favorite tradeshow venue for decades. It’s fitting, then, that the association will return to its roots to celebrate its milestone 70th anniversary, April 26 through 28. On January 4, 1950, Edward Ellison, editor of Art Materials Trade News, incorporated NAMTA as a nonprofit trade association. A month later, 17 original members met for the first time and elected a president, Frank Peters. Frank owned Chicago art-materials store Favor, Ruhl & Co. at 14 S. Wabash Avenue. Now closed, the store was a frequent stop for students at the School of the Art Institute, remembers Chicago artist Betsy Van Die. The goal of the founders was to create an official trade association of organizations and individuals that would, together, identify areas for business development and improvement. They wanted to ensure the perpetual existence of the industry while working jointly to achieve and maintain a high level of professionalism and profitability. Here’s how NAMTA and Art Materials World live up to those goals today.

Business development and improvement Educational sessions are back at Art Materials World by popular demand. Five classes are scheduled for Saturday, April 25, beginning at 11:30 a.m. at Navy Pier.

A Visual Merchandising Primer Presented by Pala Haerr, vice president of programs & services, The Independent College Bookstore Association Pala is recognized as one of the leading experts on products and merchandising in the college store industry. Her session will offer attendees a virtual tour of visual merchandising ideas using examples from stores around the country. She’ll review the basic concepts of great store displays, along with First Impressions, Pet Peeves, Fundamentals and Solutions. Pala is no stranger to the art world, having served as the buyer for the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Art, Architecture & Planning.

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Visit Art Materials Retailer Advertisers at NAMTA How Paper Has Changed the Art World presented by artist Pierre Guidetti, Savoir Faire Since Western paper’s birth in the 13th century, it has been in every artist’s studio and every classroom. It’s a unifying mechanism used by students and teachers alike – whether they’re painters, sculptors, illustrators, printmakers, photographers or historians. Here, Pierre will discuss how Western paper came to be, its defining characteristics, and the different manufacturing methods and why they’re important to the final product. Examples of the ways artists have used paper through the decades – and why they chose the substrate – will also be presented. Succeed and Win in an Amazon World presented by Matthew Turner and Jeremy Su, product design and e-commerce consultants Matthew and Jeremy will cover strategies to build a strong product presence on Amazon, including ways to properly leverage Amazon to ensure your products are well represented on the platform. See what other retailers and brands are doing to not only hold their ground, but to thrive and grow their businesses. (NAMTA members will be prepolled so that the presenters can address their questions.) How to Engage with Art Educators in Universities and Schools A store’s relationships with teachers can make a difference in its back-to-school business. Learn how to proactively approach college and university faculty to sell them products ranging from custom kits to Teacher Appreciation events. Social Media presented by Matthew Turner and Jeremy Su; and Chase Chappell from Chappell Digital Marketing This how-to session explores ways to use social media marketing – Facebook and Instagram ads, specifically – to generate consistent sales. Learn about the most profitable methods for running successful ad campaigns that easily convert and scale your business.

High-levels of professionalism Exhibitors will be able to impart their product knowledge to buyers – complete with hands-on help – at “Demo Alley,” a new space on the show floor conveniently located adjacent to the NAMTA booth. Demos will take place on Sunday and Monday, April 26 and 27, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 to 5 p.m. Among the products already on the schedule are Alphanamel lettering enamel, Alphakrylik high pigment acrylic, Silver Silk 88 Synthetic Brushes, Golden Natural Blended Brushes, Papier Plume’s proprietary hot glue gun and sealing wax, Grafix’s new Opaque

A.W.T. World Trade

Booth 414

See ad on pg 35

Artist Supplies & Products

Booth 410

See ad on pg 19

Bob Ross, Inc.

Booth 1412 See ad on pg 22

Chroma, Inc.

Booth 913

Creative Art Materials, Ltd.

Booth 1501 Inside Front Cover

Crescent Cardboard Company Booth 819

See ad on pg 29

See ad on pg 9

FM Brush Company

Booth 529

See ad on pg 27

General Pencil Co.

Booth 901

See ad on pg 33

Golden Artist Colors, Inc.

Booth 518

See ad on pg 15

Grafix

Booth 1100 See ad on pg 8

Guerrilla Painter

Booth 1201 See ad on pg 45

Itoya of America

Booth 801

Jack Richeson & Co.

Booth 1000 See ad on pg 3

Jacquard Products

Booth 1301 See ad on pg 14

Lindy’s Stamp Gang

Booth 1513 See ad on pg 36

Logan Graphic Products

Booth 1608 See ad on pg 26

Natural Earth Paint

Booth 826

See ad on pg 45

Ranger Industries

Booth 419

See ad on pg 16

Royal Brush Mfg

Booth 701

Back Cover

Sakura of America

Booth 718

See ad on pg 21

Staedtler-Mars Limited

Booth 828

See ad on pg 5

Studio Designs

Booth 1011 See ad on pg 33

The Japanese Paper Place

Booth 412

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See ad on pg 22

The Quarto Group / SmartLab Toys Booth 1420 See ad on pg 8 Zebra Pen Corporation

Booth 727

See ad on pg 23

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White Craft Plastic Film, Grex airbrushes, Ziller’s ink, gel printmaking plates, and the latest from Fabriano, Cretacolor, Edding, Sennelier, and Raphael. Buyers will have the opportunity to get up close with the experts, ask questions and discover how to best utilize products in their stores and for their customers.

Profitability The NAMTA BUCKS program, an incentive for buyers to place orders from exhibitors at the show, will be instituted for the first time at Art Materials

World 2020. By using it, buyers can earn rebates of up to $350. When buyers place orders with an exhibitor, they will receive an official NAMTA BUCKS form. The buyers, then, turn in the forms to NAMTA by the end of the show on Tuesday. Based on the total amount of the purchases, a check for the rebate will be issued within 90 days. Total of All Orders Placed NAMTA BUCKS Amount $1,000 - 4,999 $150 $5,000 - 14,999 $250 $15,000 - 24,999 $300 $25,000 + $350 Orders will be accepted until May 6, 2020 from buyers who attended Art Materials World 2020 and completed the required form on namta.org. As an added incentive, Golden Artist Colors will support NAMTA’S Art Advocacy Fund with an amount that matches up to $10,000 of the NAMTA BUCKS earned by buyers. The money will be used for Art Advocacy projects, including 2020 grants.

Perpetuity The Next Generation Happy Hour for members under the age of 45 is scheduled for Monday evening, April 27. A feature of Art Materials World for the last six or so years, the event was attended by more than 100 people in 2019. This year the event is being held at The Game Room, a re-imagined billiard hall just a short walk down South Michigan Avenue from the Hyatt Regency Chicago. It’s billed as a “boisterous playground” of classic games: bocce, billiards, shuffleboard, and chess and checkers. The clubby bar boasts “a deep cocktail culture paired with classic suds and grub.” Tickets are $20 for light hors d’oeuvres and beverages. Other networking events include the Welcome Reception in the Hyatt’s Crystal Ballroom on Saturday, April 25 (no ticket required), and the President’s Reception at The Art Institute of Chicago. Tickets are $60 per person and include heavy hors d’oeuvres and beverages. The Gallery of Contemporary Art will be open to attendees from 7 to 8 p.m.

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According to Choose Chicago, there are a variety of must-see exhibits throughout the city when NAMTA members are in town. Here are just a few. “The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China” focuses on the mesmerizing work of contemporary Chinese artists. Co-presented by the Smart Museum of Art and Wrightwood 659, the exhibit’s 45 works are divided between the two venues.

“The March: A Groundbreaking VR Exhibit” at the DuSable Museum of African American History recreates the 1963 March On Washington. Visitors can walk with the crowd of 250,000 people and witness Dr. King deliver his “I Have a Dream” speech in stunning virtual reality.

ENJOY DEEP DISHCOUNTS IN CHICAGO!

“Mika Rottenberg: Easypieces” at the Chicago History Museum, Lincoln Park, showcases the artist’s videos and installations, including her newest work, Spaghetti Blockchain. It is the centerpiece of the exhibition and explores both new and traditional ideas of materialism.

Be sure to stop by booth 518 in Chicago where you can savor extra discounts on select GOLDEN, Williamsburg and QoR products and any complete set up during NAMTA Art Materials World. Be sure to ask about special offers on materials essential for every professional art studio. See your GOLDEN Distributor or Representative for details.

2/20/2020 9:29:30 AM

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“A brave new world” from page 10

NAMTA staff at last year’s show: Leah, Karen, Reggie, Susan and Rick.

Endowment for the Arts and other cultural agencies,” she explains. “Each year, I’ve seen Americans for the Arts get to work, making phone calls and lobbying on Capitol Hill. I’ve seen how they pull everything together, and I’ve travelled to Washington on Art Advocacy Day and lobbied with them. What they do has tremendous value to our members.” Leah also boasts about the support she gets from the other three members of NAMTA’s longtime staff – Rick Munisteri, director of meetings; Susan Cohen, financial administrator; and Karen Brown, administrative assistant. “We’re very team focused. It’s rewarding and efficient.”

Charlotte to play the Panthers.” Her husband was in sales, too, and he and Leah both travelled for their jobs. “When our third child was born, we figured one of us had to stay home.” At NAMTA, Leah worked on member services and art advocacy before her recent promotion. “Art advocacy helped me understand the industry,” she said. “We developed a relationship with Americans for the Arts, and one of the many benefits is that we can relay their information to our members so that they can advocate, too. “For the fourth straight year, the Trump administration has proposed to eliminate the National

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the

STANDOUT

by Tina Manzer

Relatively speaking, it’s a small store in a small market, but over the years Nevada Fine Arts (NFA) in Reno learned to think big. 2019, its 50th year in business, was its most successful yet. “Staying relevant is a constant challenge,” said photographer and co-owner Mark Hammon. “In recent years, we’ve addressed it by curating our offerings, focusing on customer service and diversifying our business.” “NFA is actually six businesses in one 7,000-squarefoot space,” explains Mark’s wife Debbie Wolff, an artist who bought the store in 2001. “We sell art supplies and do custom picture framing for individuals and corporations. We also sell gifts, including toys, cards, books, candles, and fun-and-funky, laugh-out-loud cool stuff. We do fine art reproduction and giclee printing. We offer art classes, and when our classroom is not being used for demos or teaching, we host meetings of local art and photography groups. We have a free art-book lending library, and a 300-square-foot gallery with shows that change every 30 days.”

Colorful murals are nonstop advertisements for the store. They are often featured on TV, in tourism books, and on billboards and ads for Reno. “They’re the gift that keeps on giving,” says storeowner Debbie Wolfe.

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An installation for the gallery’s “Black and White” show last winter; staffer Hayley Hageman chooses the right color of moulding; framing often outpaces the retail business – behind the counter are Camille Christison, framer, and Brandon Dimit, printer; the Reno Portrait Society meets at the store every Wednesday.

Which side of your business is the most profitable? Mark: Our frame shop with its mix of walk-in business and corporate clients, but it varies from season to season. The retail side becomes stronger during back-to-school and the holidays.

Debbie: NFA began as a frame shop and added art supplies during the graphic-design and paste-up heyday. I purchased it from its second owner with my husband at the time. A few years ago, Mark bought out my ex-husband. He brought with him fresh insight, IT support and management skills, and his creative abilities as a photographer and an artist. He started the printing department. Mark: We position our frame shop to offer a quality product with high-end options at an affordable price. We frame a wide range of art, from family heirlooms and high-end reproductions to original art. Our other departments expand the reach of our brand. The gallery attracts a whole new group of people – some of whom didn’t know the store was here! Artists invite their contacts to our openings, and some have attracted as many as 150 people! We estimate that more than 500 people come here each month to see the show.

Our newest department, fine-art printing and art reproduction, dovetails with our framing shop. It has expanded our range of customers to include photographers and professional artists, traditionally a challenge for us to reach. It functions more as added value to our frame shop, but we are actively attempting to grow it into a standalone department.

So you don’t have a “typical” customer. Mark: We attract people who make and love art, want to learn to make art, who appreciate art, and who like creative things. Back-to-school is a big season for us. There is the University of Nevada, Reno, in town, along with Truckee Meadows Community College. We work with the teachers

It’s a busy place in a busy neighborhood. Six years after purchasing NFA, Debbie moved it into a building she bought in an up-and-coming part of town. Midtown Reno has been revitalized by “a group of original, inventive, courageous and like-minded entrepreneurs,” says renomidtowndistrict.com. Today, NFA is one of 250 businesses there that range from restaurants, bars and boutiques to gyms, salons, and wellness centers. With a growing 14-person, all-artist staff, NFA is preparing for the next 50 years. In a recent interview, Debbie and Mark explained how.

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to accommodate their class lists. We’ll set up tables in the store and lay out the products from the teachers’ syllabi so students can easily find their supplies. In some cases, we build kits so that students can purchase supplies for the class all in one bag. Debbie: The student art market in Reno is small but we support it every way we can. For instance, we judge the community college’s student art show every year and give out store gift cards as prizes. Our outreach endears us to the local college art community and is a great form of advertising for us.

Mark: We also offer a student discount, a teacher discount, and a school discount for large orders. The market encompasses more than schools and colleges. We extend discounts to people who take and teach classes here in our classroom, and at the Nevada Museum of Art and at small nonprofit and for-profit venues. When we look at it in its entirety, the student market is significant and we continue to try to grow it.

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Stephanie Haigney’s painting using Holbein Acrylic gouache was displayed as a sample; Debbie (top left) and staff sell wooden easels.

You mentioned a holiday season. Mark: Yes, we have made headway into creating a holiday season at NFA. Debbie has built up a list of vendors whose unique, funny and creative gifts and toys make our store a destination for people seeking unique items for family members and friends. They take up about one-third of our main sales floor, and we have seen a major uptick in shoppers who come in just for them. It is not unusual to hear people in our gift section laughing out loud at the things they have found. We increased the number of toys we sell, too, since the local Toys “R” Us went out of business. What we sell has a creative bent – Debbie’s goal is to carry things the big box stores do not. We are in the early stages of attracting this new market, but we are getting known for it already. What are your bestselling art materials? Mark: Nevada Fine Arts carries nearly 20,000 SKUs. We have core brands – Strathmore, GOLDEN, M. Graham, Daniel Smith, Sakura, MTN, Derwent, Arches, etc. – but we really sell variety over a large amount of any one brand. It’s breadth, not depth. We also strive to curate in lines that aren’t available in big-box stores. What’s selling well right now? Mark: It is hard to pinpoint new lines that are doing well without some analysis, but recent additions like Derwent Inktense Pencils, Posca Markers, and Sennelier Abstract Acrylics are popular now. Our product ideas come from a combination of trade shows and vendor reps. Several reps have taken the time to learn our store and they recommend lines that work well here. We also listen to our customers, and we pay attention to internet influencers.

Does NFA sell craft products? Mark: NFA is an art store and frame shop at its core. There’s a lot of competition in the craft category here in Reno, so we draw a pretty distinct line between art and craft. Mixed media and assemblage kinds of art make that line fuzzy, so we carry things like Mod Podge and other adhesives and mediums, plus specialty papers, dyes, and craft paint. Additional items that cross over include paint pens, alcohol inks, and marbling paints. We embrace the growing mural-painting trend in the area, and we work hard to support tattoo artists, graphic designers, sign painters, pin stripers, and marketing departments. We carry Mack brushes, 1 Shot paints, spray paint, drafting supplies and a variety of mounting surfaces. Debbie: After I bought the building, we decided to collaborate with a local muralist and his friends to paint large-scale murals here. It started something in our city, where there are many more murals now, and mural tours. How about competitors – who are they? Mark: We consider big-box stores and e-commerce sites competitors, and there are other specialty frame shops in town. Our highly curated selection of diverse products distinguishes NFA from other stores, as does our highly trained staff. Recently, we have taken a harder stance against manufacturers who we believe have unfair selling practices. Some companies do not use the same pricing structure to sell to small retailers as they use to sell to large, online retailers. This is evident when I see product at or below the wholesale price being offered to us. It makes us look bad and, as a result, we have either greatly reduced those companies’ product lines here, or eliminated them completely. Debbie: To differentiate themselves from competitors, small businesses need to think creatively, especially when it comes to promotion. For instance, the mural side of

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“The Standout” continued from page 20

our building has been featured on TV, in tourism books, and on billboards and ads for Reno. It is not a traditional way to advertise, but it has been “the gift that keeps on giving.” What are your plans for the next 50 years? Debbie: We will continue to do cool projects – I love that aspect of our business. In the past, we partnered with the Nevada Museum of Art to photograph historic fine art, which was reproduced for coffee table books. We’ve collaborated with banks and hospitals to curate and find art, and then print and frame it. One project involved as many as 135 different pieces at a time. We sometimes work with artists to create huge lobby pieces. Mark: As with the addition of our art reproduction and printing department, we will continue to be aggressive at identifying what is changing in that market, what our artists need from us and how to make the experience of buying art supplies more enjoyable, convenient, and productive. There is no denying that the internet will continue to shape the way we connect, instruct, and interact with our customers. Nevada Fine Arts is looking to identify and grow these tools to better serve our community. We are currently well represented on Facebook, Instagram, email and with our website, which needs a refresh, but we are also looking at new online venues and tools to continue to grow our presence and add new levels of convenience for our customers.

Mark and Debbie are artists, and as photographers they document Burning Man, the huge annual art event in the Black Rock Desert, just two hours away from Reno. “Reno is the gateway to this weeklong festival,” says Debbie. “Our involvement with this event has brought business to Nevada Fine Arts – another interesting and unconventional way we let people know we are here to serve our community in a creative way. “Recently we were hired to document and photograph the Elko, Nevada, Mural Expo,” she continues. “More than 40 artists painted 60 murals in a week. Our distributors and manufacturers were very generous – they provided supplies for the goodie bag we gave to participants.”

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Show

The trend area at Germany’s Creativeworld provided inspiration for window and in-store merchandising displays using products from exhibiting companies. As this display illustrates, “There are no barriers to finding new ideas using different materials and techniques,” says designer Claudia Herke.

Intel by Tina Manzer

number of influential tradeshows were held in the past three months, and industry pundits continue to weigh in on the trends presented. Biggest among them was the ever-growing impact of “tech” and the ways it changes the things we make and, certainly, how we view them. “It is clear that video content and digital access is here to stay,” wrote Stacey Trock in her “Show Report: Creativation 2020,” for the Craft Industry Alliance (craftindustryalliance. org). The crocheter/ blogger/marketing consultant singled out exhibitor Penless and its decorative QR-code stickers that bring video into the picture (so to speak) of scrapbook pages. The tradeshow of the Association For Creative Industries (AFCI), Creativation was held in Phoenix in January. Educational sessions were offered to attendees before the show opened and for the first time, they included a series from AFCI’s Digital Content Creator section. “With topics like ‘Email Marketing’ and ‘Instagram Stories,’ the sessions were widely attended by all segments,” reports Stacey.

Wearable art created with facial stamps and tattoo pens is growing, says the trend report from Creativeworld. And then there’s cosplay. “Costume play” is one of the most popular multimedia arts among makers today, according to Ivy Decker on

the blog Maker Files. Generally focused around conventions or other large events, cosplay makers create hyper-detailed and realistic costumes to transform themselves and others into their favorite pop culture characters from all sorts of media. For all kinds of maker brands, cosplay is a market segment too valuable to ignore. While a simple costume made of easily accessible components can cost as little as $30, the majority of cosplay makers spend hundreds of dollars per costume year after year. “When you consider how detailed many of the more advanced costumes can get, and how many products and materials it takes to create them, it makes sense. “While most cosplayers will get multiple wears out of their costumes, the desire (and sometimes pressure) to build bigger and better costumes means a growing investment in tools and materials

over the years,” Ivy adds. According to the blog, nearly 43 percent of cosplayers create one to two new costumes per year. Just over 32 percent create three to four, and 25 percent create five or more. Most of them (73 percent) sew, nearly half of them (42 percent) apply makeup, and another 42 percent are adept at painting/ weatherproofing. Other techniques involved are wig styling, foam sculpting and thermoplastics, and working with circuits and LEDs. At NAMTA’s Art Materials World, Logan Graphic Products is introducing its new line of cosplay costume-making cutting tools. They can be used on all types of EVA foams up to 1-inch (13 mm) thick, along with various thermoplastics. See their ad on page 26, and visit their booth #1608.

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Then in February, toys inspired by digital-first brands represented one of the hottest trends at Toy Fair. Called “IRL,” it encompassed action figures and dolls, unboxing toys, board games, and role play items that originated from nonlinear platforms like Netflix, social media, and e-sports platforms, explains The Toy Association. Also included were “digital toys that cross into the physical world and encourage active/social play, and traditional and nostalgic toys with a digital twist.” Back at Creativation, Stacey noticed an increase in beginnerfriendly tools, and pointed to OLFA’s brand-new beginner craft knife. With its minimally exposed, easy-to-change blade, the knife is suitable for craft dabblers and children age 8 and up. “Sparkly” options, like iridescent and mirror-finish paints and colored gilding were also a theme, in juxtaposition to a trend toward earthfriendly materials. EarthSparkles, a biodegradable glitter introduced by Wow! Embossing Powder, based in the U.K., combined the best of both worlds. For the first time, Creativation was collocated with four other organizations: The National NeedleArts Association (TNNA), the Alliance of Independent Retailers (AIR), The Collins Group, and Crafters’ Home. Each group hosted its own member events and participated in AFCI’s annual trade show. AFCI and TNNA are both managed by association services company SmithBucklin in Chicago. “Although there are no concrete plans for AFCI and TNNA to hold their shows together in the future, many in the industry speculated this was a likely path as both organizations face declining tradeshow participation,” Stacey wrote. Many Creativation attendees commented on the noticeable decline in show size over the past two years. Stacey estimated that 210 companies were represented by booths on the show floor, and 43 of them were located within the TNNA pavilion.

Reacting to tech defines trends in Germany At Creativeworld in Frankfurt, people’s desire to make more things by hand fueled product trends. “Individualization, ‘we culture,’ mindfulness and deceleration are

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societal trends in which creative handicrafts play an important role,” says show host Messe Frankfurt. The result is a movement it calls “Work-out.” “Its focus is on making things with our own hands, and on rough

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Creativeworld’s “Update” trend exhibit

of another trend called “Re-form.” It incorporates techniques like action painting, batik, dip-dyeing and patchwork. “Everything goes;

work with raw materials such as concrete, plaster and cement,” according to bora.herke.palmisano design studio, commissioned to introduce the trends. “There are attractive techniques here for achieving strong surface effects with irregular, original and imperfect textures.”

especially intense colors and combinations using a variety of materials,” note the designers. “Patterned designs are overprinted; and t-shirts, backpacks and sneakers are decorated with paint sticks. Scrap wool is woven or knitted regardless of structure and color, and multiple colors are squeegeed or spread onto canvases with spatulas.” The designers discussed a third trend influenced by young creatives but enjoyed by all ages. Called “Update,” it takes the form of applying words – freehand – to everyday objects like backpacks, hoodies, laptop cases and even furniture using markers, paint

Other materials used to create texture are fragile and pliable, like seaweed, willow and rattan. “They can be plaited, knotted or woven for use as seat cushions, table runners, table mats and curtains.” Materials that are recycled or upcycled (fabric remnants, scrap wool, leftover paint) form the basis

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Creativeworld growth categories Urban art: “Retailers are not afraid of street art anymore,” Molotow CEO Jürgen Feuerstein explained to Messe Frankfurt. “Even for children, the range of chalks and paints for asphalt is growing.” Information about techniques and concepts continues to play a big role, and users turn to retailers for informational support, ideas and a broad mix of products.

that perpetuate personalization in paper form like notebooks and diaries, recipe collections and bullet journal planners remain popular.

Pastel shades continue to dominate. “Pale pink, dusty pink and soft pink are indispensable in the cosmos of the creative person,” says Messe Frankfurt.

Acrylic pouring: Alcohol-based inks are extending the fluid-art theme with color gradations and droplets.

brushes, foil transfers and casting resin. The focus is on customization. “This year’s Creativeworld celebrated freedom wholeheartedly,” concludes Messe Frankfurt. “There is no limit to the combination of materials and techniques, but a need to combine old and new, whether it’s furniture, accessories or clothing.” The underlying theme was sustainability. Exhibitors discussed their products’ recyclability, biodegradable ingredients, reduced packaging, refillable cartridges and certified sustainable wood with enthusiastic buyers. On display were papier-mâché objects made from scrap paper, beeswax cloths for reusable storage, and compostable plastic beads. “It is important for us to embrace the ‘Fridays for Future’ movement, to build a world where nature matters, and to try to do without packaging materials,” notes Katharina Jacobs from craft company Rico Design.

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Resin: Its impressive possibilities – from jewelry to cast artwork with a high-gloss finish – were showcased, and continue to attract a large following. “Evergreen” craft products encompass favorites from the past. The art created with hand lettering tools and accessories, decoupage materials, ink and rubber stamps, washi tape, and die-cut supplies continues to evolve. Techniques Q1 2020 • ArtMaterialsRetailer.com

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10 Questions

Joan Kowalski, Bob Ross Inc. 1. What do you think you spend too much time on? Making lists! Lists at work, lists at home, lists for shopping, lists of errands, lists, lists, lists! By the time I finish making a list, I probably could have fulfilled everything on it! 2. What’s the most useless talent that you have? Wrapping presents! I’m a master! 3. There are two types of people in the world. What are the two types? Talkers and doers. 4. Do you believe in life after death? Of course. 5. Have you looked at the clouds today? Every day.

Joan has worked for the Bob Ross Company for 38 years. It’s the family business – her clever and artistic mom Annette is often referred to as “the woman who discovered Bob Ross.” Annette met the young artist in 1982 when she took a class from him in Florida. “I could not believe what I saw,” she recounted later in the online magazine Mental Floss. “People were mesmerized by Bob. I was so enthralled with him that I wasn’t even doing my painting! I was following him around the room and watching him interact with people.” After the five-day seminar, she and her husband Walt invited Bob out to dinner. They asked the virtually unknown instructor if he would come teach a

6. What would you do if you didn’t have to work? That’s an easy one. I’d be involved in local politics somehow. County level or lower, where all the action is. 7. What color dominates your wardrobe? Black! 8. Is the grass always greener on the other side? No, I don’t think so. Plenty enough to get done right here, not thinking about over there. 9. What book are you reading currently? Waging Peace in Vietnam -- Carver, Cortright, Doherty 10. What is your favorite movie? “Say Anything.” It’s a late 1980s flick, packed with the brilliance of the time (MY time)!

class in their hometown Washington, D.C. Bob quoted a price and they hired him. “So my mother and father formed a little company with Bob Ross and his wife, and then I joined six years later in 1988,” Joan explains. “I began by answering 800-number phone calls and then started doing a lot of writing – mostly things in Bob’s ‘voice,’ like book forwards, biographies, and newsletters.” Over the years, Joan gradually added to her list (“another list!”) of duties. Among them was developing her role as the liaison to public television stations and Certified Ross Instructors. “The scope of my job continued to widen, and today includes identifying underwriters, developing distribution, and securing

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licensing opportunities,” says Joan. “I’m not an artist. I’m more on the business side like my father.” In the meantime, 15 years after his death, Bob is more popular than ever. Reruns of his PBS series, “The Joy of Painting” continue to air in syndication in the U.S. “It’s just hard to stop watching a Bob Ross show,” reports CNN. “Try it. His soothing voice and enchanting delivery seems to transcend the act of painting. Bob Ross Inc. estimates that just about 3 percent of TV viewers were actually painting along.” This February, the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) introduced an 8-inch Bob Ross articulated action figure. It made using NECA’s generic “retro-style” body form but with upgrades, reports Forbes. The elbows are double jointed, a ball joint is used mid-torso instead of the usual cut-waist articulation, and the ankles have ball articulation for a wider range. “While you might not want Bob Ross to go full Karate Kid, the point is it can be done,” said the article. The Bob Ross action figure comes with a paint palette, two brushes, a palette knife, and a large easel display.

“I love my job. No, I REALLY LOVE MY JOB,” Joan says. “When you have a positive, uncomplicated premise on which to base all your efforts (in my case, Bob Ross), then being and staying motivated is simple. And being perfectly obsessed with Bob Ross doesn’t hurt.” This year at Art Materials World the company will introduce “Bob Ross swag” – collectibles, bobbleheads, toys, socks, coffee mugs, apparel, ornaments, posters and more. “Several of the large art materials distributors want to start offering a cool gift section in their catalogs, so here we come!” adds Joan. The Bob Ross Company is headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, bross.com.

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Sweet Dreams by Tina Manzer

As you head to Art Materials World, remember that travelling can wreak havoc on your sleep. An unfamiliar bed or pillow, and noise from the street or room next door, can totally upend your normal rest routine – leaving you unmotivated, unexcited and dopey when you need to be alert and dynamic. And that’s not including the effects of changing time zones and jet lag. The first night away is always the worst. Studies have shown that only half our brain sleeps when we go to bed in a strange environment. The other half remains alert for “predators” or their modern equivalent, says Jane Chung, a self-professed “sleep geek” and a software engineer at Calm, the world’s most popular sleep and meditation app. “Even before I started working here, I was more interested in sleep than most people,” she wrote on the calm.com blog. “I am not a medical professional or expert, but I have a degree in bioengineering. I like to keep up with the latest scientific sleep studies because I know the foundational importance of sleep to our general health.” Jane recalls a terrible night she spent on a trip to Singapore from Calm’s headquarters in San Francisco. The air conditioning in her hotel room didn’t work and synthetic light seeped in from the hallway. In the morning Jane was a wreck, but she learned from her experience and put together a Sleep Travel Kit. Here’s what’s in it. 1. Sunglasses and blue light-blocking glasses “Light exposure plays a role in our circadian rhythm,” she explains. “It’s important to get enough sunlight during the day, and then to get less light – especially blue light that comes from screens and digital devices – close to your bedtime.” The decrease in light exposure helps your body produce melatonin, aka the “sleep hormone.” To block sunlight outside, Jane starts wearing her sunglasses about four hours before her bedtime. Inside, two hours before bedtime, she dims the lights in her

room and puts on a pair of blue light-blocking glasses. “You can find them online for $10 to $100,” Jane says. “The cheaper ones work the same as the expensive ones. It’s the aesthetics of the frames that change with the price.” The glasses come in handy for fighting jet lag. “If I’m leaving in the morning but it’s already 6 p.m. at my destination, I will start wearing either my blue light or my sunglasses at my departure airport – even at the risk of looking strange.” 2. Electrical tape and travel scissors Hotel rooms are filled with small lights that can’t be unplugged, like the red one that blinks on the fire alarm. To cover them, Jane cuts small piece of electrical tape. “I fold over the end of the piece for easy removal,” she says. “To block the light that seeps under the door, I use towels or a pillow if necessary.” 3. Room thermometer Your core body temperature needs to drop slightly in order for you to relax and fall asleep easily. Taking a warm bath or shower before bed is a good way to achieve that. The best room temperature for sleep is 65º F, but hotel-room thermostats are often inaccurate, Jane discovered. She brings a standing thermometer (“any thermometer will work”) that she bought for $12. 4. Sleep socks Wearing socks actually helps lower your core body temperature. It sends the blood supply to your feet, away from your core.

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5. Something that generates pink noise or white noise Both colors have been shown to deepen sleep and can be used to block noise from neighboring rooms or from the street. Studies have shown that pink noise may also improve memory in older adults. “I use my Calm app when I travel to play pink noise,” says Jane. “Portable machines that play white noise are also available for $10 to $30.” 6. A sleep mask and ear plugs – just in case “I’m generally not a fan of sleep masks because waking up to natural light is best for your circadian rhythm, but I’ll use them as a last resort,” explains Jane. She finds earplugs uncomfortable, but necessary, especially if construction is going on outside or there’s a loud party next door. 7. Melatonin pills for jet lag (optional) For Jane, jet lag is a struggle. She follows a separate jet-lag protocol when necessary that includes taking melatonin pills. “The pills don’t help me fall asleep – melatonin doesn’t affect sleep generation,” she explains. “It’s a hormone released by the brain at night when it’s

dark. It acts like an internal alarm clock to tell us that it’s time to sleep.” Melatonin in low doses (Jane takes 0.5 mg about two hours before bedtime in her destination time zone) signals the body that it’s shifting time and helps sync the body’s circadian system with the new time. 8. Pillow (optional) If Jane is travelling for more than three days, she brings her own pillow – a simple $80 down pillow. “The brand is less important than the ‘fill power,’ or the volume inside the pillow that 1 ounce of down will fill,” she says. “A pillow with higher fill power is both softer and higher quality, and I also find that it lasts longer.” If you use a foam or bamboo pillow at home, bring it or one like it. The key is to minimize changes in your sleeping environment. High-quality sleep is a key part of Jane’s longevity plan. The senior iOS software engineer enjoys helping others sleep better and live longer and healthier lives. To read more of her advice, and other recommendations for wellness, mindfulness and happiness, visit calm.com.

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Jacquard Products has acquired the equipment, molds, and technologies of ClearSnap Inc. The new company, Jacquard Ink & Pad, is fully operational in ClearSnap’s building in Burlington, Washington, and utilizes the same personnel, but under new management. In July 2019, ClearSnap announced it would cease operations after manufacturing industrial and craft inks in the U.S. for nearly 30 years. Under its brand name ColorBox, the company was well-known among scrapbookers and stampers for its signature Cats Eye pigment ink pads and specialized ink pads that included Petal Point, Chalk, and India Ink. Jacquard’s acquisition did not include the ClearSnap and ColorBox brand names, but did include the rights to produce equivalent ink pads for both private label and Jacquard-brand inks. The

Thanks to a creative collaboration between Faber-Castell USA and the American Art Therapy Association (AATA), art therapists are using Faber-Castell’s products to help advance people’s mental, emotional and physical well-being. “We share in the American Art Therapy Association’s commitment to expand access to mental health through art-making,” says Jamie Gallagher, CEO of Faber-Castell USA. “Through our donations, our support, and our renewed efforts, we believe we help the AATA build creative confidence that lasts, and strengthen our mission

new company offers full-service OEM and privatelabel ink pad manufacturing services with a variety of industrial and craft ink options: pigment-based or dyebased, metallic, opaque or transparent, fast- or slowdrying, etc. “Our catalog runs the gamut from highly specialized solvent-based inks to highly economical water-based inks,” says Jacquard. “We also offer fullservice custom ink formulary tailoring, specific to your requirements.” Jacquard Products, manufactured by Rupert, Gibbon & Spider in Healdsburg, California, has produced high-quality textile art supplies for nearly 40 years. Jacquard’s product lines include fabric paints, dyes, screen inks, pigment powders, fabric art markers, chemicals, waxes and superior-quality craft kits. All of Jacquard Products’ dyes and paints are made in the U.S.A. For more information, visit jacquardinkandpad.com.

of enriching lives through creativity and self-expression.” AATA members are clinicians with master’s-level or higher degrees who are trained in art therapy, a field that integrates art in mental health treatment. They serve diverse communities in different settings, from medical institutions and wellness centers to schools and independent practices.

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Art therapists understand what materials work best in treating specific diagnoses and challenges, and what will help achieve treatment goals. Art therapists help victims of violence and trauma including military service members, student survivors of mass shootings, people struggling with mental illness or substance abuse, older adults with dementia or experiencing isolation, children living with social or behavioral challenges such as autism, providers and caregivers facing burnout, and anyone coping with life’s challenges. For more information, visit arttherapy.org or fabercastell.com.

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Sakura of America has hired Cameron S. Higley as vice president of sales. His position is pivotal to driving Sakura’s go-to-market strategy within the U.S. and Canada. Prior to joining the writing instrument and art materials manufacturer, Cameron spent 12 years at The Clorox Company, most recently as director of sales. He brings extensive sales and operations experience from his tenure at PepsiCo and Costco Wholesale. “In this period of rapid retail transformation, Cameron’s capabilities to partner with customers to unlock mutual growth and value will be an asset to our company,” explains Adam Reiner, president and CEO of Sakura of America. The U.S. subsidiary of Sakura Color Products Corporation in Osaka, Japan, is headquartered in Hayward, California. For more information, visit sakuraofamerica.com.

In January, The Michaels Companies named Ashley Buchanan CEO designate. In April, he will take over as full CEO from Mark Cosby, the company’s interim chief executive. Cosby replaced Chuck Rubin, who transitioned

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out of his role as CEO last October. He continues as chairman of the board of directors until April. Buchanan spent more than a decade in various executive roles at Walmart. Most recently, he served as COO and chief merchandising officer for Walmart U.S. eCommerce, a position he took on last July. Michaels made several moves over the last few months to reshape its business, notes news source Retail Dive. In October, the company expanded its instore assortment for kids and launched MichaelsKids. com. In November, when Nicole Crafts announced the closure of its AC Moore stores, Michaels assumed the leases for up to 40 locations with plans to reopen them under the Michaels name this year. In December, Michaels rolled out technology to enable more personalized content, promotions and offers; and this January, the company closed its Pat Catan stores. When Cosby presented Michael’s third-quarter results on December 5, he noted they did not meet expectations and “were impacted by specific factors which we are addressing. As we implement the initiatives that support our ‘Maker’ strategy, we believe we will improve the trajectory of our business over time.”

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ART from LEGOs London Artist Camille Walala brought the new LEGO DOTS to life in a free public art installation at Coal Drops Yard in Kings Cross. LEGO Dots is a 2-D tile-based play concept based on multiple shapes and colorful tiles. Dots products offer surfaces that can be individually customized. They range from wearables like bracelets and other jewelry to room décor. Walala’s “House of Dots” installation featured five rooms spread over eight shipping containers. Everything from the walls to the floors – along with rugs and furniture – was covered with LEGO Dots configured in her distinctive style. Known for ambitious and large-scale interventions in public spaces, Walala’s murals, set design, 3-D installations, street art, and interiors are characterized by bold colors and playful geometric patterns. More than 2 million LEGO tiles were used to dot the installation, which required 800-plus manhours to complete. Approximately 180 school children helped create the kitchen’s bespoke wall design, and eight adult LEGO building fans helped dot the rest of the detailed interior. “LEGO DOTS is an exciting new arts-and-crafts building concept,” says Lena Dixen, LEGO Group’s senior vice president of product and marketing development. “It gives children a creative canvas for social, self-expressive play with endless, everchanging patterns, colors and designs.”

Paint from Mud New research suggests early hunter-gatherers in North America purposefully produced ochre, the vivid red paint used in rock art pictographs, by heating bacteria. Recently, a team of scientists led by Brandi MacDonald, an assistant research professor in the Archaeometry Laboratory at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR), set out to understand how ochre paint was created for the rock art at Babine Lake in British Columbia. The results, published in the journal Scientific Reports, indicate that ochre is sourced from aquatic, iron-rich bacteria, which ancient artists harvested from the lake in the form of an orange-brown sediment. To transform the color to red, they had to purposefully and precisely heat the bacteria to

a temperature between 750°C to 850°C (1,382°F to 1,562°F) to harvest the pigment particles. This discovery was made when the researchers heated a single grain of ochre and watched the effects of temperature change using the university’s powerful electron microscope. “By reconstructing the heating process used by the people at Babine Lake, we can conclude that it wasn’t a transformation process done by nature by chance,” says MacDonald, a specialist in ancient pigments. “People deliberately heated

Art from KitKats Last September, Nestlé Japan started wrapping its miniature KitKat candy bars in matte origami paper instead of shiny plastic. Instructions for folding them into origami cranes, a symbol of hope and healing, are included. The packaging is fully recyclable and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, reports foodnavigator-asia.com. Japanese consumers buy roughly 4 million KitKat Mini bars daily, so the wrapper change is expected to save 380 tons of plastic each year. Nestlé has committed to switching the packaging of all its products to 100-percent recyclable by 2025. Paper wrappers on normal-sized KitKat multipacks will debut this fall. In another environmental move, Nestlé Japan has developed a product that uses leftover cocoa pulp – which would normally be thrown away – as a natural sweetener.

bacteria over open-hearth fires to create their biogenic paint. “Today, engineers spend a lot of time and money figuring out how to produce highly thermo-stable paints for ceramic manufacturing and aerospace – without much known success,” McDonald says. “It looks like hunter-gatherers discovered a way to do this long ago.”

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How Will the Art World Change this Decade? Alina Cohen, staff writer from Artsy decided to hazard a guess. Here are a few of her predictions. Art history departments will become more diverse University art-history departments are gradually replacing their Western art faculty with experts in other fields, she wrote. “Institutions that once relied on scholars who specialized in a single (white, male) artist are now staffing their departments with non-Western-art historians who are versed in specific regions around the world. They’re prioritizing a broader view, with less emphasis on individual artists.” Abstract will replace Figurative “Art history is rife with examples of pendulum swings and dialectical tensions,” Alina says, pointing out that stark Realism countered lush Romanticism, which triumphed over orderly Neoclassicism. “I predict a similar turn over the next decade,” she continues. “The art world will tire of the same narratives about figuration and the body, and seek more spiritual, transcendent art-viewing experiences. We’ll all be talking and thinking about abstraction again.” More artists will embrace Instagram “At its worst, Instagram offers a feedback loop of narcissism. At its best, it provides innovative artists with new ideas and formats for their work,” says Alina. Museums will struggle to show this kind of art, but artists won’t care. “They’ll rack up millions of followers – and buyers – on their own.”

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Galleries will sell more art online It’s expensive and exhausting for galleries to travel to art fairs all over the world and to ship their items overseas, Alina

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explains. She thinks they’ll focus on fewer fairs over the next decade and create viewing rooms or portals for customers that can be accessed via the gallery website. She offers this example: Gagosian launched an online viewing room last March dedicated to an untitled 1988 Albert Oehlen painting. Its asking price was $6 million. The work sold within three hours of the site’s launch. The value of data will be realized Mega-galleries could employ data teams to assess artists’ markets, or to assess international art scenes in which they may want to put down roots. Alina also thinks that museums will increase their use of data in order to tailor their marketing efforts to attract new visitors and retain members.

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Immersive art experiences will grow The masses’ hunger for novel, enchanting, art-viewing experiences will encourage a rethinking of virtual reality. “Over the next decade, it might catch on, particularly if it becomes cheaper to work in and experience the medium,” concludes Alina.

“Art from Data” Spanish design and development firm Satellite Studio has launched OpenStreetMap Haiku, a GPS-based haiku generator. The company was thrilled to see how “meaning emerges from chaos, the imagination unravels, and narratives materialize,” reports consumer-insight provider TrendWatching. The website satellitestud.io uses OpenStreetMap data and a user’s GPS location to create a random haiku about the area. Areas are defined by different elements, such as weather, time of day, and coordinate-dependent words (tags that differentiate a school from a grocery store, for example). Over the last 10-and-a-half years, consumers have grown to take realtime, contextual information about a locale for granted. They use practical data like weather reports and traffic tips all the time. A haiku about a location may not be functional but it is delightful, providing surprise, joy and even pathos based on real-time information. TrendWatching calls it “Art from Data.” Other examples include the image-changing billboards from Clear Channel Outdoors generated using data from passing commuters, and Spotify’s hilarious ads about listener behavior (“Dear person in LA who listened to the “Forever Alone” playlist for 4 hours on Valentine’s Day – you okay?”). “We often talk about Data Gates, or how consumers want more control over their personal data,” explains TrendWatching. “Rather than attempting to restrict all of their data, consumers know it has value and want to be rewarded for sharing it. Are you thinking creatively about what those rewards might look like? Lower prices and personalization are great places to start.”

The sound of water A hero remembered The world is so big

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return to Chicago and we’ve finally been able to negotiate a two-year package that makes financial sense for attendees, vendors and NAMTA.” – Reggie Hall, NAMTA’s Executive Director

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new true This compact, lightweight pochade box

is great for day trips, backpacking, sightseeing, vacations, in the car, or at home in the studio. Mount it on a tripod or set it on a tabletop or your lap. Get out and paint, no matter the season. 970-493-0217 See us at NAMTA booth 1201. guerrillapainter.com

Richeson Art Canvas Panels are mounted on

Hanaduri Notebooks, exclusively from Itoya ProFolio, are made from the bark of mulberry trees, therefore they’re environmentally friendly! With beautiful hand-silkscreened cover designs, the notebooks are available in various sizes, colors, and patterns. See us at NAMTA booth 801. 310-527-4170, itoya.com

Washi Mixed Bags from The Japanese Paper Place give your customers the chance to explore the power of Japanese art papers with a single purchase! Each package includes 25-plus pieces of kozo, gampi and mitsumata fiber papers, all awaiting an artist’s chosen media. See us at NAMTA booth 412. japanesepaperplace.com

Gilders Paste, the concentrated blend of waxes and lightfast pigments from Artist Supplies & Products, creates a versatile finish that dries completely with no heat or tacky residue. There are 28 colors to mix into a palette to match, highlight, or completely refinish picture frames, metal, wood, plaster, polymer clay, canvas, paper and more. See us at NAMTA booth 410. gilderspaste.com

high-density fiberboard and coated with high-quality acrylic gesso as an archival barrier. Available in cotton duck and linen options, the triple-primed canvas comes in extra fine, fine and medium surfaces. See us at NAMTA booth 1000. 800-233-2404 richesonart.com

Chunky mixedmedia powder

from Lindy’s Stamp Gang creates dimension and texture for all of your projects. They make chunky look good! Unique blends of colored embossing powders are mixed with chunkier embossing granules and mica flakes to allow you to achieve amazing new textures and effects in your work. See us at NAMTA booth 1513. info@lindysgang.com lindysgang.com

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BriteCores by Crescent now comes in dramatic, extra-thick 8 ply and in oversized colors. Acid-free and lignin-free, BriteCores is the ultimate matboard for bright and vibrant – perfect for matting brightly colored prints, concert and movie posters, animation cells, children’s artwork and more. See us at NAMTA booth 819. crescentcardboard.com

Grafix’s wide assortment of mixed-media materials present limitless possibilities. These versatile and acid-free art surfaces include Dura-Lar Film, Dura-Bright White Film, Frisket Film, Double Tack Mounting Film, Chipboard, Computer Grafix Film, and more! Artists and crafters’ imaginations will ignite when they explore both sides of these films to create. See us at NAMTA booth 1100. grafixarts.com.

New from Chroma, these Atelier Acrylic Painting Mediums – Thin, Middle and Thick Painting Medium – were designed on a “viscosity ladder” concept. Simply match up the desired viscosity of the paint with the medium of that viscosity, i.e., thick paint = Thick Painting Medium, thin paint = Thin Medium, etc. See us at NAMTA booth 913. chromaonline.com

A 100-percent nontoxic natural varnish has just

been released by Natural Earth Paint after two years in development by master varnish formulators. Finally, a professional-quality varnish for painters, crafters and woodworkers. Fast drying to a water clear finish, this varnish is made with plant-based, archival ingredients using time tested recipes from the Renaissance. See us at NAMTA booth 826. naturalearthpaint.com 541-631-3437

Deep Ocean Green Soapstone from Sculpture House is soft and easy to carve – a smart choice for beginning stone sculptors and more experienced carvers. It’s imported, with deep, rich, dark-green shades throughout. Minor color variations make it a favorite; beautiful when polished to a high sheen. Available in 4-pound, 8-pound and 10-pound (approximate weight) blocks. Certified asbestos-free. 772-210-6124 customerrelations@sculpturehouse.com sculpturehouse.com

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new true Sakura’s Gelly Roll family now includes 15 new colors. Fine point Moonlight 06 offers earth, jewel and gray tones to complete a spectrum of opaque shades. It’s a great addition to the existing bright Moonlights. The unique paint-like quality and quick-drying ink is ideal for both white and dark papers. See us at NAMTA booth 718. 800-776-6257 sakuraofamerica.com Artwork by Flavia Chan

The new Zebra ClickArt features a bullet tip in a retractable design with vibrant water-based-dye ink. The ink formulation doesn’t dry out if left retracted – it provides the convenience of a retractable pen with the creative possibilities of a marker. The perfect addition to the Zebra Creative Collection! See us at NAMTA booth 727. 800-247-7170 zeninfo@zebrapen.com zebrapen.com

Micro Tools from Flexcut let you carve extra-fine expressive details that make designs pop – mouths, eyes, feathers, scales, hair – and every kind of texture. Choose from 36 different chisels, sweeps, deep “V”s, “U”s, and skews, ranging from 1.5mm to 6mm. Ergonomic ash handles allow long periods of carving without hand fatigue. 800-524-9077, flexcut.com.

NEW Cos-Tools from Logan Graphic Products are cutting tools for making cosplay costumes. They can be used on all types of suitable EVA foams up to 1-inch (13 mm) thick along with various thermoplastics. See us at NAMTA booth 1608. 800-331-6232, cos-tools.com

Pro 4000 is a medium-tack paper application tape for vinyl graphics used in sign making and surface protection. Pro 4000 is excellent for use on medium and large plotters, and exceptional on die-cut graphics. It works well with pre-spaced lettering, 2 to 12 inches, small one-piece decals and mid-sized line stripping. 1-800-345-0234 ext. 133 protapes.com

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Tim Holtz Alloys are reflective, metallic, acid-free inks. Unique metal powders create intense metallic highlights when combined with Alcohol Inks and Alcohol Blending Solution on non-porous surfaces. Use on Alcohol Ink Yupo, Alcohol Ink Hard-Core Panels, Alcohol Ink Cardstock, metal, glass, glazed tiles and more! See us at NAMTA booth 419. rangerink.com

Double-ended watercolor brush pens from Staedtler feature dye-based ink for rich and brilliant color. Use as they are or watch the magic happen when a bit of water is added for beautiful washes and color blends. Two tips make it versatile. Ideal for fine art, illustration, hand lettering, journaling and more. See us at NAMTA booth 828. staedtler.com The new Neopaque Sneaker Series Set from Jacquard includes eight highly-requested “factory colors” – essential for restoring classic sneakers and re-creating iconic colorways. With unparalleled coverage, durability and permanence on surfaces from fabric to leather to vinyl, the Neopaque paints hold up to wear and washing better than any other paint available. See us at NAMTA booth 1301. 707-433-9577, jacquardproducts.com

Metal Light Pad Support Bars make it easy to combine Studio Designs’ classic glass-top drawing tables with our Artograph LightPad LX series. Available in black or silver, the bars are affordable accessories that instantly transform a drafting table to a light table for tracing. See us at NAMTA booth 1011. sales@studiodesigns.com studiodesigns.com

The Quarto Group creates beautiful books for curious and passionate minds of all ages and skill levels. Discover these fantastic books and more art instruction and crafting titles at quartoknows.com. See us at NAMTA booth 1420.

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Artful Behavior

Vacationing artists shopping for travel paint and brush sets may not want an easel, but show them the sturdy little Bob Ross Travel Easel anyway. It weighs just over a pound, holds a standard-sized canvas, and sets up in a few easy steps. Insert a canvas into the channel on the wooden base. Place the clamp on the cord over the top edge. Find the remaining tail of the cord (it extends from the easel’s base) and pull it until the clamp is taut and the canvas secure. Lock it by pulling the tail through the slit in the base. The nonslip disks on the bottom prevent it from moving. See us at NAMTA booth 1412. bobross.com

“ How are artists using these products?”

The list of potential customers for B&B etchall is a long one. CEO Barbara Bosler begins: “Stained glass artists etchall their sandblasted art to make it smooth and fingerprint-proof, and decorative painters etchall their glass pieces before they paint them to give them ‘tooth.’ Beginning makers/artists use it with stencils to decorate mirrors, marble, slate glass and porcelain projects; and rubber stampers and scrapbookers use it to personalize their framed pages.” “There have been so many innovations with it, I can’t keep count,” Barbara adds. “In my wildest dreams I never thought it would be used to etch 100 windows in a correctional center or repair the glaze on chipped bathtubs. “When people see how easy it is to use, etchall sells!” she says. See etchall crème, liquid and other products at etchall.com.

As plein air season approaches, thoughts go to slowing down the drying time of acrylic paints in the outdoor air. GOLDEN OPEN Acrylics, with their increased working time, are a good solution. They’re very versatile. Not only can they can be used for traditional techniques once considered possible only with oils – like plein air – they’re also effective for screen and monoprinting. Pair them with gel printing plates for a fun and no-fuss in-store demo. Show plein air painters how the OPEN colors give them time to blend and soften edges on their canvas. Squeeze colors into a sealable container to show that they remain wet and ready for the next painting session. See us at NAMTA booth 518. goldenpaints.com

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Pottery is benefitting from a pendulum swing. Here’s what Vogue had to say: “More than an emerging market or au courant hobby, amid our can’t-stop, don’t-stop, won’t-stop, tech-addicted culture, pottery connects us to the earth when the world might as well be coming undone.” Xiem Tools for work in clay, sculpture and polymer were created by artist and industrial designer Kevin Nguyen. “I often thought, “I wish there was a tool that does this,” he said. “When there wasn’t one, I designed it.” Xiem Tools are made from high-quality materials like tempered stainless steel and hand-sanded beech hardwood. We believe they help artists optimize their performance and experience joy.” xiemtoolsusa.com

Specialty Racks from Saturn Rack/A.W.T. World Trade are effective solutions for salvaging flood-damaged art. A variety of affordable and rust-resistant racks are available, and they hold multiple pieces of art at the same time. According to “How to Safely Dry Wet Documents & Art” from cerf+, freezing wet artwork after a flood stabilizes it and buys time for salvaging. To air-dry, set up an area with fans – just to circulate air – and a clothesline for hanging durable papers, prints and photos. Blot artwork to remove excess moisture, and hang it or place it on absorbent materials on flat surfaces, like the rack’s shelves. See us at NAMTA booth 414. dryingandstorageracks.com

After 40 years of research and development, USUI has created U-Kolin, a line of synthetic-filament brushes with superior quality and new technology beyond natural Kolinsky. That’s good news for artists whose brushes need to be springy, pointed, easy to use … and affordable. It’s also good news for animal lovers, who are trading their animal-hair brushes for synthetic alternatives – which have become increasingly effective in mimicking the delicate shape and texture of actual fur. Many can also boast longevity and reliability. Choosing a brush is such a personal preference. Make sure your customers can test-drive all options in-store with water and a Buddha board or Magic Water painting paper. sales@usui-brush.com usuibrush.usuigroup.com

Getting perspective just right can be frustrating. Experts today still argue about Caravaggio, the master of perspective, and his “Supper at Emmaus.” Are the hands of Jesus and the disciple too small or too big? And don’t even get them started on the table in Dürer’s “St. Jerome in His Study.” But everyone agrees if your perspective is wrong, it ruins a great start. When it’s right, your work instantly improves. The Artist Angle is a handy and compact tool that helps artists get it right. It eliminates the math and simplifies triangulation to capture perspective of objects, and hold relationships for later replication. (6 by .75 inches folded) artistangle.com Q1 2020 • ArtMaterialsRetailer.com

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Welcomes 5 New Advertisers! Tell our advertisers you saw their products in Art Materials Retailer magazine! Company

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A.W.T. World Trade

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Anest Iwata SPARMAX Co., Ltd.

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Artist Supplies & Products

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B & B Etching Products, Inc.

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Bob Ross, Inc.

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Environmental Medicine

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General Pencil Co.

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Golden Artist Colors, Inc.

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Grafix

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Itoya of America

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Jack Richeson & Co.

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Jacquard Products

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Lindy’s Stamp Gang

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Logan Graphic Products

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NAMTA

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Pro Tapes & Specialties Inc.

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Ranger Industries

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Royal Brush Mfg

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Sakura of America

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Sculpture House

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Staedtler-Mars Limited

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Studio Designs

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The Artist Angle

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The Japanese Paper Place

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The Quarto Group / SmartLab Toys

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Usui Brush, Inc.

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Xiem Tools USA

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Zebra Pen Corporation

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Crafter’s Companion is a market-leading craft-supply firm headquartered in England. Founded in 2005, the company employs close to 200 people and supplies products to more than 30 countries worldwide. In 2016, Crafter’s Companion U.S. was created and operates from a 31,000-square-foot facility in Corona, California. Among the company’s bestsellers are the Spectrum Noir Colouring System and The Ultimate Crafter’s Companion all-in-one papercrafting tool. See the ad on Insde Back Cover. Lindy’s Stamp Gang in Ephrata, Washington, offers spray mists, embossing powders, stamps, “Squirts” – permanent inks with a thicker consistency for pouring and painting; and “Magicals” – powdered dye-based pigments that stain rather than float in mediums. New in the line are chunky-rock, super-fine, and metal embossing powders. Because Magicals are very potent, only a tiny amount is needed to colorize most porous surfaces. See the ad on page 36. Logan Graphic Products has been family-owned and operated in Chicago since 1974. It’s known for its comprehensive line of matcutting equipment and accessories, including solutions for crafters and hobbyists, artists and photographers, and professional framers. Among the company’s innovations are the first inexpensive handheld oval and circle mat cutter, the first “push-pull” surface v-groover, and a brand new line of cosplay making tools. See the ad on page 26. Natural Earth Paint was founded in 2011 when a professional artist, mom and environmentalist started making her own paint. Using natural earth, mineral pigments and organic ingredients, she created a line of art supplies for children and fine artists that is safe, sustainable, beautiful and archival. They come in locally made 100-percent postconsumer recycled packaging, biodegradable plastic bags and recyclable glass bottles. See the ad on page 45. The Japanese Paper Place was founded by Nancy Jacobi in 1975 after she spent a year as a teacher in Japan. Surrounded by exquisite papers she had never seen before, Nancy imagined the creative power they could unleash back home. Today, the company offers an endless variety of decorative and art papers in sheets and rolls, all made in Japan, and stocked in its Toronto warehouse. See the ad on page 23.

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“Upcycled Art” continued from page 46

masterpieces with landfill-worthy objects long before recycling was fashionable. Now that it is fashionable, art-supply stores are selling products considered more craft than art to an increasing number of assemblage artists. Mark Hammon, co-owner of Nevada Fine Art (see the article on page 17) stocks Mod Podge, plus adhesives and mediums typically categorized as “craft” items, for his assemblage and mixed-media customers. Like El Anatsui, Richard believes in visually retaining the past lives of his art’s components. “I try to create art that causes the viewer to start seeing old things, discarded things, items around them everywhere, as having beauty of color and texture,” he says. “I take old surfaces and without changing their color and texture, make them part of something colorful, genuine, and beautiful. “I have always loved old things,” he adds. “Virtually all the artwork I have ever made uses only old items, old paper, and old bits and pieces with old patina. This comes from a desire to be different from most current artists and a desire to share the surfaces and things I love.” Richard’s art-making process is “low tech,” he says. His tools include a drill, a hammer, scissors, a chop-saw, glue and screws. “He plays with the patina and texture of the materials he uses, exploiting the alligatoring and reticulation of surfaces that occurred over time,” said a 2012 article in Buffalo Spree. To enhance the patina of metals in particular, for instance, he applies a secret formula of solvents and stain – a mixture he calls “mud.” It may sound like his supplies come from salvage yards and hardware stores only, but Buffalo’s legendary Hyatt’s art store is an important resource. “I’ve been there many times – I’m on file there,” says Richard. “I use a lot of black markers and inks to touch up edges, hide saw cuts, and blend borders. It’s where I buy brads, varnish, brushes and picture-frame moulding. It’s a source for the waxes and fillers I use to cover holes and cracks, and for flat lacquer, cleaners, fixatives, cloth adhesives, and bag erasers.”

Other artists are environmentally motivated Thirty-seven years ago, The United Nations established the World Commission on Environment and Development to encourage global cooperation toward sustainable. The group, now called the Brundtland Commission, first worked to define sustainable development in art. The guidelines it created in 1987, including the definition of sustainable development, have helped individuals and industries make environmentally conscious decisions ever since, says In Good Taste. “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” “Artists embraced this definition,”

NAMTA Booth #1201

says the article, “and as a result have created works that leverage unique media and send powerful messages about climate change, political policy, and social injustice.” While the number of artists adopting increasingly eco-friendly practices is growing, some cultures have been implementing these principles for centuries. Upcycling has been practiced in Japan since the 15th century. Kintsugi, repairing broken pottery with gold, avoids waste, celebrates imperfection, and honors worn objects. Just like Richard.

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n d c a p

Upcycled Art

Honors Old Objects

by Tina Manzer

The art of Richard Rockford, an antiques dealer and artist from Buffalo, is created with found pieces. It is often mistakenly referred to as “recycled.” “When an object is recycled, it goes through

Richard’s fascination with the wooden type and equipment of letterpress printing includes vintage printed signs that promoted everything from local politicians to grocery store specials. They are highly prized. Like noted Australian artist Rosalie Gascoigne – whose work he admires – Richard slices the signs into rectangles, squares and other shapes and arranges the pieces into grids. His antique business specializes in historic letterpress, including antique wooden type and poster blocks, which were manufactured by a company in Buffalo.

industrial processes of transmutation that erase nearly all traces of both the original object and the industrial processes it has undergone,” wrote art and literature critic Louis Bury. He was describing the art of El Anatsui, an internationally acclaimed artist who works with discarded liquor-bottle caps, printing plates and food graters. “By contrast, incorporating an object into an artistic assemblage retains both the original object and the evidence of the artist’s hand. Preferring to work with used materials because they have a past, El Anatsui’s repurposed objects display a visible connection to their prior incarnations in a way that industrially recycled materials do not.” Upcycled art “is created from material previously

Invaluable. “Largely due to the world’s growing plastic problem, artists use materials that would otherwise be in landfills to create their work. “Upcycling is also a guiding force behind a brand new industry, as it has proven valuable to artists who are looking to make something unique, environmentallyfriendly, and loved by consumers.”

deemed unusable, unwanted, or broken. It is a form of sustainable art that has gained traction in recent years,” says In Good Taste, the blog of online auction site

Environmentally motivated? For Richard, not really. At 73, he’s been creating

Do you?

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An Update from Namta Art Materials World in April Rescheduled – See us in Chicago in July Due to the increased spread of COVID-19, and with the safety and well-being of its membership as the top priority, Namta’s Board of Directors has postponed Art Materials World 2020. It has successfully secured new dates –July 18-20, 2020 – at both the Hyatt Regency Chicago and Navy Pier. At this time the association asks that you do not cancel your reservations at the Hyatt or make new reservations for July. Please watch for correspondence from NAMTA with details on how all changes are to be made. In an effort to ensure as smooth a transition as possible to the new dates, the Namta staff is working diligently to finalize all details. “We would like to sincerely thank you for your patience and understanding while we worked towards the best decision for both our membership and the association regarding the upcoming Art Materials World event,” said Leah Siffringer, CAE, Namta executive director. “We hope that all remain safe.” In the meantime, ads in this issue of Art Materials Retailer offer buyers a preview of what they’ll see this summer. They represent new creative ideas, hot trends and current bestsellers. Contact the advertisers directly to discover what’s ready to ship now. Artistic trends are a theme throughout the magazine. Read the roundup of ideas and products spotted at the year’s first tradeshows (p24), and compare them to the ads – you’ll see how well industry manufacturers translate trends into art materials. Discover the magic of Nevada Fine Arts, a store at the gateway to Burning Man (p17); and “upcycling” artist Richard Rockford, whose found-art assemblages are enhanced using products from his local art store (p46). And read about Art Materials World (p12). The show’s exciting new initiatives will still be new in July, and they are absolutely worth waiting for.