Logo update for Artists UK

Over the years we have improved our ecommerce software for www.artistsuk.co.uk, purchased www.abandonart.co.uk and grown our information site at www.artistsuk.net but somehow, even when the AUK DotNet logo was being designed by our German media company, we never got round to doing anything about our original logo. Now we have! Instead of the flat static logo we used to have, we now have a more vibrant and active logo. I guess that means we'll have to get on and do some work now instead of sitting here babbling away on the blogs :-)

Christmas 2008 on it's way - last posting dates!

The last posting dates for Christmas 2008 within the UK are as follows -

• Last First Class Recorded posting date for Christmas 2008 = Saturday 20th December
• Last Special Delivery posting date for Christmas 2008 = Tuesday 23rd December (best to order early to avoid having to upgrade to Special Delivery)

The last airmail posting date for Christmas 2008 to go to Western Europe = Friday 12th December

The last airmail posting date for Christmas 2008 for Japan, USA, Canada and Eastern Europe (Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Malta and Iceland) = Wednesday 10th December

For Christmas 2008 the last posting date for South & Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Far East, Asia, New Zealand and Australia = Friday 5th December.

Why are we listing all these? Well, if you want to buy something as a Christmas present at Artists UK then I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that we always have a dispatch on each one of these last posting dates.

How many did he do?

Even after all these years I still see the occasional album cover by Roger Dean that I don't recall having seen before. Roger Dean did many famous covers for Yes, Asia, Uriah Heep, Greenslade, Budgie and many other bands in the seventies and onwards. How many? Who knows? Maybe he doesn't even know himself. If you are a fan opf Roger Dean or the bands like Yes, Asia or Greenslade or if you have no idea what I'm rambling on about and would like to see on the basis that a picture is worth more than a babbling blog then click here.

Alexandra Dawe - new prints

We've waited ages for these larger format art prints from rising new star artist Alexandra Dawe and finally, despite only being a few weeks away from having her first baby, the new art prints have arrived and stunning they are too! Her artwork has matured incredibly, probably due to all the film design work she has been involved in over the last few years. She is still early on in her art career so the smart money is on getting her early artwork now while it is still at good prices. Who knows, it could be the best investment you've ever made. The new art prints are on this link here. You'll need to navigate back from there using the "up" button at the top if you want to see the smaller art prints or use the other link to view and buy her original paintings and other artwork.

Inflation or what!

Listening to an old album called 'Fresh Liver' (they came from Liverpool ... geddit?) from the early seventies by The Scaffold (famous for having Paul McCartney's brother Mike in the band under the name Mike McGear) I was struck by the sketch where the Elvis-like pop singer boasts that last year after tax he cleared £15,000. Now that really makes you realise how much things have changed in only some 30 years. It makes you wonder if a similar modern boast of half a million will only buy you a packet of peanuts in another 30 years :-)

No thanks, I'd like a new one!

Aren't spelling mistakes wonderful! I came across an article that talked about the need for a sworn translator, which is a translator who is authorised by a court of law to validate their own translations. In other words, they are specialised legal translators. Other translators can go into court to have their translations certified but only a sworn translator can validate their own work. Unfortunately though, this article had left the 's' off the beginning of the word leaving them with a worn translator who would presumably produce worn translations rather than new ones :-)

Introducing Abandon Art

Fantasy, Horror and Surreal Art at Abandon Art

Probably the first fantastic art gallery on the web - ever!

The famous Abandon Art Gallery of Fantastic Art was based upon the success of the original physical Abandon Art gallery owned by Steve Jackson (the original founder of Games Workshop and writer of many fantasy gaming books etc). Abandon Art was the world's first gallery exclusively devoted to Fantasy and Science Fiction art. The gallery opened its virtual doors in 1995 with The Visionaries; later, were unveiled two new wings: Terry Pratchett's Discworld and The Daniel Woods Collection and then the Wonderland Suite with its incredible 'Alice in Wonderland' paintings. Another addition at around this time was the beautiful Rivendell by Alan Lee inspired by the place of the same name in JRR Tolkien's books 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings'. Alan Lee of course, went forward from his fame as an illustrator of Tolkien's works to being a major artistic consultant on Peter Jackson's three Lord of The Rings Tolkien films.

The supplying of Limited Edition prints etc to customers of the site has always been handled by Artists UK and in January 2004 Artists UK purchased Abandon Art. We aim to grow the site and display more great works by major artists as well as hopefully making some of the currently unavailable Limited Editions available again.