My article about New Carlsberg Glyptotek now in Spanish

Art magazine Editorial Croquis in Buenos Aires has run my article about New Carlsberg Glyptotek in Spanish.
See the article "Nuevo Carlsberg Glyptotek".
To the right one of several Gaugin paintings and a photo from the wintergarden.

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Interactive Lecture

The only thing I need is a projector and a fast line to the internet.
The only thing I bring is myself.
On the internet I have made 1950 web pages to choose from.
And as every image on these pages represents one or several stories my lecture can go on for ever.
In the past I have made a lot of lectures. In schools, in universities, in companies, in associations, in counties, in municipalities - you name it.
I thought the preparations were very time-consuming and boring, and I often did not use the pictures, the slides, the transparents etc. etc. that I had prepared.
Questions and remarks from the audience often altered the whole context of the lecture.

The article "Who is Aros - who is Bill..." now in Spanish - printout of the art magazine Croquis, Buenos Aires.

Editorial Croquis has printed the article "Who is Aros - who is Bill..." about the art museum Aros in Denmark and about Bill Violas exhibition at Aros.

By Asbjorn Lonvig

New Article: Two genuine Rembrandts found in Copenhagen...

The National Gallery in Copenhagen found two genuine Rembrandt paintings by the master himself in their archives.
Two paintings that have lived a life of obscurity in the collections at the National Gallery after having been rejected as genuine Rembrandts at different points during the 20th century.
Photos by SMK Foto (permission granted)

Article to World Wide Art Resources Art News, USA and to ADN World ArtNews, Japan about Aros and Bill Viola.

Hi Asbjorn Lonvig
Thanks for ... ? magnificent article? Thanks

Bjarne Bækgaard
Communication manager
Aros Art Museum
Aarhus
Denmark

Merchandise...On-demand manufacturing...

Bastardize!
Last time we met I told you about my Art Portals.
Phase 2 of my Art Portal project is to bastardize every single of my art works on the Art Portals.
Bastardize is - as you might have guessed - not at all my favorite term for this.
I call it merchandise.
I could not agree less with the phrase bastardize.
I call it to communicate the essence of a good art work to as many people as possible.
So Phase 2 of my Art Portal Project is to create merchandise products based on my art works.

Now I needed a piece of software:
that could help med create merchandise products
that could exhibit my merchandise products
that could allow me to exhibit the merchandise products on my Art Portals
that could receive orders and payment from the customers
that could allow the customers to customize the merchandise product
that could produce the customized merchandise product on-demand (...let us call it on-demand manufacturing)
that could send the product to the customer.

Until now my Art Portals have dealt with on-demand printing.
My ambition to create merchandise products on-line for sale on the internet presumes on-demand manufacturing.
I want to create T-shirts, mugs, posters, greeting cards, postcards, hats, bags ties aprons, ties, mouse pads, stickers, bottons etc. based on existing art works.

I have been looking around.
In Europe.
In Asia.
In Australia.
In Africa.
In South America.

And of course I found my piece of software in North America.
In The United States, in San Jose - in Silicon Valley.
This piece of software is made by real computer nerds.
Technically it is second to none.
It's called zazzle.com.
My new name is zazzle.com/lonvig*
The users of zazzle.com are young creative people with a substantial computer background and as far as I can tell most of the users are from north-west United States and south-west Canada.
I can use the technical superciliousness of zazzle.com and make it user friendly by integrating it into my Art Portals.
I found zazzle.com on 13 January 2007.
So far I have made 700 merchandise products and integrated these products into my Art Portals.
My goal is 1000 merchandise products.
No more talk.
Let me show you some samples.


I hope there are no rules aginst using shockwave-flash technique here - so, let's take advantage of being on-line!!!
The PANELs below are the PANELs shown on each of my Art Portals.
The merchandice products in the PANELs are shown with the most popular product first.


Aarhus City Art Portal with 7 motifs.
See the th 55 or more merchandise products in San Jose
and in the Panel below




Shanghai Chambers of Commerce Art Portal with 2 motifs.
See the 7 or more merchandise products in San Jose
and in the Panel below




The Dansih Parliament Art Portal with 6 motifs.
See the 26 or more merchandise products in San Jose
and in the PANEL below




The Guggenheim Museum Art Portal with 3 motifs.
See the 18 or more merchandise products in San Jose
and in the PANEL below




The BG Bank Art Portal with 7 motifs.
See the 26 or more merchandise products in San Jose
and in the PANEL below




The Children's Museum (...my fairy tale characters) Art Portal with 26 motifs.
See the 131 or more merchandise products in San Jose
and in the PANEL below




Finally for your entertainment (US citizens only)
Zazzle.com is authorized to approve US Postal stamps.
So far I have made 50 or more stamps for all you guys in The US.
I would be very happy to know if any of you US citicens intend to use my stamps.
See them in the PANEL below
and you might order the stamps in a sheet of 20 in San Jose



You might have seen 5 stars under a motif in the PANELs above - that's visitor's ratings.
If you want to see more PANELs you have to explore them yourself on Art Portals.
Or you might explore them on an extended version of this blog entry on my web site.

Thoughts
I know I have to be aware of my own fascination of technically good software due to my past as a software engineer.
zazzle.com is technically good software.
I have to see the software as a tool and only bring is along if it is possible to make it user friendly.
I look forward to see what happens with Phase 2 of my Art Portals project.
Phase 2, which implements merchandise by on-demand manufacturing.


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Article "Digital Print on Canvas???"

I would like to ask your opinion.
Once an art work has been digitized you can print it.
Usually you print on paper.
Or cloth.
Or plastic.
Or....

On this huge printer I can print in nearly any size.
On several surfaces.
One of them is canvas.

One day I printed the motif "1 Cathedral Square" on canvas.
It seamed unreal, it seamed unfair, I felt as if I violated some basic rules.
Unreal because a canvas usually takes hours and hours to paint.
Unfair because all the troubles you have during the painting process had disappeared.

But it was amazing.
The quality of the print was that of a serigraph.
The paint layer was thick giving you the color depth and not least the color fastness of the serigraph.
And I felt this smell of quality serigraph colors drying......
The smell in the room was like when you print silk screen prints.
Another thing is that canvas is much more durable than paper.

I would never be able to paint this motif so perfectly.
My son Morten paints much better than I do.
He might be able to do it.

This tiny close up photo of the print on canvas tells the whole story.
The close up is of a basement window.
And as you can see the texture of the canvas sure is there.




The visual differences between a painting and the print on canvas are:
In the painting you can see the brushstrokes.
You can see the painter's shaking hand.
From a technical point of view you might prefer the print?
From an artistic point of view you might prefer the painting?
Of course there is a difference in price.
A unique painting is more expensive than a print.

I was lucky to win The World of Art Award 2006 competition.
This competition seeks to attract artists, galleries, museums who are redefining standards of art excellence challenging existing trends
and tendencies in art and culture.
To celebrate this I'll market editions of 100 prints on canvas knowing that it might be controversial.

See my efforts.
And - if you like - you might visit my new web site lonvig.biz with vision and prices.

I'll continue my investigations, just now we are printing huge canvases for Lauritz.com auctions.
And then one large "Blue Sky - Guggenheim" to a North Atlantic customer.

Thoughts
I think people who like to have a print on canvas and not a painting on canvas should be offered the possibility
as long as there is no doubt what so ever which ones are printed and which one is painted.
For instance by writing number/edition in the lower left corner and by printing "Digital Art Laboratory" in the lower right corner below the signature.

And
I can't resist this opportunity to show you my work from last week - text posters:





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Beijing...Cambridge...Dallas...

I'll tell you what "in Beijing" has to do with my new Corner Project, or we might more ambitiously call it my Channel Concept.
It is about writing articles and other news in a blog exclusively used by me and the visitors of an online gallery, newsletter, newspaper, magazine or some other portal. Comments and questions from visitors will then create an Interactive Lecture like situation. The first project is launched tomorrow at ArtistsRepublik.com in Cambridge, UK.

Yesterday I hosted a new domaine www.lonvig.org at Planet's in Dallas Texas. www.lonvig.org is primarily for promoting writings and lecturing.
Finally I'll tell you how I obtain back linking to www.lonvig.org.

AbsoluteArts.com has got its own Art News Artblog news feed.

The address of the new AbsoluteArts Art News Artblog news feed is:
http://blog.absolutearts.com/blogs/absolutearts.xml

See the button on Absolutearts.com.

New Article "Search Engine Strategies for Success: 2006" by John Wooton and Asbjorn Lonvig

by John Wooton Author and Creator, The SEO Journal Blog and Asbjorn Lonvig.



 
Readers of my latest Art News Artblog have asked me to write about how I got a relatively good presence on the internet. Yesterday's statistics: 150,000 hits on Google.com and 100,000 hits on Yahoo.com on the search term "lonvig" and 64,708 hits and 1,176,552,123 bytes transferred per day on my web site www.lonvig.dk.





 



John Wooton: As you know, every year is always rocked by a plethora of changes in the search engine marketing world. The acquisition of smaller companies by the Big 3 changes the marketing landscape as we know it every month and with every update to the index that is made, we hold our breath and hope that we come out better (if not, the same) in the end. So when it comes to the new year, there are many things that we should look out for to stay on top of the rankings.



1. Quality Content: I say this so often and I cannot overemphasize this enough: Content is KING! Search engine spiders, crawl the net to find what? Content! Your site has information (hopefully) that you want the spiders to see and include in their index. By the creation and publication of quality content, you give the search engines more reason to return. You are feeding them what they want. In 2006, you should be finding creative ways to get your content noticed and viewed as well as finding creative ways to publish fresh content on a regular basis. A very good way this is done is through the use of message boards (hosted on your site) and by blogs (enabling you to publish more frequently).



Asbjorn Lonvig:



Tell a story. Every time I enter something on the internet, on my own website or another web site like an online gallery I tell a story. Like what Jose Dali said about my fairy tale character Crab-Mac-Claw or Alice Garibaldi's view of my computer drafts of sculptures in Rome. For search engine optimization and submission to selected search engines I use the software IBP Internet Business Promoter by Axandra, Germany. For check of meta tags I use the free Meta Tag Analyzer from Submitexpress.com. This is to ensure 100 % title relevancy to page content, 100 % description relevancy to page content and 100 % keyword relevancy to page content.



 



 




Don't focus on your web main page (index page) - focus on every page, only 1.56 % of my visitors enter through the web main page.




__________________



 



John Wooton:



2. Don't Overextend Your Link Exchange Structure: Backlinks were a popular way to increase your rankings fast in the search engines. The tradition holds: find a PR7 website and trade backlinks and you'll be indexed in Google within 24 hours. That strategy still holds true and is beneficial for new web sites. But in my opinion the days of tremendous link swapping are coming to an end. Many website have been founded with the purpose of allowing you to exchange links with other web sites. This has caused a massive influx of web masters who want to exchange a ton of links with the hope that it will help them in the search engines. But what really matters when it comes to links is the amount of quality one way backlinks that direct users to your website. You want the balance of links to be in your favor, that is what leads to success. Also, there has been talk of search engines taking notice of these "link farms" and penalizing those who take part in them. So if you do take part in link exchanges, please be moderate in respect to the number of exchanges you take part in.



Asbjorn Lonvig:



I do not concentrate upon links any more. I only make links that are relevant to my content. If I am asked to link to a Kangaroo farm in Canberra, New South Wales, Australia, I sure will do it. Now and then I run a Link Popularity Check on my online galleries to check their degree of presence on the internet. The Link Popularity Check program is free and it is from Axandra, Germany. Absolutearts.com has the highest link popularity of all online galleries.




__________________



 



John Wooton:



3. RSS and XML: Two new technologies that have begun to take center stage especially in 2005 include a programming language that has been around for several years called XML. XML is short for extensible markup language and is a derivative from HTML. The main difference is your ability to create descriptive tags for your data. This has led to the advent of RSS or real simple syndication. RSS is a way for you to publish your data to an XML file hosted on your site. Users subscribe to your RSS feed via the XML file and whenever you make a changes to your XML file they are notified. It's become a major technology used by news agencies and bloggers alike as a simple method of publishing your information across a wide variety of platforms. XML has also proved useful with the Google Site maps program, newly released in 2005. The optional tags available with the XML site map allow you to be descriptive about the individual pages on your site including dates the individual pages were modified. There are some small things you need to pay attention to when creating this: namely you have to follow the Google xml schema, and you have to be diligent about tracking and fixing errors in the code. But if used correctly, it is a great way to help Google index the hidden pages of your website due to javascript or flash.



Asbjorn Lonvig:





I have made an RSS to all main pages on my web site and an RSS to every online gallery. I use the FeedForAll RSS feed creation tool to built my own RSSs. This way I have built 73 "hand made" RSSs. I use the following blogging systems for posting a lot of news and for automatic building of RSSs, ATOM feeds and RDFs: Blogger.com, Blogger.dk, Blog.com, Bloglines.com, Spaces.msn.com, Squarespace.com, Angelfire.com and Artday.org. Artday.org is Japanese. It is from Tokyo. And so is the image to the left. It's the Tokyo skyline with Tokyo Tower. The title is "Tokyo Moonlight". All of the above RSSs, ATOM feeds and RDFs - both my own "hand made" RSSs and the RSSs, ATOM feeds and RDFs generated automatically by blogging systems - are submitted to selected directories and search engines with the software RSS FEEDS Submit from rssfeedssubmit.com - if you need an introduction to RSS news feeds, you'll find it on rssfeedssubmit.com. I have built one site map in English and one in Danish.




___________________



 



John Wooton:



4. Stay away from Flash and Javascript for the time being: Flash and Javascript are very powerful tools for creating dynamic and eye catching web sites. The most prominent problem with the two technologies is that the spiders can't index through them (at least not yet). This limits your ability to have the search engines index portions of your site. Many have speculated that the Big 3 are working on solving this problem, but for the time being, avoid or limit your use of these technologies. 5. Avoid Unethical SEO: There are a lot of programs out there that help you to achieve maximum link back ratios in a very short amount of time. Some of them are good; some are bad. In fact, some of them will waste your effort trying to post trivial comments on blogs or trying to maximize your link exchanges. In my opinion, you should seek success in SEM the right, ethical way. Seek out honest web companies to exchange a moderate amount of links with. Post only relevant comments to forums and blogs because that behavior leads to lasting link backs. Also, don't try to manipulate your website to make it appear to have a higher PR than you really do. Google sees that one!



Asbjorn Lonvig:



I stay away from Flash and.....
I stay away from unethical SEO.




_____________________



 



John Wooton:



6. Last, but not least, Articles: There is a little bit of controversial talk about whether it is right to post articles for free use in directories. In my opinion, you are providing a well needed service to web masters and I don't see this one as a potential loss for 2006. Information is valuable. And web sites that need content (especially fresh content) desire what you do to make their efforts a success. So it is natural for your web site rankings to benefit through backlinks from those articles. It's a win win situation. One other thought on this subject. Right now, the search engines can punish web sites for having duplicate content, and that is an argument that many will propose. But, the search engines will usually only punish you if the html format of a web site is similar, not a couple of articles. So posting articles is safe for now. But be cautious. Many lucrative methods of ethical SEO can be turned into a problem when too many people attempt to abuse the technology. So that's it. Short, but informative. SEO is both an art and a technology that we have to use correctly for the right type of success. Who knows what the year ahead may bring, but playing your cards right, you can achieve success and avoid any pitfalls that may come.



Asbjorn Lonvig:





This Art News Artblog article is an example of Articles. I write articles to as you know WWAR/Absolutearts, to Editorial Qroquis - a printed art magazine in Buenos Aires (translated into Spanish) and ADN World ArtNews in Tokyo. Furthermore my articles are published on selected RSSes of my own, on all the blogging systems mentioned above and on the online gallery ArtCad.com in Paris. To keep track of the effect of my efforts to have a relatively good internet presence I use a server based statistic system on my web hotel called InSite. I use Google Alerts to continuously inform me what new things of mine have been indexed. Occasionally I check presence on Yahoo.com. And then I check the online galleries. January 2006 WWAR/Absolutearts topped with 73,000 hits followed by ArtWanted in Salt Lake City with 21,000 hits. Other online galleries like Yessy.com in Denver Colorado had 17,000 hits and a new online galley in Paris - ArtPourTous - had reached 4000 visitors. "Grand Maitre" to the right - that is Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - is of course exhibited in Paris. I'm working hard to produce decent traffic on all online galleries.



 



__________________



 



Asbjorn Lonvig:




Thoughts. Your sales has nothing to do with your artistic talent, with your exhibition at Chicago Athenaeum or with nice words written about your art in a French book on "How to communicate through pictures". It's all about your internet presence???



Thanks. I want to thank John Wooton Author and Creator, The SEO Journal Blog for permitting me to use his article "Search Engine Strategies for Success: 2006", which I read 5 January 2006 in Entireweb Newsletter.



Questions. Ask all the questions you like in comments to this entry.


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Be careful out there

I have this Commentary on online marketing: Cyberspace is loaded with junk.
Cyberspace is loaded with marketers trying to sell junk - and earn a fortune before sunset.
But you can see if it is junk right away.
Look at the design of a web page.
Look at the design of the e-mail with a fantastic offer.
It is like looking at an art work - trust your eyes - trust your own judgement.
Only you can feel if the sender has put some hard work in the effort to reach your attention.
A part of his own heart.

Cerebral Thrombosis

The head teacher from Hedensted School phoned me recently about noon.
She told me, that my wife, who is a teacher at Hedensted School, could not
speak, she was paralyzed in the right side of her face and in the right arm.
The school secretary had called 911.

Colorful News

I have a lot to tell you. A new exhibition in Paris with the "Bridging Europe" painting.
A new exhibition in Silicon Valley with "1080 Haight Street".
And then of course I must tell you about "Blue Sky" inspired by the Guggenheim building
on Fifth Avenue in New York.

"Thunderbird" from British Columbia Westcoast selection, "Via Sacra" that was exhibited in
"the International Contemporary Art Exhibition" in il Vittoriano in Rome last year, "grand Canyon",
the Noosa Queensland Australia selection , my exhibition in Madrid, Easter Island motifs and... stop, stop, stop, stop. It doesn't work. I have to do it in another way. Let me make a live art magazine for you, let's call it Colorful News.

Great blog....would that we all communicated with each other and our work...or through each other and through our art.

On Tuesday, April 12th, Ellen Fisch said
There is a time when an artist must speak up for him/herself. While promoting an excellent book by Alain Joanes, Abjorn Lonvig has included some of himself. Why not!! And writing in multiple languages adds texture and stimulation!! Loved the image, too! Great blog....would that we all communicated with each other and our work...or through each other and through our art.

"Exposure..." - A never ending visit to the dentist.

I hate to expose myself.
But I have to.
So, no fancy excuses.
I have to advertise.
And be aware of what I do - and why I do it...

Article Racing Cars - The Art Dimension

Exhibition at Aros Art Museum, Denmark

The article "Matisse and Louisiana..." by Asbjorn Lonvig published in Spanish

The article "Matisse and Louisiana..." by Asbjorn Lonvig published in Spanish in the Art Magazine Croquis, Buenos Aires.

Article Fairy Tales in a new Medium - Fairy Tale Posters...

Publidhed 31 May 2006 on WWAR ART NEWS.

I AM IMPRESSED!!! Absolute unique, dedicated, brilliant, excellent.

Searching your web site I have to say that I AM IMPRESSED!!!
Absolute unique, dedicated, brilliant, excellent. I wish the see you. Are you living outside Copenhagen? Actually we are in Stockholm and London, we are passing throw Denmark in regular basis?

Anticipate thanks
Petru Russu
Editor and publisher
World Of Art Magazine
Stockholm/London

Mörbylund 19, 9tr, 182 30 Danderyd, Sweden
17 Ringwood Gardens, London, UK
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Asbjorn Lonvig, artist from Denmark has debuted as correspondent for the art magazine Croquis, Buenos Aires.

The article "Who is Aros - who is bill" is on the front page of Croquis.
In Spanish.
See the front page on Croquis' web site.

New article...How to communicate through pictures...

Wouldn't any of us like to know how? An artist try to communicate. Through writing. Through music. Through movies. Sometimes he succeeds. Sometimes he does not. When his expectation are hight - he might not communicate at all. When his expectations are low - he might communicate exelently. Every artist has his own recepy. Mine is simple shapes and bright colors. Even when I write. Even when I ....... You can't alway believe what is written in newspapers. But if it is written in a book, you have to believe it. Or? I would like to tell you about a new book. It is written by the French author Alain Joannes, who lives in Paris. It is called "Communiques par l'image" - that' s French and means "how to communicate through pictures". It was presented at the prestigous "Salon du Livre" in Paris in March this year. To me it sounds like it's the new bible to artsits, designers etc. You can buy this new bible at Dunod Belive it or not, one of the chapters in this new book is about my painting "soul hurting still". I'll just show the draft of the painting and quote what the author writes:

Once upon a time...run in Art News 26 January 2005

An article to Art News.
A fairy tale about an Artist.
An Artist involved in creating Hans Christian Andersen motifs.
An Artist involved in creating Hans Christian Andersen motifs for use in 2005.
On the 2nd of April 2005, the most well known Dane in the
world, author Hans Christian Andersen, would have been 200
years old. The anniversary is being celebrated with a huge
cultural year devoted to Andersen, both in Denmark and worldwide.

New article "Matisse and Louisiana..." by Danish writer Asbjorn Lonvig

La Gerbe, 1953
The Spray UCLA Collection, Hammer Museum.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Sydney F. Brody
© Succession H. Matisse / CopyDan, 2005
Press photo from http://press.louisiana.dk/






See the article in WWAR Art News, Columbus Ohio. About this famous artist in the wonderful Art Museum called Louisiana. It is in Denmark, Scandinavia. You know of course Louisiana in the United States, but you probably don't know this Louisiana, a Museum of Modern Art.




"But the photos might give you a hint of what my friend in Chicago meant".









See about the Louisiana Architecture and the Louisiana Collection at the Louisiana web site.




The Exhitition "Matisse - a second life"


Louisiana and Museé de Luxembourg in Paris have made a joined venture.
One day the Danish curator and Matisse expert Hanne Finsen asked the director of Louisiana for a cup of coffee.
Later the director offered Hanne Finsen numerous cups of coffee.
The director liked to know more about her idea.
The director is Poul Erik Tojner.


See the article

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A National Gallery, a Dutchman called Rembrandt and HIGHLIGHTS - in Spanish

Una Galería Nacional, un holandés llamado Rembrandt y MOMENTOS CULMINANTES por Asbjorn Lonvig

Now run in ADN World ArtNews in Tokyo, Japan.

The article "Who is Aros - who is Bill" on Aros Art Musem in Aarhus, Denmark and world artist Bill Viola, USA is now run in ADN World ArtNews in Tokyo, Japan.
See it in Tokyo, Japan.


Sincerely,
Asbjorn Lonvig, columnist

New Article: "A whole playground of playhouses..."

Last time I wrote to you it was about a playhouse inspired by Gaudi.
I asked why not build a Picasso playhouse?
A Miro playhouse?
A Matisse playhouse?
Do you know the Austrian painter Hunderdwasser?
A Hundredwasser playhouse would be great fun.
And a Salvador Dali playhouse?


Ed Baron from Baron Conservancy in Wonder Valley near desert oasis city of Twenty Nine Palms, a few miles east of Los Angeles wrote:
"Can't you just see a whole playground of Playhouses? What a wonderful art project. It would certainly tie in with our purpose of preserving Art and Human Nature. Perhaps volunteers will agree to come erect them at the Baron Conservancy?"

First I asked Ed Baron if he was serious?
He answered: OF COURSE I AM SERIOUS.

In order to describe this project to sponsors I have designed a number of new playhouses inspired by the great masters.


Pablo Picasso
I do love very many of Picasso's works.
Once I visited New York I was at MOMA.
In my photo album there is this amazing photo of one of my sons and the Picasso She Goat.
The She Goat is a fairy tale character in the fairy tale "The Baby Carriage and the Sleep Sheep", too.
A staircase up to the door and two windows.
The playhouse you can see to the left.



Leonardo da Vinci
Everybody knows Leonardo da Vinci. Everybody knows da Vinci's masterpiece at le Louvre in Paris.
I have been in Paris a couple of times, last time to see Biblioteque Forney, where they have a collection of my posters.
But I have to visit Mona each time.
This time you were allowed to photo her.
As I returned home I made the Colorful Mona Collection.
You can have Mona in a canvas, in a paper cut-out and now in a playhouse version.
The height is supposed to be 15 feet.



Andy Warhol
I have seen Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans here and there. At AROS Museum of modern art in Aarhus, Denmark I saw an original.
The height is supposed to be 18 feet.



Michelangelo
I saw his renaissance fresco "Creation of Adam" (1508-1512), which is a part of the Sistine Chapel ceiling decoration in the Vatican Museums in Rome. In my opinion God's right hand and Adam's left hand are the essentials of the fresco motif.
I have worked with these two hands in various contexts.
Now these two hands have become a playhouse design.
The height is supposed to be 15 feet.



Salvador Dali
Since I saw Dali's soft watches for the first time I have been fascinated by them.
He was crazy. Really crazy.
I met his son in Rome, we exhibited at the same place, he was a nice, humorous fellow painting nice aqua color motifs from his home city Venice, Italy.
"Like father like son" proved wrong.
The soft watch became the roof of a playhouse.
Height 9 feet.



Christo
Christo Javacheff and Jeanne-Claude de Guillebon are famous for wrapping buildings.
Here a playhouse is wrapped in green and with a blue string.
Height: 10 feet.



Vincent van Gogh
Playhouse inspired by Vincent's chair.
Height: 21 feet.



Joan Miró
I sent all the above designs and a design of a Miró playhouse to Copy-Dan to clear intellectual rights (Copyrights).
All the above have been cleared, but my Miró playhouse was made with a gable painting that was too close to Miró.


______________________________________________________

A question to the blog readers about something else:
Editorial Croquis, which is a printed art magazine and a publishing company in Buenos Aires has run some of my articles about art museums in Spanish.
The director and editor of Editorial Croquis Martin Enriques Gil has asked me to write a book "The Museums of the World by Asbjorn Lonvig", published by Editorial Croquis in Danish, Portuguese, Spanish and English.
And I have answered: I'll do it, I'll find out how.
We need a sponsor for this project.
Do you have any suggestions??
______________________________________________________



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Improving my English

I keep of course track of these - thoroughly.
And put them into my testimonials and critics on my web site for marketing reasons.
I really enjoy this.
But.
But.
But.
But.
There is a reverse of the medal.
Now and then I get really angry responses.
So angry that I can't understand that people can be that upset over art on a web site.
I got an e-mail from Sim Tack, who lives in Belgium.
In the subject of the e-mail he writes:
"you sir, are a disgrace to artists!"]]>

Paraskevidekatriaphobia

About.com says under Urban Legends and Folklore:
Paraskevidekatriaphobics - people afflicted with a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th - are no doubt pricking up their ears just now, buoyed by evidence that their terror may not be so irrational after all. But it's unwise to take solace in a single scientific study (the only one of its kind, so far as I know), especially one so peculiar. I suspect it has more to teach us about human psychology than it does about any particular date on the calendar.

Wise people like myself don't care.
Or am I wise?
No.


On Friday the 13th of August I published my first Art News Artblog. I had worked for days to present myself and my art in a live art Magazine to you.
And of course made a link to Colorful News.
But.
The link did not work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm a fool.

So I'll repeat the link to Colorful News: http://www.lonvig.dk/colorful-news.htm
and check it 7 times.
Sorry!

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I remember nothing after the Tsunami. Who am I?

Who am I?
I have lost my parents.
I am in the Phuket Hospital.
I remember nothing after the Tsunami.
Do you know who I am?

2006 - a happy new year...

Good morning - it's 1 January 2006. Yesterday I performed all traditional Danish rituals in order to enter 2006 in a happy way. In order to make 2006 a Happy New Year. A splendid seafood dinner, serpentines, table bombs, funny hats, lots of rockets etc. Except one traditional Danish ritual. I was not drunk. No beer. No vine. No drinks. No champagne. Lots of mineral water. My entrance to 2006 was vertical. Not horizontal as it often was. I have no hangovers. I have cleaned up my domestic domaine and I am ready to write.

I have decided that 2006 is a happy new year... A wise man - a philosopher from Copenhagen - said at the end of 2005: Don't put your life into an account. Live your life now - passionately. Don't commit yourself to any New Year Resolutions. Don't exercise. Don't loose weight. Don't quit smoking. Don't... Don't put your life into an account. Live your life now - passionately. The wise man of course said this with a smile. But I sure see his point.

Here is how I'll try to live my artist life - now - passionately:
- Weekly domestic art initiatives.
- The World Wide Days project.
- The revival of the poster project.
- The Auctions project. - Monthly interactive lecture in Lille Fejringhus Gallery.
- Monthly article to online and printed Art Magazines.
- Fairy Tales.
- The book Museums of the world.
- Education, education and education.


Weekly domestic art initiatives.
Is about continuously being in touch with the domestic market.
By personally presenting new art works to potential buyers.
It's about earning a living.




World Wide Days.
Is about continue building a network of online galleries worldwide.
It's about optimizing existing exhibitions.
It's about adding new art works to the exhibitions.
It's about monitoring new exhibition possibilities.




Revival of the poster.
It's about marketing the print on demand of my art works.
Print on demand ordered online at my print partners in Salt Lake City, UT and Raleigh, NC.
Print on demand - prints on paper or canvas - ordered at Asbjorn Lonvig Digital Art Laboratory.




Auctions.
Is about auctioning art works on ebay.com, kunstverket.se and other auctions.
It's about maintaining skills about how to do it.
It's about optimising use of online auctions.




Monthly interactive lecture in Lille Fejringhus Gallery.
Is about deciding myself where and when to do interactive lectures.
Lille Fejringhus Gallery is the perfect place.
An interactive lecture is mentally exhausting, so only once a month would be nice.




Monthly article to online and printed Art Magazines.
Is about being on the move, about telling the stories, that an artist must tell.
It is about a kind of relaxation.
A visual artist relaxes when he expresses himself literally.




Fairy Tales.
Inuit Circumpolar Area culture and especially Greenlandish culture are the inspiration to a series of new fairy tales in children's books.
The Laura-project it is called.
I'll visit Greenland in 2006.
The fairy tale series the Lucca-project has been translated from English into Dansih, German, French, Italian, Japanese and Chinese.
In 2006 a bilingual edition in English and Persian (Arabic) will be published.




Museums of the world.
Is about Editorial Croquis, which is a printed art magazine and a publishing company in Buenos Aires that has run some of my articles about art museums in Spanish.
The director and editor of Editorial Croquis Martin Enriques Gil has recently asked me to write a book "The Museums of the World by Asbjorn Lonvig", published by Editorial Croquis in Danish, Portuguese, Spanish and English.
And I have answered: I'll do it, I'll find out how. In 2006 I'll do something about it. Layout. Edition sizes. Sponsor contracts. The first visits to museums etc.




Education, education and finally education.
Is about using computer and internet in art and art marketing.
I have to continuously improve my skills in this area - even if I originally was a trained IBM software specialist.
In 2006 my skills concerning using Adobe Illustrator CS2 must be raised to a professional level.



 




Thoughts.
Some years Artprice.com - the leading art information company in the market - pronounced that the art market would increase to 3,5 times the existing art market because of computers and internet.
Since then I have concentrated 100 % on using computer and internet.
During this period of time I have got a lot of condescending response.
I believe the whole art market now is realizing that Artprice.com was right.




In 2006 condescension will be replaced by acceptance???



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New Article: Revival of the art poster...by Asbjorn Lonvig

Thoughts:
If you use the Danish definition of poster, which is any kind of reproduction of art works, you sure can announce that computers and the internet have caused a "Revival of the Art Poster..." in the sense that they have made print on demand posters a major tool in future distribution of reproductions of art works world wide.

My User Portal Concept...

a country, a city, a municipality, a museum, a company etc.
It shows and it has links to those art works that might be relevant to that specific user.
The User Portal logo is the arch of Septimus Severus in Forum Romanum, Rome.

Why User Portals?
The short and simple answer is to serve my customers better and to seve customers that are not familiar with computers, with internet etc.

I'll show you a User Portal.
I am building the Aarhus City Portal right now.
Aarhus City is the second largest city in Denmark.
Aarhus City has 225.000 inhabitants.
So, this user portal intends to serve 225.000 users.

The first thing to do is to create motifs that describe Aarhus City.
I went to Aarhus and found buildings and landmarks of Aarhus, that I could use.
The new museum, the city hall tower, the queen's summer residence, the Theater, a house in the Old Town, the cathedral and finally the old cathedral office in St. Clemen's Courtyard.

Today I finished these motifs:




I load large files of all the images to print on demand contracting parties in Salt Lake City, Seattle, and San Francisco Bay Area. The images are approved at once in Salt Lake City and Seattle. In San Francisco the images might wait for approval.

First of all I use a User Portal logo.

The logo is of course a portal. In a matter of fact it is a very specific portal. It is the Arch of Septimus Severus, which was erected in the Roman Forum in A.D. 203 by the Roman Emperor Septimus Severus.
You can't study Roman history without visiting the Roman Forum once.
You can't visit the Roman Forum without passing through the Arch of Septimus Severus.
In this logo a BETA will shown in the big arch. That is because the 40 different User Portals, that have been launched so far are being tested.
The Aarhus City Portal is marked with a BETA, too.

See the Aarhus City Portal.
The motifs are presented. Here 7 motifs. You might see an enlargement by clicking on an image.
Then there are 3 sections. 1, 2 and 3.

1. The user must have some free titbit. So I give him the possibility to download three Word documents of each motif. Word documents that can be printed on the user's own printer.
I have to be aware of different formats in European and American standards. The European standard is A format and the American standard it is Letter format. The Aarhus City Portal probably will only be used by Europeans - therefore the A format is offered.

2. Here I guide the user to order print at print on demand contracting parties. One in Salt Lake City, one in Seattle and one in San Francisco Bay area.
By guiding to 3 print on demand contracting parties the users are offered a variety of sizes, prices, qualities and surfaces.
At the same time I keep track of what happens in this market.

The prices are kept low - the user only pays the base print price and internet costs. The user can order prints in sizes from 3.5 x 5” to 40 x 60” on paper and canvas – and some other funny surfaces like T-shirts, mugs, tote bags etc. etc. The print contracting party handles ordering and payment. The printing of course and the prints are sent directly to the user.

If the user wants to see some of the my other 750 images for print there is a link to the main pages in Salt Lake City, Seattle, and San Francisco Bay Area.

3. If the user wants something special. A painting. Limited edition prints. Signed prints. A huge print on canvas larger than 40 x 60" - no problem, he just has to contact me.

A brochure is available to each User Portal.
The brochure is of course used for initial presentation of the portal.
You can download the brochure Aarhus City Portal from the portal.


Thoughts.
Now what is the most important to succeed with these User Portals.
Is it to do excellent motifs? No!
Is it to simplify the User Portal? No!
Is it to make an extremely eye catching brochure? No!

It is to communicate the User Portal Concept to people that are not familiar with computers, with internet etc.
I can not do it myself.
I know too much.
Or!!!!
You might as well say I know much too little.

But.
Journalists know how to present this kind of stuff to their readers.
This week Ny Hedensted Portal and Ny Vejle Portal will have press coverage.
Tomorrow I'll translate the Aarhus City Portal into Danish and find a jounalist at the Aarhus newspaper Aarhus Stiftstidende.
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