Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Nicola Jolly


Nicola “Nicci” Jolly is a Scottish television presenter and former beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Scotland 2003.

Stephanie Willemse



Stephanie Willemse is a beauty pageant contestant who represented Scotland in Miss World 2008 in South Africa, after which she began working as a model.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Best New Artist 2010

The Grammy's are a music award program that recognizes accomplishment in the music industry. It is a star studded event with glamour musicians, a night of awards, speeches, and performances by some of our favorite artists. You can win awards for song of the year, album of the year, record of the year, and best new artist. These awards are given out as overall ratings, and then a musician can also a win a more genre specific award such as best rock and roll album. The most coveted award by new bands and solo acts is best new artist. It establishes their place in the music industry and proves they can make it amongst legendary bands or soloists.


This year, the best new artist Grammy award was given to the Zac Brown Band. They were up against nominations MGMT, The Ting Tangs, Keri Hilson, and the Silversun Pickups. To be nominated for this award, you had to have made a public interest for the first time with your music. The band or artist doesn't have to be newly formed. For example, they may have started their career in music years before but hadn't gained a lot of popularity or public attention.



The Zac Brown Band gained a lot of public attention and had songs that were played on the radio, had songs requested, and made the Billboard music charts with singles from their album. In 2009, they had three number one singles make the Billboard chart which solidified their nomination to win best new artist in 2010. The singles are called: Toes, Whatever it is, and Highway 20 Ride. Only five country music singers or bands have won this award.


They are a country music band that formed in 2000 in Atlanta, Georgia. They record under the labels Live Nation, Home Grown Music, and Atlantic. The band is made up of members: Zac Brown, John Driskell Hopkins, Coy Bowels, Clay Cook, Chris Fryar, and Jimmy De Martini. Each member plays a musical instrument and sings. You will hear sounds coming from guitars, an organ, a fiddle, bass guitar, steel guitar, drums, and a mandolin.



It may have taken them nine years to gain a lot of public attention and national fame, but they have been nominated and won many awards. Their music can be heard on many different country Internet Radio and traditional radio stations. They have a unique sound that makes them stand out in the country music genre.

Avatar artist - Artists and Fine Art Photographers Offer Print on Canvas Artwork

There has been a general trend in the past three or four years for successful artists and professional photographers to offer their original art work reproduced as print on canvas images rather than on photo paper. This would have once been unheard of as the quality of print on canvas was poor, and poor quality copies denigrated the fine artist's good name.


Now, fine quality reproductions created using giclee printing techniques can greatly increase an artist or professional photographer's market base by offering print on canvas reproductions at significantly lower prices than charged for an original.


There are several reasons why the print on canvas format has recently become so popular:
  • It is not necessary to protect the print on canvas with matting, glass or a frame.
  • Inks, museum quality canvas, and protective coatings have made possible reproductions that can last for generations.
  • Technical advances in printing inks and equipment make possible print on canvas quality that is very close in color tone and shading to the original art work.
  • A large variety of enlargement sizes and shapes for giclee printing are now available.
  • Interior decorators have promoted photo and fine art print on canvas artwork to create startling and innovative design effects.
  • Various canvas textures can be used to create reproductions that mimic the brush strokes of original artworks.
  • Graphic artists have embraced print on canvas techniques, even adding paint to the final print to create a multi media one-of-a-kind work of art.
  • Photographers and photo editors have developed techniques to alter digital photos to create images in various easily-recognizable artistic styles (such as Pop Art, graphic, oil painting, Lichtenstein, or Avatar) which have become very popular commercially.
  • The cost of ink jet printing on canvas has come down as new technologies have been introduced.
  • Internet communications coupled with instant digital image transfer has lowered the costs of creating photo printing, often outsourcing the handwork to the Far East.
  • Lower costs for framed and unframed photos printed on canvas bring the final product squarely into the price range of gifts for birthdays, graduations, weddings, and special events.
Artists and photographers don't even have to invest in costly ink jet printing equipment and inks or rent production space to create reproductions themselves since there are many online art galleries offering full services at reasonable prices, especially in quantities.


Giclee printing on canvas has made possible high quality reproductions of the paintings of master artists. When art auction houses such as Soethby's and Christie's report the sale at auction of original modern masterpieces such as the 1987 sale of Vincent Van Gogh's Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers for $39.7 million ($76.6 million in 2010 dollars), it is ironic to note that anyone can order on line a giclee print on canvas replica for under a hundred dollars that would closely match in size, color, and brush stroke texture the original painting.