Monet's Painting on Auction

"The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil" will be on the auction block at Christie's impressionist and modern art sale on May 6. This painting is expected to break an auction record for Monet, with the current record sold at $36.5 million for his 1904 painting, "Nympheas."

The painting to be auctioned shows off a bridge with two passing trains in the rural settings of Argenteuil. Monet painted it when he rented a house near the railway bridge in1873. It represents union - of old and modern times, of calm and the industrial.

George Bush and Jesus?

So this photo was in the NY Times today to accompany this article:

Look familiar?
I don't know if NY Times was trying to be funny or not, but taking a photo of George Bush, Last Supper style, makes me laugh. I mean Bush as Jesus? The photographer probably thought it was pretty funny too.

Not Selling Your Art? Raise Your Prices!

I've actually gotten this advice through various sellers in many forums. We've been having trouble selling our Swarovski jewelries and everyone advised me that I need to raise my prices. I thought that was the weirdest thing I needed to do, I initially thought that simply no one liked my products, or even the opposite, that my jewelry was too expensive. Raising the price would throw the laws of supply and demand out the window, right?

Well according to Clint Watson's Blog, he gave the same advice - if your art is not selling, raise the price! He gave couple examples of how that actually works. Apparently by raising your price, subliminally it makes your art "seems" better. I guess it's all perspective. Something expensive must be great, and if the art is cheap, it might appeared to be shoddy.

Well we raisedour Swarovski bracelets from $24.99 to $34.99 and am thinking of raising it even more. Frankly for us, the tiny raise in price did absolutely nothing - but perhaps it's because the jewelry market is so over-saturated these days and getting exposure amongst millions of other jewelry sellers are pretty competitive.

We would love to know if anybody has some experience in raising their price and whether or not that worked out for you.

Oh and of course, you can buy our jewelry at www.daibebeads.com or www.daibebeads.etsy.com.

Herbie Hancock Surprise at Grammy's 08

I know everyone is surprised that Herbie Hancock won Best Album of the Year with "River: The Joni Letters," beating out the 2 favorites, Kanye West and Amy Winehouse. But I don't think it should be such a shock. Both Kanye West and Amy Winehouse did have great albums and great record sales, but the Grammy's is not about who put up the best numbers, it should be about musicianship. Not to take anything away from West or Winehouse who did a great job with their respective albums, but Hancock is definitely the better musician comparing to them both and I think he deserved the win.

Robbers steal $160m in art from Zurich

Three armed man in ski mask broke into the E.G. Buehrle Collection, a private museum at Switzerland and stole 4 paintings that are worth $163.2 million! This is one of Europe's biggest art robbery ever in history. The men entered the museum half hour before closing on Sunday, force personnel to the floor with pistol, went to the paintings that were behind glass, and as soon as the paintings were touch, the alarms went off. The police are saying it is possible that the paintings were sticking out of their getaway vans (yikes! I hope they are not damaged!)

The stolen paintings were:

• Claude Monet's "Poppy field at Vetheuil"
• Edgar Degas' "Ludovic Lepic and his Daughter"
• Vincent van Gogh's "Blooming Chestnut Branches" (see picture)
  
• Paul Cezanne's "Boy in the Red Waistcoat"

Jaws Actor Roy Scheider Passed Away

In the midst of Heath Ledger's and Brad Renfro's death (which the recent coroner results reveal he OD'ed on Heroin), Roy Scheider's recent passing probably won't merit as much media attention. But I feel like he should be tributed.

Scheider played the police chief in "Jaws" - the first movie that earned $100 million at the box office, meaning it was the first Hollywood Blockbuster. That's a pretty big deal. Scheider also delivered the famous line of the movie, "You're gonna need a bigger boat," which was voted as #35 on the American Film Institute's list of best quotes from U.S. movies in 2005.

R.I.P.

Featured Seller: Mizdragonfly

Mizdragonfly has the coolest jewelry - I especially like the Swarovski Skull Earrings. You need to check out her store. The seller is a very awesome person to chat with as well :-)

What is the name of your store and what do you sell?
Store name/Company name: Mizdragonfly. I sell handcrafted jewellery made with love from new and recycled pieces.

How did you get into your craft?
I’ve been into Crafts since Kindergarden! My favourite was painting, drawing and collages. In High School my favourite classes were arts. Then went to University and studied 4 years to get a specialization in Communications. Worked for 7 years in advertising agencies… In January 2006, I was looking for a change and took an initiation to sewing class. Loved it! Wanted to start my own clothing line… In the meantime, I was crafting jewellery as a hobby… and upon presenting my collection to Kafi D., owner of le Marche Mtl, her enthusiasm encouraged me to continue… Here I am two years later! :)

What is your latest project?
My Spring/Summer 2008 collection! It consists of a series of 17 limited edition pieces! Gorgeous creations featuring luxurious Swarovski crystals, recycled pearls and funky charms!

Where can we find your products?
My line is offered exclusively:

In Canada:
Victoire Boutique, 246 Dalhousie Street, Ottawa, Ontario
Blanche sur St-Joseph, 182, boulevard Saint-Joseph , Gatineau , QC J8Y 3W9
Nokomis Clothing, 10838 82 Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB T6E 2B3

Worldwide: www.mizdragonfly.etsy.com

I also have a website should you need more info: www.mizdragonfly.com or simply contact me :)

Giants Win The Superbowl

In possibly one of the best Super Bowls ever - Giants beat the Patriots in a thrilling victory 17-14 (I actually predicted that Giants will win by 3 and I was right. Damn! I should've placed some bets!) Patriots had the perfect season before they enter the Super Bowl, all the sports analyst predicted they will win. Giants was the underdog, last place of the wildcard, but was in a winning streak on the road. For those who ever doubt the Giants, even after they won against the Cowboys and Green Bay Packers at the Packer's own freezing home turf where Packers should've had home field advantage, the Giants prove all these tight wads and sport analysts wrong. It's not all about the numbers, it's about heart and resilience- The Giants never gave up. With so many lead changes during the game and the Patriots keeping pressure on them, the Giants fought back. The last quarter has to be one of the most exciting moments in football history - Eli Manning somehow wrestled out of that Patriots defense, while they all grabbed a handful of Manning's jersey, and threw the ball perfectly to David Tyree who made the miracle catch with his hands and his helmet. Then the final winning touchdown to the sure handed Plaxico Burress (though pretty quiet for the beginning of the game).

Tiki Barber must be hitting his head on the wall repeatedly right now.

In another related topic, this Super Bowl definitely made Fox very happy, it was a record breaking most watched Super Bowl ever and the second most watched event in TV history, second to the MASH series finale. 97.5 million watchers tuned in, (about 67% New Yorkers were watching). Those advertisers got their money's worth, paying only $2.7 million per 30 second spot, which is a bargain since so many people tuned in. According to TiVo, the most popular (and in my opinion, probably the best) ad was the E-Trade one, with the baby talking about trading than spitting out his lunch in the end. Here it is: