Art Goes Online: Free Classes, Tours & More
In this time of the unknown, small and independent businesses across the world are currently facing the same challenging situation. Sadly, it’s large enough to discourage and unsteady a plethora of industries. Traditionally dependent on physical spaces, the arts sector is one of the most radically hit trades, which some express concern will lack resources to recover in the future. Arts councils across the globe are working hard to financially boost galleries and artists alike, but there is still a cry-out for support.
Kim Leutwyler‘s acclaimed work has been recognised and celebrated by awarding bodies in the arts as well as various social communities
Fortunately, as we’re becoming increasingly invested in the cyber world, the art industry is no different. From the safety and comfort of your own home, you can now experience art and tap into much-needed surges of imagination and expression. As art goes online, we take a look at how you can bring this world of virtual creativity to your home, and why it’s important to do so.
Art Goes Online: Take a Virtual Tour
Okay, we know nothing beats seeing an artwork in the flesh. Googling ‘Mona Lisa’ doesn’t come close to coming up face-to-face with her enigmatic smile. You can however, have a private viewing of some of the most renowned galleries and museums in the world. Start local with the handful of virtual tours at the National Gallery Victoria: the Indigenous art collection, Marking Time, as well as KAWS: Companionship In The Age Of Loneliness and the hugely popular Keith Haring | Jean-Michel Basquiat: Crossing Lines are just a few of the tours available through the NGV website. Get a 360° scope of the Sydney Opera House, as well as the inside scoop on the venue’s exhibitions. Spot artworks by celebrated Australian artists such as Margaret Olley, Brett Whiteley and William Dobel in a high-definition walkthrough of Newcastle Art Gallery.
If you missed it before, you can now take the virtual tour of Haring & Basquiat’s pioneering work online. Credit: Broadsheet
Take an Art Tour with a Collector
We might not have the state-of-the-art 360° angling used with the virtual tours cropping up from museums and galleries around the world, but we do have good taste in art. If you’re looking for a bit of home inspiration, want to see what styles and artists have the collectors’ attention, or are just pure nosey, our collector series is primed with some of Bluethumb’s most established artists as well as ones who are up-and-coming. Even some of our bestsellers are avid collectors! Get started with the first of the series and step inside the arty haven of PR and Comms Manager Freddy Grant’s home.
We recently took a tour of bestseller Sally Browne’s home. Her curatorial eye forms unity and consistency in a small area. Clockwise from bottom left: Sally Browne Still Life Oil, Chinese Propaganda Poster brought home from a trip to Shanghai, Sally Browne still life oil paintings; Pomegranates and Silver Dollar in Glass Jar, Flight path map (artist unknown), Little Oil painting of Bintang Mug and toothbrushes by James Needham. Main wall: Brendan Kelly ‘The red One that Ron Likes’ 2018.
Get Quaran-crafty
Time on your hands? Rinsed Netflix? As art goes online, there’s never been a better time to explore your own artistic flair. The Internet is the infinite resource on how-tos. Let’s say you’ve been wanting to try your hand at learning to sketch. You can now join in with the Drop-By Drawing classes currently available (and free!) through the NGV; what’s more, the good folks at The Art Gallery of NSW have shared a tutorial on drawing a face from the portrait master Ben Quilty. For those who are after youngster-friendly projects, see our blog on child-approved creative school holiday activities. These pastimes were chosen by some of Bluethumb’s bestsellers and can keep kids happy all year round!
Who says the fun is school hols-specific? Bluethumb artist Linda Callaghan and her grandchildren have boosted up the place with colourful paints, which are sure to last through the gloomiest of days!
Art Goes Online: Keep Calm and Create
As we move through difficult times, with news that documents uncertainty and feeds anxiety, it’s vital to find and adopt our own healthy habits of release and grounding. Understanding the power of creating art could significantly contribute to a more balanced state of mind. For an overview on what art therapy is, its techniques and outcomes, click here to further your understanding of Art Therapy straight from a specialist in the sector.
Whether you, like Kate Gradwell, live close to areas of greens and blues or feel far from them, Isolated, But Not Alone celebrates the beauty of nature in an urban setting. Kate works with a widely felt hope that we can balance these spots of idyllic scenery with the busy concrete streets and high rises they rub shoulders with.
Supporting Australian Artists
Being an online business, Bluethumb is one of the lucky ones that can continue to trade normally. Despite the shut downs and border closures, freight and home deliveries are considered essential services and will remain open. The process of getting art to your door will stay as easy as it always has been.
Bluethumb is dedicated to the individual artist and Indigenous art centres across the country. Featured are the members of Injalak Arts board, and the iconic Injalak Hill!
Supporting independent artists and art centres within Australia is the core of Bluethumb’s mission. With an online platform seven years in the making, our online marketplace offers a way to assist artists through the hard times and the good.
