Herb Williams in the News – nextstarartist.com

Herb Williams (http://www.herbwilliamsart.com), winner of the Next Star Artist competition, has been receiving plenty of fantastic reviews of his work from some major publications some of which I have provided links to below.

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/art/archives/142050.asp

http://www.accordingtocaroline.com/read-me/2008/4/3/smells-like-childhood.html

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews+articleid_2498895.html

http://www.globenewspaper.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19810158&BRD=1306&PAG=461&dept_id=570459&rfi=6

http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/all-crayola.6512956jul26,0,5624709.story

http://americanwaymag.com/tabid/2855/tabidext/3758/default.aspx

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=36534

**Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of http://www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications

The winner of the 2008 Next Star Artist Competition (http://www.nextstarartist.com), Herb Williams, is currently having a solo exhibition of his work at the Monsoon Gallery in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. According to the Monsoon Gallery press release “The Monsoon show will include many flowers ­ a perfect subject choice due to the intense saturation of color the crayons give Williams ­ as well as several homages to great artists throughout history. Williams’ art can be enjoyed by all, but audiences with knowledge of art history will especially enjoy seeing his take on the work of artists such as Jim Dine, Alexander Calder, Paul Cezanne, and Albrecht Durer”

Homage To Andre Serrano

**Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of http://www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Nicholas Forrest
Telephone Number: +61 2 94777130
Email Address: info@artnotice.com
Web site address: http://www.artmarketblog.com

Herb Williams Wins Next Star Artist Competition

American artist Herb Williams has been announced as the winner of the 2008 Next Star Artist competition (www.nextstarartist.com), the global search for the visual artist with the highest potential for success in the art market. The winner of the competition was chosen by a panel of fifteen judges that consisted of influential people from various sectors of the art world.

Herb Williams is a Nashville, Tennessee based sculptor whose innovative use of crayons to construct highly tactile and engaging sculptures are impressive to say the least and attracted plenty of attention from the Next Star Artist judges. According to his website (www.herbwilliamsart.com), Williams is the “only individual in the world with an account with Crayola”. As the winner of the competition, Williams will receive an amazing promotion and PR package that includes, amongst other things, a solo online exhibition, an online media blitz, and three months of mentoring, advice and promotion by art consultant and art market analyst Nicholas Forrest.

“The reason that I created the Next Star Artist competition is that I come across so many fantastic artists who either do not have the skills to promote themselves or are just not in a position to take advantage of the promotional opportunities that are available. I would like to congratulate Herb Williams for winning the first Next Star Artist competition and would also like to thank all the artist’s who entered the competition and wish them all the best of luck in their future endeavours” Nicholas Forrest (founder of Next Star Artist competition)

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For more information visit the Next Star Website at http://www.artmarketblog.com or email Nicholas Forrest at info@artnotice.com

Winner of Next Star Artist 2008 – nextstarartist.com

It is with great pleasure that I can announce the winner of the Next Star Artist competition (http://www.nextstarartist.com) for 2008 as being Herb Williams !!!

Thanks to everyone who entered the competition and to all the fantastic judges

Next Star Artist competition judges:

Rebecca Wilson: Saatchi Gallery – http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk
Amy Stein: Artist – http://www.amysteinphoto.com
Adam Simon: Fine Art Adoption Network – http://www.fineartadoption.net/
David Cohen: Artworld Digest Magazine – http://www.artworldigest.com
Shelley Esaak: About Network (Art History) – http://arthistory.about.com
Jon Feinstein: Humble Arts Foundation – http://www.humbleartsfoundation.org
Sandra Pattin: Florence Biennale – http://www.florencebiennale.org
Jay FC: Galleri HK – http://www.galleri.hk/
Paul Drake: Artist – http://www.artists.co.nz/drake/
Amani Olu: Humble Arts Foundation – http://www.humbleartsfoundation.org
Jodi Melfi: Absolute Arts – http://www.absolutearts.com
Morgan Croney: Artcards.cc – http://www.artcards.cc
Martin Hosking: Red Bubble: http://www.redbubble.com
Sixtine Crutchfield: Art Culture Studio: http://www.artculturestudio.com
Dion: Art News Blog – http://www.artnewsblog.com

Herb Williams Bio (http://www.herbwilliamsart.com):

I am interested in iconic objects that society perceives to fit one role, and then reintroducing them in different subtexts. There are several questions that arise when an object(such as a crayon) that is so often associated with childhood is used to address issues dealing with more adult matters. The sculptures are childlike in their curious approach to the object as icon, but intriguing and satisfying to me in the use of pure color as form. Larger room installations also add the element of playing to the olfactory sense. I hope that this body of work is my most successful in adding to the greater visual dialogue of original art. My intent is to continue to seriously create art that looks at itself unseriously.

Some of my influences are H.C. Westermann, Jasper Johns, Jim Dine, Cai Guo-Qiang, Sandy Skoglund, Liza Lu, David Mach, Charles Ray, Magritte, Duchamp, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Robert Rauschenburg, Banksy, and Ai Weiwei.

I am the only individual in the world with an account with Crayola. I get these colors individually packed 3000 to a case. I cut down the sticks to the length I need by hand with either double guillotine cigar cutters or large breed dog nail clippers. I then bond the paper, not the wax, to a form I have carved or cast, completely enveloping the form. Lately I have been casting the completed crayon sculptures in a silicone jacket mold with a two-part epoxy resin and then painting the resin sculpture to look like the original, for a small edition. The sculptures beg to be touched, so when they are cast it makes the handling of them that much easier. (from http://www.herbwilliamsart.com)

image: Herb Williams in his studio

**Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of http://www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications

Next Star Artist Competition Finalists Announced

Sydney, Australia – The search for the world’s Next Star Artist heated up on Sunday night when the ten finalists of the Next Star Artist competition (http://www.nextstarartist.com) for visual artists were announced. Artists from all over the world took part in the competition which aims to identify a visual artist who has the potential for success but needs guidance and direction to succeed.

The winning entry will be chosen from the ten finalists by an esteemed panel of judges all of whom have the knowledge and experience to determine which of the finalists has the greatest potential for art market success. The winner will be announced on the 27^th of June and will receive three months of mentoring by art critic, art market analyst and art consultant Nicholas Forrest as well as an extensive online publicity and promotion package.

More than 250 visual artists from all over the world submitted their work to the controversial competition that was started by Sydney, Australia based art market analyst and art critic Nicholas Forrest. Frustrated with the large number of talented visual artists that go unrecognised, Mr. Forrest took on the challenge of finding and mentoring an artist who had the potential for future stardom and a hunger for success which resulted in the creation of the Next Star Artist competition.

In announcing the finalists Mr. Forrest said “Although I am unable to assist anywhere near as many of the talented but unrecognised visual artists as I would like, the Next Star Artist competition will at least provide one more source of encouragement for the world’s visual artists.”

The ten Next Star Artist competition finalists are:

-Eunice Lieveld
http://www.wanaisa.nl/

-Zoe Crosse
http://nextstarartist.wordpress.com/zoe-crosse/

-Elizabeth Wallace

http://www.ewallace.com/

-Simon Wright

http://www.re-title.com/artists/simon-wright.asp

-Hou Chien Cheng

http://houchiencheng.blogspot.com/

-Seamus Nolan

http://www.hotelballymun.com/artist.php

-Herb Williams

http://www.herbwilliamsart.com/

-Volkan Diyaroglu

http://www.postkaraoke.com/

-Heidi Taillefer

http://www.heiditaillefer.com/

-Monika Bielskyte

http://www.bielskyte.com/

For more information visit the Next Star Artist website at http://www.nextstarartist.com

The Next Star Artist Finalists – nextstarartist.com

Deciding who the ten finalists will be for the Next Star Artist competition has been an extremely difficult and long process but after having delayed the announcement for a week due to the overwhelming number of awesome entries I can now reveal the ten finalists, one of whom will be the Next Star Artist. Without further adieu, the ten finalists of the 2008 Next Star Artist competition are:

-Eunice Lieveld
-Zoe Crosse
-Elizabeth Wallace
-Simon Wright
-Hou Chien Cheng
-Seamus Nolan
-Herb Williams
-Volkan Diyaroglu
-Heidi Taillefer
-Monika Bielskyte

Congratulations to the ten finalists !!! Information on each of the finalists and images of their work will be posted on the Next Star Artist (http://www.nextstarartist.com) website in the next few days. The judging panel will now be given the details of each of the finalists and will have until the 26th of June to make their decision so that the winner can be announced on the 27th of June.

Good luck to all the ten finalists and thanks to everyone who entered.

**Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of http://www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications.

For Immediate Release

NEXT STAR ARTIST COMPETITION 2008 FINALISTS

Ten Finalists to be Announced June 8th 2008

The search for the world’s Next Star Artist (nextstarartist.com) is about to heat up with the ten finalists to be announced on the 8^th of June. Once the finalists have been selected from the more than 250 entries, a top secret judging panel will assess the ten finalists and decide which entry possesses the greatest potential for future stardom.

The Next Star Artist competition is the brainchild of art market analyst, art critic and art consultant Nicholas Forrest who became frustrated with the huge number of talented visual artists being ignored by the art market. In recognition of the unrecognised talent, Mr Forrest decided to start an art competition that focused on commercial potential and saleability as opposed to traditional art competitions which focus more on aesthetic attributes.

According to Mr. Forrest, “The reason that I created the Next Star Artist competition is that I come across so many fantastic artists who either do not have the skills to promote themselves or are just not in a position to take advantage of the promotional opportunities that are available. I have undertaken extensive research on the promotional opportunities available to artists and have successfully promoted several artists online using various different techniques. The success that I have had has been extremely encouraging and has given me the knowledge and tools needed to implement the Next Star Artist competition. I am extremely excited to be able to offer this opportunity to the world art community and wish all the entrants the best of luck.”

Artists from all over the world submitted entries to the Next Star Artist competition which closed on the 23^rd of May with the hope of winning the major prize of three months of mentoring and promotion by art consultant Nicholas Forrest. The winner will be announced on the 27^th of June on the Next Star Artist Website at http://www.nextstarartist.com.

For more information visit contact Nicholas Forrest by email at info@artnotice.com

Next Star Artist Finalists to be Announced 8th June

Due to the overwhelming number of entries (way more than I expected) that I received for the Next Star Artist competition, there will be a delay with the announcement of the ten finalists.  In order to properly assess all the entries I will have to delay the announcement until Sunday the 8th of June instead of the 30th of May.  I would like to apologise for the delay but am not prepared to announce the ten finalists until I am totally happy with the entries that have been chosen.  Once the ten finalists have been announced on the 8th of June the judging will begin after which the winner will be announced as per the original date of the 27th of June.

Nicholas Forrest

Next Star Artist Finalists – nextstarartist.com

Due to the overwhelming number of entries (way more than I expected) that I received for the Next Star Artist competition, there will be a delay with the announcement of the ten finalists. Instead of the ten finalists being announced on the 30th of May the ten finalists will now be announced on the 8th of June.

Nicholas Forrest

Entry for the 2008 Next Star Artist Competition has Closed

May 26 Update:

On behalf of all the people involved with the Next Star Artist competition I would like to thank all the artists that entered the competition and all the people that supported the competition. Attracting the support of artists and art market professionals for a new and radical art competition was never going to be an easy task but having received over 220 entries I can say, without a doubt, that the level of interest and support has been far beyond what I would have ever hoped for. There have of course been those that have expressed a negative or sceptical opinion of the Next Star Artist concept which has just increased my determination to make the competition a success. I would not have started this competition if I was not totally sure that it would be of benefit to the winner and to the wider artistic community. My past experiences with the promotion of artists has given me the information, knowledge and tools that I need to be able to replicate the positive results that I have had in the past.

Now that entries have closed, ten finalists will be chosen from the entries received and announced on the 30th of May. Once the ten finalists have been announced the judging of the ten finalists by a variety of art world personalities and art market professionals will begin (30th May to 20th June) to determine who the winner will be. The artist that the judges deem to be the best entry (judged according to judging criteria) will be named the winner on the 27th of June.

Best of Luck,

Nicholas Forrest
Founder of Next Star Artist (http://www.nextstarartist.com)

**Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of http://www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications.