ArtSites Updates

This week, Geoff and I received an email from Garth Palanuk with a version of an email scam that we'd not seen before.

Here's a copy of the email from "William Stinger":

Now, there are many red flags about this email, for example:

• The “To:” field is addressed to his own email, which means the email was sent to a long list of artists as a BCC email (Blind CC).
• The sender's email address seems to have no resemblance to the name of the person sending the email.
• There is no specific recipient name, i.e. it just says, "Hello".

But, what's particularly interesting about this email is the red underlined sentence above referring to your attached artwork!

Attached to this email is a .zip file - supposedly with a copy of your artwork!

It's odd that anyone would send you a copy of your own artwork in a .zip file.

It would be much more reasonable to send you a link to your work on your website or possibly an image copied from your website. There's no need to send a .zip file!

What we discovered is that the .zip file was just a way to hide a different kind of file inside - probably malware! Yikes!

Our best guess is that this email was sent to a long list of artist (at least they hoped it was going to artists) with the goal of having some of them open the attachment on a poorly secured computer so that some malware would get installed.

The spammers don’t really care that you are an artist; they simply want to match the email addresses with the content of the message and make YOU more likely to open the attachment and perhaps, override your skepticism.

It is a remarkably good spam message and may trip up a few people!

So, as always, we simply wanted to let you know to be VERY careful about opening up .zip attachments, especially from people you don't know! ;-)

Without getting too technical, we simply wanted to give you a brief overview of how spam filters work! ;-)

Spam filters use all kinds of algorithms to automate the process of identifying spam.

That said, they sometimes get it wrong! :-(

As a result, you can end up with occasional non-spam messages in your Spam folder.

For example, these filters can often detect the difference between email that was sent via a website or mailing list from those sent via a real person using email software.

Often, they will be more suspicious of emails coming from a website/mailing list.

And, this is why our "noreply@artsites.ca" messages may get caught in your spam folder while ones sent from us directly are less likely to do so.

Also, if you receive a website inquiry or contact request from us, that just happens to be spam, and you mark it as "Spam", that may actually signal your email program to believe that ArtSites is spamming you! :-(

(And, that means that any of our messages to you going forward will land in your Spam folder :-(

So, if you do receive an inquiry and it's spam, you can simply delete it and/or send it to us so that we know who's spamming our artists! ;-)

Generally, Geoff and I check our spam folders about once a day,

We do find non-spam, i.e, legitimate messages, there about every few days.

From our experience, Gmail has one of the best spam filters.

Unfortunately, Hotmail/Outlook and AOL have some of the most aggressive filters, in terms of marking legitimate email as spam.

So, while spam filters are completely necessary to make sure we don't get overwhelmed by spam, we strongly recommend that you check your Spam / Junkmail folders periodically!

Who knows ... there may even be a message from us in there! ;-)

Yesterday, Geoff and I received a number of emails from several artists asking what we thought about WikiGallery.

In all cases, the artists had received an "email request" to link to WikiGallery, in exchange for being listed on WikiGallery.

The message itself is by definition spam - i.e. unsolicited email.

So that’s a mark against them and their business practices.

That said, there is no obvious scam that we can find on their website.

However, there are online discussions stating that this website is "suspicious".

The website itself is trying to game the search engines by getting a lot of artists to link to them while providing links back to the artists website.

FYI - Google frowns on this kind of behaviour!

It’s an old game that the search engines know and sometimes penalize the websites involved — potentially your own website if you do this — making the websites, in fact, harder to find in search engines.

More importantly, WikiGallery also requires you to allow your artwork to be freely redistributable, as well as, allow others to make derivative works from yours! Yikes! ;-)

Most artists don’t want this!

Based on our assessment, we don't see much advantage in linking to them.

As always, we simply want to share our thoughts with you and make sure you have as much information as possible to make the best decisions!

Here's to getting discovered based on the merits of your work and artistry! ;-)

Edging Forward is an update, since the publication of At the Edge in 2001, about the many social innovations and progress in implementing sustainable community development in Canada. Based on Ann Dale's 12-year research program since that release, this book is about the many options we have to move back from the edge, to edge forward in implementing sustainable community development now.

Each chapter of Edging Forward will be illuminated with an original ecoscape-painting by our very own ArtSites' artist, Nancyanne Cowell, FCA! Woohoo! :-)

The original paintings for the Edging Forward art collection will be showcased at the upcoming book launch in 2016!

And, just as a teaser and an excerpt from the manuscript, here's Nancyanne's Artist Biography, which has been written by Stephanie Webb, Contemporary Art Critic & Writer.

Congratulations, Nancyanne, on this amazing collaborative & important effort! :-)

Congratulations, Dorothy, on completing this phenomenal 13-year-long project! :-)

Here are Dorothy's words about Watercolour Memories ....

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For the last thirteen years, I have been compiling my memories to share with my daughters and my grandchildren. I have now written a small book to share these memories of my happy childhood.

Watercolour Memories – Seasons of My Childhood is a limited print, self-published memoir of my charmed and nostalgic childhood memories from when I was very little to around age eleven, between the years 1943 and 1954.

Written for my two daughters, I am also giving copies to my extended families, my six siblings and their families and so they also can share in the happy times of how we grew up with our sleeping porch, books we read, holiday traditions, schools we attended, the games we played, wildflower garden, treats, and many more happy memories.

This book started out not as a book at all, but a list of happy memories and grew to one hundred plus memories.

As an artist, I wanted to see if I could sketch some of these happy times and in the end, over ninety memories have been sketched and painted in watercolour, on postcard-size watercolour paper, all included in the book. Chapters are divided by season Autumn, Winter, Spring & Summer.

What a happy stroll it was with one memory rekindling another.

Below are a few pages from the book.

Enjoy,

Dorothy

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The price of the book is $25.00 each, postage included for single copies.

For more information about the book, please feel free to contact Dorothy! :-)

This week's we're so proud to congratulate Victoria Heryet on being selected as one of five national finalists in the Royal Canadian Mint's Canada 150 Coin Collection Contest!

Huge congratulations, Victoria, we're keeping our fingers crossed (and voting frequently ;-) hoping that your design does end up in our pockets! :-)

Here's more about the process and contest from Victoria directly ...

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I made it to the Finals!

I am HONOURED to have been chosen as one of five national finalists in the "Our Achievements" category of the Royal Canadian Mint's Canada 150 Coin Collection Contest.

The finalists were chosen by an panel of judges including Chris Hadfield, Rick Hansen and Adrienne Clarkson.

The Mint will be issuing a new collection of coins for 2017, Canada's 150th Anniversary. These coins will be in general circulation so MY DESIGN COULD END UP IN YOUR POCKET!

Selection of the coins (five categories) is by YOUR vote!

Please go to Mint.ca/canada150 and place your vote. You can vote as many times as you like between now and October 9th.

My design is called "Coast to Coast" (there are two designs in this category with the same title - mine is the one with the railroad tracks in the centre).

PLEASE VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITES and PLEASE PASS THIS ON!

Thanks!

Victoria Heryet
Ladner, BC

Psst ... here’s a secret!

Sometimes when not satisfied with a painting, artists will cut them up! (gasp! ;-)

But they don’t throw them away—they put them to work in other ways.

I first learned this from an artist friend, who, when starting his art career thirty years ago, would give away smaller, successful pieces of his larger paintings to friends as birthday cards.

I’m fortunate to have two of them, now framed, hanging in my home.

Following his example as a lesson, I learned to analyze seemingly ‘failed’ works more objectively.

As such, I also cut up paintings.

So, here's a before-and-after example of one of my 'failed' paintings.

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Be sure to read Catherine's thoughts and reasons behind what she did!

Thanks SO much for sharing this "secret", Catherine! :-)

Yes, Geoff's been doing his technical wizardry again! ;-)

This week, Geoff's created a new feature that helps you better manage your images while staying within your Gallery tab! :-)

Previously, we only had the option to remove an image from your gallery. But, the image still remained in your Image Library. And, if you wanted to delete it COMPLETELY from your Image Library / Website, you had to go to your Image tab to delete it.

Well, now we have an additional option - "delete everywhere"!
(see red box in image above)

"Delete everywhere" allows you to completely delete your images from BOTH the Gallery AND your Image Library / Website at the same time.

Now, please note: there's still a confirmation pop-up! So, you will be asked if you really want to do this! ;-)

But, for those of you who want to keep the number of images in your Image Library lower and more in sync with the images in your galleries, this is a nice option.

Give it try (if it makes sense ;-) and please let us know if you have any issues or problems!

Here's to making it easier for you to manage your Gallery Images and Image Library files! :-D

The labyrinth of alley-ways in downtown Kingston are like little adventures we can explore everyday full of surprises, intrigue and history. A turn here, a stone wall there, secret little balconies with a view of a court yard or a sculpture quietly, humbly hanging above your head, these are all gems that are unique to Kingston!

Well, that alley-way adventure literally, just got a lot more intriguing, and colourful! :-)

Here's your introduction to "Martello Alley"!

When you venture down Martello Alley at 203 B Wellington Street, prepare to have a smile that only great art and creativity can create!

Reminiscent of, and inspired by La Rue du Trésor in Québec, this is an adventure with an wonderfully artistic ending!

The alley is brain child of an artist collective offering eclectic works that are sure to brighten any day. Selling original art work as well as prints, this is a space designed for any budget and any style/size of space.

These works will adorn the walls of the alley tempting you further in to stroll the court yard; a work in progress that promises to be beautifully rich with local history and seasonal landscape design. Then wind up at the atelier where you will find a gallery and artists with their works in progress to welcome you at the end.

Drop by and see what's new, meet an artist and have a cup of coffee. They would love to meet you! Visit the collective on Facebook to read up about the artists and what's happening at Martello Alley!

If you're in the area, do stop by and support these talented Kingston artists! :-)

And, here are a few more photos of this "Artistic Adventureland"! :-)

Have you seen any other interesting "exhibition areas"?!

Here's a great article entitled, What Art Customers Want, by Chris Tyrell.

In the article, Chris explains that Art buyers want “to connect” with artists either through direct contact or via the information provided.

They don’t just want basic art information; they want a “connection” that is an emotional one!

I couldn't agree more! :-)

What's wonderful is that the web and social media are making it easier and easier to share YOUR story with the world!

So, we encourage you to build emotional "connections" and I'm sure you will see increased awareness of your art!

Once again, here's the article, What Art Customers Want! Enjoy! :-)