Did you know that May is National Pet Month? For this special occasion I thought we would talk about pets, share some interesting facts about our pet based art and of course show off some of our best selling imagery. Oh and before I forget, July is National dog house repairs month.

MauriceLets start off with one of the most famous dogs, "Portrait of Maurice" by Andy Warhol 1976. Warhol was obsessed with fame and produced many pictures of the rich and famous. However, he was never afraid to solicit commissions for portraits and would often suggest that he could create a portrait of a pet, if someone was unwilling to sit for their own portrait. Maurice was the beloved dachshund of Gabrielle Keiller, who bequeathed her art collection to the Modern One in 1995. This was the first painting by Warhol to enter the Gallery's collection. To create this screenprinted image, he worked from Polaroids of Maurice, taken at Keiller's London home.

Golden PugNow to jump ahead to digital illustrator John W. Golden. With over 80 breeds of cats and dogs set in his whimsical style, I am sure a rendition of your household friend is in there somewhere. Did you know that we offer many of these personalized? Ask your customer service rep about this. John also has a whole array of feathered friends

Happiest DogWhere would we be without "The Happiest Dog in the World", Mickey's Pluto. He is most often the companion of Mickey Mouse, although he first appeared as Minnie Mouse's dog Rover in the film The Picnic (1930). Several months had passed between the naming of what was believed to have been the ninth planet, Pluto, on March 24, 1930, and the attachment of that name to the dog character. Venetia Burney (later Venetia Phair), who as an eleven-year-old schoolgirl had suggested the name Pluto for the planet, remarked in 2006: "The name had nothing to do with the Disney cartoon. Mickey Mouse's dog was named after the planet, not the other way around.^" Although it has been claimed that Disney named the dog after the planet, rather than after the mythical god of the underworld, this has not been verified. Disney animator Ben Sharpsteen said "We thought the name [Rover] was too common, so we had to look for something else. ... We changed it to Pluto the Pup ... but I don't honestly remember why."

Happy CatOne of my favorite pet based pieces is "Happy Cat and Snob Dog" by Romero Britto. With bright colors and a commanding composition this piece has sold extremely well for years and continues to bring a smile to everyone that holds it.

We have over 600 animal based prints, nearly 150 dogs, over 30 cats, even a few monkeys! Something for all animal and pet lovers.

Spring 2012 is blooming with bold bright colors.  We have put together color boards illustrating these delectable palettes along with the McGaw art you need to stay on-trend this Spring into Summer.

Yellow and Grey

Yellow Grey McGaw Art

Yellow & Grey:  Yellow is everywhere! Ranging from mustard to neon, yellow has made a bold statement in both home decor and fashion this year, and shows no sign of slowing down. View our Yellow & Grey collection.

Chartreuse Trend

Chartreuse McGaw Art

Chartreuse & Grey: Along with Yellow, chartreuse has been adding a citrus splash to home decor in 2012. Since chartreuse is such an attention grabber it makes a great accent color, or can be muted when combined with neutral shades of grey. View our Chartreuse & Grey collection.

Tangerine

Tangerine McGaw Art

Tangerine: With the saucy shade of "Tangerine Tango" named Pantone's color of the year, this reddish shade of orange is popping up on everything from nail polish to upholstery fabrics.  Don't be afraid to embrace this bold hue and add a splash to your wall with some tangerine art. View our Tangerine collection.

Indigo Trend

Indigo McGaw Art

Indigo:  This cool and classic shade of blue is a rich and versatile shade.  It can feel  both modern and classic depending on where and how it is used. View our Indigo collection.

Pastel Trend

Pastel McGaw Art

Pastels: They are not the pastels of the 80's!  Pastels are making a strong statement in fashion right now, and are breezing into home decor. These 2012 pastels feel completely new, especially when used in contemporary interiors. We are seeing vintage items used alongside new pieces to create a fresh take on the pastels of the past. View our Pastels collection.

Ever wonder what 12 pallets of art looks like? Well here you go, my hats off to the sales, production and shipping teams. Contained in these pallets are best selling artists Alice Dalton Brown and Libby Smart.

12 pallets of art

Read about the full story behind this best selling and iconic image by David Lorenz Winston.

From David. "I photographed Solitude in the early 80’s on the grounds of The Willistown Friends Meeting House in Newtown Square, PA. The zigzag in the fence was an anomaly. Adjacent to the Meeting House Cemetery is a farm. The woman living on the farm planned to be buried on the same side of the fence as the cemetery, yet still on her own property, so she made arrangements for the fence to jut into her property and then back to the original fence line. The image of Solitude shows the portion of fence that protrudes into her property. However, after she passed away she was buried in elsewhere and the fence was straightened out. It remains straight to this day."

"Solitude has been published in many forms, first starting out as an illustration in Allegheny Airlines Magazine in 1982. It has also appeared on both National Wildlife Federation and UNICEF greeting cards, in feature films and on a wine label (Mt. Hope Chardonnay) in the early 80’s."

"Over the years I’ve received hundreds of letters from people whose lives have been touched in some way by Solitude. To date, over 300,000 posters of Solitude have been published and distributed internationally."

This iconic piece hangs in countless homes, hotels and hospitals across the country as it adds peace, tranquility and stillness to any space. We publish this piece in 4 stocked sizes including an oversize 52x36 as well as POD and custom sizing on paper, giclée paper and canvas. In conjunction with P. Grahm Dunn the image has been combined with inspirational and religious messages to create a best selling mounted and framed product

Solitude

Photographer Derek Jecxz has been featured in the February issue of Victor. This magazine has a world renowned reputation of showcasing distinguished photographers and their astonishing artwork. Traveling for weeks at a time, fine art photographer Derek Jecxz explores the natural landscape searching for scenes that we may never fine or may not notice until we see his images. Making photographs since the mid-1990's, Jecxz has always focused on fine art landscapes with a special emphasis on water scenes. "My attraction to water," says the self-taught photographer, "is likely due to the creative effect of longer exposure (time) on its movement." Jecxz packs up his truck 6-10 times a year and travels from the southernmost United States to remote locales such as the Northwest Territories and Labrador in Canada. "I drive because of the weight and value of the gear," explains Jecxz, who travels alone. "There's a huge element to being alone. you really hone into the photography... it gets to its purest form." Read more online or download the beautiful magazine in pdf format.

Excerpts taken from Victor Magazine, February issue 2012.

View Derek Jecxz's entire portfolio available print on demand.

Victor

Los Angeles art group LA Pop Art wrote out every word from the first 11 chapters of Lewis Carroll's novel, "Alice in Wonderland", to create an illustration from the story. This piece is so AMAZING Ripley's Believe it or Not feature it in their Annual Edition. From a distance it appears to be solid color, but almost every inch of the artwork is formed from Lewis Caroll's own words, written clearly in felt-tip pens. The text was written upside down so that the artist didn't smudge the ink.

If you have not seen their work it's a must see and it has been a early best seller this fall. Check out the full portfolio of images, available as stocked posters and all POD substrates.

Ripleys1Ripleys2Ripleys3

Power is back on and we are shipping today! All employees came to work with boots on, mop buckets in hand ready to pitch in and get the place cleaned up. I am amazed at the progress. Some rooms are nearly back to normal and in some cases cleaner than before. Orders will still be backed up for a few days but we are doing our best to catch up.

McGaw cleanup crew

The entire company worked hard to clean the building. Here Gordon Black proudly stands with Bruce and Angela McGaw.

Cleaning up the grounds after Irene flooding

Clean up crews worked day and night to remove the sediment deposited by the flooding. Here a bobcat clears our shipping entrance.

Due to tropical storm Irene, McGaw Graphics will be partially closed until later this week. Our main office, warehouse and manufacturing facility sustained flooding and has been without power since Sunday. You can still reach our customer service team in Orangeburg at 888.4BMcGaw to place an order and receive updates. The inventory has not been effected by the damage and we should be shipping later this week, we will keep you posted as more information is known. Thank you for your patience through this time.

Driveway damaged by Irene flooding

Our Driveway turned into a riverbed as water erroded the blacktop down to one lane.

Water line on building after Irene flooding

View from back of the building. You can see the water line was over 2 feet high. Plenty of standing water 24 hrs after rain stopped.

Property damage caused by Irene flooding

View from out our shipping door, dubbed McGaw beach.

Bruce's office flooded by Irene

Bruce McGaw's office after water receded, the mud and silt remains.

Hallway flooding caused by Irene

One of our hallways looks more like a muddy stream.

Sand bar deposited by Irene

View out a door, notice the large sand bar covering the sidewalk. A pallet in view was dragged a couple hundred yards away.

Registered users of our site now have their wholesale discount applied to web orders. For current customers just login and we will take care of the rest. If you are a non-registered user, you will need to create an account and if you are an existing McGaw customer your current discount is applied automatically. Note, there is a separate discount for published and distributed items. Distributed items are marked on the image detail page with a blue diamond.

The Image Detail view displays pricing information, we now show both the retail and wholesale (discounted) pricing side by side.

Discount Price

The wholesale price is also reflected in the cart through out the ordering process.

Discount Cart

On your account page you will notice a new section "Discounts" which displays both the Published and Distributed Discounts.

Discounts Account

If you have any issues contact our customer service team at 888-4-BMCGAW.

Christie's Andy Warhol "Self-Portrait, 1963-1964"Economic woes around the world have not dampened fervor for world-class art. Despite sluggish economic growth in the U.S. and an incipient economic crisis in the E.U., art sales continue to climb upward, equaling and at times surpassing numbers from the salad days of 2006 and 2007. The just-released statistics from Christie's about the company's performance in the first half of the year offer a case in point.

Overall, the company earned £2 billion ($3.2 billion) over the first half of the year, a 15 percent increase over last year's £1.7 billion ($2.6 billion). When asked about the potential impact of economic turmoil on future performance, a spokesperson for Christie's told ARTINFO that the auction house is "cautiously optimistic that the art market will continue to grow and prosper."

The top lot for the first half of the year was a self-portrait by Andy Warhol (1963-64), which sold in New York at the May Post-War and Contemporary evening sale, fetching $38.4 million. Overall, almost all numbers trended upward. The number of lots sold increased by 30 percent year-over-year. Private sales were up a whopping 57 percent. European sale totals topped £800 million ($1.3 billion), a 24 percent increase from last year. Sales in Hong Kong increased by 48 percent to total £296 million ($482.5 million). Read the full article here.

McGaw offers many different Warhol self-portraits.

Self-Portrait, 1964 (teal), Self-Portrait, 1964 (green) and Self-Portrait, 1964 (on green) to name a few.