There's just a few artists who are highlighted in my calendar - to remember the anniversary of their death. Karin Jurick is one such. The announcement of her passing Karin Jurick died three years ago on the 16th June 2021 age 60.  It was a very big shock - we'd known each other for about 14 years and I still miss her. While we were not close friends - she lived in Georgia in the US and I live in London - she very much felt like a blogging chum. She and I started blogging more or less at the same time. I followed her and she followed me and we built our followings together. We wer ..read more

Anybody who is  EITHER aspiring to either become a contemporary portrait painter  OR wanting to commission a contemporary portrait from one of the leading portrait painters in the UK  would do well to visit the latest exhibition of the artist collective known as the Contemporary British Portrait Painters. Most of the artists in the CBPP 2024 exhibition Their biennial exhibition is currently being held - until 15th June 2024 - downstairs at The Department Store, 248 Ferndale Road, Brixton SW9 8FR.   The 2024 Exhibition by Contemporary British Portrait ..read more

Would you like to get an email to your inbox every time a post is published on Making A Mark? Earlier this year, I wrote about how the changes in the rules by Google regarding bulk emails sent by gmail were going to have a major impact on my blogging. I speculated at the time about giving up blogging altogether - as I originally built my audience entirely via the RSS feed. See ALERT ALL SUBSCRIBERS: Blogging Service may be interrupted OR subscription mailing service changed To cut a long story short since I only use gmail and have done for the last two decades, I wasn't about to give up o ..read more

The Portrait Award 2024 at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG)in London received 1,647 entries from 62 countries.   This is the latest 'edition' of this very prestigious art competition's history at the NPG which dates back to 1980. During that time it has had over 40,000 entries from more than 100 countries and the exhibition has been seen by over 6 million people. That said, having looked back at some of my previous posts (a number of which have focused on the numbers) there have been fewer entries this year. However, I think that's hardly surprising for an art com ..read more

 The finalists for The Archibald Prize 2024 have been announced.  The Archibald Prize is awarded annually to the best portrait, 'preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in art, letters, science or politics, painted by any artist resident in Australasia’. The Archibald Prize for portrait painting is Australia’s most celebrated and democratic – sometimes controversial – art award. Open to any artist living in Australia or New Zealand, since 1921 it has reflected the unique experiences of the people who live in this region, highlighting figures from all walks of life.  ..read more

I had a bit of an art binge and a dose of art history yesterday, on the way back to the District Line from the Philip Mould Gallery. Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna by Lord Frederic Leighton 222 x 521 cm "Reassorted" at the Mall Galleries  First, I called in at the Mall Galleries - to see William Feaver's curated selection of portraits from the recent Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. It's called Reassorted and it's quite remarkable what a new curation can do for a hang.  I'll comment more on this tomorrow. However, I recommend people take a look if ..read more

I said last week that I'd reserve judgement - in terms of a blog post - until I'd seen the actual portrait of King Charles III by Jonathan Yeo. So, this morning, I visited the Philip Mould Gallery at 18-19 Pall Mall in central London and took a look. In the company of a lot of other people I might add. The door was opening with new visitors almost the whole time I was there - with most people very surprised to find out that viewing the painting is free. This post is about: background to the portrait how commissioning portraits of members of the Royal Family works  what I think about the ..read more

While on my "Mega Spring Clean" Break, I've been mulling over whether to move forward with Substack. Mainly in the context of the fact  I've been writing Making A Mark on Blogger for over 18 years. I happen to like the platform and while I hope it continues, I do get concerned about the subscription side of things - which has effectively died for me I've watched both James Gurney and Michael Chesley Johnson set up on Substack (and I'm happy to hear of any more of you who have made the move!) - I think for pretty much the same reasons as me. I'm 70 later this year and I'd like to  ..read more

I should have written about the Annual Exhibition 2024 of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (RP) last week - but my "mega spring clean" rather got in the way.   Suffice to say this is one of the very best RP Annual Exhibitions I've ever seen - and I'm very sure that those who have seen it have been broadcasting that fact far and wide. In fact, it's so good that I'd be very surprised if the The Portrait Award Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery (sponsored by Herbert Smith Freehills) is any better. How to see the exhibition You can see the exhibition at the Mall Galleries ..read more

I've not been posting because: I needed a proper break - not having had a break from blogging in a long time - and there's never ever a good time! I'm currently engaged in a MEGA Spring Clean - as in really MEGA! My better half and I have been reorganising my study. As in he does the heavy lifting and I do the organising, chucking and shredding...... Stage 1: The Move I wanted my study to be more accessible and ergonomic - and basically wanted to get rid of my filing stacks!! So we’ve moved my filing cabinet out of the corner and put it next to the door so it is now much more accessible ..read more