Written by:
Berkeley Staff

Parking in Downtown Berkeley can be a real bear… but fortunately we have the Golden Bear Parking Garage less than a block from our store with the entrance off Bonita (one block east of Martin Luther King Jr Way).  We’d be happy to pay for your first hour’s parking with a purchase of $25 or more!  Just mention this offer to the cashier at the time of purchase, and we will deduct the cost of parking from your order.  Never fear parking at our store again!

For those of you who depend on public transportation: The #51 bus stops directly in front of our store, and we are a short walk from the Downtown Berkeley BART station.

Written by:
Berkeley Staff

April 22nd is Earth Day!  We are proud to introduce four styles of Utrecht brand recycled sketchbooks, with a warm brown paper throughout. Brown paper has long been my favorite surface for sketching- it is less harsh than bright white, and it is great fun to add highlights to a sketch with white gouache paint, white colored pencil, or a white china marker.  Unlike a brown grocery bag, this paper is acid-free and ph neutral.  It meets your high artistic standards in addition to being friendlier to the environment. Check this space for more suggestions for earth-friendly art.

In other news: Tomorrow is Easter Sunday!  Our store will be closed for the day.  I hope you all will be out enjoying the beautiful spring weather (hunting for eggs, or not.)  We’ll see you again on Monday, when we’ll be back to our normal business hours. (9am-8pm Mon-Fri, 10-7 Sat, 11-6 Sun.)

Written by:
Berkeley Staff

It may not be spring yet according to the calendar, but it feels like spring here in Berkeley. Things are sprouting and growing. (Both plants and ideas.) Those of us who like to paint or sketch outdoors are raring to go (in between the rain showers, that is.) 

We have a great Spring Sale going on, including such popular items as Arches and Utrecht cotton watercolor blocks, stretched canvases, and Utrecht brand oils, acrylics, and watercolors.  Those of you who are on the Artsmart mailing list should be receiving a really good coupon in the mail. (Those of you who aren’t on the mailing list yet: Why not? You can register online, or we can easily set you up next time you’re in the store.)

There are also some exciting Berkeley-only specials!  That’s right, our manager got spring fever and decided that certain items should be 1/3 off!  This is not 1/3 off the manufacturer’s suggested price, this is actually 1/3 off our already low everyday price!  Currently this special applies to selected Drawing, Printmaking, and Sculpture supplies, including selected charcoal and pencil sets, sketchbooks, zinc etching plates, small unmounted lino blocks, Roma Plastalina, casting plaster, and other exciting supplies. 

Look for the items marked with a fluorescent green “1/3 off” sticker!

Written by:
Berkeley Staff

Happy Valentine’s from the Berkeley Utrecht team!

Forget about flowers and candy… we are secretly hoping that someone gives us a bouquet of a dozen brushes… or maybe a jewel box containing a tube of Cadmium Red Deep. 

We wear our art on our sleeves!  And we are passionate about what we do, be it painting, printmaking, drawing or design. 

We would love to fulfill all your art supply needs.  

Go ahead, art your heart out! 

We also carry materials to make the most the most artistic and creative Valentine card that your sweetheart has ever seen! Nothing says “I love you” like “I made it myself!”

Our Winter Back to School sale is still going on, all through this month.  And Back to School is not just for students… professional artists know that now is the best time to stock up on big tubes of oil and acrylic paint, brushes, sketchbooks, and other essentials.

Written by:
Berkeley Staff

We love art.  But we are artists, and this means we are often broke.  (What money we have, we often end up spending on our own supplies…)  Art museums are expensive, but many museums have at least one day a month when they offer free admission.

Here’s a breakdown of when and where you can see art for free*:

Asian Art Museum 200 Larkin St San Francisco CA 94102  http://www.asianart.org

The Asian Art Museum offers free admission on the first Sunday of every month.  Next free day: Sunday, January 4th, 2008.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 151 Third St San Francisco CA 94103 http://www.sfmoma.org

The SF MOMA offers free admission on the first Tuesday of every month.  Next free day: Tuesday, January 6th, 2008.

deYoung Museum(in Golden Gate Park) 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive San Francisco CA 94118 http://www.famsf.org

The deYoung Museum, like its “cousin” the Legion of Honor, offers free admission the first Tuesday of every month.  Next free day: Tuesday, January 6th, 2008.

The Palace of the Legion of Honor (in Lincoln Park) 34th Ave & Clement St San Francisco CA 94121 http://www.famsf.org

The Legion of Honor, like its “cousin” the deYoung, offers free admission the first Tuesday of every month. Next free day: Tuesday, January 6th, 2008.

The Oakland Museum of California 1000 Oak St Oakland CA 94607 http://www.museumca.org

The Oakland Museum offers free admission the second Sunday of every month. Next free day: Sunday, January 10th, 2008. (Please note that the Oakland Museum is currently renovating, so some of their galleries may be closed.)

*the obligatory asterisk* Free admission is subject to availability.  There may still be fees for special exhibitions.  Please contact the museums directly for details.

Written by:
Berkeley Staff

Despite the sunny skies we’ve had lately, it is December! And this can mean any number of things… The days are getting shorter and darker.  People get an irresistible compulsion to light candles and put up pretty colored lights.  Christmas is coming up (December 25th.) Hanukkah starts December 21st.  Winter Solstice (the shortest day of the year) falls on December 22nd. It’s a great time for having parties and giving one another gifts. We’ve got some wonderful gifts for artists and aspiring artists. Or perhaps you want to give yourself a gift.  (C’mon, you’ve earned it.)

There are some particularly good sales out there for the painters. A number of popular easel styles are substantially discounted from their usual prices, whether you are looking for a small tabletop easel like the Winsor Newton “Eden” (item# 39263, sale price $29.99) or a massive studio easel like the “Utrecht Master’s Easel” (item# 56224, sale price $459.99)  For a very solid mid-range studio easel, I would recommend either the Winsor Newton “Shannon” (item# 39267, sale price $129.99) or the “Utrecht Artist’s Easel” (item# 42638, sale price $199.99.)  Both are sturdy H-frame designs- The Shannon has the advantage of compactness, and comes already assembled.  The Artist’s Easel has the advantage of being convertible, so that you can tilt your canvas anywhere between a fully horizontal or fully vertical position. (Assembly is required.)

For people who like to sketch, we have all kinds of great pencil and pen sets on sale. Colored pencils, watercolor pencils, graphite pencils… you pick….  And for young aspiring artists we have box sets put out by Reeves and Color & Co. that come with everything you would need to get started.  (just add paper and imagination.)

We are all artists here, so we’re always happy to provide advice.  And as always, we offer gift cards in any amount that you choose.

Written by:
Berkeley Staff

The time has come to unveil our dramatic new sale… (pause for drum roll) 

The day after Thanksgiving,

Friday, November 28th, from 9 to noon only:

50% off all Utrecht Brand Brushes

Saturday, November 29th, from 9 to noon only:

50% off all Utrecht Brand Canvas

And finally…

Sunday, November 30th, from 10am to 2pm only:

50% off all Utrecht Brand Paint.

Get your painting supplies at prices you haven’t seen before, and are unlikely to see again… 

Sale good only during times specified, for specified Utrecht brand items only. (No rainchecks or special orders.) Here’s your incentive to get out of bed (reasonably) early on the holiday weekend.

Written by:
Berkeley Staff

Hello all!  We’ve got some great in-store specials going on right now. A great selection of items for painting, drawing, drafting, and matting are all on sale for 25% off our everyday low price.  Just look for the items marked with the big red dots. (Why are they on sale? Just because we have a LOT of them.  So come on in & take advantage of the deal.)

Our Winter Holiday Sale has also just started. (Yes, it is already that time of the year.)  We are bringing in some new gift sets… great for giving to that special someone for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, or just because…  If you are unsure what to give them, you can always give them an ArtSmart card loaded with whatever amount of credit that you choose. (Trust me on this: All artists LOVE free art supplies.)

We will be closed on the the day of Thanksgiving (November 27th.)  The day following, we will reopen with some new limited-time holiday specials. I’m not allowed to tell you what they are yet: They are still top-secret. Watch this space…

Written by:
Berkeley Staff

If you have been by our store lately, you may have noticed that things look a little different:

We’ve been getting into the Halloween spirit and decorating our store with spooky motifs. It shows how much you can accomplish with tempera paint, brown cardboard, charcoal, and pastels…

I’ve always thought it was a shame to wear an unaltered store-bought costume on Halloween… we have some items that could help you personalize your spooky look:

Above: Snazaroo face painting kits, Rigid Wrap (a type of plaster cloth, great for making masks), fabric paints and fabric markers for embellishing costumes and clothes. Regular acrylic paints, cardboards, and papers could also be useful. Have fun!

Above: a classic scene of artist and model (except the artist is an invisible ghost and the models are skeletons.) Pose taken (roughly) from Manet’s “Olympia.”

Nice kitty.

Written by:
Berkeley Staff

This past Sunday, we had an oil painting demo with Glenn Brill, Artist-in-residence with Gamblin paints.  He covered a great deal of information in a short demo, and left his audience eager to experiment with different oil painting techniques and mediums.

If you missed this event, take heart: we do intend to schedule more free art events like this in the future.