Thursday, February 28, 2008

The Oscar's

I realized that I didn't post about the Oscar's that were on Sunday. Did anyone else besides me watch? Did anyone else miss Ellen as the host? I really really did! I do feel Billy Crystal was a great one with his video spoofs and such. But overall..to me Ellen was the best of all the recent ones. I just didn't feel it this year.



Too many video montages to watch. I guess those were prepped in case the Writer's Strike had not ended. But gesh! Enough. And do only I share the opinion to cut down on those videos, the hosts openings jokes and such and allow the winners. Yes..the people who have won the goal of a lifetime to have more than 30 seconds to speak! I mean my gosh! The one poor gal didn't even get a chance to speak and then Jon Stewart brings her back out. Is it just me or maybe could some things be cut down to save time and offer the winners a little longer to take thank you?! Do we need full songs sung of the nominated songs? They often seem to go on and on. And given three were from Enchanted..I think it would have been better to merge them together. It just this year seemed rather dull to me.




As far as attire..I think Katherine Heigl looked amazing!




Along with Jennifer Garner, Renee Zellweger, the winner for La Vie En Rose..she was beautiful and the writer for Juno! Diablo Cody. Very cute. Love that she bucked against the fashion giants and skipped the ridicuoulsly expensive shoes and wore little gold flats from Payless! Good for her!




Other than that..Johnny Depp was looking cute, Colin Farrell as always and I loved seeing The Rock there giving an award!


I've gotten another layout done! Nothing jaw dropping but lately I've been enjoying the challenge of using more than one photo on a page. Not that I don't like those. But when I see how many pictures I have to scrapbook and I realize I've been taking less and less. I think I need to step it up now and then. So here's one from Xmas with the pictures from our photo shoot. Scenic Route's new paper, diecuts and such are perfect for this!





Until tomorrow,

Julia

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Stolen Art Watch, "Sleep" Retailed at 1500% Profit, Now That's Criminal !!



Expert finds stolen $80,000 painting at Palm Beach fair


Recovered
An Art Loss Register art historian helped recover a painting stolen from the Buffalo Club at the Palm Beach Fine Arts and Antique Fair earlier this month. The painting, titled "Sleep," was painted by James Carroll Beckwith and reported stolen in 1995. (February 26, 2008)

By Erika Pesantes South Florida Sun-Sentinel
February 27, 2008

A stolen painting recovered at the Palm Beach-America's International Fine Art & Antique Fair is due back in the hands of its rightful owner Monday.

Art historian Erin Culbreth of The Art Loss Register saw the 101-year-old oil painting by J. Carroll Beckwith during a check of pieces in the fair before it opened earlier this month at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach.

The international organization, with offices in Manhattan, lists about 200,000 stolen and missing artworks worldwide in its databases.


The painting, titled Sleep, was reported missing in 1995 by the Buffalo Club. The New York club would not comment Tuesday on its recovery.

The painting is at the Register's Manhattan office until Monday, said Chris Marinello, executive director and general counsel for The Art Loss Register. Then it goes back to the Buffalo Club.

Anne Frances Moore Fine Art Services purchased the artwork in 2005 for $6,000 from auctioneer Doyle New York, Marinello said. Anne Frances Moore had an $80,000 price tag on the painting for the fair, but it was flagged and pulled before opening day on Feb. 1.

"It's a phenomenal work and everyone that had seen it said they wanted to buy it," Marinello said.

The 17-by-21-inch painting shows a young slumbering woman with red lips and cascading curls. Beckwith was a significant Missouri-born artist who drew influences from Europe and worked alongside John Singer Sargent. His works have been showcased at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Detroit Institute of Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

The fair hired the Register to cross-check about 2,000 fine arts and antiquities against ones in its databases. The fair featured about 400,000 pieces of art from galleries in more than a dozen countries. A vetting committee of museum curators, art scholars and experts also verified the authenticity of the art.

"It's an important part of the service we offer to buyers who come to the fair," its director, Michael Mezzatesta, said. "I'm just happy that we were able to help recover the painting and see it get back to its rightful owner."

The Register lists 259 missing or stolen art pieces from Florida. It has worked on 80 cases in South Florida, including last month's theft of the painting Our Lady of Czestochowa from Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in West Palm Beach. That painting remains missing.

Sleep is the first stolen painting that has shown up at the Palm Beach-America's International Fine Art & Antique Fair since its inception 12 years ago, said Gary Libby, chairman of its vetting committee and director emeritus of the Daytona Museum of Arts & Sciences. This find underscores how important it is for fair officials to scrutinize the authenticity of artworks, he said.
"Because imagine if someone buys a $100,000 painting and in three months there's a knock on the door," Libby said. "The whole thing [could be] a nightmare of problems."

Erika Pesantes can be reached at epesantes@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6602.

Art Hostage Comments:

Credit is due to the Art Loss Register for this and other recoveries when moronic stolen art handlers try and sell them via Auction.

The Art Loss Register is fast becoming a victim of its own success, why ?

Once the criminal world realises that to try and sell stolen paintings via auction or without informing the new buyer about the current status, i.e. listed as stolen on the Art Loss Register, is much akin to offering themselves up as sacrificial lambs led to the inevitable slaughter.

The more publicity about how stolen artworks are traced via auction then the less likely thieves or handlers will use the auction avenue.

So, in the future the recoveries will few and far between.

All is not lost for the Art Loss Register as they can still continue to police the trade and charge a subscription for that service.

To matters at hand.

This Beckwith painting "Sleep" sold at Doyles, New York Auction House for $6,000 to a dealer, who then marks it up by 1500% for retail sale.

I would say this is sheer greed on the part of the dealer but the marking up by as much as 20 times trade price is common.

What this means to art collectors is they lose up to 95% of the retail price straight away.

So, an artwork priced at $1million is actually worth $50,000.

Perhaps the art collecting public may ponder this fact before purchasing an artwork from a dealer.

Furthermore, lets assume an elderly Lady or Gentleman has a painting that they consign to Doyles or any other auction house.

The painting sells for $6,000, after deductions the vendor receives around $4,500 from the auctioneer.
Then the painting is offered at an Antiques Fair by the auction buyer for $80,000 plus.

A fair deal for the elderly Lady or Gentleman, or a tale of a morally repugnant trade riddled by greed that See's the original owners of art paid a pittance, even in so-called legitimate deals.


What is a fair mark up for art and antiques ?????????????????????? ?

Inspiration

"If there is a 'secret' to my success, it is showing up over and over again to take the next indicated step and letting go of the results.'

miss you Glitter

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Ring around the neck






So how do you kick up a plain top or dress. With one of these!! Goes around the neck and looks like a collar or a piece of jewery. These are crocheted with a ribbon yarn and with the black one I threw in some eyelash yarn to make it a little more flashy. And of course these are going in to my Etsy Store.




And be sure to check out ~~~Absolute Treasures.~~~~

Just click on Absolute treasures and it will take you right to her . She has some fantastic stitch markers as pictured above for all you knitters and crocheters.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Hi

Hi! How are you? Yes you? Me? I'm good! We had a busy weekend after 2 snow days for the kids last week. Seemed like the weekend went on forever. Which can be good but when you're in the house for a period of time. You can feel trapped like I do from time to time.


Easily solved by popping by the mall. Getting there and noticing an insane amount of traffic. Only to remember that yes...Paris Hilton..the real one..was there to sign autographs in conjuction with her new perfume!







That's crazy! As it turns out the reason she was at this Macy's... was because it sells more of her perfume than the other Macy's locations. Help..what does that say about the area I live!LOL

To further help with the feeling of being cooped up..Scott and I were asked to a Trivia Night. Very fun! We did not do well on the first few sets of questions. But after that..we did really well. Not good enough to win..but we had alot of fun! Headed out for drinks after and drove home in a mini snow blizzard that thankfully did not stick to the roads. We've had ENOUGH! Spring please hurry!!!!!!!

I have not done too much in the way of scrapping. It's just not there and I know when it's not..walk away! Here is one layout I did make using the new Paper Salon Sorbet. It's from Easter 2 years ago! Amazing just how quickly time goes and soon enough we'll be celebrating another Easter!



And last as I seem to always discuss movies..we watched a few over the long weekend. We Own the Night..with Marky Mark and Joaquin Phoenix..not too bad. No shirtless scenes for Mark so that's a bit of a downer. I'd give it a C+.

The Game Plan with..The Rock! WOW! Be still my heart..plenty of arm, chest, legs to drool over and we all thought it was a cute movie. Doesn't hurt that I like football movies and when you mix in The Rock..I'm there! I'll give this a B for family entertainment and well..The Rock!



Haley said she'd like to get that one and suprisingly Scott agreed. It was a good all around movie for us we thought!

And last..we finally got to watch The Astronaut Farmer with Billy Bob Thornton. Okay movie about a guy with dreams. Not a bad thing to have! I like Virginia Madsen too! I'll give it a B/B-.



We still have American Gangster to watch so that's next on our viewing calendar. After that..I saw the Jane Austen club is out along with Becoming Jane. I told Scott these should be rented next. Quite a change from We Own The Night and American Gangster! But that's what it's all about! Diversity!

Until tomorrow,

Julia

Stolen Art Watch, Torture Threat Terrifies Elderly Home-owners in Violent Art Raid !!


Woman relives torture threat



By Nigel Freedman

A robbery victim fought back tears as she told how raiders threatened to pull out her husband's fingernails.

Sarah Williams said she had no doubt they would have carried out their threat if she had not co-operated.

Mrs Williams, 68, and her husband, former Army major Tom Williams, 73, were tied up during the raid at their country home.

Mr Williams was beaten with a cosh and kicked as he lay defenceless on the ground, a court heard.

The couple were in the drawing room at Aldsworth House, near Chichester, when the security alarm was triggered by movement in the grounds outside as they watched television at 9pm on June 4, 2006.

Mrs Williams went to check outside but could see nothing and thought the alarm had been tripped by their dogs or a fox.

Minutes later the alarm went off again and Mrs Williams went to investigate.

As she opened the back door a man wearing a balaclava barged past her.

Mrs Williams told a jury at Hove Crown Court yesterday: "I screamed pointlessly but it was rather terrifying."

Two more raiders came in behind the first and ran through to the drawing room where her husband had been half asleep in a chair.

Mrs Williams said: "By the time I got there they were attacking my husband.

"One had a truncheon which he hit Tom over the head with.

The other was kicking him in the ribs.

"I tried to go towards Tom but the second man stopped me and pulled my left hand behind my back.

"He took my engagement ring off and strapped me up with gaffer tape."

Her hands, arms and feet were bound and her jacket put over her head to stop her from seeing the robbers.

She said the gang's leader demanded to know where the couple's safe and jewellery was.

Mrs Williams added: "I told them there was a safe upstairs.

"Tom told them the police were on the way and I was very worried they would attack him again.

"I heard them walking around upstairs and then they came down and asked where the proper safe was.

"We had to deny that we had another safe or jewellery and said that had all gone in a robbery in October.

"They got cross and started checking for silver.

"They found the silver and there was tremendous banging as they took the insides out of two grandfather clocks."

Mrs Williams said the raiders eventually found the main safe and demanded the keys for it.

But even then her husband remained defiant and told the robbers it was their son's safe and they did not have a key.

Mrs Williams fought back tears as she recalled: "They said they would pull Tom's fingernails out one by one if we did not tell them where the key was.

"I had no doubt they would have done it if I had not told them.

"They were clearly going to get the key to that safe, one way or another.

"I said I would tell them only if they agreed not to take my husband's collection of medals.

"They are all family medals and they are irreplaceable."

Mrs Williams showed them where the safe key was. She was then led back to the drawing room with her husband.

She added: "They all wore balaclavas and gloves but I did not look at them.

"I was so frightened they would kill my husband. The leader's voice sounded ruthless and I thought he would do what he said he was going to do."

Two of the raiders loaded antiques worth £380,000 into the Williams' car and drove off.

Walton Hornsby, prosecuting, alleges the raid was carried out by Wolfgang Schmeltz, 57, Christopher Doughty, 48, and William Johnson, 47.

Antique dealers Daniel Brummer, 56, and Christopher Capewell, 63, are accused of handling stolen property.

They are said to have received antiques stolen from country homes in Firle, near Lewes, Slinfold, near Horsham, Petworth and Bexhill.

Schmeltz, Doughty and Johnson, all from Southampton, deny robbery.

Schmeltz and Doughty have admitted one charge of conspiracy to handle stolen goods.

Capewell, of Grand Avenue, Hove, and Brummer, of Furze Hill, Hove, deny conspiracy to handle stolen goods.

The trial continues.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

If you are new to cables check this out





Yesterday I was looking around Etsy and came across this wonderful cable knit neck warmer from HomeMadeOriginals I could not wait to get started on this little cutie and I recieved the pattern quickly. Now I decided to knit this in a ribbon yarn and just love how it turned out.


I don't have my buttons on yet because I have to make them with my polymer clay so those pic's will come later. Now if you want this pattern you can go to the sellar over to the right at Home Made Designs and purchase it. You will not be disapointed and if you are just learning cables this is a super way to get started.

I am also excited to be a part of Etsy Knitters. Check us out!!!

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Stolen Art Watch, Oo'h The Bloody Cheek, Stolen is always Stolen, You Can't be Half-Pregnant, Update !!




http://www.eastbayri.com/index.php



Valuable paintings stolen 31 years ago found in Bristol home

Ted Hayes reports:

http://www.eastbayri.com/story/291059158150189.php

BRISTOL — Three valuable paintings stolen in a brazen 1976 armed robbery in Shrewsbury, Mass., are in the hands of the FBI, after they were surrendered by a Bristol attorney who received them from his brother, a Barrington art dealer, as collateral for a $22,000 loan six or seven years ago.

Read the facts of the court case filed Monday in federal court in Providence.

Investigators don't know how Barrington resident William Conley, the proprietor of Upscale Emporium at 280 County Road, ended up with the paintings, which he gave to his brother, Bristol attorney Dr. Patrick Conley, below, as collateral for the loan. The paintings were stolen at gunpoint from an affluent Shrewsbury home on July 1, 1976.



But now the works, which by one estimate are worth $1 million or more — are the subject of a legal tug-of-war in federal court among Dr. Conley, the heirs of the painting's original owners and an insurance company.

On Monday, the FBI filed paperwork in U.S. District Court in Providence asking for a legal determination of the rightful owner. U.S. Attorney's office spokesman Tom Connell acknowledged that the courts are trying to determine ownership, but would not comment on whether a separate criminal case is proceeding.

Dr. Conley, a prominent historian, attorney and real estate developer who lives in a sprawling home beneath the Mt. Hope Bridge, said he discovered the paintings' checkered past after having them inspected by a prominent Newport art dealer last year. When he and the dealer discovered their history, they promptly called the FBI.

"We didn't want to have stolen paintings on our hands," Dr. Conley said Friday. "My brother, I have no idea how he got them; I don't know that he knew they were stolen."

A number listed to Uspcale Emporium was disconnected, and William Conley could not be reached for comment.

Brazen theft

According to paperwork filed Monday in federal court in Providence, the paintings — Childe Hassam's "In the Sun," Gustav Courbet's "The Shore of Lake Geneva," and William Hamilton's "Lady as Shepherdess" — were stolen from the home of Mae Persky in 1976.

Shrewsbury police reports obtained by the Worcester (Mass.) Telegraph and Gazette state that three masked robbers, one of them armed, cut the home's telephone lines, bound Mrs. Persky, a nurse and a caretaker, and proceeded to ransack the house, stealing the paintings and other items, including jewelry and silver, before fleeing with an estimated $60,000 haul. The robbers were never caught.

The paintings' trail went silent at that point, and nothing was heard until about six or seven years ago, when William Conley, below, approached his brother Patrick and asked for the $22,000 loan.


Dr. Conley said he is not close to his brother, William, an art dealer who has been in the business for 40 years. That was partly the reason he asked for collateral up front before agreeing to the six-month loan, he said.

"He was very desperate for money," said Dr. Conley. "I was a little bit reluctant, so I said 'You've gotta give me some collateral.' He brought the paintings to me, and said 'They're valuable, worth much more than the amount you're giving me.' "

Not knowing they were stolen, Dr. Conley accepted the paintings and gave his brother six months to pay back the loan.

"A few months turned into a few years, and the loan was never redeemed," continued Dr. Conley. "I finally said to myself that if he doesn't want to take the paintings back, they're probably copies and I was out $22,000."

Discovery

So last year, Dr. Conley contacted a friend, prominent New York art dealer and appraiser William Varieka, and asked him to look into the paintings' value. About a month later, the expert got back to him.

"He said, 'I've got good news and bad news,' " said Dr. Conley.

"I said, 'Give me the good news first.' "

"These paintings are not copies," he reportedly replied. "They're genuine. Now the bad news: They're stolen."

"I said, 'You've gotta be kidding me.'"

What happened next is not clear. Dr. Conley said Mr. Varieka learned of the paintings' history after contacting the New York Art Loss Register, a firm that records art thefts and works with law enforcement agencies to return stolen works to their rightful owners. Once the determination came in that they were stolen, Dr. Conley said, both he and Mr. Varieka agreed that they should call the FBI.

"We didn't want to have stolen paintings around," said Dr. Conley. "If they were stolen they should be returned to the proper owners."

However, FBI Special Agent Gail A. Marcinkiewicz said Friday that the FBI became involved not after hearing from Dr. Conley or the dealer, but by Art Loss Register officials.

Regardless, Dr. Conley and Mr. Varieka were soon in contact with FBI officials, who traveled to Mr. Varieka's Newport gallery to retrieve the paintings.

"They've had them ever since," said Dr. Conley. "Once I gave them (to Mr. Varieka) they were never back here" in Bristol.

What next?

Though authorities won't say whether there will be an arrest in the case, the fate of the paintings has set off a dispute between Dr. Conley and his wife, Gail, the heirs of the Persky family, and an insurance company that paid the Persky family for their loss following the 1976 robbery.

First, OneBeacon Insurance, identified in court papers as "successor-in-interest" to Commercial Union Insurance, claims an interest because Commercial Union was the firm that paid Mrs. Persky a $45,000 settlement for the thefts following the 1976 robbery.

Second, Judith Yoffie of Worcester, Mass., claims an interest, as the paintings were left in Mrs. Persky's will to her late husband, who died last year. Mrs. Persky reportedly died in 1979.

Finally, Dr. and Gail Conley assert an interest in the paintings, as they stand to lose the $22,000 they loaned William Conley.

"Over the last year I've been attempting to get some kind of determination of ownership," said Dr. Conley. "What is the correct ownership? Usually possession is 9/10ths of the law, but what if they're stolen?"

"Someone should reimburse my wife and I," he added. "If it weren't for the fact that we called in the FBI when we found out that they were stolen, those paintings would never have been recovered."

As for his brother, Mr. Conley said he hasn't spoken to him in quite some time, and doesn't know how to reach him.

"I'm a little aggravated that the collateral he furnished was stolen."

To read more about the original 1976 theft of the paintings, as reported by Scott J. Croteau of the Worcester Telegraph & Gazette, click here:

www.telegram.com/article/20080222/NEWS/802220602/1116

By Ted Hayes

thayes@eastbaynewspapers.com

Art Hostage comments:

The sheer nerve of some people, the bloody cheek, enough already with the excuses.

These paintings are stolen property and all the complaining in the world will not change that fact.

I expect Law Enforcement to do their job and indict all those involved and press charges against those deemed involved.

The only dispute should be between the insurance company and the original owner or their estate.

The Doc's role should be investigated and if proven innocent he should recieve an amount worked out by both the insurance company and the original owner or their estate.

Personally, this is a charade and a complete fabrication.

An unsavoury Art and Antiques dealer, William Conley, supposedly loans money against these stolen paintings, which were not valued professionally at the time of the loan, which would have flagged them up as stolen, from his estranged Lawyer brother, who then after years wants to cash the paintings in question in.
Bullshit with a Big B

Real life is William Conley conspires with his brother Dr Patrick to realise the value of these stolen paintings, having bought them knowing they were stolen and hoping they would slip through, not least because Dr Patrick Conley appears to be a pillar of the community.

To be continued..............

Update:
It now transpires that the FBI WERE contacted by Dr Patrick Conley after all.

This is important as Dr Patrick Conley could have been duped by his brother William and truly be innocent.

If that is the case then Dr Patrick Conley may be required to give evidence to that affect in front of a Grand Jury, a sure fire way to clear himself of any complicity.

If that is the case, full co-operation with Law Enforcement, then I am sure Dr Patrick Conley and his wife are due their money back as a finders fee, plus interest.

However, demands of one third of the value or more may be a little optimistic.

Someone is guilty of being complicit, lets find out who ??