Odorless and non-toxic, these inks are are made with several emulsified, water-soluble oils that deliver their ease of use. When dry, the colors are permanent and very lightfast.  There are so many reasons to switch to an oil based water washable ink. After joining Rick we are certain you will be excited to play with this unique printing ink.

Rick’s workshops are popular so sign up early for this eagerly anticipated event.

Rick Kitagawa is a San Francisco-based visual artist, storyteller, game designer, and screen printer. You may visit his website at www.rickkitagawa.com.

With 130 years of experience behind them, Charbonnel is meeting the demand for quality products engineered to meet todays higher environmental standards. You’ll be amazed by what you can achieve with these inks.

First stop, Ghirardelli Square (thru 6/15). As part of our 75th year celebration, we crafted a giant “F”, our logo since the 1950s, that will make its home in different spots in SF through the rest of the year. Bring your Flax receipt in for a 10% discount at Ghirardelli Chocolates and bring your receipt from Ghirardelli Chocolates into Flax for the same.

Take a photo with our “F” and POST it to our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram pages and include #Flaxart75 for a chance to WIN a weekly $100 Gift Card!

Howard Flax and Leslie Abel Flax deliver the sculpture.

Meagan Spendlove – 75 at FLAX

Previous post on March 16, 2013 - Here’s a new graphic developed by our own Lucy Conklin, who took some cues from our iconic ‘F’. We’re using it in some local advertisements, and it’s coming soon to you…on our next Flax t-shirt! Previous post on February 19, 2013 - Howard Flax talks about FLAX’s 75th Anniversary: Previous post on January 18, 2013 - Back in 1938 Herman Flax opened up shop in downtown San Francisco. Though initially the store’s back room was also the family’s bedroom, with $100 to invest in inventory and a used cash register it wasn’t long before Flax’s Artists’ Materials was on its way. This year is our 75th birthday! Look for celebration events coming later this year, with the birthday bash happening in August. To begin recognizing the anniversary of our founding, we’ve introduced a new logo element you can find on our gift card, shopping bags, our new FLAX picture frames and the new FLAX tote. Both Green and Local, the FLAX tote is made here in San Francisco of recycled cotton scrap cloth. The 1.5″ wide loop handle is spun from recycled plastic and long enough to drape the bag over your shoulder. We’ve run it through a washing machine – a true reusable bag, good design, and great value at only $4.95. It’s hot, and we just received a reorder of this fine fashion statement!

Winsor & Newton Artists’ Water Colour offers a range of 96 unique colors and a wide array of mediums to help artists alter and enhance the characteristics of their work. The goal is to help everyone get the most out this wonderful medium.

These topics and any other questions you bring will be addressed, with all attendees receiving free watercolour samples at the conclusion!

Presented by artist Anna Simson, who is part of the Artist Outreach Program for Winsor & Newton. You may view her paintings, biography and resume at annasimson.com.

Meagan Spendlove – Wall Therapy Mural Event, Rochester, NY, 2012

Join us along with artist, muralist, and educator Meagan Spendlove for the second part of our Aerosol Painting Workshop sponsored by Montana Aerosol Paints. Meagan’s mural painted recently at the front of our store commemorating our 75th anniversary has been gaining a lot of attention. We are excited to have her be a part of our growing aerosol art program. The second class in this two part series welcomes everyone from her first class as well as the curious or professional artist who wants to advance their skills using aerosol paint as a medium. Meagan will take up where she left off in the Part I workshop and teach techniques on how to create more intricate work with aerosol painting.

POP, WOW, VIBRANT, HEARTFELT, these words describe how we feel about the murals Meagan Spendlove (aka Siloette) creates. The walls of various office buildings, churches and schools have been her blank canvas and her style has been compared to Art Nouveau & stained glass. Meagan’s portrait work has become recognized primarily for the bold lines and vivid color spectrum. Having traveled around the world – more than 80 cities in the last 10 years, Meagan calls San Francisco home.

Since these classes are hands-on please be prepared to work outdoors. Space is limited, please sign up at the store or online to the right.

Shelly Minnis, with Prismacolor Pencils

Shelly Minnis, Prismacolor artist, is back at FLAX for a day of Prismacolor exploration. Shelly will be highlighting the latest materials from Prismacolor and demonstrate all your favorites such as the Prisma Markers, Prismacolor Pencils and the new Sharpie Stained fabric markers. So stop by and bring your questions and curiosity to this informative event. (no sign up required)

Shelley has been with Prismacolor for the past 12 years and prefers to think of herself as an “artist that works…and not a working artist”. Shelley attended The University of North Texas and received a degree in Art Education. After teaching for nine years, she ended up switching her career to business…but still in an art-related field. Shelley enjoys working with the Prismacolor brand because as an art teacher, they were some of her favorite products. She still feels delight in the fact that so much diversity, creativity and beauty can come from a “simple box of colored pencils”. Her position allows her to travel and meet plenty of artists, art students and professionals who excel in fashion, architecture, cartooning and interior design. It gives her joy to know that she is putting the tools of the trade in the hands of individuals that design the things that we all live with each and every day of our lives.

Each dropper top bottle holds 1 oz of the new acrylic based ink and yields 600 drops of color! The set of four bottles (black, yellow, blue and magenta) includes a color mixing guide that shows how to mix more than 300 colors, which are all lightfast and permanent. See below for a brief and compelling video introduction. $26.95

On the left is Dan Flanagan, Executive Director of FUF, with Howard Flax.

Previous post on March 29, 2013 -

For the entire month of April we are donating a percentage of  sales to Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF), which is responsible for planting 47,000 trees in our City! Almost half of the oxygen producing friends in SF were planted by FUF, and with Earth Day coming on April 22, please help us give FUF a hand!

This complete kit provides instructions, all the tools you need to make your own stamps and 25 exclusively designed templates to use and inspire your own muse to create and your own designs. $28.00

As featured in the New York Times!

 
Includes:
- Easy to follow illustrated instructions
- 25 original templates for brithdays, holidays and everyday
- Carve-A-Stamp block with two sides for carving –  two rubber blocks to carve stamps on a wood mount with finger grroves fro stamping ease. For images up to 2×3.
- Carving tool with wood handle and five blades
- Muslin keepsake bag
- All purpose ink pad with brilliant red ink for printing on paper, fabric and more
- pencil and vellum transfer paper

Creating oil paint can be messy (and somewhat dangerous). At Gamblin Artists Colors, an abundance of pigment particles are collected at the factory in their Torrit® Air Filtration system that captures airborne dust. Rather than sending any of the high quality, expensive pigments into the landfill, Gamblin paint makers recycle them into “Gamblin Torrit Grey”.

“Pigment dust should not go into the earth, water or landfill, but into paint,” says Robert Gamblin.

The mix of pigments varies from year to year, so Torrit Grey is always unique and will never be repeated.  The actual color tends to have a greenish tinge because of the powerful strength of the Phthalo Green pigment, (a dark bluish green). The color ranges from a warm dove grey to a cool, bluish grey.

With your tube of Torrit Grey you are eligible to enter the 2013 Torrit Grey Painting Competition. For all the details, click here to be directed to Gamblin’s website.

The craftsmen and women that work at Williamsburg would love for you to try their wares. For a limited time, the generous people at Williamsburg have created sample sets of some of their most important colors, and they’re absolutely free. Nothing to buy, no strings attached, they just really feel you need to see for yourself what makes their paint so special.

These free kits contain 3, 5ml tubes of color. As per the people at Williamsburg, “Here, we present three colors from the Williamsburg palette. Each with its own place in history, and because of their inherent beauty and personality, they should also have a place on your palette”.

Those colors, Viridian (“The color of emeralds, this was the favorite green of the French Impressionists…“), Sevres Blue (“Inspired by the crisp, bright blue, Celeste enamel found on the finest Louis XV Sevres porcelain. It is opaque yet airy, dense yet luminous, it is the blue of a clear sky at noon. But its usefulness goes well beyond landscapes.”), and Alizarin Orange (“Like peeling back the shadowed skin of a tangerine to reveal the bright golden notes hidden inside, Williamsburg’s Alizarin Orange explodes with color.”), are beautiful and inspiring. Please come and see for yourself, and take home a free set!

Supplies are limited, so unlike these beautiful colors, this offer won’t last forever. Come visit our friendly staff in the Fine Art department and just ask.