Award-winning International Portraiture
The Portrait Society of America (PSA) recently announced the winners of its 27th International Portrait Competition (IPC). The competition received over 3,000 entries from around the world, including works in oil, clay, wood, resin, pastel, charcoal, graphite, colored pencil, and Carrara marble.
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Lorraine Ferrier
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Lorraine Ferrier writes about fine arts and craftsmanship for The Epoch Times. She focuses on artists and artisans, primarily in North America and Europe, who imbue their works with beauty and traditional values. She's especially interested in giving a voice to the rare and lesser-known arts and crafts, in the hope that we can preserve our traditional art heritage. She lives and writes in a London suburb, in England.
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New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
Hunger strikes! Tears! Arrest! It's been a week of ridiculous performances as NYC liberals chase folk-hero status
What's another starving BS artist? Cynthia Nixon's daughter Seph Mozes, who identifies as a man, is going on a hunger strike for Gaza — but really for attention. 'He and five of his compatriots are doing a hunger strike in Chicago … ,' a proud Nixon told Newsweek, adding that her 28-year-old child has no 'illusions that he's going to end the war, but I think he wants to do everything he can.' To earn a merit badge in the art of self-congratulations, apparently. 6 Cynthia Nixon told Newsweek that her child Seph Mozes is now doing a hunger strike for Gaza Instagram/Cynthia Nixon Maybe Nixon's offspring had the misfortune of seeing the actress in bed with Rosie O'Donnell in the third-season premiere of 'And Just Like That.' Such a sight would put anyone off eating. But it's probably more like the famous anti-drug PSA from the '80s: 'I learned it by watching you, Mom.' Shortly after Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Nixon — who ran an unsuccessful campaign for New York governor in 2018 — boldly announced she was joining lawmakers, including current nutjob mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, in a five-day fast supporting ceasefire in Gaza. Nixon, however, committed to just two days of the five — a full 48 hours of abstaining from her beloved cinnamon raisin bagels with lox. She knows sacrifice and solidarity. 6 A Trump supporter shouted at marchers during the June 14 'No Kings' march in Manhattan. Aristide Economopoulos It's only fitting that Nixon's most recent proclamation capped off a banner week of performative activism by New York City progressives in search of folk-hero status. One pol was arrested, another cried and there were many self-righteous tweets posted with the presumed expectation that they'll end up in the Smithsonian one day. It all kicked off last Saturday with the No Kings anti-Trump protest, which was a social mixer for Boomer hippies. Did it mean anything? Like its predecessor the pink pussy hat marches, this was a collective tantrum against a duly-elected president. And maybe a guarantee that participants would get in their 10,000 steps for the day. Only days later, City Comptroller and Dem mayoral candidate Brad Lander desperately tried to revive his rotting corpse of a campaign by getting arrested on camera — not the first time. 6 City Comptroller Brad Lander was placed under arrest by ICE agents Tuesday after he obstructed them from an arrestee by refusing to remove his hand from the man's shoulder. Dean Moses/amNewYork 6 Lander's arrest was captured in a series of dramatic photos. via REUTERS In this instance, he pathetically tangled with ICE officers after demanding to see a warrant for someone being detained outside federal immigration court. Clinging to the guy's shoulder, he made a clear provocation to the officers to cuff him. And they made his day. Lander thought it would be a profile in courage. But it produced a series of unbelievable images that made him look like the town drunk being hauled out of his local watering hole for getting handsy with a waitress. In one, his bulging eyes rolled back into his head, he resembles Rodney Dangerfield. No respect! He was sprung by Gov. Kathy Hochul, who seems to only visit New York City for photo ops. Who can forget her riding the subway to tout its safety … on the same day a woman was incinerated by an illegal migrant on an F Train. 6 Kathy Hochul posted this picture of herself and Brad Lander walking after Lander was released without charges. Governor Kathy Hochul / X This time, our Democratic guv marched into the federal building and collected Lander, who was released without charges. She then tweeted a photo of them defiantly walking together, captioned with the state slogan 'Excelsior' — Latin for 'ever upward.' In Hochul-ese, it translates to 'empty political posturing.' After his publicity stunt, Lander was greeted like a conquering hero by lefty loonies including Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and absentee Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, who posted a photo of himself hugging the candidate and touting his 'courage.' Do these people know that we can't even buy toothpaste in this city without buzzing a worker to unlock it? But hey, they got their photo op. 6 As he was facing questions about his use of the phrase 'Globalize the Intifada,' mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani cried while telling reporters about the Islamophobia he's faced. Bernadette Hogan/NY1 Our pols are severely misguided. They regularly pledge to fight against Trump rather than fighting for everyday New Yorkers to have order and an affordable city. The rotten cherry on top was Mamdani — a political novice but a seasoned performer. He tried to blunt a blossoming new antisemitic scandal, fueled by his use of the phrase 'globalize the intifada' … by pivoting into his own victimhood. 'I get messages that say the only good Muslim is a dead Muslim. I get threats on my life,' he said, choking back tears. Even the mere threat of political violence is an abomination, full stop. Just ask Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who had his house burned in an attack police said was driven by antisemitism. Or the families of the young couple killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in DC, allegedly by a man who said, 'I did it for Gaza.' But if Mamdani is going to cry every time he hears or sees some nasty words, perhaps being mayor of New York — which requires a firm hand and a thick hide — is not the job for him. The Big Apple has enough actors and clowns. Let's get some serious adults in here to run things.
New York Times
2 days ago
- New York Times
Why are ungraded cards starting to sell for more than cards graded in mint condition?
Trading card collectors and dealers largely view grading as the ultimate arbiter of the condition and value of the card. In other words, if a company like leading card grader PSA says your card is a Mint 9 (on a 1-10 scale) even though you can't perceive any flaw, it's stuck there, encased for eternity like a prehistoric insect in amber. It's frozen in time in that eternal state. Advertisement It's at the point now that a modern card with a 'mint' grade (a 9) is often worth less than a card not graded at all. That's because the ungraded ('raw' in the parlance of the hobby) card holds the possibility of being a 10 if it gets graded. But a 9 will always just be a 9, the thinking goes. But what if the arbiter is arbitrary? A recent YouTube video by a Pokemon collector who believed many of his 9s deserved gem-mint 10s seems to prove that grading is quite subjective. Minor flaws that prevent a perfect grade initially can be overlooked when the card is cracked out of its plastic tomb and resubmitted. It's as if the flaw(s) were never there at all. YouTube creator 'Pokemon Steven' sent 189 cards that he thought were perfect but were graded a notch below by PSA back for regrading after cracking them out of their slabs. Most were regraded the same way. But a couple were graded as altered/trimmed upon second look and others were graded lower/worse than a 9, sometimes by multiple grades. But 81 came back perfect 10s. That's 43 percent deemed worthy of a higher grade upon another look unbeknownst to PSA, of course. And if you think that was some fluke, PokeTCGivaways showed on its X account a resubmission, with labels as proof, of 15 mostly 9s but two graded an 8 ('near mint-mint'). Of those, 11 came back with new grades — 10 upgraded to a 10 and one of the 8s downgraded to a 7. When asked whether differences between a 9 and 10 are so minor that cards just teeter between them, the account responded, 'Maybe. I also think a lot of graders will have different opinions and it all depends on who you get grading your cards.' If you're wondering why these examples are trading card game (TCG) cards and not sports, a big reason is the majority of the 100,000 cards graded daily (all graders, not just PSA) are TCG (most of those being Pokemon, according to GemRate, which tracks grading trends). But cardboard is cardboard, and if TCG grades are changing at such a high rate, there's no reason to think sports cards would not follow the same pattern. Advertisement This does not necessarily mean you should crack your 9s and resubmit, though. 'Under no circumstances, do not follow in my footsteps,' Pokemon Steven said on his video. 'This is reckless and a waste of money. Two grading fees. Shipping fees. (I paid) $40 per card. Some cards (I resubmitted) are not even worth $40.' He said he did it because he specifically collects 10s and felt those cards deserved the perfect grade; it had nothing to do with money. But this admittedly crazy experiment that executor says should not be repeated shows that there may be a market inefficiency in dismissing cards graded less than gem mint as lower in value than ungraded ones. Sure, the raw card may be a 10; for Topps 2025 Baseball about 21 percent of submissions get the perfect grade. But that's less than half the rate of Mint 9s that get turned into a 10 on resubmission, according to these Pokemon collectors. So why not take the steep discount that's often 50 percent or more on a graded 9? If the market for the player explodes, the owner can release it from its slab and try again for a 10. If the card was bought graded, the resubmission is not a second grading expense for that owner. (Dealers told The Athletic that the cost of grading is not factored into the value of a card.) PSA President Ryan Hoge questioned the validity of these types of experiments, though. 'We understand the allure of videos showing cracked PSA 9s coming back as 10s, but these often lack key context—and in some cases, accuracy,' he told The Athletic. 'We often see examples where entirely different cards are resubmitted under the guise of being the same. Our Brand Protection team monitors this kind of content carefully and handles those on a case-by-case basis. 'Every card that enters our facility is evaluated by multiple professional graders. When differences arise, our process ensures consensus before a final grade is issued. No grading company in the world holds itself to a higher or more consistent standard than PSA.' Advertisement While many modern mint cards do sell for more than raw, the difference is getting smaller and often does not justify the cost of grading. It's not difficult to find examples of inverted pricing, meaning the ungraded card goes for more money than Mint 9s. For example, according to CardLadder, a 2013 Panini Select Giannis Antetokounmpo #178 sells for $100 in PSA 9 and $124 ungraded. Of course, it's an ungraded one with no obvious flaws but a PSA 9 can have no obvious flaws, too. There have been no recent sales of a PSA 10, according to CardLadder, but assume it would sell for at about twice as much as a PSA 9. A 2018 Topps Chrome Sapphire Shohei Ohtani #700 rookie card sold for $2,075.50 in a PSA 9 grade on March 17, which was less than the last raw sale of $2,336. A PSA 10 last sold for $4,200. The Topps Chrome Ohtani #150 Refractor sold for $466 ungraded in June, a week before it sold for $355 in PSA 9. The raw buyer was hoping for a PSA 10 that last sold for $820; but the PSA 9 could potentially have at least as good a chance at grading a 10 if it was cracked and resubmitted. Rob DeMay, creator of the NEO Cards & Comics YouTube channel which regularly produces videos on grading and the card industry, advocated buying 9s for the value before these regrading results were made public. 'They're the ultimate collector card. It's not perfect. (The PSA 9) has an issue. But you're getting a steep discount. If you're keeping it, it limits the downside risk because the card is less expensive.' But now those 9s could end up being 10s. 'I'm not surprised by (these results),' he recently told The Athletic. 'We're paying a human for an opinion, and until they figure out some sort of AI grading, you're going to see things like this. Could you blindly buy all PSA 9s and repeat this result? I don't think so. However, if you were very selective, I could see you having some success with this strategy.' The Athletic maintains full editorial independence in all our coverage. When you click or make purchases through our links, we may earn a commission.
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
‘Ginny & Georgia' is a breakthrough in showing abortion as a personal experience
The series: 'Ginny & Georgia.' The setting: A women's healthcare clinic. The scene: Ginny, 16, is carrying an unwanted pregnancy. She's seeking an abortion. During a preconsultation, a clinic provider asks if she needs more time to decide. No, says the teen, she's sure. There's no proverbial wringing of hands around the character's decision. No apologizing for her choice. Why? Because it's not for us to judge. It's a personal matter, despite all the politicization around reproductive rights that might have us believe otherwise. Opinions, debates and legislative fights around abortion have raged since Roe vs. Wade was adjudicated by the Supreme Court in 1973, then overturned in 2022. It's no secret why such a lightning-rod issue is rarely touched by series television. Alienating half the country is bad for ratings. Exceptions include breakthrough moments on shows such as 'Maude,' 'The Facts of Life' and 'Jane the Virgin,' but even those episodes were careful to weigh the sensitivity of the political climate over a transparent depiction of their character's motivations and experience. Another pitfall is that subplots featuring abortion storylines are hard to pull off without feeling like a break from scheduled programming for an antiabortion or pro-abortion-rights PSA, or worse, a pointless exercise in bothsidesism. Season 3 of Netflix dramedy 'Ginny & Georgia' dares to go there, unapologetically making the political personal inside a fun, wily and addictive family saga. The series, the streamer's No. 1 show since it returned two weeks ago, skillfully delivers an intimate narrative that defies judgment and the fear of being judged. The hourlong series, which launched in 2021, follows single mom Georgia Miller (Brianne Howey), her angsty teenage daughter Ginny (Antonia Gentry) and her young son Austin (Diesel La Torraca). This formerly nomadic trio struggles to forge a 'normal' life in the fictional Boston suburb of Wellsbury. Flamboyant, fast-talking Southerner Georgia stands out among the fussy, provincial New England set. Born in Alabama to drug-addicted parents, she fled her abusive upbringing as a teenager. Homeless, she met Zion (played as an adult by Nathan Mitchell), a college-bound student from a good family. Soon into their relationship, she fell pregnant, giving birth to their daughter Ginny, kicking off a life on the run and in service of protecting her children. Now in her 30s, the blond bombshell has relied on her beauty, innate smarts and countless grifts to endure poverty and keep her family intact. The hardscrabble lifestyle has made Ginny wise beyond her years, though she's not immune to mercurial teen mood swings and the sophomoric drama of high school. But history appears to repeat itself when Ginny becomes pregnant after having sex just once with a fellow student from her extracurricular poetry class. Overwhelmed, he's the first person she tells about their dilemma. 'That's wild,' he responds idiotically, before abruptly taking off, leaving her to deal with the pregnancy on her own. Episode 7 largely revolves around Ginny's decision to have an abortion, a thoughtfully paced subplot that breaks from the perpetual chaos and deadly secrets permeating the Millers' universe. Ginny is painfully aware that she is the product of an unwanted pregnancy and her mother's choice not to have an abortion. Georgia has repeatedly said her kids are the best thing that ever happened to her. But when counseling her distraught daughter, Georgia says the choice is Ginny's to make, and no one else's. Here's where 'Ginny & Georgia' might have launched into a didactic, pro-abortion-rights lecture cloaked in a TV drama, or played it safe by pulling back and highlighting both women's stories in equal measure. Instead it chose to bring viewers in close, following Ginny's singular experience from her initial shame and panic, to moving conversations with her mom, to that frank counseling session at the women's health center where she made it quite clear she was not ready to be a mother. We watched her take the medication, then experience what followed: painful cramping, pangs of guilt, waves of relief and the realization she now bore a new, lifelong emotional scar that wasn't caused by her mother. By sticking to Ginny's intimate story, through her perspective, the series delivers a story that is hers and hers alone, partisan opinions be damned. 'Ginny & Georgia' has offered up many surprises over its three seasons. Georgia has emerged one of the more entertaining, cunning and inventive antiheroes of the 2020s. As such, she attracts men in droves, schemes a la Walter White and doesn't believe in therapy: 'We don't do that in the South. We shoot things and eat butter.' But therapy might be a good idea given Season 3's cliffhanger ending: another accidental pregnancy.
