ArtCorner

It’s that time of year again to start thinking about a new look and all the things that we can do around the house to make our home more fashionable and trendy.

So what’s hot for decorating in 2008? Think affordable luxury with a wide variety of styles and flavors to suit any Decorator!

As the wheels of fashion turn, so do the wheels of home décor trends, observe the coming of Neo-classic art back into modern décor in the year 2008. Luckily, it’s never been easier to create a luxurious home to suit your lifestyle with these simple decorating tips:

1. Eco-friendly decor – The focus this year is on organic and the natural artifacts. In the past, eco-friendly or what is now termed Green Design could be summed up in one word: ugly. That isn’t necessarily the case anymore. Eco-friendly design has met a stylish interpretation proving that earth friendly decor can at the same time be elegant, beautiful and exciting as well as Green.
2. Contrasting color combinations – Contrast colors and textures like smooth against rough add a touch of the unexpected to your décor. Pair up accessories or furnishings for that special feeling and spark to lighten up your décor.
3. The ‘X’ factor – X is everywhere, Find it in furniture and accessories. It was first spotted at the Highpoint European Show and has since been making its way down the trend ladder to almost every trend seeking home in America.
4. Beautiful Design is simply not enough – For today’s multi-tasking, on the go lifestyle, home décor needs to be multi-functional as well. Home Décor shoppers want utility as well as sheik in their furniture and accessories. Look for furniture and decorative accessories that will make your everyday life easier and more organized. It’s time we demanded more from our décor!
5. Expect to see the softer side of leather – Earth tones on smaller pieces of furniture with contrasting more feminine like colors.
6. Art that Inspires Luxury – 2008 is all about the Classics of luxury. Add elegance via home decor, and specifically wall decor. Shop for hand painted art reproductions of famous works of art. Hang a hand painted Impressionist masterpiece like a Monet or a Van Gogh. Like David Sasson, President of OverstockArt.com says: “It is sure to bring many admirers…”
7. Whites – From pearl white to ivory, the white color family will be on display in 2008. From your furniture to your wooden frames. Adorn your home in soft whites.
8. Make a dramatic Impact – Oversized décor for a dramatic look. Shock your friends and add one focal point piece as a jaw dropper. Imagine one huge work of art in your living room that would leave everyone in awe.
9. Gray tones and Metals – Add a touch of steel to your design with elements such as Silver, brushed nickel and aluminum. Recycled would be a preference (remember to think green!).
10. Feng Shui – In this hectic and fast pace world we all want a bit of piece and tranquility in our home. Let your design and furnishing make you feel at ease. Add the Feng Shui elements and embrace piece on earth.

Have more trends to add? Post your comments and hopefully we can all create the right environment for growth and exploration in our homes in 2008. I wish you all a fabulous and enjoyable year full of joy and successful decorating endeavors.

Swiss painter and etcher, who was one of the most original masters of the modern art era, belonging to no specific art movement, Paul Klee created works known for their fantastic dream like images, with wit and imagination. He is considered by many to be one of the most original masters of the modern art era.

Paul Klee was born in a town near Bern, Switzerland, in 1879. In 1898 the family moved to Munich, then an important center for avant-garde art.

Paul Klee, who is at first influenced by Impressionism, becomes exposed to the new emerging art genera. In 1912 he joins the famous Blue Rider group headed by Wassily Kandinsky. This group of revolutionary artists contributes much to the development of the abstract art movement. After World War I he becomes a teacher at the famous Bauhaus school. However, by the time the Nazis seize power he is dismissed by the new government and his art is deemed “degenerate.”

In 1933, Klee moves to Switzerland. There he comes down with the crippling collagen disease scleroderma, which forced him to develop a simpler style and eventually killed him.

Klee often incorporated letters and numerals into his paintings, but he also produced series of works that explore mosaic and other effects, such as his Farbatafel paintings series.

A trip to North Africa in 1914 stimulated Klee strongly toward using color and marked the beginning of his fully mature style, in which he declared himself possessed by color. His paintings and watercolors for the next 20 years showed a mastery of delicate, dreamlike color harmonies, which he usually used to create flat, semi-abstract compositions or even effects resembling mosaic, as in Pastoral.

Many of Paul Klee’s works are elaborated line drawings with subject matter that grew out of fantasy or dream imagery; he described his technique in these drawings as “taking a line for a walk.” Senecio, for instance, with its fluid, wiry, birdlike motifs, is a composition of interconnected lines and circular shapes, with an evocative effect that is much greater than its spare means.

After 1935, afflicted by a progressive skin and muscular disease, Klee adopted a broad, flat style characterized by thick, crayon-like lines and large areas of subdued color. His subject matter during this period grew increasingly brooding and gloomy, as in the nightmarish Death and Fire.

Klee died in Switzerland, on June 29, 1940. His work influenced all later 20th-century surrealist and nonobjective artists and was a prime source for the budding abstract expressionist movement.

I really can’t believe that the end of 2007 is here, but I can’t argue with our spinning globe. It seems that just a few days ago I got used to the fact that it was 2007 and not 2006… Now I need to get used to a whole new year all over again!

Anyway, this is the time of the year that everyone tries to sum up what has happened in the past 12 months. I will try and add my impressions of the most important art events that occurred around us in the year 2007. Enjoy!

1. New Evidence regarding the Mona Lisa: first it is observed that Mona Lisa Died at a Convent in 1542. Then reports say that Mona Lisa was pregnant when she was painted…
2. A famous Rothko is auctioned off by Rockefeller
3. Sol LeWitt Immortalized – The American conceptual artist Sol LeWitt passes away at the age of 78 after a long battle with Cancer.
4. Liz Taylor gets to keep her Van Gogh – after a long legal battle the movie star gets to keep her coveted masterpiece amidst controversy
5. Gustav Klimt takes on NYC during the Fall of 2007
6. Me and the Starry Night Unite – my trip to the MoMA, the highlight of my year…
7. Mona Lisa lashes – A French Scientist has researched the answers behind the fate of Mona Lisa’s missing eyebrows and lashes.
8. Van Gogh on top for another year – The annual list of top selling oil paintings is dominated yet another year by Vincent Van Gogh.

If you have any other events or things you thought were important in 2007 that you would like to share please comment below and I will add it to the list…