This week we celebrated Earth Day, and for sometime now everyone has been jumping on the “green wagon” in their efforts to be good “citizens of this world…”

In the art world, similar efforts are being made in order to take advantage of eco-friendly and sustainable products and projects. As artists become more conscious of environmental issues, more and more artistic endeavors will contain green references and themes. So getting the word out about the availability of green alternatives is especially fitting for this time of year.

One recent eco-friendly initiative has been undertaken by OverstockArt.com, which has started incorporating all-recycled frames in their framing selection to go along with their artworks. The frames are made from recycled moulding scraps and sawdust. They come in a variety of colors and shapes and are the perfect complement to a nature-setting landscape.

“It just makes the art we sell even more of a conversation piece…” said Dawn Kail, Assistant Manager at OverstockArt.com, “Now people can enjoy the beauty of nature on their wall and know that they took part in the important collective efforts of preventing deforestation.”

We all have a personal and shared responsibility to make this world a better place. As artists, we can take part in this movement by using recycled products in our art and project the green theme in our creations. Together we can all make a difference.

Have you ever been sad on a gray cloudy day? Have you ever felt whimsical walking through a colorful autumn forest? How about silly and spontaneous in the bright yellow sunshine? Odds are, you probably have.

Colors effect our emotions. In fact, it’s been documented that colors can affect our pituitary glands, which in turn can change hormone production and mood alteration. And it’s not just in natural settings this phenomenon occurs. Often we even find emotional connection to artificial color, like in a painting.

For homeowners and art lovers, adding or changing wall art in a room or office can create new emotional experiences for guests and owners alike. The key is finding great art on a budget that can achieve this while still adhering to the “look for less” philosophy.

When choosing art, be careful. There’s some bad wall art out there. You don’t want to end up with an orange “waiting room” painting that makes your guests feel like they’re at the doctor’s office. Your safest bet might be to simply stick with the classics – they’re always in style, and they’re always tastefully elegant.

But classic gallery art costs a bundle, so reproduction wall art may be your best bet. Adding a reproduction of a dark classic like Van Gogh’s Starry Night can bring a sense of heaviness and cool to a room, while a colorful Monet might create a sense of lightheartedness.

Reproductions like this are not hard to find. Companies like OverstockArt.com, the web’s leading producer of reproduction oil paintings and frames, offer hundreds of different paintings for different occasions. Finding the right colors and the right painting is just a mouse click away.

Consider your home and the mood you want to set not only for yourself, but for your family and your guests. Then think colors. A vibrant new painting might be all it takes to turn a dreary day outside into a happy day inside.

Recently the Telegraph critic, Martin Gayford, listed the 50 best works of art ever made and where you can find them… The list is arranged in a chronological order from the dawn of civilization to the modern/contemporary art exhibits and displays of today.

This is a truly fascinating list that could raise a few eye brows…

I was astonished to find The Da Vinci masterpiece, Lady with Ermine, in the 25th spot. Gayford commented on adding this Da Vinci painting as apposed to his more memorable works:

“The Last Supper is a wreck, the Mona Lisa is so besieged that it’s almost impossible to see – which leaves this beguiling picture as the most beautiful Leonardo in existence. It is in any case the picture that presented one of his great innovations: a sense of human personality more real, subtle and complex than had ever existed in portraiture before.”

Additional popular artists and their art on the list:

• Vincent Van Gogh’s Chair
• Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
• Henri Matisse, La Danse (II)
• Claude Monet, Waterlilies

It’s an interesting exercise to try and come up with a list of great works of art, my guess is that my list would’ve been completely different…

For most of us, colors tend to represent various emotions and different levels of energy in our world. Applying this concept to wall décor creates a similar atmospheric effect and can even create or eliminate special perception in rooms.

Adding art that combines certain colors to a room can achieve impressions of space and dimension, making things seem larger, or even smaller. Neutral colors like whites and yellows often make a room larger by reflecting light and giving gloss to an area.

For example, putting up Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” with its bright colors and hues can make a room seem inviting and larger. Conversely, putting up a dark and ominous Rothko can eliminate spatial perception, raising blood pressure and creating fatigue. Dimly lit restaurants and hotels often use darker wall decor for effect.

Colors like blues and greens create a sense of calm and cool. Hospitals and care centers often stick to these colors, as do homeowners in warm areas of the country. Shades of pink can be great comfort colors for baby rooms and grays help create a conservative corporate atmosphere.

For the average consumer, finding the right wall décor can be a challenge. There is a lot of bad wall art out there. So when you can’t find something to choose, stick to what works – the classics. All of the emotions created by color can be found in the elegant works of masters like Monet, Picasso and Degas. And often, like a good pair of khakis, they’re right for almost every occasion and every room.

Imagine a young Pablo Picasso naked in bed with one of his lady friends… talk about erotic… that moment was captured in a recently discovered oil painting worth millions, stacked up against the wall of a house in Britain.

The masterpiece, titled Embrace, created in 1901 and signed on the back by Picasso, is estimated at around six million dollars when it goes under the hammer on April 10.