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.

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.

In the last few years there has been a shift in the Hospitality Industry, Hotels are being judged by the quality of their wall décor not just the size of their pools. The walls of the industry are going through a face-lift, don’t be left behind.

Everything since the year 2000 has been about class and style; cars, homes, fashion, personal accessories and decor – the modern way.

In particular, America has become entranced by the home-decorating industry. New home design programs and interior decorating shows have been airing regularly on all the major networks, and people are buying-in 100 percent to the idea that proper feng-shui is next to godliness.

But recent trends like these aren’t exclusive to the home-buyer/home-owner market. These days, everyone wants to get in the game, including the hospitality industry. (more…)

Ever since the new millennium began, the idea of bringing the highest and newest styles of fashion and art to every aspect of material life – even at the most basic of levels – has been an important part of modern existence.

From Ralph Lauren custom car interiors and dog houses to Prada cat collars and cell phone jackets, it seems no product or domicile is too small to be trendy, or hip these days.

Lately, the move toward a “cooler” lifestyle has even found its way into the workplace. In fact, having the trendiest minimalist furniture or the most “sheik” glass coffee table (with all the best and latest hipster publications on it, of course) often makes a difference in whether a prospective client will agree to a contract with a company, or firm.

But good visuals have always been known to attract attention – as the classic sayings go, “dress for success” and “first impressions are everything,” and, of course, “a picture paints a thousand words.”

So it comes as no surprise that even pictures are starting to become an important part of office culture development. As businesses around the world begin to revamp their spaces to stay up-to-speed with the culturally trained modern eye, even the walls are getting some major attention – better art means better business, better business means more money. (more…)

Perhaps the most prolific post-impressionist painter of all time, Vincent Van Gogh gave us his mind, his heart, his soul, and, most notably, his ear. His works are probably better known generally than those of any other painter in history. His masterpieces have graced art lovers’ walls for nearly 150 years. Born in 1853, Van Gogh was the son of a Dutch Protestant minister. Early in his life, he possessed a moody temperament that would later haunt him in his efforts to become a successful artist. His brief and turbulent life is thought to epitomize the mad genius legend. His difficult and contradictory personality was rejected by the women loved, and his few friendships usually ended in bitter arguments.

(more…)

The undisputed leader of the Fauve Group, and regarded as one of the great formative figures in 20th-century art, Henri Matisse was a master of the use of color and form to convey emotional expression. (more…)