ArtCorner

The month of March is Youth Art Month – an annual observance to emphasize the value of art education for all children and to encourage support for quality school art programs. one might ask, what is so important about art that we need an annual event to observe it?

If we sit and observe whenever little kids draw, finger paint or play, it’s intriguing how they seem without self-doubt, judgment or fear of doing it wrong. A preconceived expectation of the end product doesn’t seem to play a role in what they are engaged in and in that moment they simply get lost in the doing of it. It’s as if they approach their art, free of inhibitions and with an openness to take risks, experiment and most importantly have fun. It’s as if being fully present in the moment and entering that space of spontaneity, comes so easily.

I recently spoke to someone who runs a local community art school. She shared with me that they had noticed a decreased attendance in their children’s art classes. When I asked why, she speculated that it was the result of kids being less and less encouraged to do art for the sake of the experience and for play. Instead, in order for parents to feel they were getting their money’s worth they were expecting their kids to produce a nice finished product at the end of each class. If the art piece resembled something out of preschool, their child must not be learning something valuable.

Is it possible that in this day and age of video games and computers, where shapes are colored within the clean lines of digital images, we’ve suppressed the urge to color outside of the margins? Are our children losing touch of their innate nature to create something in the mud, draw in the sand and venture down the road of their own imaginations? Is the art of trial and error no longer valued?

As we “grow up” the courage to create slowly moves into the background of our lives and we measure what we produce with labels of “Success” or “Fail” with nothing in between. We develop an apprehensiveness towards taking risks and the fear of doing it wrong keeps us from looking foolish in the process. Is learning to suppress free expression, suppressing our own imaginative instincts that we were naturally born with when we first entered this world?

“All children are born artists, the problem is to remain an artist as we grow up.” – Pablo Picasso

I once heard a grade school teacher encourage parents to, “Praise the effort rather then the outcome.” We often have the bad habit of discounting the process in it self. Undermining the steps in the middle that hold moments of exploration while focusing too much on the end product. If we approach our careers or our art giving value to the effort perhaps we will resurrect the courage to create; remembering what it was like to drenched our fingers in paint and draw out of the lines.

Sir Ken Robinson said it best, the ecology of our education will need to change and adapt. Art and creativity will need to take an active and central role for this world to develop and the only way we can do it is by seeing our children for the hope that they are.

Spring Decorating Trends Abloom with Floral Prints and Vivid Hues

To spruce up for spring, design expert Dawn Kail of overstockArt.com, has come up with a top five list of decorating trends that will help liven up the look of your home.

“The fashion industry has traditionally been an inspiration and influence over the color and trends of home furnishings and décor,” said Kail. “It doesn’t take transforming the entire room to freshen up your look, just add an accent piece or two to liven up your décor for spring.”

Kail shares new home decorating trends and offers the following tips on how to let in the fresh air with the changing of the season:

1. Lighten Up – Get rid of the winter darks and bring in some lighter colors and fabrics to freshen up your décor. Replace the velvet accent pillows with light cotton or linen pillows. If you have decorative artworks and oil paintings in your living room, great room, den and so forth and they’re darker with a winter look, brighten them up with a lighter-colored frame or replace the colored art and oil paintings with spring themes. If you have dark window treatments replace them with lighter neutral colors such as ivory, white or khaki.
2. Incorporate Color –There were plenty of neutrals seen on the runway for spring 2010, khaki, brown, taupe and grey, but there was also a color surge with vivid hues like bright turquoise, orange, hot pink and softened colors like coral and lighter shades of turquoise. Add pillows, artwork, an ottoman or a lampshade in these vibrant colors to liven up your look for spring.
3. Introduce Painterly Prints – The spring 2010 runway was awash in watercolor-like prints. The runway was full of gorgeous abstract and floral prints reminiscent of Monet’s masterpieces – why not add a reproduced Monet oil painting to your home to incorporate this trend? You can also introduce these painterly prints into your home with pillows, lampshades, ottomans and other accent items.
4. Find Comfort – People are seeking comfort and peace in their lives. Comfort clothing such as slouchy cardigans, boyfriend blazers and tattered and torn jeans infiltrated the spring 2010 fashion collections; this same casual look carries over into home décor. The warm and cozy country home style is back in as seen in many retailers’ spring collections. Add handmade accessories such as hand painted oil paintings or embroidered accent pillows to bring this style back into your home.
5. Invest in the Best – The economic crisis isn’t over and decorating trends reflect that. Invest in the best and buy less. People are investing in high-quality, durable décor items rather than short-lived trends. All of the oil paintings at overstockArt.com are handmade art reproductions of great masters such as Van Gogh, Monet and Picasso – art by the masters never goes out of style.

“The key to home decoration is to keep your furniture neutral so you can easily add a piece of artwork or another accent to give the room a whole new look,” said Kail. “The best thing about purchasing reproduced oil paintings at overstockArt.com is that for the same price of purchasing a print image you get a hand painted piece of art which will add the look of luxury to your home – with the low cost you can easily purchase several oil paintings to display seasonally.”

overstockArt.com, is offering a selection of handmade oil painting reproductions that are perfect for spring in their Seasonal Spring Paintings gallery, http://www.overstockart.com/seasonalspring.html. Prices start as low as $39. In 2009, overstockArt.com sold more than 45,000 oil paintings. They are one of the Web’s most successful distributors of wall décor items with over 10,000 daily visitors and 100,000 loyal customers.

The fashion community, Polyvore, which is a site that lets you mix and match products from any online store to create outfits or any kind of collage, created a great collage that focuses around the works of Vassily Kandinsky paintings:

I love the way this collage was mixed and matched with fashion items and all to emphasize the color scheme that the oil paintings can go oh so well with…

Imagination is more important than knowledge.
— Albert Einstein

The value of creativity has been discussed by many business visionaries. Michael Dell said, “It’s through curiosity and looking at opportunities in new ways that we’ve always mapped our path at Dell.” Bill Gates said “I’ve always been an optimist and I suppose that is rooted in my belief that the power of creativity and intelligence can make the world a better place.”

Leaders often place a value on “thinking out of the box.” But if creativity is so important why do large and small companies often leave it to chance?

The development of creativity in your organization should be approached with conscious intent. You need to create an atmosphere that fosters creativity. Many organizations have gray cubicles, bare walls, bland conference rooms, and semi-isolated employees working in small areas covered by creativity-reducing colors, visions and sounds. How can we expect people in this environment to think creatively for our organizations?

So what can companies do to improve this most critical element called creativity? It is amazing how much can be done with a relatively small investment.

• Replace standard corporate posters in conference rooms, hallways and offices with beautiful oil paintings. Hand-painted reproductions of great masters such as Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet and Klimt.
• Invest in a simple sound system that plays classical music. If this is inappropriate in some work zones, designate break rooms and conference rooms for music. A study by the University of California, Irvine demonstrated that IQ scores rise significantly (although temporarily) when subjects are tested while listening to Mozart.
• Designate a room a company “thinking room.” Place small toys, crayons, markers and paper in the room. Let employees express themselves in this room a few times a day. You can even have a mandatory “10 minutes thinking time.”

The ability to think creatively should not be the sole responsibility of the leader or CEO of the business. This function could be shared by all and by doing so increase the productivity of any company. The three steps listed above are simple to take and require a relatively small investment. It’s vitally important to enjoy this process and let your own creativity dictate the application of these steps.

Winter is a magical time of year; beautiful snow touched scenery and uplifting holiday cheer bring a certain ambiance that’s tough to achieve throughout the year. Fortunately, when the winter season does arrive, it’s a true pleasure to capture that same feeling within your home. All it takes is a heartfelt approach, and your own personal touch.

Being that winter beauty is due in part to cold temperatures, more time is often spent within the home. This makes the benefit of creating a seasonal home atmosphere through careful decoration even more rewarding. When it’s 15 degrees outside, curling up next to the fire with a book never seemed so enticing. And doing so while surrounded by a collection of wonderful winter artwork makes for an even more cozy refuge.

This is the one component of your winter decorating plan that is important not to overlook, that being your winter artwork. In order to fully capture the spirit of the season, and to fully tie together your other winter decorating schemes, featuring winter artwork is a must. Winter landscape artwork is natural choice, and very popular at that. Winter landscapes oils are breathtaking, and the seasonal connection is easily distinguishable to both yourself and your guests.

That being said, don’t be afraid to display artwork where the winter scene is more subtle and personal. After all, it is your art to enjoy, so use your imagination and go with your gut when choosing the right winter artwork for your home. Warm cottage scenes featuring fireplace smoke and log cabins may remind you of your yearly winter ski retreats. A lighthouse facing a storming ocean may remind you of childhood memories in Main. When choosing the right artwork for the winter season, personal connections are a good thing to keep in mind.

When selecting your winter decoration artwork, also be sure to keep placement in mind. Family themed artwork fits well when decorating the living room or den for it appeals to the strong family relationships we celebrate during the holidays. If you have a fireplace in your home, this would be a great place to start your winter decoration efforts, for you’ll most likely be spending a lot of time warming up next to it, and few other fixtures remind us of the winter so strongly. When picking out artwork to accentuate your fireplace, be sure to keep the room’s existing tones and accents in mind. A good tip would be to imagine how the flickering light of the fire plays off the oil painting itself.

Overall, when decorating your home for the winter, do so in the spirit of happiness, tranquility, and family. When you look back on your life, try and single out those moments you enjoyed most, a good majority of them can be tied back to the tranquility and happiness you experienced while spending time with friends and family during the holidays.

As time rolls on, it’s important to both commemorate those moments, and prepare for the creation of new memories. Having the perfect setting certainly plays a role, so take an active approach and enjoy the fruits of your effort for years to come.

Creating a warm and inspiring environment can help boost productivity at the workplace. Hanging paintings on an otherwise blank wall space is one of the simplest ways to achieve this. However, in a setting occupied by people with different preferences, determining the kind of artwork to display can be quite a challenge. Consider the following points when choosing office artwork:

Color of Office Art and Wall Décor

Color plays a great deal in making one feel calm or creative, inspired or energized. Individual workers would like to be given the freedom to choose the color of canvas artwork to display in their respective work spaces or cubicles. However, for common spaces like the lounge area or conference rooms, neutral colors such as earth tones and soft hues should be agreeable for most.

Theme of Artwork

A family of three or four can easily agree on the theme of artwork to display on a family’s living room, but not the same can be said in an office with ten colleagues or more. It is good enough that the choices are varied: landscape paintings featuring sketches of prairie or ocean, still life such as a vase full of flowers, images capturing a certain emotion or an abstract play of two tones. Any choice would be acceptable as long as they do not run cluttered or are heavily tinted. On the other hand, hanging Baroque painting in an elaborate frame would look out of place in a modern minimalist office setting is an undesired approach.

Consider the Company Culture

In most offices that I work with, I try and get a feel for the general company culture that the owners and managers are trying to set in the workplace. If it is a company that focuses on core values such as ethics, longevity and tradition, I advise to go with Pierre August Renoir paintings, Claude Monet Art or Paul Cezanne oil paintings that along with ornate frames and heavy oils achieve a sense of tradition and class that is appropriate and aligned with the desired company culture. In contrast, if the company is pursuing a company culture based on innovation, ingenuity and young at heart out-of-the-box way of thought, I would recommend Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte and Mark Rothko’s to adorn their walls.

Choose Interesting Art Pieces

The idea of hanging paintings on canvas is to make the office space a pleasant place to spend time. It would make great addition if you choose interesting pieces as well to spark conversation among office workers. Oil painting reproductions of classic Monet paintings, a self-portrait of Van Gogh or avant-garde Picasso paintings can stimulate the senses.

Can’t decide what to place on the walls? Seek professional help!

It is not uncommon due to inside office politics to get stuck in deciding which art is right for your office space. By the time you consult with all of the office employees, you have a mixture of wants and tastes that you may just reach a dead-end and place the whole project on-hold. Don’t let this happen! If you feel stuck with a wall art project seek professional help! Get an interior designer and educate them about your company culture and explain the color scheme of you walls and company logo. They should help you decorate your walls with magnificent art.

Some companies like overstockArt.com that sell hand painted oil paintings offer a free décor consultation service just for these reasons. Call them up and they will help you get up and running with this project and you will have interesting, invigorating art hanging on your wall in no time.

In conclusion, there are many things to consider when looking for hand painted art for your office. So many opinions to consider along with color schemes and company culture that you might hold off on such an endeavor. My final and most important advice to you is an observation I had throughout my years of working with offices – decorating the interior and helping business find the art that fits best on their wall, has always brought a positive boost for office moral and productivity. So don’t over think it! If something doesn’t fit or you change your mind you can always exchange one oil painting for the other, but all in all get art on your bare walls! It makes a ton of difference in the work place.

Many people always ask how to stretch and frame an oil painting.



Well, it is actually quite simple; all you need are stretcher bars to stretch the canvas over, clamps to use for stretching the painting, frame mounters to append and stable the painting in the frame, and some paper to cover it up from behind so the art will not get dirt or condensation on it.



This is how the professionals at the Art Institute of Chicago frame the priceless oil paintings that they have on display…







Have any questions? Let me know if you need any help on your next canvas stretching and framing endeavor!

This video is a great representation of the difference between an oil painting and a print…

Here is a link to the oil painting they are talking about: Claude Monet – Poppy Field in Argenteuil See if you can tell the difference between an oil painting and a print…

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.