This week’s post is all about patterns. Guess what painting was made by who. This will be your last chance to see what was in the mystery box. Which I will uncover in a couple weeks.

This will be the last game board for a while so Good Luck!

Last chance to see if you can claim this hidden visual prize. Come back in 2 weeks to see who wins it.

This bi-weekly game looks at people in art. Play a little hide and seek with the popular crowed.

How well do you know your Art? Above are images of paintings from overstockArt.com currently available in our online gallery.  If you think you can identify the artist and title of each work, please submit your answers by leaving a comment on this post. We will provide the correct answers  in two weeks (on Friday, Oct. 8th), along with our next ReproduceTHIS: Know your Art challenge and mystery box!

Congratulations Prairie Air for answering all 5 of the artists and paintings! What’s in your mystery box?

A 1985 Nintendo game controller!

Thanks for playing

What will the next winner get from our mystery box? Leave your comments  and then come back in 2 weeks for the next game and prize.

How well do you know your Art? Below are images of paintings from overstockArt.com currently available in our online gallery. If you think you can identify the artist and title of each work, please submit your answers by leaving a comment on this post. We will provide the correct answers  in one week (on Friday, August 27th), along with our next ReproduceTHIS: Do you know your Art? challenge.

Good Luck! We will also be posting a congratulations to one weekly winner.

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…

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, home of some of the most amazing collection of artifacts from ancient history to modern times was caught off guard as one of its most treasured Picasso’s received a lethal blow by a clumsy student who stumbled onto the masterpiece and created a six inch gash on the hundred year old canvas.

This isn’t the first time that this happens to a Picasso. Casino Mogul Steve Wynn pocked a whole in Picasso’s Dream oil painting. As the owner of such a creation and due to an hereditary deteriorating eye disease at least he has a good excuse.

So the next time a guard at the museum asks you to step away from the masterpiece please oblige…