Choose some fabric with a large-scale pattern. Go to your local art supply store and buy 4 lengths of wood frame made for stretching canvas. The wood strips have corners designed to interlock. (Or you can cover an existing blank stretched canvas, but it will get pricey if you go very big.)
In local art stores the wood strips were standing in bins, available in lengths all the way from super short to too long to manage. Buy two each of 50″ and 34.” Each piece is just a couple bucks. Push the corners together, pounding them with a hammer if needed. Cut your fabric to a size somewhat larger than your frame; you’ll need enough to wrap around to the back. Iron the fabric; wrinkles will show!
Position your fabric the way you like it and use a staple gun to tack it down. I stapled along a long edge, then did the opposite side, pulling it very tight. Next do the short sides, one at a time. Trim off any extra fabric that hangs past the inner edges of the frame. To finish the corners, tuck in the extra fabric as if you’re wrapping a present and then staple it down. It doesn’t matter how you do it as long as it looks tidy from the front. The art store gave me a wooden tool to help with this, but it’s not essential. Attach a picture hanger (or maybe two if your panel is large) and hang.
Learn the Art of Furoshiki: Japanese Gift Wrapping Style
When it comes to Japanese gifts, it’s not the inside that really counts. Gift-wrapping, called tsutsumi, is the most important part of the gift-giving it seems. How you wrap and tie the package is considered especially symbolic and carries a lot of expression about how you feels towards the person and the gesture of giving them a gift.
The wrapping around the gift is seen as being part of the entire gift experience, with the opening and revealing of the contents viewed as one complete experience. In Western culture, gift-wrapping seems mostly just meant to conceal the gift, with unwrapping often being very perfunctory or even crude. Japanese gifts are aestheic and beautiful on the outside, with the same full expression of the culture’s love of balance, nature, novelty and simplicty.
The root of the word tsutsumi is the word that means “to refrain” meaning to be discreet or moderate. Simple but gorgeous paper wrapping, tied with gentle natural fibers or thin ribbons make a bold but beautiful understatement when compared to the flashy papers and big bows found in American forms of wrapping.
There’s more to beans than curd and paste; they can also be made into elaborate artworks. Bean painting, where beans are used as the raw material, is a kind of folk art, adopting artistic characteristics from Chinese traditional painting, sculpting and decorative arts. Instead of completely imitating traditional arts, the genre boasts its own special flavor.
Bean-painting artists aspire to achieving realism in their works, paying a great deal of attention to mastering lifelike expressions and gestures. The most distinct feature of bean painting is simplicity tinged with exaggeration to emphasize an abundance of sensations.
Bean collecting adheres to a series of strict steps: Beans chosen for pictures must first be processed so they will not rot or mold. Bean painting not only serves as an ornament but also appeals to collectors. When making bean paintings, artists try their best to take advantage of the original colors and shapes of beans to express the proper themes incisively and vividly without damaging their natural appeal. Hence, properly combining the beans, and gluing and cutting them are also a must.
Compared to tooth and jade sculpting, beans are easier to deal with. However, artists must possess an extraordinary imagination to arrange these ordinary materials to make a truly unique picture. Expressing various themes, bean painting is a precious handmade artwork that calls on special artistic characteristics.
First of all, the picture’s composition must serve a decorative function; secondly, the original bean colors must be used as the main hue to produce a colorful picture expressing brightness and joy; and lastly, the works should reflect real life. Combining the merits of other folk arts and its own special characteristics, bean painting is deeply loved by Chinese people and foreigners. Such works have become very popular gift among friends and relatives.
Looks weird when you think of arts like this. This weird but attractive art was first introduced by Maurizio Savini who was born in Rome. He has been commissioned as stage designer by Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Salzburg Easter Festival, and held several dozen exhibitions including this bubblegum art. He was awarded a Cité Internationale des Arts scholarship by the city of Paris in 2005.
His concept of using pink chewing gum as basic materials for his scultures was criticized by many art personalities which somehow made his art famous from all over the world. The idea of using pink chewing gums makes him easy to mold an object since chewing gums are synthetic and its obsessive square shape can be shred into pieces or any shape.
Chewing gums was never heard to be included in the world of art but Maurizio Savini preferred using it because of its physical property. It is easy to manipulate just like clay. To the sculpture on the picture, he uses thousands of chewing gums, chewed them one by one and finally formed them into his desired design.
His finishing touches include using formaldehyde and many antibiotics to preserve the elasticity of his sculpture. When displayed on museums, his bubblegum sculpture are all labeled with DO NOT TOUCH to avoid poisoning incidents. This is done because some people and children would like to touch the sculpture with their bare hands. Children are also on to experience the real taste of bubble gums in another shape. His art is an extensive representation and result of his freedom of expression.
This little chinese girl is only 2 and half years old, yet she was already holding her own art exhibition, and an art book containing all her art pieces will soon be published! Her paintings have been said to be very artistic and abstract.
- “Send inspiring and beautiful e-cards to all your friends, family members and loved ones again, suitable for various occasions!!!”
- “FREE rare book for you – CAN change your life!” (use the form on the site to gain free access, this book has received raving reviews from readers all the world over, including readers from korea, australia, usa, canada, asia, japan, hong kong and more!)
Discover and explore 100s of Artworks and museums! It’s a cool feeling appreciating and enjoying the art works available in this collection! If you are a painter or artist you’ll tons of inspiration too! Want to learn cartoon drawing by the way? Check out this cool resource!
In a culture where art and life are often inextricable, Magical Secrets about Thinking Creatively: The Art of Etching and the Truth of Life comes as the latest in a series of books, sites and magazines that keep them entwined.
In the last few years, the number of magazines and websites devoted to art criticism, art projects and found art, has ballooned, a sign of rising enthusiasm about art among people from all walks of life.
There is an abundance of new books, on one hand (the hand of cultural criticism), Michael Kimmelman’s The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa, John Updike’s Still Looking: Essays on American Art; on the other hand (the hand of pure pop culture) an insurgence of immensely successful novels based as much on art as on life: Girl with a Pearl Earring, Jonathan Harr’s The Lost Painting, last but not least, The Da Vinci Code.
And then there are plenty of examples of pop cultural criticism, such as Hal Niedzvieki’s Hello, I’m Special: How Individuality Became the New Conformity, along with countless books and products on the market designed to help everyone from businessmen to babies to bus drivers embrace their own creative genius.
Magical Secrets, which is at once a book, a DVD, and a website (http://www.magical-secrets.com), is one of the smartest of these forays into exploring creativity.
The book is formulaic without being predictable: Author Kathan Brown has organized it into thirteen chapters, one for each “magical secret,” (my favorites are chapters five and six, “Don’t Know What You Want” and “Know What You Don’t Want,” a very Zen-like juxtaposition). Magical Secrets manages to pack a lot in, from stories about artists to musings on the creative thought process.
Yet Brown spends no more than a handful of pages on any one Secret, and addresses her reader clearly and concisely, not as an entertainer or an academic but as a confidant, pupil and friend.
She guides her audience confidently on a path that leads inward, but still somehow ends up outside the self.
It is a feat in itself simply that Magical Secrets conveys a lot of information. Etching, one finds, is a centuries-old technique of incising an image into metal with acid.
The artist begins by covering the surface of a copper plate with a hard, waxy ground. He cuts the image he wants into the ground with an etching needle or other sharp tool, then submerges the plate in acid.
The acid bites into the grooves and crevices, the waxy ground is rubbed off, and the image is left engrained in the smooth surface of the plate.
The resulting incisions are filled with ink, a piece of paper is placed on the plate, and the whole thing is run through the printing press. Scraping and burnishing the copper, rubbing the ink into the grooves, and pulling the plate through the press are highly physical, labor-intensive processes that involve a lot of painstaking, detailed work, yet the resulting lines an artist can get are often the most delicate you’ve ever seen, and the textures the most subtle.
Though etching is appreciated by many art lovers, the number of master etchers in the United States might be comparable to the number of virtuoso organists or rare orchid cultivators.
It is not the first thing most people think of when faced with something as huge as Life.
But etching has been Kathan Brown’s life. Despite the beauty of etching, it was not taken seriously in the United States contemporary art market until Brown made it her mission to revive it.
Since Crown Point Press’s inception in 1962, artists from all over the world who work in different mediums—from San Francisco conceptual sculptor Tom Marioni to New York composer John Cage; from Australian Aboriginal artist Dorothy Napangardi to Pakistani-born miniature painter Shahzia Sikander—have been drawn there for a unique experience in art making.
Magical Secrets about Thinking Creatively marks the forty-fourth year in Brown’s highly energetic and passionate career.
The variety of art represented at Crown Point speaks to the depth of Brown’s understanding of it; while her technique is narrow, her scope is broad, and that is what makes Magical Secrets a compelling read.
Brown offers a broad understanding of the etching process, and ultimately steps back to examine creativity itself. “Many artists have told me that after working with etching they have a new awareness of what they are doing in their painting or sculpture,” she writes in the preface. “You can share their awareness through this book, which is for artists and people who have – or would like to have – the spirit of an artist.”
Indeed, Brown’s style makes it difficult not to share this awareness: like good art, her writing makes her subject seem both obvious and somehow profound.
I just received this from a friend. These people are such genius. I really respect their passions for what they love to do!
– Before photo - Typical concrete & stucco facade
The wall starts to take on a 3-dimensionalappearance. Eric in hiselement,30′ off the ground.Hedoes most of theartworkbyhimself&researches,paints anddesignseachProject from scratch.
His wifeKathy, also an artist, Serves asproject manager.
– After photo -Finished product MOREBELOW!
Here are some more examplesofEric’s projects…
LibertyRemembers
Before photo
After photo… Hard to believe you’re looking At a flat 2-dimensional wall. How to dress up a Drab Shopping Mall
- Niagara , New York
Before photo…
After photo…
Also look at the close-upof
Left sideand middle
Before - Miller Fermenting Rooms
After photos… - Past meets Present in the Miller
Brewery Fermenting Rooms.
Hooks, clipboards and aprons were
Added To the
Surface of the murals to enhance
The illusion… You’re looking at flat walls!
Detail view looking down The illusional hallway in the previous mural. Simply Amazing, Isn’t it?
I wonder how many people walk into the walls…while trying to go down a hallway that does not exit!
Consumers in search of that perfect piece of art often find themselves lost in a tangle of webs created by less than helpful gallery curators, bidding wars, and issues stemming from exhibit proximity and lack of time.
Shopping for accents to complement your home décor should be a pleasant experience, one which you look forward to and that expands your creativity.
While attending a gallery exhibition definitely has its benefits the hors d’oeuvres, conversation and cocktails the draw of the crowd can often be overwhelming.
We are not saying you need to succumb to the perils of dealing with large retail chains, which stock over-produced re-prints cased behind plastic frames.
And purchasing your art in the same place you go to buy your milk is definitely out of the question.
So, what do you do when you want designer décor but don’t want to leave the house to find it?
You may be mistaken in thinking that buying a piece of abstract art would be a simple thing to do. You just select the work you want… and buy it!
The truth will creep up on you as soon as you look at the first painting “it is not quite the right one, so I will look for another”.
Here is the first realization – and question to ask yourself – why exactly is this piece you are looking at “not quite right”? The answer can be manifold:
1. It includes a colour I do not like
2. I am not sure it will go with another item in the space I would like to place it
3. A slow realization that a certain personal undesirable association is being emitted from the painting
4. It looks great but I am not sure it will fit the space
5. It is just right but the price is a little bit more than I wanted to pay… and the list goes on.
Although I do not have all the answers I will endeavour to reveal, from my own personal experiences, a few solutions.
So, you see a picture you like but the colour combination is wrong.
Put simply the thing to do is to contact the artist and tell them your dilemma. You will find that some of them will either be able to reproduce a similar work in the colours you prefer, or they will be willing to notify you when and if they produce a work that might be nearer to the colours theat you require.
If size is an issue then I would advise the same as above – contact the artist and tell them the problem. I believe you will receive a similar reply to that which I have written above.
Make sure that when you do make a purchase that the artist is offering a return policy. I have a ten day return policy which means that if you buy a painting and hang it in your space – if within ten days of purchasing it you become uncomfortable with it for any reason and you cannot live with it, then you may return the piece and your money will be returned.
An important point here worth mentioning is the fact that you have made certain decisions on buying this piece of work, therefore it is worthwhile mentioning it to the artist which will enable them, if they so inclined, to produce a work that has omitted the undesirable entity.
This way you may well end up with a work that will be of greater value to you – having communicated your dilemma.
Price can be a tricky challenge – but many artists offer different ways to help you buy the piece you want. If, for instance, the piece you like is too expensive for you then you have a number of choices.
Perhaps the most preferable choice is for you to negotiate the price with the artist. However, please bear in mind that the artist has produced a totally unique painting – there is nothing like it in all the world! Also spare a thought for the fact that the artist will have spent time struggling to get the work out onto the canvas.
A well known saying is that a piece may well have taken only a few hours to produce, but you should also take into account the years the artist has been at work – so if someone says to me “it can only have taken you three hours at the most” I reply “no… it has taken me FORTY YEARS and three hours!”
If you keep these in mind then negotiate with what you might see as a realistic price for you and a price that will have taken the above into account for the artist.
Some artists will not barter prices – but they may be willing to sell you the work if you pay by installments. You have to ask yourself here “Do I REALLY want this piece?” If you answer yes then you will find the money… because you want to – you want the work.
Let us say that you see an artists work – you love the style – you would very much like to have a painting on your wall… but you see nothing that grabs you.
Try contacting the artists and commissioning them to painting you a picture… this way you may be able to influence the end result by instructing the artist to use certain colours, or specific shapes.
Or if they are not inclined to work that way then they might put you on their mailing list that will inform you when their latest piece is about to go on show – you will be offered “first refusal”.
One final thing worth mentioning is the fact that a growing number of artists are making their works available as high quality giclee prints.
These reproductions are very close to the original work, and some of the reproduction houses actually ensure that every brush stroke has the appropriate texture and “feel”.
So in many ways you could purchase a work that is almost identical to the original piece except for one very big fact – the price of the print.
The print will be of a limited edition, making it a collectible investment – and it will have been checked, numbered, and signed by the artist.
If none of the above proves to be useful to you then the simplest thing to do is contact the artist and just talk to them, tell them what you think of their work, what you are looking for – anything… just communicate with them, and I think you will find that you will not only buy yourself something that you will love and cherish … but you will also bond with the artist themself in a way that you could never do if you walked into a place selling paintings and chose a piece hanging on a wall.
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