Since the bottom dropped out of the housing market, people have been coming to terms with the reinstatement of an old truth.  Houses are homes – places to live in, not places to sell.  Gone are the days of carefully decorating in neutral colours so prospective buyers wouldn't be put off by personal taste.  Bland vases breaking up a colourless space are things of the past, belonging to an age when the property ladder still had rungs.  Home furnishings – real things, designed to make real places into living spaces – are back.

Home furnishings are anything that, to steal an old phrase, "makes a house a home".  Home furnishings can be sofas, or beds or wardrobes.  Home furnishings can also be candlesticks, ornamental bowls, cushions:  anything that makes a space a place in which a person lives, rather than a temporary abode they inhabit until someone offers to buy.

As such, the collapse of the housing market isn't such a catastrophe.  People are suddenly free to give rein to a long-checked desire to nest, and home furnishings are the place to start.  Who cares if those lotus flower cushions might not be to the taste of a prospective buyer?  A home might not have a potential new owner from one year's end to the next.  Go out and buy home furnishings that really suit.  Enjoy them.  Splash out on candlesticks, throws, dining table ornaments and cutlery.  Join the joy of rediscovering what it feels like to live in a house or flat.

Home furnishings are the front line of this residential revolution.  When a home is no longer a potential show home, it doesn't matter if the curtains don't intrude or the vase on the bookshelf doesn't match the table settings.  What matters is getting the home furnishings one really likes, because one really wants them, and creating a hidey hole:  a place to bring up kids in, to relax in, to grow old in.

Home furnishings make a statement about a homeowner better than kitchen plans or open-space living rooms.  Cookers, sofas, tables, are all necessary parts of a house – you can't cook without a cooker and you can't sit down without any chairs – so in a sense they aren't particularly reflective of any great desire to personalise.  Home furnishings like ornaments, vases, cushions and candlesticks, though, are secondary – which means they are subject to, and evidence of, highly personalised taste.  A taste crushed by the neutral mores of the now-dead housing market.  Now is the time to get them out again.  Bring on the home furnishings – bring on the light-up globes and African statues and modern art prints and crystal bowls.  Bring on the rugs and rolls and throws.  Home furnishings are back – it's time to start living again.

Metal Wall Decor

How can I attach an item to my home without drilling holes in the siding?

I bought one of those metal wall plaques that are meant to be hung outdoors for garden decor. I live in a place where we are not allowed to drill holes in the siding, but I see people everywhere with them attached to their homes. I asked around at a home improvement store, but they weren't very helpful. I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to hang it. I can't use the command hooks with the sticky backing, because it would be too heavy. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I agree that the wall plaque would be too heavy for sticky back. One option would be to install a post or pipe large enough to handle it. You could dig a hole in the ground next to the siding spot you want it displayed at. Add a cross piece large enough to accommodate the plaque. Paint the post to match the siding, and the post will blend in with the siding. Good luck.

The Magic that a Metal Wall Décor can Bring to Your Home

Adding various elements and influences to the walls of your home could revamp your interiors in ways you may never have thought of. There are different methods which you can employ to achieve adding more life to dull, boring walls, such as installing wall shelves or simply hanging beautiful paintings and other pieces of art. If the latter seems more appealing to you, then it is a good idea to look into modern metal wall décor.

There are different kinds of modern art such as but not limited to conceptual, abstract and pop art. Each kind has its own distinct, defining feature, and modern metal artworks can be considered as one of the contemporary styles. The very concept of these metal masterpieces is the focus on the abstraction, simplicity and harmony of various elements of shape, size and design to evoke an aesthetic appeal that can cross the boundary between old and new age interior design.

So if you choose to incorporate metal art with your current interior design, how do you choose the ideal one for your home? It can be quite an intimidating thought, but it is actually the opposite. Because of its abstract qualities, it blends well with almost any design concept old or new. What you need to remember is that a metal wall décor can be compared to fashion, which means that trends may change, so it will be wise to choose a kind of design that has a certain mixed appeal from the opposite extremes of classic and trendy. Moreover, in selecting that perfect masterpiece, make sure that it is not a choice that was made simply to “go with the flowâ€, but one that actually fits you, your personality, and whatever purpose you may have planned for it.

There are many kinds to choose from. Some come in the form of a set of four metal blocks with embossed or engraved designs on each surface; others are simply metal sculptures such as ships and fish. There are also more eccentric shapes such as gigantic ancient keys and frames with random content. But whatever form they have, what’s impressive about the quality of modern art is that it has the capability to look good in any environment.

Modern metal wall artworks can also be an excellent gift idea. Because of its versatility, it wouldn’t be very difficult to find one that your friend can use for his or her home. The wonderful thing about abstract decorations like these is that it can blend well with almost any home interior motif without contradicting other elements of design, no matter how classic or contemporary, so your friend will be sure to find a metal wall décor its perfect place in his or her house.

The magic that metal artworks can bring into the home is as limitless as the imagination and creativity of man. These new innovations in art and interior design have helped countless households to create peaceful spaces that conjure serene moods within the confines of their roof and walls.

About the Author

For more tips and information about metal wall decor, please check out: metal wall decor

Metal Wall Decor

Word Art

Tips On Writing An A Level Art Dissertation – Free Topics Help On Arts Dissertation

Art cannot be defined by using definitive paradigms. It is a topic that envisages the ways in which individuals, groups, communities and nations live, work and practice their customs.  Writing an art dissertation is not merely about the word art, but the meaning it entails as a whole. As a study, art dissertations can be very meticulous in their substance and provide information about specific branches of arts in detail.

The first and foremost part of writing an arts dissertation is deciding a particular topic your thesis is going to be based upon. You have to be very specific while choosing the topic of your dissertation. Some of the topics that you can use are listed below for your convenience.

HELPFUL TOPICS

• Art history dissertation

• Fine art dissertation

• Ancient art studies

• Modern art dissertations

• Vocal arts discourse

• Performing arts critique

• Dissertation on art evolution

• Visual art study

• Art dissertation on Sculpture

• Abstract art philosophy

• A discussion on art philosophy

• Graphic arts exposition

• Dissertation on art as a form of expression

• Art Dissertation on political art

• Street art dissertation

The list can go on and on but it is time to move to the next part of this article.

OPENING

Once an appropriate topic is finalised, you have to proceed to the next level. The primary step towards any type of writing is research, which firstly supplies a particular theme and in the end contributes important material required for the main thesis.

A FITTING TITLE

Subsequent to topic selection is having a suitable title and then to start writing an articulate dissertation on the chosen subject.

THE BODY

This elementary segment of the dissertation needs to have the following sub segments.

• ASSERTIVE ARGUMENT

The assertive argument is established upon genuine findings of your research as well as your own observations of the research. For example you are writing about art history dissertations; here you have to throw light upon each and every aspect of art and its history including its evolution into the new era.

• CONTRADICTORY ARGUMENT

In this section you have to perspicaciously supply contradictory reasoning in comparison to the assertive argument. This part also holds a great deal of importance and should be prepared on realistic grounds. You personal opinions carry a lot of weight here.

• FINDINGS

In this section, you would be required to put forward the findings of your research taking into account all the important elements of the topic.

In the very end, quote all references in a clear manner in relation to the sources of your research.

About the Author

Eva Mason is a professional Educational Consultant and helping the students to accomplish their educational projects since many years. You can get a FREE arts dissertation at her website to get an idea about your art dissertations.

Art with a bittersweet twist: Couple turn a pesky vine into sculptures
Some artists go to their local supplies store to gather materials. Sculptors Paula Stone and Seth Goldstein go over the hills and through the suburban woods to get theirs. Sculpture - Art - Visual Arts - Sculptors - Shopping

Word Art

Art Deco
Retro’s fun, but keep a balance
By Melissa Rayworth The Associated Press Going retro has never been easier. Whether you love ’50s space-age style, ’20s art deco or design from any bygone era, vintage furniture and home accessories are everywhere today.

How 2 Create a Jazzy Art Deco Bedroom in 6 Easy Steps

This article contains information and tips to help you create your little piece of Art Deco style. The colours, patterns, designs, furniture styles and decorative detailing of the Art Deco era will be revealed. Added to this are lists of where to find more information and suppliers of Art Deco items. If you follow the 6 easy steps you can easily put together your Art Deco master piece.

During the Art Deco era interior design was a main focus. Smooth surfaces, exotic materials and repeated geometric forms characterise this style. The style became part of the ‘Swinging Twenties' part of the ‘Jazz Age'.

Tip: Read through the whole article before you start following the steps

 

Step 1:  Know what makes Art Deco different from Art Nouveau

Art Deco is a jazzy style with straight lines, geometric and abstracted shapes used in buildings, furniture and decorative details. This is the main difference from the earlier Art Nouveau style with its flowing lines, organic curved rounded forms, fantasy themes and gentle pastel colours. In comparison Art Deco is bold, colourful, showy and dramatic.

Tip: Look for

• Straight lines

• Geometric shapes

• Abstract patterns

• Egyptian scarab

• Sun Motifs

• Stepped ziggurat shapes

• Fan shapes

• Aztec symbols

• Stylised flowers

 

Step 2: Become familiar with examples of Art Deco design

You can do this from the comfort of your computer desk. Just use the information below to inform your research. This is the easiest way, but you can also visit your local library or you can research in your local area.

Tip: An easy way to find visual information is to do a Google image search. Please note some images labeled as Art Deco are in fact Art Nouveau

In France

• Emile –Jacques Ruhlmann a leader of French interior design and furniture design between 1918 – 1925

• Paul Iribe

• Andre Groult

• Neuilly Villa designed 1929 by Pierre Legrain

• Eileen Gray in 1920 designed Suzanne Talbot's apartment

 

Art Deco USA

Design in the USA was Influenced by French Art Deco after the 1925 Paris exhibition. The Americans loved the bright surfaces and abstract patterns of the style. The 1933 World's Fair ‘Century of Progress' in Chicago saw many Art Deco motifs, designs and shapes used for example the rising sun motif and stepped ziggurat.

Ely Jacques Kahn designed Art Deco skyscraper entrance lobbies

• Bricken Building

• Chrysler Building

• Empire State Building

• Banking Hall of the Irving Trust Company

 

Step 3: Select floor covering

For a bedroom plain wall to wall fitted carpet would be an excellent choice. This was a popular floor treatment of the time. Although geometric patterns and Sarouk Persian or Turkish carpets in geometric or floral salmon pink were popular in the States. In Britain large repeat patterns in soft muted colours (similar to William Morris designs) were used in hotels and on ocean liners.

French carpets were formal in style with highly stylised floral designs. Brilliantly coloured carpets with abstract patterns were used in theaters and department stores in the US and France.

Animal skin floor rugs could also be used in your bedroom. Zebra skin rugs were popular and placed over the plain carpets. Linoleum continued to be popular as did parquet floors.

Tip: What you choose for the floor will influence all your other choices. Remember this when you make your selection.

Art Deco Floors:

• Plain

• Geometric

• Zebra skin

• Persian

• Turkish (Sarouk)

 

Carpets Available in Art Deco Style

Stark's Navarre design

Stark's Laseine design

Bosanquet's Ives trellis design

Axminster Carpets' Honeycomb design

 

Step 4: Select the wallpaper and paint colours

You may want to create a modern styled room with an Art Deco twist or create a room to reflect a real impression from the Art Deco times. Strong colours were used as a reaction to the pastels of the Art Nouveau style. However colours did vary between countries and the decades of the Art Deco era.

In a bedroom green, ultramarine, sea green or deep blue could create a peaceful retreat. But black, red, crimson, burnt orange or hot pink could create a dramatic bold statement. Or a sophisticated elegant atmosphere could be created by using white on white, cream, coffee, beige, bluff or chocolate brown.

Tip: Some colours work better in a bedroom. Greens and blues are said to decrease the heart rate. Reds and oranges are said to stimulate and increase the heart rate.

Art Deco colours

• Chocolate brown

• Red

• Black

• Hot Pink

• Beige

• Coffee

• White on White

• Ultramarine

Walls, ceilings and woodwork were often smooth and sometimes glossy. Wallpapers were also popular. If you want drama and excitement in your scheme then wallpapers with bold geometric, Egyptian or Aztec motifs in vibrant colours would achieve this.

The wallpaper designs of the 1930's could create a sophisticated elegant look. The tea stained colours heighted with silver or gold would create a rich, smart interior space.

A truly feminine room could be created using one of the many Art Deco floral design wallpapers. Or a classic modern Art Deco look could be achieved by using geometric patterns in cubist like designs.

Wallpaper

• Stylised Flowers

• Stripes

• Geometric

• Egyptian motifs

• 1930's (tea stained colours highlighted with silver or gold)

 

Wallpaper Sources

Bradbury and Bradbury's Glasgow Panel

G.P. & J. Baker's Rose & Hummingbird

 

Step 5: Select the Furniture

The interiors of the Art Deco era housed furniture with straight (sometimes curved) clean lines. To create a classic modern room glass and chrome could be used. Lacquered furniture was also popular at this time so could be used to create an elegant sophisticated style.

Exotic timbers could be used to create bold statements and rooms with a sense of drama. Upholstery was often designed in geometric patterns, but plain fabrics were often used. Large tasseled cushions of varying shapes covered with sumptuous fabrics were popular. Using cushions in this manner would create a more informal look.

Tip: It is best to make the final choice on paint colour selections after the furniture has been selected

Furniture

• Chrome

• Glass

• Veneered exotic timbers

• Lacquered: Black, Scarlet, Pale yellow

 

Step 6: Select Art Deco Accessories

Ornaments were sparsely used during the Art Deco period. The classical minimal modern look was starting to have an impact at this time and influenced Art Deco design. The stepped profile is considered the shape of the Art Deco era. Abstracted fans, sunrise and Egyptian motifs were also popular.

Lamps with female figurers holding a ball are a well known icon of the Art Deco era. Also cushion were used in strongly coloured rooms, often black and red with red lacquer-work furniture and China pagoda lamps.

So what could you use to finish off your Art Deco room? Fan design table lamps or a girl with a ball lamp could be used with sleek lacquered furniture or with exotic timber or glass and chrome pieces.

A mirror in a fan or step design would work well with most furniture designs. Art Deco interiors rarely displayed paintings however murals were sometimes used. Ornaments in bronze and other metals of the female or animal form were in vogue at this time so could make a nice addition to your Art Deco bedroom.

Tip: One piece of Art Deco; a lamp, piece of furniture or wallpaper could be the starting point of your interior decorating scheme. Everything else selected should then relate to that object.

This article has illustrated there are three main themes you can use to create your bedroom in an Art Deco style.

You could create:

• A bold dramatic room with strong colours, bold geometric patterns and exotic timber furniture.

• Or secondly you could create a classic modern style using chrome and glass furniture, abstract patterns and muted or neutral colours with strong contrast.

• Or a luxurious sophisticated room could be created using lacquered furniture, subtle patterns and tea stained coloured wallpaper with silver or gold stripes.

That is not to say you can't mix some of the items from each style to create a really individual take on Art Deco. The important thing to remember when creating an Art Deco room; the motifs, patterns and designs are basically the same. I will be writing a series on Art Deco on my Sample Board Online blog http://blog.sampleboardonline.com I invite you to visit. It will be loaded with information and images.

Some Art Deco Sources

USA

Modern Gallery French & American Art Deco

Art Deco Collection

Art Deco Rugs

UK

Antique Suppliers and Reproduction Suppliers Directory

Rupert Cavendish Antiques

The Art Deco Home

Australia

Art Deco Online Store

Art Deco World

 

 

About the Author

Rosena works as an interior design, retail and visual merchandising tutor for Australian College QED. She I has also worked for the Retail Traders Association of Victoria as a Retail Trainer. Rosena has a Diploma in Interior Design, Post Graduate Diploma in Public and Community Health and is a qualified trainer. She also works as an interior design consultant, creates designer art work and is the Australian partner of Sample Board Online a new cool free interior design presentation tool.

Art Deco

Contemporary Modern
Fort Worth Artist Gets Modern Show
In what has to be a first –– has to be –– the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is presenting a solo exhibit of a Fort Worthian’s contemporary art. K-Mart Conceptualism will gather about 35 works by Vernon Fisher, who has lived and worked in Fort Worth since 1977, and will hang from September 25 ’til Jan 2, 2011. Drawn from public and private collections across the United States, K-Mart ...

Contemporary Modern

Modern Art

I would like to go to a really interesting modern art exhibition tomorrow in London Any suggestions?

I've been to the Tate Modern on lots of occassions and I'm looking to go somewhere different.

the National Galleries in Trafalguar Square!

Modern Art - The Evolution of Modernism

The American Modern Art Movement of Abstract Expressionism, which included the work of Jackson Pollock, Hans Hoffman and Willem De Kooning, is considered one of the most important, with regards to the progression of Modernism. The term Modernism defines the revolutionary concepts, which occurred early in the twentieth century, with regards to Art, literature, and architecture. Modernism rejected tradition and was highly controversial at the time. It was a revolution, as such, one that paved the way for new ideas to take shape, which resulted in many new, and exciting, Modern Art movements to evolve. Even today, the subject of Modernism, within Art, remains a controversial one.

The emphasis of Modernism, within the realms of Modern Art, remains with the freedom to express, emotionally, politically and ultimately, artistically. Some Modern Art forms seek to do this by eradicating expectation, by presenting the bizarre and therefore, startling the viewer with unpredictability. In this way, all traces of Traditional Art are revoked, forcing the viewer to rethink and abandon any pre-concepts they might have. In the Soviet Union, Modernism was rejected by Stalin's Communist Government, on the grounds that it was elitist. In the same way, the Nazis branded this Art as Narcissist. This may seem a curious way to describe Modernism. However, for many Artists, producing Traditional Art, this has true basis. When an Artist produces Art that wholly represents themselves, not visually, but emotionally, it could be deciphered as self indulgent. Which could also be described as Elitist, or Narcissism. Rather like someone who talks about themselves all the time! Traditional Art places the emphasis upon representing, or if you like, discussing, the world around them. Therefore, the Artist is not wrapped up in themselves, or their emotions. The interest of these Artists lies in showing, representing, the world to others, and in this way, they are regarding that world outside of themselves. Embracing it, and everything in it, as a whole. This was why the Nazis displayed Modern Art (Modernist) Paintings alongside the 'Art' of mentally ill patients. The Degenerate Art Exhibition, held in Munich, in 1937, has to be one of the most famous in history. The point they were making was that the 'ramblings' of Modernist Paintings were, effectively, no more coherent, or valuable, than the ramblings of a madman.

Modernism did flourish within more capitalist societies, although the Artists themselves claimed to reject those same societies. Modernism gained its pace after the second world war, reaching a crescendo during the sixties. Modern Art went through many phases, and new directions, during the fifties and sixties. There was a definite, subjectivist, revolt against Abstract Expressionism. Now, these Artists would be regarded as radical, and they would represent the avant-garde. Art critic, Clement Greenburg, was among the first to approve and admire the Canvas Art of Jackson Pollock. In 1964 he was the curator for one of the most influential Art Exhibitions to tour America, which displayed the work of this new avant-garde. Thanks to this exhibition, Color-Field, Hard Edge Painting, and Lyrical Abstract Art, would all make their breakthrough, into the world of Modern Art. Around the same time, in 1962, the Sidney Janis Gallery, in New York, exhibited the work of 'The New Realists'. Collectively, they represented another, new, Modern Art Movement, and that was, Pop Art. Sidney Janis opened his first Art Gallery in 1948, and was among the first in New York to exhibit the work of leading European Artists, such as Klee, Mondrian, Miro and Bonnard. His Gallery was also among the first to exhibit the emerging Artists, of the American Abstract Expressionist movement. This included Artists such as, Jackson Pollock, Kooning, Rothko and Robert Motherwell. For this he gained much prominence. In 1958 Greenburg had made tribute to Sidney Janis, commenting that his exhibitions did much to aid the 'legitimacy' of American Artists.

The 1962 Pop Art Exhibition sent tremors through the New York Art world, which reverberated right across the Atlantic. Pop Art was a term first used in 1958, by English Art critic, Lawrence Alloway. Like most of the new, Modern Art movements, Pop Art was a flurried response against Abstract Expressionism. It enjoyed, no, reveled, in the paradoxes of a consumerist society. Modernism would also incorporate Minimalism, during the early sixties, and by the end of the sixties, Post-Minimalism and Process Art. Slightly later, Conceptual Art would also emerge.

About the Author

Angela Dawson-Field is an avid writer for Arts My Passion's oil painting gallery. She divides her time between writing and studying art movements including abstract art and Modern art. She is an accomplished painter and produces wonderful portrait oil paintings.

Modern Art