How to Choose Artwork

I will be taking a short break for the next few days. Final Fridays always wipe me out!

I did want to share a helpful resource that I have often referred people to. Often, during my Open Studio, I hear people talk about how difficult it is for them to decide whether a particular piece of art would look right in their home or office. The artist Kim Johns has posted a very helpful article about this very subject. I posted the article below.

Choosing Artwork

by Kim Johns

How do I choose artwork for my home/office?
There are many approaches to choosing artwork, particularly abstract art. Some methods include: incorporating art into the existing room color scheme, creating a new decorating scheme based on the chosen work, selecting a piece to contrast existing decor and create a focal point, or falling in love with a piece and making the art and the space work together.
How do I incorporate art into the existing room color scheme?
When looking at pieces to work within an existing scheme, it is important to note the key colors of the room, the overall style of the room (classical, contemporary, minimalist, baroque, etc.), and the size of the space you are going to fill.
An ornate reception room may not be the best solution for a minimalist sculpture piece. However, a contemporary living room with a few bold colors provides the perfect environment for a large abstract painting with similar colors. A large space begs to be filled with an eye-catching centerpiece for the room. Smaller spaces work well for accent pieces. Colors make or break a room. Select a work with similar colors and consider allowing one color to stand out in the work.

Figure 1

Figure 1- “Duet” works well with the reds in couch and the yellow walls. It fits the space nicely and adds a cool gray to the room. (Baby furniture, such as the bouncer on the right, never matches anything.)

Can I use a piece of art as a starting point for new room décor?

This is easily done. Once you’ve found a piece that represents your basic idea (i.e. colors or a style such as modern), start shopping! It’s a good idea to research styles if you are unfamiliar with them. The Internet and design books (often available at your local home improvement store) provide great examples. Take details into consideration, light fixtures, rugs, and accent art should be consistent with your theme. Remember to spice it up! The artwork represents a focal point, so choose something that will hold attention.

If I want to add something bold in an existing room, how do I choose the right piece to offset everything else?

When choosing art to contrast an existing room scheme, you can select a piece that totally contrasts everything else (this is more effective if the room’s design scheme is very consistent) or select a piece that has one thing in common with the room (a color, a style, a theme, etc.). The example below shows a completely different painting added to an almost monochromatic scheme. It instantly captures the viewer’s attention. Imagine this room with a simple red painting and you can see how much more interest this piece brings to the room. This is a great method to “reinvent” a room on a budget. Instead of changing everything, select one piece that will stand out. This will give the room a totally new context if the change is big enough.

Figure 2

Figure 2- This painting definitely captures the viewer’s attention. It is a nice contrasting focal point to the smooth furniture and rich reds. Image: www.abbozzogallery.com/ interior-design.htm

I found a work of art that I love, but it doesn’t go with anything in my house! Is there anything I can do?

Don’t worry! You can bring in a different piece with a few small changes. Find accent items that have the same colors as your artwork and place little touches of them throughout the room. That will balance the colors and/or the style. Also consider allowing the work to contrast the room, as in the example above. If the artwork is a completely different style, (such as modern art in a baroque room), see if you can alter the style a bit with new fabrics and textures.

There are many ways to enhance your living space through art. The tools of décor do not have to be expensive. When considering making changes, don’t forget texture. Artwork can be smooth or rough in texture and utilizing this fact can help you subtly tie everything together more completely.

Interview with Hobbyhorse Cafe

I wanted to share with you a wonderful interview I had with Hobbyhorse Café.
 
Hobbyhorse Café is a virtual online café for visionary people. It is a website with an inviting atmosphere and no advertisements, designed for the listener and viewers‘ enjoyment. The site features the musical duo Hobbyhorse as well as a wide array of guest musicians, artists and poets. One of the interesting features of the Hobbyhorse Café is the Conscious Choice Pricing system. Like me, Hobbyhorse Café believes that music, art and poetry are not ordinary commodities. The arts are expressions of the Spirit, and how can anyone reduce such things to a commodity? However, artists need to make a living, and it is so important that the arts be supported so that artists can continue to gift the world with their creations. At Hobbyhorse Café they ask: What do you want to pay? With Conscious Choice Pricing they let YOU decide. I echo Hobbyhorse Café's vision with my own Patron Program, which I am continually working on developing. It is our way of helping others to understand the importance of art, without the pretention.

To view my interview with Hobbyhorse, please go here. It is worth the visit!

Also, if you have any suggestions for how the Patron Program might work for you, please share your ideas with me!

DoAn

Environmentally Safe Canvases and Paper

Here are a few sources that I found that sell organic cotton and hemp canvases. With the exception of Signature Canvas, these mainly come in rolls, which would need to be hand stretched and gessoed by the artists themselves. However, many artists prefer to stretch their own canvases, so these alternatives may not be that disagreeable.

Earth Friendly Goods: Hemp, organic, sustainable materials.

Signature Canvas doesn't sell organic canvas, but they incorporate Green ideals in the creation of their canvases. You can learn more by going to their website.

Silk Road Fabrics: US Grown organic cotton canvas.

NearSea Naturals: Organic cotton and hemp canvas

Here are some companies that use Environmentally friendly papers or incorporate some kind of Socially Conscious practices:

The Natural Zone: Hemp paper

Indian Village Handmade Watercolor Paper: Handmade by and directly supports rural Indian villagers. This is part of a movement began by Mahatma Gandhi, in which he encouraged small villages to create employment and improve economic conditions. Papermaking was one of the major activities in this program.

Daler Rowney supposedly creates environmentally friendly papers and boards. I found this information on another site, though I could not find anything on the Daler-Rowney site nor have a received a response from the company itself. I am not sure if this is completely accurate, but I thought I would post it just in case.

"Wood pulp used in the production of Daler-Rowney paper and board products, comes from managed forest estates in Europe and North America. These estates harvest and replant trees specifically for paper and board production and annually plant more trees than are felled. No trees from South America Rainforests or endangered hardwood species are used. All our paper and board purchases are produced from either Oxygen or Chlorine Dioxide bleached pulps and as such can be classified as Chlorine free."

Strathmore Artist Papers produce a line of papers made using windpower. That's kind of cool!

I hope this helps to get other artists thinking about how they can begin to incorporate some "green" practices into their own art making. Just one little change can be a good start!

DoAn

Call to Action for Artists and Non-Artists

For all artists, and those who appreciate the arts, I implore you to take a few minutes of your time to read about the proposed bill described below,. It has the potential to ruin the careers of many artists in America, and it is very close to being passed. Submitting the response form is simple and so important. Time is running out before this bill is presented to Congress. I know you all very busy, but this is so important to many people in the country who already struggle to make a living as an artist. Please don’t wait! Please, pass this on to everyone you know.
Thanks so much for your help!
DoAn

Orphan Works Act of 2008
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CqBZd0cP5Yc

On April 24, Senators Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Representatives Howard Berman (D-CA), John Conyers (D-MI) and Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced legislation (S.2913, HR 5889), which is now being referred to as the Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008. It is virtually the same bill that was presented in 2006, and subsequently rejected by Congress. But now, they are trying again.

If passed, the Act would radically alter copyright laws, taking away the automatic copyright now guaranteed to artists of all types who create any type of work. Right now, under U.S. law, artists are automatically guaranteed copyright on everything they create, from the sketches in their sketchpad to their best paintings and sculptures. Under the Orphan Works Act, every creator will be required to register everything he or she creates in a private registry system, requiring a fee of course, and supposedly to make it easier for the “public” to search for works and contact the creators if they want to use the works for some purpose.

Everything created in the last 30 years will need to be registered through this as-yet nonexistent system, including those works already registered via additional fees with the copyright office. If they aren’t, and some member of the public makes “due diligence” to find the creator of a work and can’t find him or her, that member of the public is entitled to use the work without any limitations, and artists will have no legal recourse. That means every piece of work artists have out there, especially online, would be open season for use by major publishing houses and businesses (Microsoft — who owns one of the largest online image databases — and Google have already voiced support for the bill and indicated they will use thousands of images) and everyone in between. Proponents of the bill say it will assist the public in identifying and contacting creators of works and going through the proper channels to contact them to ask for permission. While we understand the need for an organized system of search, there are MAJOR FLAWS in the proposed bill that need to be addressed before any such proposal should take place. Here are a few points:

Under this law, artists would need to register EVERY piece of work they create, including those works that you have already registered with the Copyright Office officially, in some system that does not exist and would likely require them to pay to do so. The time and cost to do this is going to be prohibitive for visual artists.

While this is meant to apply to all types of creative works, including music and literary, visual artists will be impacted the most because of the sheer volume of work they create, making it very expensive to register everything they have ever created or will create.

For the visual arts, there would still be little protection for them and their work, even if it is registered, because search tools would rely on names of artists or titles of work, and not image recognition tools, which are still in their infancy of development.

Under this law, if artists register their work, they would have to respond to EVERY inquiry sent to them for use of the work. So in other words, if an artist has a work out there in a registry system, and some person contacts the artist and says he or she wants to use the artist's work for free on his or her Web site or in his or her new catalog, the artist would need to take the time to officially respond to every inquiry within a specified time limit, letting him or her know if the artist doe not want to have him or her publish the artist's work for free. This will take a lot of time and effort that professional artists do not have.

Last week, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the bill, and yesterday, May 15, the Senate Judiciary Committee did as well. This means the bill will be presented to Congress, likely before the end of May.

We need you to write to your representatives ASAP and let them know that you do NOT want this bill to be expedited, as it is now. Tell them we need a better solution, or tell them you don’t want it at all: Just be sure to tell them something soon.

Click the links below to get more information on the bill, including a video that gives you a great overview of the artists’ concerns:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CqBZd0cP5Ychttp://www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00261http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00185http://www.capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/?alertid=11346091&type=CUhttp://www.asmp.org/news/spec2008/orphan_update.phphttp://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/Perlman080313.pdf

Click below for several options of pre-written and editable letters that you can fill out, and that will automatically identify and send it to your representatives when you enter your address. http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

The Raven: Healing and Initiation

Recently, I have been having several dreams featuring ravens. This painting represents an image from one of those dreams. This was one of the only images that I could paint as a representational image as the rest of the dreams are very abstract. I am working on attempting a painting exploring the more abstract dream imagery.

After doing research into Raven mythology, I found I had gathered enough information to create a lifetime of paintings! There are so many wonderful stories from many many cultures dealing with the Raven. You can be sure that you will be seeing much more of the Raven from me in the future. In the meantime, here is a description of just the small bit of info that I have worked into this painting.

The Raven symbolizes the dark and difficult aspects of life, which is a part of life we often misunderstand and rarely effectively deal with. The dark aspects are not bad or evil, as it is necessary to go through a process of darkness in order to emerge in the light. Dark comes before light, healing is preceded by illness, the storm eventually transforms to calm and so on. The Raven reminds us of the need for this balance, and that without accepting the full integration of the cycle of dark and light, we cannot truly heal.

The Raven is also a messenger between two worlds: the living world and the twilit Otherworld or spirit world. By connecting these two worlds, the Raven initiates us into a new way of being. The Raven travels from this world to the next; accessing the darkest regions bringing back visions and instructions for the seeker and the healer. Often, before advancing in any spiritual growth, one must sacrifice or let go of old ways of being. The Raven gives us insight into what old patterns must die in order to make way for the new.

In this painting, the Raven flies at twilight, the time when the veil between the two worlds is at its thinnest. It flies over an ancient megalithic mound, where one can access the Otherworld. I didn't paint the Raven feathers simply black, but are actually made of layers of blues, violets and greens. I did this to symbolize that all possibilities exist within the void of darkness, just waiting to emerge. In Eastern and Celtic traditions the Raven is a solar symbol. In my dream the Raven flew beneath a full moon, which I have interpreted here as the night sun, illuminating the landscape. But, traces of the setting sun are still visible in the horizon and limning the edge of the mound and distant trees and hills.

I am by no means and authority on the Raven mythos. Feel free to interpret your own meanings, and, please share them here if you like. It is always fascinating to hear how others interpret such powerful archetypes.

DoAn

(The Raven: Healing and Initiation, 5 x 7", ink on textured clayboard)

Environmental Consciousness: Winsor & Newton

Winsor & Newton produces the tube watercolors, brushes, and watercolor mediums that I use. I am happy to report that I will continue to be using their products, as they have very strong environmental policies in place. Here is what I found on their website:

Manufactering:

*We are holders of the manufacturing environmental British Standard 14001. This is an international standard and certification for environmental systems and we are committed to achieving the targets which allows us to keep it.
*We have achieved significant improvement in reducing waste (reduction at source, alternatives to landfill and by recycling.)
*Our factory machinery is monitored for energy usage and has been upgraded to improve efficiency.
*We have reduced the amount of water usage in our factory and have invested in an improved effluent treatment plant. This has enabled us to recover 30% of water resulting in a saving of 1.2 million litres of water per year.
*Our packaging recycling facility enables us to reduce landfill disposal by 180-220 tonnes per year.
*Our office's new individual heating and cooling system has greatly reduced our energy consumption.
*Our cadmium levels in our waste is dropping by about 80-90% year on year which is a clear reduction in our hazardous waste. This is due to improved processing, not a reduction in the use of cadmiums.

Natural Resources:
*Our policy is to use suppliers who can source FSC wood for all our brush handles, easels and canvas stretchers.
*Where this isn't possible, for technical or quality reasons, we ensure that our suppliers prove that the wood they are using is legally sourced and harvested.
*We also ensure that we work with suppliers who have the same level of commitment to environmental issues.
*All our natural hair products are obtained from sustainable sources and are by-products of other industries. Animals are not sourced for the sole use of our brush-making.

Employees:
*Winsor & Newton is an equal opportunities employer and provides a safe and healthy environment for all its employees.
*We are all committed to reducing our impact on the environment through numerous office policies including recycling policies and water and energy reduction policies, which focus on how we use paper, lighting, temperature control and electrical appliances.
*We give our employees the opportunity to reduce their environmental impact by providing a government-backed policy to save tax by cycling to work along with a company car policy that reduces emissions.

In addition, Winsor & Newton provides tips to artists on how they can reduce their own environmental impact. Since I may not be able to use the Dr. PH Martin's Hydras Watercolors due to their lack of response to my inquiries, I may begin using Winsor & Newton tube colors more often. Please visit their website at Winsor-Newton to see all the great products they make and to learn more about their environmental policies.


Coming on Sunday's post, my latest painting: The Raven. I hope you check back. Or better yet, sign up for a free subscription and never miss a single posting! Just see the link at the top right of the blog page.


DoAn

Environmental Consciousness: Derwent

In the continuing examination of the products I use to create my art, I am pleased to announce that Derwent is a company whose products I will continue to use. Derwent produces a large array of artist pencils and related products. Aside from the usual drawing and colored pencils, I also use their watercolor pencils, graphitint (colored graphite) and inktense pencils (ink in pencil form!) to create my art. I went to their website to find out about their environmental policies and here is what I found:

ENVIRONMENT
Our factory is situated in one of the most beautiful parts of
England, in the heart of the Lake District National Park. We are therefore
probably more aware than most how important it is to protect the world around
us. We comply with the internationally recognised environmental management
standard, ISO 14001 and are committed to ensuring that our materials,
processing, products and services have minimal environmental impact. For
example, in 2002 we were awarded a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for developing a unique, solvent free paint application system which has greatly improved the air quality in this production area. We have also been awarded the BOSS (British Office Supplies and Services) Federation Environmental Award for the past 11 years.This comprehensive award scheme covers a wide range of environmental issues, such as reducing energy consumption and improving our employees’ working conditions.

HEALTH & SAFETY
The health and safety of our employees
is, of course, paramount. In 2006, we were awarded the prestigious RoSPA (Royal
Society for the Prevention of Accidents) President’s Award for Occupational
Safety and Health. The President’s award is only open to those companies who
have already achieved 10 consecutive RoSPA Gold Awards. The RoSPA awards scheme covers all aspects of health and safety, including good health and safety
management systems, compliance with legislation, continually improving health
and safety performance, employee training and commitment. Actively involving our employees in these issues through training, health and safety audits, meetings
and regular communication is one of our greatest strengths.

Please check out the Derwent website for more information about the company and their products!


I have not heard anything from Frederix (Tara Materials) who makes the canvases I use, nor have I heard from Dr PH Martin's, or Daler Rowney, both of which make the inks and watercolors I use. I have contacted them twice now. Unless I hear back from them regarding their environmental policies, I will use up what I have of their products, and will not purchase any new materials from them. It is a shame, because I really like their products a lot. Let's hope they come through sometime in the future.


DoAn