Archive for August, 2008
Craig Chambers asked:
Because I love southwest decorating, I recently added ceremonial drums as part of the rustic, southwest decor in my new home. I was so happy with the beautiful, rustic feel that the Native American drums brought to my home, that I started learning about the history and the influential role they play in tribal cultures.
If you are like me, you have probably seen how significant ceremonial drums are to the Native culture but do not understand their significance in Native ceremonies or how exactly they are used. Each tribe is unique in how they use ceremonial drums but one similarity between each tribe is that the Native drums are very symbolic and part of the main focus of the ceremony.
Throughout my research, I have come to find that learning about these drums truly gives you a great appreciation of the Native American culture and their customs. As you begin learning about ceremonial drums, you will find it very intriguing that the Native Americans consider the ceremonial drum to be sacred.
They are usually used in powwows, Shamanic ceremonies and honor ceremonies to call on the Spirits and to connect with their creator. It is believed that each drum has a spirit and that the drum beat signifies the heart beat of Mother Nature. Since the drum is believed to connect the people with the spirit world and direct the a healer in helping his people, you will find that they are commonly used by the healers to enter the mind state, known as the Shamanic journey, needed to connect with the Spirits.
Also, as you research the importance of ceremonial drums in modern culture, you will see that Native Indian drums play a significant role in the livelihood of native tribes such as the Tarahumara. Making and selling these rustic style drums allows them to earn a living, by selling and trading their cultural hand crafts, and helps them disperse the knowledge and traditions of their culture to those who purchase them.
The drum making knowledge, passed on from generation to generation in these tribes, teaches the drum makers how to make durable and long-lasting ceremonial drums with elements from the Earth and the environment around them such as pine wood and natural rawhide.
Today, American Indian drums are not only used in Indian ceremonies such as Native American drum groups and as Indian musical instruments, but they are also gaining popularity as pieces of decorative art, instruments used in school music classes and even as canvases for Native American art projects and southwestern paintings. Some types of ceremonial drums are also used as southwest style furniture and Native American decor, such as the larger powwow drums and pedestal drums that are used as rustic tables.
Today, it is very easy to buy these unique Native American ceremonial drums online and in stores that sell southwestern, western and rustic home decor. However you choose to use your ceremonial drum, whether for drumming groups or in home decorating, you will definitely be drawn to the rustic charm and western style of ceremonial drums.
Because I love southwest decorating, I recently added ceremonial drums as part of the rustic, southwest decor in my new home. I was so happy with the beautiful, rustic feel that the Native American drums brought to my home, that I started learning about the history and the influential role they play in tribal cultures.
If you are like me, you have probably seen how significant ceremonial drums are to the Native culture but do not understand their significance in Native ceremonies or how exactly they are used. Each tribe is unique in how they use ceremonial drums but one similarity between each tribe is that the Native drums are very symbolic and part of the main focus of the ceremony.
Throughout my research, I have come to find that learning about these drums truly gives you a great appreciation of the Native American culture and their customs. As you begin learning about ceremonial drums, you will find it very intriguing that the Native Americans consider the ceremonial drum to be sacred.
They are usually used in powwows, Shamanic ceremonies and honor ceremonies to call on the Spirits and to connect with their creator. It is believed that each drum has a spirit and that the drum beat signifies the heart beat of Mother Nature. Since the drum is believed to connect the people with the spirit world and direct the a healer in helping his people, you will find that they are commonly used by the healers to enter the mind state, known as the Shamanic journey, needed to connect with the Spirits.
Also, as you research the importance of ceremonial drums in modern culture, you will see that Native Indian drums play a significant role in the livelihood of native tribes such as the Tarahumara. Making and selling these rustic style drums allows them to earn a living, by selling and trading their cultural hand crafts, and helps them disperse the knowledge and traditions of their culture to those who purchase them.
The drum making knowledge, passed on from generation to generation in these tribes, teaches the drum makers how to make durable and long-lasting ceremonial drums with elements from the Earth and the environment around them such as pine wood and natural rawhide.
Today, American Indian drums are not only used in Indian ceremonies such as Native American drum groups and as Indian musical instruments, but they are also gaining popularity as pieces of decorative art, instruments used in school music classes and even as canvases for Native American art projects and southwestern paintings. Some types of ceremonial drums are also used as southwest style furniture and Native American decor, such as the larger powwow drums and pedestal drums that are used as rustic tables.
Today, it is very easy to buy these unique Native American ceremonial drums online and in stores that sell southwestern, western and rustic home decor. However you choose to use your ceremonial drum, whether for drumming groups or in home decorating, you will definitely be drawn to the rustic charm and western style of ceremonial drums.
Victoria Larsen asked:
4 years ago, I began designing, manufacturing and marketing a line of raised plaster stencils and ornamental molds. My focus was to introduce the art of raised stenciling to the general consumer, creating a new market for common stencils, which I did quite successfully.
However, as news spread of the revival of this lost art, I began to receive more and more calls from drywall contractors and builders across the nation quizzing me about the possible application of these techniques in their drywall/plaster business.
The typical slow down in winter due to harsher building conditions (and now the recent downturn in the housing industry) commonly left a gaping hole in revenues for businesses of this nature.
Smart drywall professionals began seeing Raised Stenciling and the application of Ornamental Ceiling and Wall designs as a way to bridge the gap between busy seasons and increase their revenues through this easy and inexpensive craft.
Plaster stenciling simply involves smearing common wall mud (joint compound) over the stencil openings, removing the stencil and allowing the design to dry which creates an ornate raised design on walls and ceilings.
Ornamental molds are just as easy! Spray the mold with mold release (a silicone based spray that prevents the plaster from sticking to the mold), filling it with plaster of paris mixed with water, allowing the plaster to harden then applying joint compound (used as the adhesive) to the back of the hardened piece and holding it to the wall until it bonds.
Various mold designs are combined in artistic ways to create ornate ceiling medallions, ceiling corners, wall border designs, wall and ceiling frames and to turn plain fireplaces in to ornate beauties.
The investment in stencils and molds can be minimal and as everyone in the industry knows, plaster of paris and joint compound are extremely cheap, allowing you to create a high ticket service for very little expense.
Professional creation and installation of an ornate plaster ceiling design can produce as much as $50,000.00 from the high end client and can be scaled down to the simplest frame around a light fixture for lower end consumers or builders.
How do you market such a service? That’s easy. By doing some of these designs in your own home, you can quickly begin a beautiful portfolio to show builders and clients.
Visit plaster restoration websites on the internet for lay-out ideas.
Don’t forget that areas such as above doorways, windows and exterior doorways also benefit from the beauty of this easy treatment, along with fireplace designs.
In conclusion, do yourself a favor and look in to the possibility of extending your business services in to the area of decorative art to help you through the slow times. What you may find is a much more lucrative main staple in your business service line-up for the remainder of your career.
© Victoria Larsen 2006
4 years ago, I began designing, manufacturing and marketing a line of raised plaster stencils and ornamental molds. My focus was to introduce the art of raised stenciling to the general consumer, creating a new market for common stencils, which I did quite successfully.
However, as news spread of the revival of this lost art, I began to receive more and more calls from drywall contractors and builders across the nation quizzing me about the possible application of these techniques in their drywall/plaster business.
The typical slow down in winter due to harsher building conditions (and now the recent downturn in the housing industry) commonly left a gaping hole in revenues for businesses of this nature.
Smart drywall professionals began seeing Raised Stenciling and the application of Ornamental Ceiling and Wall designs as a way to bridge the gap between busy seasons and increase their revenues through this easy and inexpensive craft.
Plaster stenciling simply involves smearing common wall mud (joint compound) over the stencil openings, removing the stencil and allowing the design to dry which creates an ornate raised design on walls and ceilings.
Ornamental molds are just as easy! Spray the mold with mold release (a silicone based spray that prevents the plaster from sticking to the mold), filling it with plaster of paris mixed with water, allowing the plaster to harden then applying joint compound (used as the adhesive) to the back of the hardened piece and holding it to the wall until it bonds.
Various mold designs are combined in artistic ways to create ornate ceiling medallions, ceiling corners, wall border designs, wall and ceiling frames and to turn plain fireplaces in to ornate beauties.
The investment in stencils and molds can be minimal and as everyone in the industry knows, plaster of paris and joint compound are extremely cheap, allowing you to create a high ticket service for very little expense.
Professional creation and installation of an ornate plaster ceiling design can produce as much as $50,000.00 from the high end client and can be scaled down to the simplest frame around a light fixture for lower end consumers or builders.
How do you market such a service? That’s easy. By doing some of these designs in your own home, you can quickly begin a beautiful portfolio to show builders and clients.
Visit plaster restoration websites on the internet for lay-out ideas.
Don’t forget that areas such as above doorways, windows and exterior doorways also benefit from the beauty of this easy treatment, along with fireplace designs.
In conclusion, do yourself a favor and look in to the possibility of extending your business services in to the area of decorative art to help you through the slow times. What you may find is a much more lucrative main staple in your business service line-up for the remainder of your career.
© Victoria Larsen 2006
Childlike Empress asked:
The staircase is 13 stairs, medium-light mocha. Hardwood stairs.
The staircase is 13 stairs, medium-light mocha. Hardwood stairs.
I have my own ideas, but I’m also open to the ideas of others. Nothing is to classic or odd.
NENA82 asked:
Hi im looking for a web sit that gives out print art decor ideas, so i can print it out and fram it.
Hi im looking for a web sit that gives out print art decor ideas, so i can print it out and fram it.
is there anybody that knows where i can fine nice art that is printable?
thank you
2hpy4wds asked:
I have stock usage fees guidelines. However, I cannot locate info on how to license photos for art purposes.
I have stock usage fees guidelines. However, I cannot locate info on how to license photos for art purposes.
DeeDee asked:
I need suggestions on sprucing up my apartment ( the walls mainly). I already have some framed art and family/friend pictures hanging, but i wanted to know some inexpensive decor items that i can make.
I need suggestions on sprucing up my apartment ( the walls mainly). I already have some framed art and family/friend pictures hanging, but i wanted to know some inexpensive decor items that i can make.
Will asked:
If you admire an work of art box with thin and smooth drawing on the black background plentifully decorated with gold shading know: before you – a Palekh lacquered miniature. It is based on a long local history of icon painting. Icon painting craft has arisen in the early thirties in village Palekh of the Ivanovo area.
In spite of the fact that the church demanded to fulfill precisely every element of icon, Palekh artists did it in their own manner of writing faces, figures, elements of landscape, buildings, carriages and so on. On the icons you could see some domestic details such as furniture, clothes, arms, horse harness. Some of them have been kept in today’s Palekh miniature art painting somewhat changed creatively.
Palekh painting wasn’t born accidentally. It was a result of century-old traditions in new historical conditions based on the knowledge of icon-painting handicraft of many generations. Their methods were rich and varied. From the very beginning Palekh artists had been studying and keeping old Russian art traditions. Therefore at an icon and a product executed in the spirit of palekh miniature have much common. After the 1917 Revolution, when the icon business went into the deepest of declines, Palekh masters tried their hands at decorating art wood tableware, kitchen utensils, toys, dishes, porcelain and glass. As it turned out, the most interesting way was the painting of paper-mache boxes that became the black-lacquered miniature.
The varnish miniature is executed by tempera paint on a papier-mache. Colour of palekh painting is based on a combination of three colours – red, yellow and green. The Palekh miniatures usually represent characters from real life, literary works, fairy tales, bylinas, and songs. They are painted with local bright paints over the black background and are known for their delicate and smooth design, abundance of golden shading, and accurate silhouettes of flattened figures, which often cover the surface of the lids and sides of the articles completely. Poetic magic of the Palekh characters, decorativeness of landscapes and architecture, and elongated proportions of the figures go back to the icon-painting traditions. The miniatures are usually set off with a complicated pattern made with gold dissolved in aqua regia.
Palekh lacquered miniatures are painted on articles – caskets and boxes, brooches and hairpins for ties, a panel and ashtrays and great number of other little things made of papier-mache.
The process of making Palekh articles is the following: The first operation in the making of these gems of folk art is the cutting out of the cardboard. The strips of cardboard are covered with flour paste, placed on circular or rectangular moulds and pressed. After that the material is given a coating of warm linseed oil. The carefully checked pieces are handed to the joiners. Then the undercoat is applied to the article with a steel palette knife. The outside of Palekh articles is painted with black lacquer. The inside is painted with red lacquer. The final operation before painting: about seven coats of transparent oil varnish is applied to the outside and inside of the article. Every coat applied is dried in the furnace for 9 hours at 90°C.
The articles are now ready to be handed to the artists. The work of the artist begins with preparation of the paint. In Palekh the paints are mixed with egg emulsion. The yolk, separated from the white, is returned to the shell where a mixture of water and vinegar is added. Then the emulsion is stirred with a special brush. Before painting the article, the artist draws on the design. Then the composition is outlined in white lead with a very fine squirrel brush and the colours are then applied in strict succession. The work of the miniature painter requires not only creative inspiration, but also extreme care and precision which is why Palekh painters frequently make use of a magnifying glass. When the painting is over, the artist begins the gold work. The gold must be polished to give it the necessary shine. After having signed the article the artist coats it by transparent oil varnish and polish by hand.
The village of Palekh is situated in 65 km to the east from Ivanovo town on the bank of the Paleshka-river, which flows among the hills covered by leaf-bearing forests. In the 15th century it was a part of the Vladimir Susdal lands and was one of the first ancient centers of the icon art. In the 17th and 18th centuries Palekh’s craftsmen rose to become the most famous in all of icon art. They developed a unique style identifiably distinguished by the fine line tempera drawing saturated with gold of their own. These art works were valued for the depth of the images, the subtlety of color placement, their intricate and minute attention to detail as much as for their fairy-tale-like ornamental design. Palekh artists are universally regarded as the most highly trained of the Russian miniature painters. The discipline and masterful technique of the ancient art of icon painting is readily seen in works of the various artists.
Luxurious art presents of wood tableware and Palekh, Mstyora lacquered miniatures you can look at online Art Store site. It is amazing that what started out as a true folk tradition over hundreds years ago is still thriving and remains basically true to it’s roots, albeit on a more organized scale.
If you admire an work of art box with thin and smooth drawing on the black background plentifully decorated with gold shading know: before you – a Palekh lacquered miniature. It is based on a long local history of icon painting. Icon painting craft has arisen in the early thirties in village Palekh of the Ivanovo area.
In spite of the fact that the church demanded to fulfill precisely every element of icon, Palekh artists did it in their own manner of writing faces, figures, elements of landscape, buildings, carriages and so on. On the icons you could see some domestic details such as furniture, clothes, arms, horse harness. Some of them have been kept in today’s Palekh miniature art painting somewhat changed creatively.
Palekh painting wasn’t born accidentally. It was a result of century-old traditions in new historical conditions based on the knowledge of icon-painting handicraft of many generations. Their methods were rich and varied. From the very beginning Palekh artists had been studying and keeping old Russian art traditions. Therefore at an icon and a product executed in the spirit of palekh miniature have much common. After the 1917 Revolution, when the icon business went into the deepest of declines, Palekh masters tried their hands at decorating art wood tableware, kitchen utensils, toys, dishes, porcelain and glass. As it turned out, the most interesting way was the painting of paper-mache boxes that became the black-lacquered miniature.
The varnish miniature is executed by tempera paint on a papier-mache. Colour of palekh painting is based on a combination of three colours – red, yellow and green. The Palekh miniatures usually represent characters from real life, literary works, fairy tales, bylinas, and songs. They are painted with local bright paints over the black background and are known for their delicate and smooth design, abundance of golden shading, and accurate silhouettes of flattened figures, which often cover the surface of the lids and sides of the articles completely. Poetic magic of the Palekh characters, decorativeness of landscapes and architecture, and elongated proportions of the figures go back to the icon-painting traditions. The miniatures are usually set off with a complicated pattern made with gold dissolved in aqua regia.
Palekh lacquered miniatures are painted on articles – caskets and boxes, brooches and hairpins for ties, a panel and ashtrays and great number of other little things made of papier-mache.
The process of making Palekh articles is the following: The first operation in the making of these gems of folk art is the cutting out of the cardboard. The strips of cardboard are covered with flour paste, placed on circular or rectangular moulds and pressed. After that the material is given a coating of warm linseed oil. The carefully checked pieces are handed to the joiners. Then the undercoat is applied to the article with a steel palette knife. The outside of Palekh articles is painted with black lacquer. The inside is painted with red lacquer. The final operation before painting: about seven coats of transparent oil varnish is applied to the outside and inside of the article. Every coat applied is dried in the furnace for 9 hours at 90°C.
The articles are now ready to be handed to the artists. The work of the artist begins with preparation of the paint. In Palekh the paints are mixed with egg emulsion. The yolk, separated from the white, is returned to the shell where a mixture of water and vinegar is added. Then the emulsion is stirred with a special brush. Before painting the article, the artist draws on the design. Then the composition is outlined in white lead with a very fine squirrel brush and the colours are then applied in strict succession. The work of the miniature painter requires not only creative inspiration, but also extreme care and precision which is why Palekh painters frequently make use of a magnifying glass. When the painting is over, the artist begins the gold work. The gold must be polished to give it the necessary shine. After having signed the article the artist coats it by transparent oil varnish and polish by hand.
The village of Palekh is situated in 65 km to the east from Ivanovo town on the bank of the Paleshka-river, which flows among the hills covered by leaf-bearing forests. In the 15th century it was a part of the Vladimir Susdal lands and was one of the first ancient centers of the icon art. In the 17th and 18th centuries Palekh’s craftsmen rose to become the most famous in all of icon art. They developed a unique style identifiably distinguished by the fine line tempera drawing saturated with gold of their own. These art works were valued for the depth of the images, the subtlety of color placement, their intricate and minute attention to detail as much as for their fairy-tale-like ornamental design. Palekh artists are universally regarded as the most highly trained of the Russian miniature painters. The discipline and masterful technique of the ancient art of icon painting is readily seen in works of the various artists.
Luxurious art presents of wood tableware and Palekh, Mstyora lacquered miniatures you can look at online Art Store site. It is amazing that what started out as a true folk tradition over hundreds years ago is still thriving and remains basically true to it’s roots, albeit on a more organized scale.
Arex asked:
I have been painting/drawing on canvas shoes for a while and have always used DecoArt Opaque Paint Markers. These markers have been working fine for me as far as the color not fading, and can be used for fine detail. But they are really expensive and seem to clog after a couple uses, or worse- the paint just decides to leak out when you’re in say, your car. Is there an easier, better alternative to these markers that will stay on my shoes?!
I have been painting/drawing on canvas shoes for a while and have always used DecoArt Opaque Paint Markers. These markers have been working fine for me as far as the color not fading, and can be used for fine detail. But they are really expensive and seem to clog after a couple uses, or worse- the paint just decides to leak out when you’re in say, your car. Is there an easier, better alternative to these markers that will stay on my shoes?!
kapercreative asked:
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vi29vian asked:
RELOJES ARTESANALES DECOART TE ESPERAMOS EN decoart_artesanias@hotmail.com relojes.artesanales.decoart@gmail.com