Top Decorating Trends for 2009

It's that time of year again to start thinking about a new look and all the things that we can do around the house to make our home more fashionable and trendy.




So what's hot for decorating in 2009? Think affordable luxury with a wide variety of styles and flavors to suit any Decorator!




As the wheels of fashion turn, so do the wheels of home decor trends, observe the coming of Neo-classic art back into modern decor in the year 2009. Luckily, it's never been more affordable to create a luxurious home to suit your lifestyle with these simple decorating tips:

1. Eco-friendly decor - The focus this year is on organic and the natural artifacts. In the past, eco-friendly or what is now termed Green Design could be summed up in one word: ugly. That isn't necessarily the case anymore. Eco-friendly design has met a stylish interpretation proving that earth friendly decor can at the same time be elegant, beautiful and exciting as well as Green.

2. Contrasting color combinations - Contrast colors and textures like smooth against rough add a touch of the unexpected to your decor. Pair up accessories or furnishings for that special feeling and spark to lighten up your decor.

3. The 'X' factor - X is everywhere, Find it in furniture and accessories. It was first spotted at the Highpoint European Show and has since been making its way down the trend ladder to almost every trend seeking home in America.

4. Beautiful Design is simply not enough - For today's multi-tasking, on the go lifestyle, home decor needs to be multi-functional as well. Home Decor shoppers want utility as well as sheik in their furniture and accessories. Look for furniture and decorative accessories that will make your everyday life easier and more organized. It's time we demanded more from our decor!

5. Expect to see the softer side of leather - Earth tones on smaller pieces of furniture with contrasting more feminine like colors.

6. Art that Inspires Luxury - 2009 is all about the Classics of luxury. Add elegance via home decor, and specifically wall decor. Shop for hand painted art reproductions of famous works of art. Hang a hand painted Impressionist masterpiece like a Monet or a Van Gogh. Like David Sasson, President of OverstockArt.com says: "It is sure to bring many admirers..."

7. Whites - From pearl white to ivory, the white color family will be on display in 2009. From your furniture to your wooden frames. Adorn your home in soft whites.

8. Make a dramatic Impact - Oversized decor for a dramatic look. Shock your friends and add one focal point piece as a jaw dropper. Imagine one huge work of art in your living room that would leave everyone in awe.

9. Gray tones and Metals - Add a touch of steel to your design with elements such as Silver, brushed nickel and aluminum. Recycled would be a preference (remember to think green!).

10. Feng Shui - In this hectic and fast pace world we all want a bit of piece and tranquility in our home. Let your design and furnishing make you feel at ease. Add the Feng Shui elements and embrace piece on earth.

Have more trends to add?
Send us your comments and we'll be sure to mention it in our blog

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Face Painting

"The face is the basis of all identities of a human being. It’s a thing that belongs to you but others use it to identify you. You foster your emotions through your face. You see the world and the world sees you through your face. We can never imagine a person without a face because then, you do not have an identity or a canvas to portray your words and yourself. With all those phrases about the face, we all can imagine and realize the power of it. How one can actually use it as a canvas to put up or show some of the most magnificent beauties of nature or humans or to defend a cause or issue of global concern. We can use our face to put up many silent words and feelings through face painting. By painting your face about the thing, you want to show or protest about, you can grab attention better than any other media because humans are visual creatures. Our sense of vision influences us the most.

Some of the most famous face painting designs are:

Baby Tiger, Butterfly Multi-Color, Camouflage, Cat, Cheetah, Dragon, Fantasy Alien, Flower Princess, Jewel Princess and Lion

Here are a few tips for face painting:

Tip 1: Buy and use your face judiciously. Keep them at a safe place away from toddlers and infants. Check out the tubs or sticks form for paints.

Tip 2: When you are putting a base color or coloring a large area use a sponge rather than a brush. It will be quicker and will give a good special effect.

Tip 3: Be patient and let the fresh layer of color you have applied, dry off. And be miser when applying the color layers, as thick layers will crack on drying.

Tip 4: If you are not sure enough about a design, use a stencil. This will make you more confident.

Tip 5: Visualize well about what you are going to paint in advance. It will save time and errors too.

Tip 6: Have many tissues handy while painting. Also, keep a good chair or stool for the one whose face is to be paint for stability. Keep a mirror to show the results to that person.

Tip 7: the paint you have put on the face acts like natural glue. You can dust or paste glitters on it when it is partially dry, or stick a cotton swab on the face. Dip a tissue in color and cover the swab. Then give it the finishing touch. It is ideal for bushy eyebrows or a big toon king of nose. You can use artificial jewels for a bejeweled look of a fairy or princess/prince.

So, if you are just starting with the face painting, invest some money on the kit that contains all the necessary supplies. Now, all you need to do is let your imagination run free and wait for outstanding results.



"The face is the basis of all identities of a human being. It’s a thing that belongs to you but others use it to identify you. You foster your emotions through your face. You see the world and the world sees you through your face. We can never imagine a person without a face because then, you do not have an identity or a canvas to portray your words and yourself. With all those phrases about the face, we all can imagine and realize the power of it. How one can actually use it as a canvas to put up or show some of the most magnificent beauties of nature or humans or to defend a cause or issue of global concern. We can use our face to put up many silent words and feelings through face painting. By painting your face about the thing, you want to show or protest about, you can grab attention better than any other media because humans are visual creatures. Our sense of vision influences us the most.

Some of the most famous face painting designs are:

Baby Tiger, Butterfly Multi-Color, Camouflage, Cat, Cheetah, Dragon, Fantasy Alien, Flower Princess, Jewel Princess and Lion

Here are a few tips for face painting:

Tip 1: Buy and use your face judiciously. Keep them at a safe place away from toddlers and infants. Check out the tubs or sticks form for paints.

Tip 2: When you are putting a base color or coloring a large area use a sponge rather than a brush. It will be quicker and will give a good special effect.

Tip 3: Be patient and let the fresh layer of color you have applied, dry off. And be miser when applying the color layers, as thick layers will crack on drying.

Tip 4: If you are not sure enough about a design, use a stencil. This will make you more confident.

Tip 5: Visualize well about what you are going to paint in advance. It will save time and errors too.

Tip 6: Have many tissues handy while painting. Also, keep a good chair or stool for the one whose face is to be paint for stability. Keep a mirror to show the results to that person.

Tip 7: the paint you have put on the face acts like natural glue. You can dust or paste glitters on it when it is partially dry, or stick a cotton swab on the face. Dip a tissue in color and cover the swab. Then give it the finishing touch. It is ideal for bushy eyebrows or a big toon king of nose. You can use artificial jewels for a bejeweled look of a fairy or princess/prince.

So, if you are just starting with the face painting, invest some money on the kit that contains all the necessary supplies. Now, all you need to do is let your imagination run free and wait for outstanding results.
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Painting and Photographs of wildlife

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How Many Different Ways Are There To Light A Portrait With Just One Light?

One Light?: The truth is that there is usually more than one light because where there is light there usually is reflected light.

You can use this reflected light if it helps or insert gobo’s (black go between boards or flags) to stop this. You can increase the reflected light by using reflectors, expensive ones or shirts and white boards.

Hard and Soft: Simply the difference between the light on a sunny day and a cloudy day. Hard light gives dark well-defined shadows. Soft light comes from many different places.

Bright and Dim: A dim light to us can be made to look like daylight, simply by leaving the shutter open for longer. So in this respect there is no such thing as bright or dim light. That is defined by the camera settings. The camera can make the brightest of scenes look like it was taken during an eclipse!

Small and Big: The sun is the biggest light that we can use, however it is called a small light because it is so far away. But put the clouds in between us and the sun and it becomes the biggest light we can use.

Soft boxes turn small lights into big lights and are often 2-3ft across. Alternatives are to shoot through a white sheet or bounce off a wall. An umbrella can achieve a similar effect because it spreads the light all over the place and reflected light can soften the shadows.

White and White: To the human eye, white is clearly white; that is because the eyes is constantly adjusting and interpreting what it sees. Cameras are not able to do that to the same extent. Collect different sheets of white paper and take a close look at them - you will probably find quite a range of whites. The same variations apply to light. We would call them all white (non coloured) but in reality they are coloured or tinted in some small way.

Different lights produce different tints - fluorescent give a greenish light, incandescent give a orange tint, flash guns and strobes will tend not to have a tint; so whites look white to our eyes but some appear coloured to a camera.

White and Coloured: Taking a photograph indoors with flash and incandescent bulbs will give a mixture of white and orange tints.

I was taking an outdoor photo during the day with a deeply overcast day. I place two flashguns with orange gels and the photograph turned from a dull picture to one that looked as though it had been taken late in the evening with a lovely warm glow.

Placing coloured gels over a flashgun colours the light and will produce different effects. Quality street sweets are famous for providing different colour wrappers that can be used for different effects.

Direct and Reflected: Direct light comes from your source light and usually has an obvious effect. Reflected light will come from any other surface that is not totally black. A coloured wall will give the light a colour tint. A shiny surface will give a hard strong light. A textured surface will give a soft weak light.

The distance from the source to the reflecting surface and then to the subject, compared to the distance from the source light to the subject, will greatly affect the strength of the reflected light.

Fast and Slow: What I am really referring to is the duration of the light, ie how long the light is shining while the photograph is being taken.

Daylight shines 100% of the time the shutter is open and a flashgun can shine for 1% of the time. In most cases though, you will get a combination of two lights; one shining 100% and the other a fraction of the time.

Front, Side and Rear: Choose the position of the main light. Each position will create a very different effect, from fully lit to silhouette. Reflected light can be used to fill in shadows.

Low and High Key: This is were the tones of the photograph are primarily dark or bright. The details of the subject are either blown out or in deepest shadow. Often the form comes from the outline of the subject. This is achieved by under or over exposing the subject.

Invisible: Infra Red is not visible to the naked eye, but filters can be attached to a camera which allows that light to be picked up on the sensor or film. This can produce a surreal effect. Different surfaces reflect different amounts of infra-red.

So there we have it, a lightening, fast pass over variations with just one light. An unabridged version of this article and others can be found at John's Photo Blog on his website.

All this with just one light; just think of the variations with two or more lights.

Explore my website to see some of these effects in practice in the Galleries. Explore making your own photographs with just one light. Explore, discover and understand.

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Compact Digital Camera - Why Is It So Special?

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Can you imagine holding your camera with your hand right now? As technology improves over time, you are only going to get more powerful digital camera coming your way. The camera you are holding now might be outdated by next year.

Now, take a look at the cameras in the market, compact digital camera (also known as point and shoot camera) is one of the cheapest camera that has a combination of camera and camcorder together. When you are tired of taking pictures, you can start to take video with just a touch of a button. So, now you can save your money and get two handy devices in the price of one.

Point and shoot cameras nowadays are mostly equipped with multiple face detection feature. With this function available, the camera will adjust its algorithm and give proper attention to the face when you are taking portrait photography. So, your subjects will look more charming with their details highlighted.

Some point and shoot cameras nowadays are build to be water resistance. So, now you can take some underwater pictures (following the camera depth guidelines of course) knowing that your camera is completely safe. What more is that you can show these pictures off and take pride of them.

And to make your investment even more valuable for money, camera manufacturers are looking at the possibility to equip sophisticated photo editing software into your compact digital camera. So when these cameras are launched, you will be able to edit your picture on the spot without paying for a special software and doing it on PC. In the market now, there are cameras that can edit your picture immediately, just that their editing software is still weak compare to a dedicated picture editing software.

Now, understanding that you can be the future user of a DSLR camera, camera manufacturers also build some control you can play with for your point and shoot camera. These controls help you to get optimum experience in photography and get you familiarize with what you are going to get.

Because as you move forward with digital photography, surely you will want more features from your camera. Unless you have really gone through intensive research, you are most likely to go for the DSLR camera that is the same brand as your current camera. What a smart move to make money from you, don't you think?

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Becoming a Tattoo Artist

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If you really enjoy the art behind tattoos, then perhaps you will want to consider becoming a tattoo artist and making a living out of it. A great tattoo artist can make a pretty comfortable living out of their trade, but not everyone is cut out to do this job. There is a huge investment in time and money required to become a successful tattoo artist.

The one thing that every aspiring tattoo artist needs is artistic talent. If you cannot draw then the life of a tattoo artist is not one for you. Those who are talented enough, or think they can be will need to hone their talent by taking some fine art classes, and spend a lot of time practicing.

When you think that you have progressed far enough as an artist you will then want to build yourself a portfolio of work. You will use this portfolio to try to secure an apprenticeship with an experienced tattoo artist. Apprenticeships can be free, or can cost a few thousand dollars; it all depends on the person who is training you. Make sure that you work out a contract that suits both of you and clearly states what the mentor will provide, and for how long.

The person who chooses to apprentice you should take an active interest in your journey to become a fully qualified tattoo artist. It can take quite a while to find the right apprentice, but you shouldn’t rush your decision as it will affect the rest of your life. The right mentor can make the difference between you becoming a good tattoo artist, or a great one. If the tattoo artist you are considering has mentored other apprentices, see if you can talk to them about their experience.

Of course, you will not be paid during your apprenticeship, so you will also need a regular job to support yourself, unless you are lucky enough to have some other source of funds. Meanwhile your teacher will show you how to clean equipment, operate a tattoo machine, and how to apply a tattoo. Over a period of several months or even years you will become an expert tattoo artist.

When the time is right your teacher will decide that you have learned all that you can, and that you are ready to become a true tattoo artist. Depending on the contract you signed with your mentor, you may be required to continue working there for a period of time, or you may be able to go off on your own. You may be interested in opening your own tattoo shop, or you can find another parlour that will take you on.

Being a tattoo artist requires devotion and a willingness to continually learn new techniques. It can take from 1-5 years to train to become a tattoo artist, so you will want to make sure that you are ready to undertake this commitment before you begin.Mat Fay

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Pop Art Prints - Diversions

In the Art Institute's new exhibit, Modern and Contemporary Works on Paper, which celebrates the upcoming opening of the much-anticipated Modern Wing, the museum explores the diverse natures of modern and contemporary art, how they are developed and the multitudinous ways art can function within the definition of "a work on paper."
Who better to epitomize the diversity of modern art than Picasso? Amid a cool, calm gallery painted a mossy olive-beige, two Picassos hang side-by-side, essentially different. One, entitled "Woman with Helmet of Hair" (1904), realistically renders a lovely, slender, solemn woman from the shoulders up. There is a sadness in her far-off gaze and slightly pouted downturned lips. Her dark, silky hair is swept up upon her head, although a few resistant tendrils caress her cheekbone, curling lightly on her shoulder. The piece, although relatively traditional in many ways, is painted entirely in a symphony of soft, weeping, melodic blues, which is hardly surprising, as the early 1900s mark Picasso's Blue Period, where solemn, indigo figures were par for the course.

A mere five years later, however, the exhibit reveals that Picasso, like so many early modernists, took things in an entirely different direction, as is evident in "Head of a Woman" (1909). While still realistic enough that the work is evidently a portrait, Picasso chooses to take things in a much more abstract direction here. The subject appears in scrawly blocks of tan, beige and burnt sienna, and her face has been chopped up into trapezoidal eyes and a triangular nose. Picasso abandons realism for fervent, angular abstraction, and while an emotional presence still permeates the work, it is the artist's innovative drive that the viewer feels, not the thoughtful contemplation of the subject.

Even more abstract is Jackson Pollock's "Untitled" (1949), where there isn't so much as an obvious rendering in sight. Although there are some implied figural representations, the real focus of this piece is the splotchy, splashy splatters of magenta and teal, sketchy-etchy lines and frailly-floating strokes that besmirch any implication of tradition. In this work, Pollock conveys the progression of art, which, in this context, personifies a bright, brute shout of contorted excitement and eerie foreboding that epitomizes the emphasis of American abstraction on presenting emotion.

Laurie Anderson takes artistic progression to the next level when she goes past challenging traditional rendering, and instead, pushes the boundaries of what constitutes a "work on paper" in her captivating piece, "New York Times, Horizontal/China Times, Vertical" (1971-79). The piece is not so much a work on paper, as it is a work of paper. Anderson has taken the two front pages of the publications referenced in the title and woven them together, and in doing so, fuses global politics and craft art, proving that a work on paper is not necessarily a painting or a drawing, and that the paper doesn't even have to start out blank.

In Works on Paper, the Art Institute reminds viewers how difficult it is to define the modern and contemporary artistic movements. The exhibit encapsulates the ingenuity, progressiveness and diversity of recent artists and, in doing so, whets the viewer's appetite for the banquet of aesthetic delights that is sure to be served in May, with the opening of the new Modern Wing.

Modern and Contemporary Works on Paper will be on display at the Art Institute of Chicago, located at 111 S. Michigan Ave., through Sept. 13.

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