I am in awe of the variety and scope of
untamed animals and wildlife here on our planet. We invade their habitats,
destroy their food and yet nature endures.
How To Do Rustic Right
Urban Rustic is one of the hottest
design trends today. Its based in the past, and yet it has the edgy and
trendy look of contemporary design. Urban Rustic blends the new and
the old, the hard with the soft. Tip: Always add contrast to every design
element. If you feel you have gone too contemporary,
warm it up with a painting or print reflecting old time values or if it feels
too rustic, then jazz it up with a more contemporary print or art like an
animal print or cityscape.
Your Luxurious Living Room:
Small Changes You Can Make Today for Big Impact
Small changes make a big difference in a room,
especially when they're a part of something you use on a daily basis. Tip: Change
Your Switch Plates--Switch plates are usually white or a pale
neutral, but they're a great place to take a risk with a bit of shiny metal, color,
or a pattern . You can use 3M adhesive strips for hanging Art or attaching wallpaper
so you don’t damage the walls when you remove it. Put a small piece of
art in a corner or a nook. Prints and other décor items from Fine Art America
can be ordered in any size you need to fill a small space. Turn a throw pillow or a shower curtain
into a work of art. Practically every room in the house could use a throw pillow.
How to Bring the Outdoors
Inside
The outdoors has a natural appeal to us. Images of
earth, water, and sky make us feel restored and calm. How do we get elements
from the outdoors inside of our home? The easiest way is to bring in art illustrating
these elements into your living space. Tip:
Use Natural Fibers, Textures and Patterns: Wicker, Rattan, Hemp, and Jute are all inspired by
nature. Tip: Use colors that are reflective of the outdoors: Green reminds us of the earth, grass and plants. Blues
are inspirational like water and the sky. Yellows evoke a sense of cleanliness,
like the sun and fresh flowers. Neutral tones like white, tan and beige will
give your interiors a natural feel. Use these colors on your walls, window
coverings, and bedding. Try
adding Paintings and Prints of these elements if you don’t have the real thing
on hand. Tip: Decorate with fruits and vegetables: The
latest interior décor trend is to decorate with food. Use lemons, limes, and
mint or still life paintings of these things for a visual and aromatic outdoor
inspiration!
GHOST TOWN
I did the research for this
painting “Ghost Town”, when we traveled to Arizona the year my mother died.
This is actually a composite of two different towns, the buildings come from a
re-constructed ghost town just outside Kingman, and the burros are from Oatman,
a now defunct mining town near the Arizona/California Border. The town has converted
to tourism and holds gunfights for the amusement of visitors. The burros are
descendants of those brought in by the miners and allowed to run wild. They are
very friendly and despite being no longer domesticated, quite tame. This mother
burro and her colt were dead center in the middle of the street and we were all
expected to walk around them.
Ghost Town
won an Honorable Mention at the 2009 Clovis Art Guild Old West & Rodeo Art
Show.
