Author: Samantha Wilson

It might be December in Saginaw, but your home can still have a tropical ambience with the help of some palm tree paintings. Indulge your imagination and let your soul wander into a painting of a tropical sunset, a harbor in the Antilles, or a faraway isle that exists only in the mind. If one of the purposes of art is to provide an alternate reality, why not make yours paradise?

Matisse, Rousseau, Gaugin and other post-Impressionists are the first artists who come to mind when thinking of palm tree paintings. Their bold use of color and vivid, even aggressive imagery creates a jungle atmosphere that can be mysterious, even threatening, yet highly decorative. There are also more traditional tropical landscapes by Turner, Homer and Whistler.

Immense Popularity of Palm Tree Paintings

The genre of palm tree paintings is, however, dominated by lesser-known artists and commercial painters. In the past few years, there has been an absolute rage for the palm motif, in everything from bedspreads to brooches. You can find prints of palm trees in department stores and even discount stores these days, most of which are very generic and almost indistinguishable.

Don’t let that stop you, though, if the tropical landscape is what you want. Choose one that speaks to you, that creates an emotional response, and invest in the very best quality you can find. The fad will eventually pass, but if you’ve found a painting you love, its appeal will live on.

Thank you for reading this article! If you have any further questions about this topic please contact us.

---

Religious paintings are valuable to use for so many reasons. First, religious paintings comprise the most important paintings in the world. The Christian paintings of the Renaissance are among the most splendid, beloved, and financially valuable artworks in the history of mankind. Christian artwork includes some of the most historically important masterworks in the world.

Paintings for Spiritual Uplift

For Christians, however, the value of religious paintings goes well beyond the historical. For religious people, these paintings are a source of inspiration and guidance. It’s particularly worthwhile to have these paintings and prints in one’s own home.

Biblical art helps educate your children, firing their imaginations and stirring their interest in the Bible. Paintings of Jesus help us adults to keep our priorities in line. These works can be a defense against temptation, or a source of comfort during sorrowful times.

What’s more, paintings of religious scenes or portraits of Jesus are beautiful to the eye. There’s nothing wrong with filling your home with colorful, lyrical paintings. Beauty is inspiring and fortifying. It is one of the great pleasures of the Christian life.

Thank you for reading this article! If you have any further questions about this topic please contact us.

Abstract art can be an acquired taste, like martinis or anchovies. An appreciation of art that shows no recognizable subject requires patience and an open mind for those who have previously been exposed only to representational art. But like a good martini, once you come to enjoy it, an abstract art painting can made you positively giddy!

One thing that keeps some people from enjoying abstract art is that it often looks effortless. You could look at a painting by Franz Kline, for instance, and think, “Give him some black fingerpaint and my two-year-old could do that.” And your two-year-old might, indeed, turn out something similar. But if that fingerpainted masterpiece has the grace of Japanese calligraphy, if it suggests the energy of the modern city, and if it delights in tonalities of black, white and grey, it’s probably by accident.

Abstract Art Strives for Purity of Expression
If often helps, when learning to appreciate abstract art, to go back to its sources, whether historically or in the work of an individual artist. Piet Mondrian, for instance, finished his career doing rectangles of primary colors in rigid grids. He started out doing more representational work, but was always striving to reduce the image to its essence. In a transitional work such as The Gray Tree, the form has been purified almost, but not quite, into abstraction. As the art commentator Sister Wendy has pointed out, without its title, it’s an abstract painting. With the title, it is quite recognizably a tree.

Not everyone has to like abstract art, any more than it would be a failing not to like anchovies. But it would be a failing not to look at it with an open mind. Meet it on its own terms, and you may discover that it resonates for you in ways that will delight you for years to come.

Thank you for reading this article! If you have any further questions about this topic please contact us.

---

The search for an original painting that resonates with your taste and transforms the room it’s destined for can be a difficult and frustrating undertaking. How fortunate for us twenty-first century art lovers that we have the range and convenience of the Internet at our fingertips. You can visit more online galleries in a single Sunday afternoon than your grandparents could in a year.

Original Paintings for Sale on the Web
It’s fortunate, too, for the artists, whose work can reach an exponentially larger audience than ever before. Most of us, if we want to own an original painting, are not going to be able to buy a Mondrian or a Klee. We want to discover the artists who are not yet in the museums and textbooks. And the best place to find them is on the Web.

Of course, the quality of original paintings available from online galleries varies widely. Some are frankly tacky, designed to appeal to a low common denominator. And some, though individually hand-painted, still have an assembly-line feel. But imagine the excitement and satisfaction of discovering an artist you’ve never before heard of, and finding that his or her work speaks to your heart. While I may have the greatest admiration for a masterwork that is distinguished by technical brilliance or conceptual originality, when it comes to art I’m going to live with, I turn to my heart rather than my brain or even my eyes. Does it stop me when I’m scanning painting after painting? Do I want to return to it again, no matter how often I’ve seen it? Am I constantly discovering nuances of texture, subject and mood? Then this is a painting I want to own.

Thank you for reading this article! If you have any further questions about this topic please contact us.

The joy of Finger Painting

Being artistic does not require you to be very talented. They say that it is a gift to become an artist; however there are trick and trades you can do to be artistic in your caliber. Like for instance, when we were kids, we love to do finger painting. The reason behind this is that kids love to be messy. They also want to create a lot of things from nothing and of course they love colors. You can create your own finger paint at home by following these easy steps that you can read in this article. It is easy to make and in no time you will be able to use them to do finger painting with kids and kids at heart. Here are the materials and steps you need to know to make your own finger paint:

1. You will need to have cornstarch, sugar, water, food coloring or tempera paints. If you want the paint to be easily removed, you can add soap onto your ingredients. The disadvantage of this though is that it is not advisable for kids to use since soap is non-edible and may be harmful to kid’s health.

2. Mix the ¼ cup of sugar with ½ cup cornstarch in a saucepan.

3. Add the water into the sugar and cornstarch mix. Do this process slowly to make sure that it blends well with the dry ingredients.

4. Cook the mixture until you come up with a gel like substance or consistency. Keep on stirring the mixture slowly and turn the heat up to medium. Do this for about 5 minutes and consistently stir while waiting for the ingredients to form into gel-like substance.

5. Once you have achieved the right consistency, set the finished product to cool then add the food coloring. You need to purchase a lot of different kinds of color for your food coloring so you will have a lot of options to choose from once you use this for finger painting.

6. After adding the food coloring, stir the mixture well to blend the colors properly.

7. Set everything to cool and they are now ready for use.

8. You can ask help from the children in your household to make the paints for you. Then afterwards, you use your imagination and create a lot of finger painting designs for you and your friends and families. Have fun and create a scenario so you can enjoy the finger painting jobs you have done to yourself and to others as well.

Thank you for reading this article! If you have any further questions about this topic please contact us.

---

Painting problem areas in your home simply means there are certain surfaces that need to be treated differently before being able to paint them successfully.

What you may not readily realize is not all surfaces come ready to paint immediately. Like it or not there is often quite a bit of prep work that must be done in order to ensure that the paint sticks like you need it to. Without properly preparing the surface you are looking at a painted area that will chip, crack and look poor once you are finished. If you are planning on painting on a problem area, you need to ensure that you devote the time to properly caring for the surface to ensure that paint will bond properly.

For example, on a metal surface paint will almost always never stick directly. You will have to use a primer, as well as sand the area down a bit. Sanding the area down allows you to reduce the shine which will give the paint a suitable surface to bind to. It is also very important to select the appropriate type of primer, for a metal surface, it is best to use a corrosion-resistant primer, as this will help to greatly reduce the problems with rust and other similar complications. Once you have treated the surface by sanding the area and priming with a suitable corrosion-resistant primer you can use almost any type of paint to paint the area and have wonderful results.

For surfaces that are peeling, it is important to remove all pieces of paint that are peeling. Once you have done this, you need to then take a sander and carefully sand the area down so that it is smooth so that the paint can properly adhere to the surface. If you leave the cracked and peeling paint rather than removing it you will cause the paint job to look poor, as well as increase the chances of the paint peeling rather than sticking appropriately. You may also discover that once you have sanded the area down you may discover that you also need to use a primer to help ensure that the paint adheres properly.

Using the proper precautions will help you avoid many of the hassles that people come across while trying to paint unusual surfaces. Almost anything can be painted, however it is important to take the time to carefully ensure that you have prepared the surface. With a properly prepared surface, you should be able to discover that your entire painting experience is very positive. However, if you are unable to properly prepare the surface yourself you may need to as for assistance from a professional in helping you ensure that you have properly prepared the surface.

If you are unable to find the proper primer at a traditional paint store, you may need to find a specialty paint store that can provide you with exactly what you need. Never omit primer and properly preparing the surface because you are having difficulty tracking down the supplies that you need. By skipping these crucial steps, you are simply making more work for yourself and making it much harder to paint the complicated surfaces.

---

Thank you for reading this article about painting problem areas! If you have any further questions about this topic please contact us.