Art Decor

by Giorgina Devereaux

• Giclées
• lithographs
• framed poster art
• photographs
• oil on canvas paintings
• chalk art
• glazed art prints
• stained glass art
• mosaic art
• much more  

Art gives a room depth, dimension, while adding color, style, and enhancing the mood or theme of the room.

It is important to relate your art to its surroundings.  

Adding art approximately six to nine inches above a sofa gives it a unified look.  

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To achieve proper proportion, cover two thirds of the wall above furniture with one or a couple of pieces of art.  

It is essential to position artwork at eye level where the center is visible while sitting or standing. 

Otherwise, if placed too high on the wall, it gives the appearance that it is floating.  If it is placed too low over a sofa, it impedes headroom.

To create a formal look, group the art symmetrically.  If trying to achieve an informal look, you can do so with symmetrical groupings.  

Try to coordinate custom frame artwork with other decor in the room.

To do this, select a frame that complements the style, along with mat colors that enhance the art decor and color format.

If hanging multiple pictures, first measure and mark the spot for the center print, and then hang it.  Try spacing the pieces three inches apart. Thereafter, hang the middle row of prints, working from top to bottom.

Finally, finish hanging the rest of the pieces by working from top to bottom, until the set is complete.  Try to hang the larger pieces on the bottom because they anchor groups and keep arrangements from looking heavy.

If the art that you are displaying does not have a shared theme or color in common, use matching frames and mats to give it unity.

While understanding the best way to hang art is important, you may be scratching your head wondering what the difference is between art decor accessories such as a Giclée, a lithograph, framed poster art, photograph, oil on canvas painting, chalk art, glazed art prints, stained glass art, and mosaic art. 

Although you may have a good understanding of what some of these are, it helps to cover each one to help you see the distinct differences.  This may help you make the best choice(s) when selecting art for your home. 

Giclée:  The term Giclée is a French word that means “to squirt.” 

Giclée involves reproducing art through a printing process that is akin to using a modern ink jet printer.  

They are created from digital scans of existing art, with the result being a high resolution print. 

Since the Giclée is printed at high resolution with a printer that uses minute droplets of pigment based ink, it generates prints that cannot be duplicated by other printing methods. 

The process utilizes six colors:

• light cyan
• cyan
• light magenta
• magenta
• yellow
• black 

A Giclée can be printed on canvas, watercolor paper, or transparent acetates.  The details of a Giclée are crisper than a traditional lithograph.  Giclées provide us with the opportunity to own replicas of famous fine art that can be enjoyed for many years and is a stunning art piece that will make a beautiful statement in your home. 

Lithograph:  Lithography utilizes tiny dots of four colors consisting of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.  This is done to trick the eye into seeing various shades and hues. 

Essentially, a print is made by using a press to transfer the image that was originally created on stone or metal slate to paper. 

Lithography was invented in 1798 by Aloys Senefelder. 

He preferred to call it “chemical printing” because the process is dependent on the chemical interaction of grease, nitric acid, gum Arabic, and water instead of stone.   

Most printing presses that generate a lithograph require that the printmaker etch an image or text into metal plates or physically carve out the image onto blocks of wood/other soft material. 

When creating a lithograph, no etching is necessary.  Instead, an artist utilizes a set of greasy crayons or pencils to draw a mirror image of the original art piece onto a smooth stone tablet. 

This part of the process is very time consuming. 

Once the image has been replicated, it is then ready to be converted into a lithograph.  The lithographic procedure centers on the concept that oil and water cannot mix.  

In this process, an oil based type of ink is applied directly to the plate, which immediately adheres to the greasy crayon lines.  Water is then wiped on the rest of the unpainted areas to prevent the ink from smearing.  
After that, a sheet of paper consisting of high cotton content is placed over the whole plate.

Thereafter, the metal plate or inked stone and the paper are placed in a press and light pressure is applied in order to transfer some of the ink. With an original monochrome pen and ink drawing, this would be the only press run needed. 

On the other hand, a color lithograph of a Van Gogh painting may require different runs with up to four different ink colors consisting of black, red, yellow, and blue.  In this instance, the same paper would be placed over the re-inked plates and would produce a nice lithograph copy.

Framed Poster Art:  A poster is a piece of printed paper that can be displayed on a wall and significantly add to your room's art decor. 

Posters generally include both textual and graphic elements and are designed to be attractive and serve the purpose of conveying information. 

There are thousands of posters to choose from. 

You can have a poster print framed in the frame of your choice, along with a beautiful mat or you can opt to have it mounted on wood. 

A wood mounted print consists of a print that has been mounted to a rigid thick wood fiber board and then laminated. 

The lamination has a UV filtering film that guards against fading and fingerprints.  The corners of the board are beveled and then finished in a black color.

Framed poster art is a fantastic way to dress up your walls while helping tie the other art decor elements together in the room.

Photograph:  Photographs are a unique way to display treasured moments captured on camera. 

You can frame black and white photographs, color photographs, or mix it up and display both. 

There are a variety of frames to choose from and you can choose to have the photographs enlarged and air brushed. 

There are other touch-up techniques in which the contrast and color can be altered to enhance the photo.  Hanging photographs makes for a beautiful focal point in your home. 

Oil on Canvas Painting:  Traditional oil painting techniques usually consist of the artist sketching the figure onto the canvas with charcoal or clear (thinned paint).  

Oil paint can be mixed with a substance called turpentine or other solvents to create a thinner and faster drying paint.  Thereafter, the artist develops the figure in layers. 

One of the basic rules of oil paint application is where each additional layer of paint is oilier than the layer below. 

This is a process known as fat over lean and allows for proper drying.  As the painting receives additional layers, the paint must get oilier (leaner to fatter) or else the final version will crack and peel. 

Other oil painting tools that can be used include cold wax, resins, and varnishes.

These tools serve as a method to help the painter adjust the translucency of the paint, the sheen of the paint, the density of the paint, and the capacity of the paint to hold or conceal the brushstroke. 

Oil on canvas paintings have their own unique characteristics due to each individual piece being one of a kind, which makes it more valuable. 

There is stunning oil on canvas paintings available and there’s no shortage of beautiful ones to choose from.  It all depends on what your art decor style is. 

Whether you select a Giclee, a lithograph, framed poster art, or oil on canvas to meet your art needs, the choices of art decor are endless. 

Some possibilities include the following art styles:

• Baroque
• Cubism
• Dada
• Expressionism
• Fauvism
• Impressionism
• Mannerism
• Neo-Dadaism
• Neo-Expressionism
• Neo-Impressionism
• Neo-Classicism
• Northern Renaissance
• Pop Art
• Photo Realism
• Post Modernism
• Primitive Art
• Realism
• Renaissance
• Rococo
• Romanticism
• Surrealism
• Transcendentalism

Chalk Art Decor:  Chalk art decor dates back centuries when the pioneers carried their easels on horse back to the town square, the meeting hall, and the church house.  

Using the simplest tools, this form of art enabled people to illustrate their stories with live sketches.

Chalk art decor consists of a picture that is drawn using large format soft lecturers chalk on paper or cloth.  

Chalk drawing has become relatively popular and effectively utilized at different kinds of events, such as business meetings, motivational retreats, commercial advertising, national conferences, international crusades, television ministries, educational assemblies, youth programs, and outdoor activities.

Aside from that, it has also made its way into homes as a creative art form.  It makes for a fabulous art display on a wall because of the assortment of colors and uniqueness of the art piece. 

Care has to be taken not to smear the chalk art piece when placing it inside a frame or having it mounted onto a frame.  However, there are ways to effectively prevent this from happening.   

Glazed Art Prints:  Glazed art decor is essentially art that is mounted without using a conventional frame and glass. 

Instead, a polymer glaze, which enhances the depth and color of the print is used. 

The frame, border, and print are integrated as one with the glaze covering both. 

There is a lovely selection of glazed art prints and it will definitely complement any home interior.

Stained Glass Art Decor:  Stained glass refers to glass material that has been colored by adding metallic salts during its creation. 

Its history dates back one thousand years and was used exclusively to adorn the windows of churches, cathedrals, and other important buildings. 

Even though it was traditionally made in flat panels and utilized as windows, the modern stained glass artists have also included and created three-dimensional structures and sculpture.

Often, stained glass is used for making windows, lampshades, picture frames, cabinet doors, boxes, clocks, and other three-dimensional artwork. 

It ranges from transparent, translucent, and opaque. 

Stained glass art decor requires artistic skill to create an appropriate workable design, and the necessary skills to assemble the decorative piece, which is traditionally a window, so that it will fit perfectly into the window frame for which it is intended. 

Stained glass production is a true work of art.  The sheets of stained glass are incredibly beautiful. 

Not only is stained glass lovely, but it serves as a way to not allow those within the home to see the outside world.  It also functions to control light. 

For these reasons, stained glass windows have been referred to as 'illuminated wall decorations'.

There is a nice selection of stained glass art pieces.  You can find stained glass panels in the following styles:  Art Deco, abstract, Victorian, Traditional, and Southwestern, just to name a few. 

There are stained glass panels that depict sunsets, birds, have floral designs, sea life, and more.  You can hang a stained glass panel in front of a window or on a wall.

Waking up to something so beautiful brightens our lives, lifts our spirits, and is inspirational.  It transforms the atmosphere in your home and radiates beauty throughout. 

Mosaic Art:  Mosaic is an ancient art form that involves putting together tesserae (individual tiles in a mosaic) through labor intensive setting in order to produce images. 

The images are created by using small pieces of materials, such as glass, ceramic, marble, pebble, mirror, shells, and china. 

This is one of the most powerful ways to decorate the walls of your home and gives you the chance to express yourself. 

Mosaic art decor is not something that is commonplace.  It is an artistic piece that was labored by those with creative minds, passionate hearts, with careful attention and detail to scale and proportion. 

To create a mosaic art piece involves devotion and dedication to what is one of the oldest human art forms.  The outcome is an attractive blend of intricate colorful patterns. 

Mosaic art decor can create dimension in hallways, archways, the kitchen, living room, dining room, and the fireplace.  It makes a finely crafted statement that breathes elegance and uniqueness.   

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