Doggie Dens and Cat Condos

The Washington Animal Rescue League's newly renovated facility incorporates the best design concepts from shelters around the world and takes them a step further to set a new global standard for the humane care of homeless and abused animals. In a recent $4 million renovation, designers created a more nurturing place to better prepare abused and abandoned animals for adoption. Architecture firm Stoiber and Associates created the design that swapps out steel-cage holding tanks for glass-walled play and living areas and adding space for increased human contact and interaction.

In addition to creating a more comfortable and healthy setting for the animals, the new design can now house close to 400 animals, which is a 66% increase.

Interior Design has greatly affected the healthcare business in recent years. The concept is that the right design can help in the healing process of the patients. That same concept is now obviously moving over to the animal world...and I say it's about time!

"Comfort, Color, and Grand Enough Scale"

The surge of bold high end design in the Hospitality industry can be attributed to the legendary designer, Dorothy Draper. In the 30's and 40's Dorothy turned the hotels into "self-contained theme parks", more than just a place to stay the night while travelling. Draper was the first to “professionalize” the interior design industry by establishing, in 1923, the first interior design company in the United States, something that until then was unheard of, and also at a time when it was considered daring for a woman to go into business for herself. She was the first designer to take control over ALL aspects of the design of the hotel from matchbooks to the staff's uniforms. Her trademark for her restaurant and hotel projects was contrasting bold colors, bodacious colors with clean white neo-baroque plasterwork. Some of her renowned projects are the Camellia House at Chicago's Drake Hotel, Fefe's Monte Carlo in New York, and most of all, the most ambitious and enduring, the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, which she resuscitated after WWII. Dorothy's success in design was definitely credited to her marketing and public relations. She knew that over-the-top designs would generate a buzz and thus create business and profits for her clients. Now through June 23rd we have the privilege to admire her works that are now showing at the Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale. Draper was not only a "'proto-feminist" who demanded full creative control with the major real estate developers, but also a visionary who decorated hospitals with bright curtains and uplifting washable wallpapers. Another progressive design Dorothy was proud of was transforming the Roman court at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art into a cafeteria with a 75- by- 40 foot pool in the middle with surrounding black and white Doric columns. The trend setter's influence is everywhere from Frank Gehry’s architectural forms to Philippe Starck’s Ghost chair. “Taking an eighteenth-century chair normally done in wood and making it in clear plastic is a Dorothy Draper kind of thing”. All of her tips must have been really great for housewives in the fifties. To have this woman telling them, ‘Don’t be afraid! Paint the door green!” Her inspiration and message "your home is the backdrop of your life,whether it is a palace or a one bedroom apartment, but it should honestly be you own. It takes courage to seek your own taste and express it", is as fresh as her bright pink walls and as black and white as her famed checker board floors.

Mikel Robinson- New Work

Love HG's new artist

Mikel Robinson!!!!!

Charles & Ray Eames Postage Stamps

In recognition of their groundbreaking contributions to architecture, furniture design, manufacturing and photographic arts, designers Charles and Ray Eames will be honored next summer with a pane of 16 stamps designed by Derry Noyes of Washington, DC. If you’ve ever sat in a stackable molded chair, you’ve experienced their creativity. Perhaps best known for their furniture, the Eameses were husband and wife as well as design partners. Their extraordinary body of creative work — which reflected the nation’s youthful and inventive outlook after World War II — also included architecture, films and exhibits. Without abandoning tradition, Charles and Ray Eames used new materials and technology to create high-quality products that addressed everyday problems and made modern design available to the American public. Visit the USPS website for more information.

Art As Life

On April 25, 26, and 27, 2008, in conjunction with the exhibition Allan Kaprow—Art As Life presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), LACMA coordinated the reinvention of Allan Kaprow's Fluids. First realized for his 1967 exhibition at the Pasadena Art Museum, Fluids was recreated by teams of volunteers at a wide range of sites across Los Angeles.

Allan Kaprow's was an American painter, and a pioneer in establishing the concepts of performance art. He helped to develop the "Environment" and "Happening" in the late 1950s and 1960s, as well as their theory. His Happenings - some 200 of them - evolved over the years. Eventually Kaprow shifted his practice into what he called "Activities", intimately-scaled pieces for one or several players and devoted to the examination of everyday behaviors and habits in a way nearly indistinguishable from ordinary life. Fluxus, Performance art, and Installation art was, in turn, influenced by his work.

Small Works/Large Images

Orlando’s original art event is the award-winning 1st Thursdays presented by the Associates, an Orlando Museum of Art volunteer support group committed to expanding Museum Membership and encouraging appreciation of the visual arts. From 6 pm - 9 pm on the first Thursday of each month, the Museum showcases a new theme with works by local artists, live music, cash bars serving wine, beer and soft drinks, and café offerings from area restaurants. Plus, 1st Thursdays guests receive free entrance to current Orlando Museum of Art exhibitions.

Thursday, June 5, 2008Art

Small Works/Large Images

Small, little, diminutive, minute, petite or miniature. Not all art is defined by large format. Good things come in small packages confirming why less is more! Works may not exceed 12” in any dimension including mats, frames or bases.

Orlando Fringe

The Orlando Fringe Festival is in happening right now in and around Loch Haven Park. The Orlando Fringe is the longest running Fringe Festival in the US, and still follows the original Fringe philosophy - 100% unjuried, 100% uncensored, 100% accesible for artist and audiences alike, and 100% of the ticket sales are given back to the artists. It is frequently referred to as "the premier springtime cultural event in Central Florida" and takes place annually over the course of the 12 days that lead up to Memorial Day.
It has something for everyone - even kids! While adults walk around looking at the visual art or are waiting to see a performance, kids can take place in workshops, art lessons, dancing lessons, or a moonbounce!

Visit http://orlandofringe.org/ for more

Coloring Outside the Box

Color pencils have commonly be used for the obvious, coloring. But artist, Jennifer Maestre, colors with these pencils in texture and creating 3-dimensional sculptures. She is inspired by the forms and colors of sea urchins and nature. The points of the pencils, yet dangerous and intimidating, also intrigue and captivate the admirer. This emulates the defense mechanisms of the sea urchins. Jennifer also uses both ends of the pencils, showing both the sharpness and smoothness.

The artist cuts hundreds of colored pencils into 1" sections and drills a small hole in each section. Jennifer then sharpens the pencils and begins sewing a pattern together using the peyote stitch technique. This technique allows her to create such flexible turns and curves, to give the natural organic look.

So, if you have sharpened your last colored pencil and down to the 1" nub, think outside the box and create something colorful!

to view other works www.jennifermaestre.com

The Orphan Bill Threatens Copyright for Visual Artists

From the APA:
“Today at 2pm EST The House of Representatives is going to “markup” the current proposed Orphan Works bill. In a nutshell, means that they will go through the motions of a debate and perhaps vote to keep moving it forward or table it for a while. This Bill will be disastrous to photographers and visual artists in general. It will devalue what we photographers make our living from which is licensing our copyrights. Originally the bill was put forward to help museums, and educational institutions have access to old copyrighted items of historical value where the copyright holders are dead or impossible to find. However, this bill as written goes way beyond that goal.
Here are just a few of the significant negative impacts this bill will have on our livelihood:
Any published or unpublished work, including images that reside or have ever resided on the web, will become potential orphans if this bill becomes law. The consequences of this blanket stripping of copyright protection will be a gold mine for opportunists. Within two weeks of the issuance of the Orphan Works Report in 2006, countless domain names associated with “orphan works” were registered by commercial interests in preparation for the profit taking that will result if this legislation is passed. This bill will allow stock agencies and commercial archives to harvest these newly created “orphans,” alter them slightly to make them “derivative works,” then copyright these derivatives as their own “creative” works.Photographers will be sued by models for allowing the works to “go orphan.” This wave of litigation between models, photographers and the users of orphan works over publicity and privacy rights will be a particularly disastrous consequence of the proposed legislation.Mandatory Attribution: The Copyright Office has suggested that authors must bear the burden of including attribution in their works, so as to prevent their works from being orphaned. In other words the user or infringer of any work has the upper hand. It is up to the artist to make sure that they have complied with all the registration and paid the registration fees that goes to a commercial enterprise which will manage the database.
There are a few trade organizations including some photographic organizations that are supporting this bill on the premise that it’s the best deal we can get. I disagree; it’s APA’s job, as a trade association to keep fighting for our member’s rights, and not throw in the towel when it is convenient or perhaps profitable for the trade association. There has been a good amount of closed door negotiating with the powers in Washington by a few trade associations who are willing to accept this proposed bill as it is now written. Many associations have been left out of those negotiations, including APA, and now we are being labeled as naysayers and not team players because we will not accept the bill as it stands.
There is so much wrong with this bill that it needs to be thrown out and rewritten.
Please take a few minutes and get informed on these bills and the issues at hand.
Download & read APA’s position paper on this topic: http://www.apanational.com/i4a/pages/Index.cfm?pageID=3866
John Harrington’s Photo Business Forum Blog Post: http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.com/2008/05/orphan-works-2008-wolf-in-sheeps.html
Most importantly, I implore everyone to go to this website as soon as possible: http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/ where you can send a letter to your congressman telling him or her not to support this bill. Forward it to every artist you know, because this will affect all of us. We must get the word out and kill this Bill before it puts many an artist out of business.
Sincerely,
William VazquezAPANY Chairman
APA - NEW YORK27 West 20th St., Suite 601 New York, NY 10011p 212-807-0399 f 212-727-8120

Watch Out! This site could be addictive! Forget about color forcasting.. on this website you choose your color trend!

Artexpo Celebrates Year Two in Las Vegas

Artexpo, the most noted name in the fine and popular art industry, is proud to announce its return to Las Vegas, September 19-21 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. With the world’s most exciting city as its host, Artexpo Las Vegas will serve the expansive West Coast trade and consumer marketplace, creating an exciting new buying event in a western location.

After its inaugural success in 2007, drawing over 8,000 consumers and 3,000 trade buyers, Artexpo has tailored this year’s show to connect our exhibitors with the most qualified members of the art community. Artexpo will draw from over 8,400 of trade buyers from the west alone and thousands more national and international trade and consumer buyers.

This year the show will include:

• Artexpo Las Vegas Main Floor
• SOLO (Independent Artist Pavilion)
• Decorative Arts
• Exposure (Independent Photographer Pavilion)
• International Art Business Conference

Atendee Registration open June 1st

New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) gives more support to artists and arts organizations in all disciplines than any other private organization in the country. For more than three decades, NYFA has nurtured the people and environment that make art happen by providing the time and resources for the creative mind and the artistic spirit to flourish. NYFA helps artists move from the moment of inspiration to the completed work of art.

Check out NYFA.org, stay up to date on current artist programs, exhibitions and tons of support materials for artists surviving in the real world!

I attended the HD Expo in Las Vegas last week. HD is a must-see Expo for interior designers, hoteliers, restaurateurs, architects and other creative professionals. The Expo and Conference brings together the industry’s most talented and significant players under one roof. This year's expo featured many new Green products and ideas.

The Expo featured over 1,000 exhibitors and had a reported 20,000 attendees.

Design Competition

2008-09 Awards for Design Excellence (ADEX) - Project Division Entry Form - Deadline May 31, 2008
O V E R V I E W
For its first 14 years Design Journal's ADEX Awards has become the largest and most prestigious award competition to recognize superior product design of furnishings marketed through the international design trade. For our 15 year anniversary, we are introducing our first annual formal competition to honor superior space planning and architecture on a project basis. Projects are judged by a distinguished jury of professionals representing a cross section of the A&D community. All entries are featured in Design Journal, on adexawards.com and on designjournalmag.com.
Q U E S T I O N S
For further details visit adexawards.com, designjournalmag.com or contact us at (310) 394-4394 #116 or email us at adexawards@verizon.net.


Entry Form
https://www.designjournalmag.com/signupform/project-form.html

Classic Gift With A Twist!

Tired of giving that predictable frame or framed photo for events such as weddings, graduations and holidays? Are you looking to find the same sentimental value with a more contemporary and fresh approach? Then imagine this…

In a world so technologically driven, even the picture frame has been revamped! There once was a day when giving a custom, framed picture for a variety of occasions was a thoughtful and gracious gift. And even though there are still plenty of us traditional people out there not giving up on this gift, there are increasingly more and more outside the box thinkers trying to take it away. For example, the digital picture frame. Cool concept indeed and incredibly versatile with multiple picture being stored, displayed, rearranged and updated when new photos become available. But what happens when you prefer the classic frame look with the endless choices for matching the frame that best suits you and your interior design? Are you forced to conform to the ultra contemporary style of these digital devices? The answer is simply…compromise! When considering the digital picture frame, consider framing it with a custom frame of your choice and be the talk of the town! As soon as your friends and family witness your trendy new technology in a fancy frame, I guarantee that everyone is going to want one too! Or be the person who truly gives a unique gift amongst the crowd and break ground as a thoughtful and creative trendsetter!

Imagination

“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire,

you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.”

-- GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

Additive color and Subtractive color

During the Giclee process, a graphic designer runs into two main color models. These color models are known as additive color and subjective color. To explain and differentiate the two, one must understand the involvement with the two. I will start by explaining what additive color is.

An additive color model involves light emitted directly from a source of illuminant of some sort. The additive reproduction process usually uses red, green and blue light to produce the other colors. By combining one of these additive primary colors with another in equal amount produces the additive secondary colors known as cyan, magenta, and yellow. Combing all the three primary lights (colors) in equal intensities produces white. Varying the luminosity of each light (color) eventually reveals the full gamut of those three lights (colors). Computer monitors and televisions are the most common application of additive color.

Results obtained when mixing additive colors are often counterintuitive for people accustomed to the more everyday subtractive color system of pigments, dyes, inks and other substances which present color to the eye by reflection rather than emission. For example, in subtractive color systems, green is a combination of yellow and blue. In additive color, red+green= yellow and no simple combination will yield green. It should be noted that additive color is a result of the way the eye detects color, and I not a property of light. There is a vast difference between yellow light, with a wavelength of approximately 580 nm, and a mixture of red and green light. However, both stimulate our eyes in a similar manner, so we do not detect that difference.

Additive color is simply what you see on your monitor before printing. After a Graphic Designer has created their final render of the art piece or product, the file will go through a subjective process in order to make the final rendering.

The printer is a subjective color model, which mixes and combines inks to create the visual.

Subtractive color systems start with a white medium, such as the canvas or paper to “mimic” light. Color inks, paints or films placed between the viewer and the light source or reflective surface (such as white paper) subtract wavelength from the white, and make a color.

Conversely, additive color systems start with no light (black), while subjective color systems start with a light source, such as white paper. Light sources add wavelength to make a color. In either an additive or subtractive system, the three primary colors are always needed to match humans’ trichromatic color vision caused by the three types of cone cells in the eye.

By explaining the differences between light and paper, I hope this will explain the differences between what is on screen and what the final printed product is. Nowadays, the gamut precision is almost a perfect match to what additive colors a person sees on screen to its final subtractive colors printed.

The origin of the Giclée

Some of you might be familiar to the name and the process of a Giclée, but maybe not its origin.
For one, the name Giclée itself is an invented name. It is believed to have derived from the French word "le gicleur" meaning "nozzle" or more specifically, "gicler" meaning "to squirt, spurt or spray." This process was developed by Jack Duganne. He was a printmaker working in the field, to represent any inkjet-based digital print usd as fine art. The intent of that name was to distinguish commonly known industrial "Iris proofs" from the type of fine art prints artists were producing on those same types of printers. the name was originally applied to fine art prints created on Iris printers in a process invented in the early 1990s, but since come to mean any high quality ink-jet print as is often used in galleries and print shops to denote such prints.

The earliest prints to be called "Giclée" were created using the Iris Graphics models 3024, 3047, 4012 or "Realist" color drum continuous Hertz inkjet printers. Iris printers were originally developed to produce pre-press proof from digital files for jobs where color matching was critical such as product container and magazine publication. Their output wa used to check hat the colorw would look like before mas production began. Much experimentation took place to try to adpt the Iris printer to the production of color faithful, aesthetically plesing reproduction of artwork. Early Iris printers were relatively fugitive and tended to show color degradation after only few year. The use of new inkjets and printing substrates have extended to longevity and light fastness of Iris prints to last for 50 to 100 years.

Frozen Grand Central

Artists Bid for for Custom Art Projects

The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) found some interesting information on a Blog from Dwell Magazine. Etsy, an online crafts market, has a feature called Alchemy that allows users to post requests for custom items along with a proposed price. Crafters and artisans then bid on the opportunity to make it. Blogger Michael Cannell remarks "It appears Etsy is tapping into something with seismic rumblings, but what? A craft phenomenon? A backlash against brands? A shift in the way we shop?"

3D Sidewalk Art

Julian Beever is an English chalk artist who's famous for his art on the pavements of England, France, Germany, Australia and Belgium. His unique quality? His art deforms into incredible "3D perspectives" when viewed from the correct angles. He's just an amazing artist who can brings anything with chalk to life.

Teetering Between the Ordinary and the Strange

Gregory Crewdson’s is one of the most influential photographers of our time. His shoots are epic productions. He has a crew of over 40 people, sometimes utilizing over 50 lights and even has city streets shut down, street signs removed and buildings demolished! His images all seem to have an eerie tranquility. He is infatuated with moments which teeter between the ordinary and the strange. For me the first time I saw one of his photographs, I remember a chill running through my entire body and truly recognizing the true power of pictures.

http://www.artnet.com/Artists/ArtistHomePage.aspx?artist_id=4589&page_tab=Artworks_for_sale

Rubik's Cubism

Remember the Rubik's Cube? Man, that thing was hard to figure out. You basically had to have some signs of genius to be able to solve it.

Well there's an artist out of England who goes by the moniker, Space Invader, who not only can solve the Rubik's Cube, but has created his own style of Cubism, using the complicated puzzle as a medium. Check out some of his work at:

http://www.space-invaders.com/rubikubism.html

Need A Little Honesty?

For ALL of you "artists" out there who are in need of a little honesty, well as far as the quality of your portfolio goes, Orlando Museum of Art will be hosting SPOT 2008 on Thursday, May 15 from 6pm - 9pm.

AIGA, the professional association for design.

History:
Founded as the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1914, AIGA is the oldest and largest membership association for professionals engaged in the discipline, practice and culture of designing. AIGA now represents 22,000 designers through national activities and local programs developed by 59 chapters and 240 student groups.

EVENT:
AIGA Orlando presents SPOT 2008
Student Showcase, Portfolio Review Special
Guest Speaker: Sean Adams Adams Morioka, AIGA National President
Thursday, May 15th, 6-9pm
Orlando Museum of Art
2416 N Mills Ave
Orlando, FL 32803
$5 Members
$15 Non-Members($15 Additional Fee for Portfolio Reviews)

Overall, it sounds like a great organization to be a part of and this event is definitely on my list of things to do! And for all those people (including myself) who refer to themselves as an "artist," don't miss your opportunity to recieve a professional review of your work.... it can't hurt, especially when there is NOT a job at stake!

Hope to see you there! Krafty

Green Design

What is the “Green Development” Movement? It recognizes the impact building projects have on the environment and encourages the use of resources more efficiently through Design, Material Selection, Waste Reduction, Water Conservation and Reuse, and Energy Efficiency.

Since 2000, a total of 2,164 projects representing over 300,000,000 square feet of building space, have registered under the LEED system for certification

285 projects have achieved some level of LEED Certification under the LEED Program

20,900 building industry professionals have achieved LEED accreditation from the USGBC

I believe the Green Movement is here to stay and the design industry is just beginning to explore the many ways to create responsible interior environments.

iGoogle Gets Personal

Google has recently started an iGoogle Artists project. Google collaborated with about 70 artists in multiple countries to have them create special iGoogle themes. Notables include Jeff Coons, Dale Chihuly, Coldplay, Diane von Furstenberg, Dolce & Gabbana, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Michael Graves, Philippe Starck, Robert Mankoff, Mark Mirros, Oscar de la Renta, Anne Geddes and Tory Burch.

The iGoogle page is mainly to have everything you want on a homepage there as soon as you open then internet. Whether that be stock updates, weather updates, the time, what new videos have been posted to YouTube, etc. Now with this new project, you can have all of your updates at your fingertips with a nice artistic touch.

Just another example of how art is everywhere.

Art Sites!

In today’s world websites no longer consist of large text-based content, now with the web able to hold larger amount of space websites with a lot of multimedia elements, such as photographs, graphic design, music, animations, and movies and so on, all of course in digital form are able to be showcased for the public to see. This is why the explosion of art and art-related sites devoted to artists displaying their work, galleries promoting their artists' work, museums extending location-based exhibits or auctions houses selling their merchandise created a focus for the modern day artist.

Like other websites, art sites consist of certain fairly distinct parts. The first are graphics and other media, which is the substance of the site. Some or all the content maybe created or modified from existing content, specifically for the web site. The second element of an art site is the design and layouts, which is part of its look and feel this is most important to artist today. The artist needs to express who they are and showcase their style for the public to see. Artist use website to promote themselves in ways they were never able to do before.

For example a struggling artist in a small town in Ohio has been trying to sell his art around town, but because of his unique style his art seemed to fail in his hometown as well as near by towns, but with the use of the world wide web he was able to sell a huge amount of his art in Chicago, New York, California and Florida. His art became well known in the United States. Thanks to his website he was able to accomplish his goals as an artist.

Artist nowadays utilize the web to gain recognition for their style, to help book their work with museums, and also to sell their art in the hospitality world. All of these things are thanks to the web. So if you are an artist struggling to sell ones work, look into a website for yourself.

Is a TAG a Signature?

Recently I had an opportunity to sit down with a friend of mine, who is currently brokering an original piece of graffiti art produced by Keith Harring in the mid 1980's.

The piece is actually a store front sign for Harrings New York space, known as the

"The Pop Shop".

She was telling this great back story about how the piece was created and how it ended up in Orlando.

She explained that Harring and a young New York graffiti artist, by the name of Andre Charles, collaborated to create the piece. This provoked me to ask what the appraised value of the piece was. After I heard the dollar amount I immediatly asked, "is the piece signed by Keith Harring"? She replied, "it is" but, it is signed Keithroc, which was Harrings graffiti moniker, or "tag".

So I ask....Is a "tag" a signature?

art with a capital A

I went to the opening of the 2008 Senior Art Show at Rollins College on Thursday, held at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum (located on the Rollins campus). While I was going only expecting to see the art from the very talented seniors, I ended up stumbling across another exhibit – Painting for Joy: New Japanese Painting in the 1990s which had some very interesting pieces expressing the progressive art of Japan.

The senior art show entitled, art with a capital A showed the unique style of 11 different seniors.

If you have a chance I would suggest stopping by, if not to see the two exhibits from above, but just to see the beauty of the Cornell Fine Arts Museum. The shows run until May 12th.