Art Can Transform The Artist

Ask most artists why they create art and you will find that their answer is often that they do not have the option to not create art. It is as much a part of their livelihood as breathing.

There is often a mutual dialog that is expressed between the art and the artist informing each of the existence of the other. This is a dialog that can be express in many different mediums and forms. The transformation begins as the artist is allowed to explore the process of art and its creation in greater depth. This is rarely done without conflict and struggle because the creation of art often causes the artist to have to explore the dark crevasses of their soul and past to find the kernel of truth in the work they are to create. It is this process that allows the artwork to have soul.

The artist mind does not always proceed in a linear fashion because the focused is more conceptual then that of a tangible concrete object. The artist is forced to rethink and sometimes refuse what seemed correct in the beginning. This presents a way of working towards such alternatives to create the art that has the capacity to inform. When the creative process travels through natural and organic pathways it allows the art and artist to be transformed, as the journey is revealed.

This process allows the artwork to become larger than the artist because when the art is given the opportunity to grow and develop independently from the artist. The art can mature into something more than the artist could have ever imagined. This is why it is easier for an artist to work with concepts because there is more room for interpretation and free expression. Using all the senses to express what is seen, smelled, tasted, and heard as well what is felt.

Creating art is like raising a teenager. You try to teach and educate to the best of your ability and knowledge. But there comes the point that you need to step back and allow the wings to spread and dry preparing for the first flight. You are left with nothing but perhaps the sudden feeling of emptiness or void and the delight of expression of the art form.

Some artists enjoy explaining what their creative process is and what the artwork represents to them. Some prefer to allow that internal dialog to remain a secret and allow the viewer to use their past personal experiences to reveal their own perception of what the artwork means to them.

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Aboriginal Art - Why Buy It?

Aboriginal art is also known as Indigenous Australian art, or dot painting, and is a type of colorful painting and drawing created by the indigenous people of Australia. It is one of the oldest ongoing forms of artwork in the world. The oldest recorded being the famous rock carvings which date as far back as around 30,000 years ago.

This type of unique painting stems from Aboriginal tradition which goes back thousands of years. Aboriginal Art is a very unique, if not a completely individual type of art work. Each painting, stone sculpture, or wood carving depicts a feel of ancient, traditional life and culture yet still retains a certain style that appeals to the modern taste.

Why Buy It?

Indigenous artwork is very highly rated by collectors and investors alike. Older paintings by some of the more famous painters can easily fetch upwards of $100,000 and more at auction. All artwork is valuable, but more and more, especially over the last twenty years or so, Aboriginal Art has clawed its way to the forefront beating off even the more traditional and better known classical artworks from Europe. In fact, as an investment, reports indicate that good quality Aboriginal dot paintings can outstrip most other types of art which is absolutely amazing when you think that pre 1980 you could pick these paintings up for just a few pennies.

Who's Who in Aboriginal Artists?

So if you are looking for quality and want to start collecting the very best, which artists should you go for? Should you go for the older, more established artist or plump for a new and exciting up and coming artists and hope that their work pays dividends in future?

You might think that the prices of Aboriginal paintings are set by the date in which they were created. This isn't always the case as many paintings from more recent times can still sell for quite a large amount depending on the artist. Size also counts! A good big one beats a good small one every time.

Bearing in mind that traditionally it was mostly a male dominated market, the older artists to watch out for are people like Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Rover Thomas, William McLintock Onus and even the unfortunately named Gordon Bennett. As for female artists, they started to come into reckoning more recently and the leading ones to look for would be people such as Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Minnie Pwerle, Gloria Petyarre and Abie Loye.

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Large Art for Large Walls

That large wall of yours is crying out for a painting to be the crowning jewel of your office, home, or vacation property.

You walk into your home's entry and there, before you, is that magnificent vaulted great room and that very large wall with nothing there... yet.

It needs something. It needs style. It needs to be a statement.

You have put all your hard-earned money, effort, and your best decorative thoughts into what you want but you are faced with the classic questions:

* Subject matter?

* Painting? Tapestry? Something else?

* Colors? You know you like something with reds, something with blues, something understated, or something bold. Something outrageous?

* Original or print?

(and the ultimate question)

* Where to get what I want?

Great questions!

I have suggestions that will help you, so don't stress it!

FIRST

Realize that many people have had to deal with this challenge before you and have blazed a trail that you are able to follow, and at least get exposed to solutions that you may have never considered before.

Let's address these questions one by one:

* Subject matter?

The answer to this question is one word: "Story"

Everyone has a story that is worth telling. Everyone has had an experience, a memory, a connection that makes up that story. Those stories are often best told through art, so you should have a great starting point.

The guiding principle here (and this principle is the first consideration for each of the questions addressed in this article) is to define YOUR story when it comes to the thing you wish to share with others when your art is displayed.

It could be artwork that features the local flavor... something that speaks to the environment where you live. That can be trees, mountains, cityscapes, oceans, etc. It could be of people that matter to you, places you've seen, or images that are abstract. It literally could be of anything you want. The most important thing to identify at this stage is the imagery that tells what's important to you personally.

For this kind of space, there is an OPPORTUNITY for large-scale expression! Don't shrink from it. Embrace it.

* Painting? Tapestry? Something else?

I don't create tapestries so I have a bias. I sell painted art that I make myself. But there are going to be times when you will want a tapestry up there. Those include that special time when you traveled to India and came across that wonderful rug that was you thought you might have a place for. You might want to consider making that a feature of your great room because it allows you to tell that story every time you have visitors over.

What I like about paintings as a solution here is that you can have multiple solutions in how your story gets told. Maybe you chose not to import that large landscape tapestry, but you do have photos of the area you found to be so compelling. That's great! It's your story, and it can be rendered right here!

First decide your story. The rest should come easier.

* Colors?

I see colors as a way creating that perfect atmosphere in which to tell that story. Your surroundings in that space is filled with other expressions of who you are - the couch - the coffee table - the lighting fixtures - the chairs... all of these are players in the overall expression of your story.

Often, I think of men's fashion as an analogy that provides another good example of where I'm coming from when it comes to interior design. Specifically, look at a man's suit. It is pretty basic. Mostly solid styling top to bottom... solid colors, sharp lines, slight variation options for a shirt, but mostly understated... and mostly solid.

What's left to bring the suit to life? The tie. The tie is quite small in viewable square inches of the entire getup. It is also the one accessory where society has allowed a personal flair to be displayed. Color is the thing when it comes to men's ties.

Your dominant wall art is much like that tie. It makes the loudest statement about the man and your art makes the loudest statement about the owner of the living space.

Cool colors? Warm colors? A bold statement? Country or contemporary.

All of those things have to do with your story. What is already being expressed in the space through your furnishings is a good approach to how you intend to set it all off... to push the entire experience of your living space over the goal line.

* Original or print?

Yes, start with your story first.

Next, I have a rule of thumb about originals or prints:

Unless your story is clearly best expressed through the use of imagery that already exists as a 2D object, such as an aged gas station sign, a movie poster, or a print of a priceless work of art from one of the great masters, you should go with original work of art.

Original pieces offer you a great amount of flexibility, but they also say a lot about you. It says you value original art because it is handcrafted, that you made an investment of sorts in this expression of yourself, and that you see that your story deserves a place of honor in your living environment.

There are times when you can acquire a large format limited-edition print to fit your needs. Those can work if they are specific parts of your story. But, dominant walls deserve dominant expressions of yourself, uniquely and originally. That's what hand-painted pieces of art do.

* Where to get what I want?

On occasion, you might go into a gallery that carries large pieces. I have sold several this way and if you feel lucky, you just might come across a great solution. This type of gallery is not typical. Most artists haven't done their work on a large scale. You are talking about custom work to meet your needs. You are probably better off finding artists who are most comfortable creating work at any size that is needed.

Here is the methodology and recommendations I suggest:

1. Find an artist that knows how to listen. You might know your story right off, and go from there. If you haven't really thought of how to articulate that story, a good commission artist can draw it out of you.

2. Sizing is important, and I help you find the size that fits comfortably in your space. This is done through placing cardboard sections of different sizes on your wall. The most comfortable sizing solutions are usually very clear after this exercise.

3. Rendering a sample of what your piece will look like is the next step. Computer programs such as Adobe Photoshop can help accelerate the layout roughs stage. Some artists can show one or more samples of rough designs that give a good idea of what your final piece would look like. What you see won't be an exact match to the final output, but the results will always be close enough that you know ahead of time what to expect.

4. Simulation - Artists who are familiar with Photoshop-type software programs can take photos of your actual living space and superimpose those rough renderings of art onto an image of the actual wall where the final will be installed. The placement can be experimented with and the sizing can be altered here, and the results are pleasing.

Large format art for large walls don't need to be a daunting task. The trick is to work with artists who you feel comfortable with, from the type of work they do to their ability to simulate what your final painting can look like... AND place it in a picture of the actual place the painting will go.

By doing a little homework ahead of time, the process of making a statement on your large wall through art should be an interesting event, revealing something important about you and the personal story you have to tell.

Now that you know, go do it!

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The Secret of Success of Funny Comic Strips

Successful funny comic strips contain three basic features, which include a profound sense of humor, imaginative quality of the creator and the ability to draw matching comic characters telling the story perfectly to the point. You need to practice the art of creating comic strips to earn a successful position in the popularity scale. If you are able to display the correct story telling technique, you are one step ahead of others in gaining popularity.

You have to judge the entire effort from the readers' angle to make the funny comic strips really humorous. A wise strategy would be to incorporate designs that are in vogue in current times and have found on the top positions of the popularity scale. The humor expressed through comics should be acceptable to readers and should also contribute to the additional knowledge of the visitor if it is published on the web. You have to create a powerful spirit intrinsically in bringing out humor in the comic strip so that you are successful in making people laugh. You have to count on the fact that the story that makes a section of the crowd laugh may not be able to rouse the identical effect on the rest. Here, you need to give importance on the target audience of funny comic strips.

Another important factor is the repeated use of jokes or topics, which have become cliché with much use either on websites or at other media platforms. You should avoid the same effect and must create unique material to make a separate identity in the readers with the element of humor in the creation. It is the style of delivery, the uniqueness of the topic and humorous illustration, which all combine to produce excellent funny comic strips. You have to show something of outstanding merit to be successful in creating a permanent feeling on the minds of readers. You will find that certain creators of comic strips are remembered for high quality sketches or humorous display of characters or choice of words as funny, but highly admirable dialogues

Finally, the element of wit is a major quality in achieving success in this art. You have to be imaginative and at the same time be attentive to the element of humor, which is an important factor for the prompt acceptance of the work. Contributing funny comic strips successfully and especially on the internet is a great task that offers satisfying surprise to the audience. A humorous dialogue or a witty remark is enough to bring out the best quality laugh in the audience because it has the element of astonishment, which is acknowledged as the work of originality.

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World's Fastest Toilet - My Rear End!

Not long ago, on MSNBC (dot) com there was a viral video that showed a toilet on top of a go-cart which went at a very high speed. The video stated; "World's Fastest Toilet" but is it really - no way I say! First, Japan has toilets on several of their bullet trains moving at 200 plus miles per hour, but there are also toilets on the ISS, albeit high-tech toilets, and those toilets are in orbit at 17,000 miles per hour. Still, let's say it was the fastest toilet "On Earth" or on the ground - well, nope not even close to 200 mph, certainly not on a go-cart.

How about in the Earth's atmosphere? No, the Concorde had toilets on it, traveling faster than the speed of sound, also the B-1 Bomber has a toilet, which although the USAF does not publish the true speed of this bird, I dare say it blows away a bullet train, Concorde, and any other earthly vehicle.

The Space Shuttle has a toilet, but while it is launching you can't use it in the atmosphere, and all the astronauts are strapped in for landing so it is the fastest unusable toilet in that case, but it's still faster than the go-cart speed demon sitting on the commode traveling around an oval track, by the way he wasn't using it either, he was too busy driving!

So, whereas it is nice to see everyone in the media make a play for the dummed down Internet Surfer and trying to get their little viral videos going using juvenile humor, let's leave the real speed records to the adults of the high tech world, not some yahoo that graduated from a garden tractor with a beer "drink holder" to a racing style go-cart with a toilet bolted to it.

I mean give me a break and speaking of breaks I hate to remind the Facebook crowd that it is probably time you got a job - before you forward me anymore of these inane videos - they just are not funny any longer - it's getting rather pathetic.

The social media crowd's crappy choices in viral videos aren't much better than their political choices when voting if you ask me, and I know you didn't but, I am telling you anyway, so please get a life. Oh and stop recommending Facebook stock and no, I don't want to "friend" you on any silly social network.

Lastly, before I let you go here, the Earth is spinning at over 600 mph, and the planet is going around the Sun at 10s of thousands of miles per hour, and the Sun is going around the Milky Way at some believe to be 45,000 miles per hour, so by the time you've completed your business - let's just say that toilet has traveled quite a ways my friend - think about it.

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10 Good Excuses to Get Out of Work

You shouldn't wait to give an excuse after the fact, if it can be helped. Always give your excuse ahead of time. This relieves a lot of pressure and shows that you you are proactive. Employers appreciate that quality in an employee. The better excuse that you can give, the better it is also. This shows that you are creative and inventive. Nothing lowers your esteem in the eyes of your boss like giving an old, shop-worn excuse. Having said all of this, we offer no guarantee that any of the following excuses will work on your boss, so don't come around complaining if you get fired for using one of these excuses as all we'll be able to give you is a good excuse as to why it didn't work.

1. Find an actual religious holiday and tell your boss you have recently converted to that religion and need that day off since it is one of your religious high holy days. There are many different religions in the world and, if you do a little research, you are apt to be able to find one that has a high holy day on the day that you want to take off. It is best to really do your research and find a real holy day for some religion as you boss is liable to check up on your story. It is also good to know a bit about the religion as your boss might say something like; "Oh, I didn't know you were a practitioner of that religion. Tell me about it."


2. Tell your boss that a particular relative has just passed on and you need to fly out and attend the funeral. Again it's good to put some thought into this and fill out the details ahead of time, such as, just who it is that has passed on, what relation they were to you and what they passed away from. You may want to write this down in case you ever want to use this excuse again or if your boss unexpectedly asks about the funeral at a later time.


3. Say that your mother or some other very close relative has taken quite ill and is not expected to make it through the next day. It is better if this person lives out of state so that they don't pop into the office one day unexpectedly. Also make sure that they don't call you at the office.


4. Tell your boss that one of your children is very ill and needs to be taken to the doctor. Is best if you actually have children and can show your boss a picture.


5. Tell your boss that one of your kids is in a school play and you absolutely need to be there. Tell him your kid is under psychiatric care and the doctor has said that the kid will grow up to be a terrorist if he thinks he's not getting enough attention from you.


6. Tell your boss that your beloved dog/cat/mouse/boa constrictor has been suffering with leukemia and is now suffering so much that it needs to be put down. Say that you feel like you need to be there for it in the end.


7. Say that you need to attend an emergency parent teacher conference because they found trace elements of plutonium in your child's lunch box and they want to know if he intended to build a weapon of mass destruction and use it on his third grade class.


8. Tell your boss you need to give a bone marrow transplant to your best friend who once saved your life.


9. Say that a sewer pipe broke and your basement is getting flooded. Say that you are frantically trying to save your furniture and other priceless memorabilia from your basement.


10. Say that someone broke into your home last night and your spouse or other family member is hysterical about it and can't be left alone.

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Twice The Crime, In Half The Time!

President Obama has already etched his name in the history books, with an unrivaled legacy of accomplishment. He's done more to fundamentally transform America (as he promised he would) than all the other dictators who've ever tried, from King George III to Kim Jong Il. And in less than four short years! No wonder this year's election finds him the overwhelming favorite of key constituents, including former Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev.

Hey, speaking of the president's campaign promises, much has been spoken recently about the promise he made in 2008 that he'd "cut the deficit in half." Republicans, tea partiers, people who own a business, talk radio hosts, and other enemies of the revolution keep bringing it up, like it's going to hurt the Obama juggernaut. But the fact is, we all misunderstood that 2008 promise. What he meant was, he'd cut in half the TIME it would take to DOUBLE the deficit. Which is exactly what he did! It took his predecessor eight years (including two with a spendthrift liberal Congress) to ratchet up four trillion (with a "trill") in new U.S. debt, leaving us with an $8 trillion problem Mr. Obama called "unpatriotic." He meant that Bush didn't dig that hole near deep enough! Piker! Mr. Obama, by the end of his first term, will have doubled the deficit George W. Bush left him in 2009.

And consider all the other campaign promises Mr. Obama made four years ago which we are now misremembering. Eliminate earmarks? You mean accelerate them! No lobbyists in my White House? You mean a newfangled spoils system under which any new hires had to have sparkling lobbyist credentials! Close Gitmo? You mean sign an executive order to close Gitmo, but not actually allow it to be closed! End the wars? You mean extend them, and invite the Taliban back into power in Afghanistan! Restore America's world standing? You mean establish America's world bowing! Unemployment will never go above eight percent? You mean it'll never go BELOW eight percent... and it never has! Bam!

Yes, if there's ever been a man of his word out there on the campaign trail, it's been Barack H. Obama. And people who had no hope and change four years ago now have plenty of both. People who don't think they can take care of themselves are flocking to Mr. Obama's loser-friendly message by the dozens. People who will occupy anything but a job can't wait to return the president for four more glorious years!

People like Gorbachev, for instance.

As we learn daily in the national media, there's nothing wrong with America today that can't still be blamed on the guy who left the country in such a mess almost four years ago. You remember - when gas was around $1.90, unemployment was around four percent, and our national deficit was around $8 trillion. Look at any of these indicators, and it's easy to see why Demediacrats everywhere say Barack Obama is twice the president Bush was! And in half the time! Only hard-core capitalist pigs want that Bush mess back. And how.

Michael Hume is a speaker, writer, and consultant specializing in helping people maximize their potential and enjoy inspiring lives. As part of his inspirational leadership mission, he coaches executives and leaders in growing their personal sense of well-being through wealth creation and management, along with personal vitality.

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