Coral Reefs: Rainforests of the Sea

Segmation is getting ready to go to the beach for vacation and one thing we can not wait to explore is the beautiful coral reefs. They are so colorful and full of beautiful art. What though is Coral reefs? Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. These are tiny animals called polyps which have hard bodies which support and protect their bodies Coral Reefs are sometimes referred to as the “rainforests of the sea”, because they contain the most diverse ecosystems on Earth.

A coral reef is a community of living organisms. It is made up of plants, fish, and many other creatures. Coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. They are home to about 25% of all marine life!

Coral reefs need water that is between 68 – 82°F (20 – 28°C), which is often located along the eastern shores of land. Reefs usually develop in areas that have a lot of wave action because the waves bring in food, nutrients and oxygen to the reef. Waves also prevent sediment from falling on the reef. Reefs need calcium from the water to grow, which is more often available in shallow warm waters.

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef. It is made up of over 2 900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2 600 kilometers off the northeast coast of Australia. Think of them as the “rainforests of the oceans.” Containing sponges, sea slugs, oysters, clams, crabs, shrimp, sea worms, starfish, sea urchins and more.

Coral reefs are being destroyed at an alarming rate. It is estimated that we have already lost 10% of the worlds reefs, and scientists say that in the next 50 years many of the coral reefs on Earth will be gone. This destruction is often connected with human activity: pollution, sewage, erosion, irresponsible fishing, poor tourism practices, and global warming.

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Coral Reefs

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Joseph Mallord William Turner – Great Painter of Light

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775 – 1851) was a controversial English landscape painter. Joseph Mallord William Turner, better known as J.M.W. Turner, was born on April 23, 1775, in Covent Garden, London, England. His eccentric style matched his subjects – shipwrecks, fires, natural catastrophes, as well as natural phenomena such as sunlight, storms, rain, and fog.

Although renowned for his oil paintings, Turner is also one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting. He is commonly known as “the painter of light” and his work is regarded as a Romantic preface to Impressionism. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting.

The significance of light to Turner resembled God’s spirit. In his later paintings he concentrated on the play of light on water and the radiances of skies and fires, almost to an Impressionistic style. Segmation’s collection of Joseph Mallord William Turner patterns includes many examples of his style including The Fighting Temeraire, The Shipwreck of the Minotaur, Snow Storm, The Grand Canal, Peace – Burial at Sea, and Rain, Steam and Speed.

This Segmation set contains 25 paintable patterns.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._M._W._Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner

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Have fun and relax with beautiful online painting art. So fun and easy to use with no mess but just a mouse!

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Be My Valentine

Segmation’s SegPlayPC Be My Valentine pattern collection is a fun, off-beat set of great colorful digital patterns. We know you’ll enjoy coloring these great patterns! What a great stress reliever as well.

Gorgeous art painting patterns to color and relax with. You don’t have to be a professional artist to enjoy this. Join the fun today! Segmation dot com

Valentine’s Day is celebrated around the world on February 14th. It’s a magical day where lovers express their love for one another in many traditional and untraditional ways. In today’s time, candy, chocolates, flowers, and heart filled cards are usually given as gifts in many cultures around the globe. Segmation’s SegPlay PC Valentine themed patterns includes many illustrated graphics of the holiday including roses, candy, cupids with arrows, dragons and puppies in love, and couples in love. Happy Valentine’s Day to all!

You can find a wide collection of Be my Valentine Scenes paint by number patterns and is available at the Segmation web site. These patterns may be viewed, painted, and printed using SegPlay™PC a fun, computerized paint-by-numbers program for Windows 7, 2000, XP, and Vista. Enjoy!

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Beautiful Colorful Botanicals

Kenneth Greene has spent the past 35 years doing photographic studies in contrasts, lines, colors and glimpses of life in a moment of time. When Kenneth photographs people, he captures a feeling for that one moment that really matters in their lives.

He may not know what happened just prior to the photo, and he almost certainly won’t know what their lives will be like after that instant he memorializes. He captures that moment in time alone, but it somehow tells their entire life story in a second. I’m looking for the instant the tide recedes and washes over the rocks; the moment a diver propels herself upwards and her feet leave the diving board; or when a couple embraces…just before the waves crash down upon them. These are the moments in life when you hold your breath, wondering what comes next.

The former child protective services professional recently retired from San Diego County after working for almost two decades with victims and families of child abuse and violence. Now it is time to pursue my passion full time for art and design. The act of creating nurtures my soul.

I love taking photographs and I love to draw and paint. Kenneth’s whimsical drawings appear in a line of coloring books and note cards entitled, Pictures From My Mind. Geared to young children, teenagers, and adults, these images can be colored, will spark new ideas with readers, or can just be enjoyed as they are. His newest collection is called Havana @ 1/500th of a second.

It is a memorable experience of the people and countryside of Cuba, portraying a land stuck in time with a nation yearning to leap into the 21st century. More information about Kenneth, his collections, and his work is available at http://kennethgreene.smugmug.com/

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Did you ever wonder about How Works of Art Become Famous?

Have you ever wondered why certain works of art are so famous? For instance, why does the Mona Lisa enjoy celebrity status, even though there have been scores of other well-painted portraits throughout history?

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is currently known as the most famous painting in the world, but in previous centuries, it was merely regarded as a well-executed portrait by one of the Renaissance’s greatest luminaries. It wasn’t until the 20th century that the painting skyrocketed to fame. It was stolen in 1911 and recovered in 1913 – two dramatic events that catapulted the painting into the limelight. Mechanical reproduction and commercialism further propelled the fame of the painting, with the image being sold on various types of merchandise as well as appearing in countless advertisements. By now, the Mona Lisa’s fame is self-perpetuating and her legend is well-established.

The Venus de Milo is another example of a work of art that became famous not just for its beauty. Although it is one of only a few extant sculptures from the Classical period, the Venus de Milo enjoys its particular fame due to the massive propaganda efforts put forth by the French in the early 19th century, in an attempt to proclaim that their Venus was a better work of art than an Italian version of the Goddess.

The relative fame of an artwork depends on far more than just skill or execution; factors such as the timing and location of the piece, the social and political atmosphere of when it was created, and the artist’s ability to create an emotional resonance between the artwork and the viewers all play a part in why some artworks are more coveted than others. In the end, a healthy dose of fate, luck or chance doesn’t hurt, either.

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Amazing Wildflower

A wildflower is a flower that grows in the wild as opposed to being seeded or planted. The term is not an exact classification and better ones might be native species, invasive species, imported, or naturalized. In many stores you can actually buy “wildflower” seeds which don’t refer to a particular plant. Never-the-less you can think of wildflowers as referring to colorful small plants which bloom in many habitats throughout the world, generally in the springtime.

Our collection of wildflower patterns are based on a fabulous set of photographs showing a wide range of wildflowers as they are found in their natural settings. You’ll enjoy coloring these colorful and artistically creative wildflower themed patterns.

This set contains 30 paintable patterns.

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Cactus Colors

A cactus is a plant with a distinct appearance which has adapted well to dry and hot environments. Their stems have evolved to be photosynthetic (creating energy from sunlight) and succulent (retaining water). Their leaves have evolved into protective spines. There are many sizes and shapes of cacti which are frequently uses as ornamental plants throughout the world. Colorful flowers are grown from distinctive features called areoles. Our set of Cactus patterns are based on natural photographs and include many of the common varieties including Barrel Cactus, Queen Victoria Agave, Holiday Cactus, Prickly Pear, and Saguaro.

This set contains 27 paintable patterns.

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Nicolas Poussin – French Classical Painter

Nicolas Poussin (1594 – 1665) was a French classical painter. His style consists of clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color. He is considered the greatest French artist of the 17th century and one of the founders of European classicism which has its roots in antique and Renaissance heritage.

Many of his works show an authoritative interpretations of ancient history and Greek and Roman mythological figures as well as biblical scenes. Our collection patterns includes two self portraits, the set of his Four Seasons, paintings, and wide cross section of other pieces. These include Adoration of the Golden Calf, Nymph Syrinx Pursued by Pan, Ideal Landscape, Israelites Gathering Manna, The Judgement of Solomon, and A Dance to the Music of Time.

This set contains 30 paintable patterns.

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Pointillism: Tiny Dots of Color

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, by Georges Seurat

When a color is placed next to another color, a relationship is formed. Each color impacts the other, affecting the way you perceive those colors.

Artists who painted in the Pointillist style were aware of the way our eyes blend colors that are next to each other. Rather than creating forms by blending colors, Pointillist painters dabbed small dots of paint (“points”) of different colors next to each other to create forms.

Georges Seurat was one of the most famous artists to explore Pointillism. His painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (shown above), is a prime example of Pointillism. When viewing the painting at this size, you can’t tell that it is made up of millions of colored dots. But when viewed up-close, like Seurat’s close-up below (from another painting of his, Circus Sideshow), you can see that the images are created from many colored dots painted next to each other and on top of one another.

Pointillist paintings often appear bright with vivid colors, because the colors are not mixed together in the traditional sense on the palette – it is up to the human eye to do the mixing in your mind. The white of the canvas also plays a strong role in making Pointillist paintings appear bright, shining through between the colored dots.

Interestingly, images on TVs and computer screens are made up of tiny dots of color as well. Most printing processes also involve placing dots of color next to each other to create images. Perhaps Pointillist artists were ahead of their time.

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Is an art education necessary?

There’s an ongoing debate about whether an artist needs a ‘proper’ art education before they are considered a ‘true artist’. Some say yes, others say no. What do you think? Does an art education matter in this day and age?

First of all, what is an ‘art education’? Generally speaking, an art education can include anything like:

• studying art in college
• attending art workshops at a local center, or
• taking private art lessons.

For some people, a ‘real’ art education means getting a college degree or studying for years with a master artist, like an apprentice.

Yet, there are also many ways for budding artists to educate themselves without attending college for art or studying under a master – and without spending a fortune.

Instructional videos, artist forums and art websites are readily available for free on the Internet, where you can learn just about any technique you can think of. Plus, magazines and books are available from local libraries.

Attending college for fine art is cost-prohibitive for many people, especially since a fine art education does not produce any qualifications for well-paying jobs. Engaging in ‘self-education’ allows an artist to save money and learn what they want to learn, at their own pace, instead of being forced through the college structure.

On the other hand, there are undeniable benefits to learning art techniques firsthand from a skilled artist – whether it involves watching an art professor paint on a canvas in a certain style, or looking over the shoulder of artists sketching at a figure drawing workshop. Those benefits can’t be gained from self-education.

As you can see, there are many pros and cons to getting an art education versus self-educating. Is either one better, or are they just different? What do you think?

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