Easy Ways to Prepare Your Home for Spring

Rainer Maria Rilke exclaimed, “It is Spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.” Truer and more beautiful words are rarely spoken. Yes, Spring is indeed here again, and it seems like the earth is more than willing to share with us her good gifts of flowers, rain, fresh air, and the vibrant colors we so missed in Winter.

Nature is readying itself as the fullness of Spring approaches; should our homes be any different? With just a few minor changes, your home can rival the beauty of any Spring flower. Consider the following ways to ready your home for Spring:

• Replace heavy for light, dark for bright – After months of Winter’s heavy wools and flannels, no doubt you are more than ready for the lightness of muslin, linen and other Spring-friendly materials. Such fabrics are best chosen in delicious shades that mimic the soft beauty of nature. Toss a brightly colored throw across your couch, lay cheery pillows on your bed, and place fluffy pastel towels in your bathroom for a cheap and easy home makeover.

• Display fresh flowers – Fresh flowers; what other two words evoke remembrances of the fragrance of freshly cut lilacs, the lemony yellow hue of new daffodils, and the silky feel of tulip petals? A simple vase of fresh flowers on your kitchen table is a powerful reminder that Spring has arrived with Summer on its heels. A milk bottle full of daisies would also make a charming addition to any bedside table. When it comes to decorating with flowers, the sky is truly the limit, so be creative and fearless.

• Serve fresh produce – This Spring, fill your meals with fresh produce, the ultimate feast for the senses. To optimize your health, choose mostly local produce. And, don’t forget that smoothies are perhaps the best Springtime treat of all.

• Open doors and windows – Trade Winter’s doldrums for Spring’s delights simply by opening up your doors and windows. This simple act airs out your home and invites Spring’s presence inside. Don’t forget to “clean your windows – inside and out — it’s likely they’ve picked up some dirt and grime during winter, and the cleaner your windows are, the more natural light will get in.”

• Display some Spring-themed art – A well-placed Spring-themed picture can totally change the atmosphere of a home, so be sure to change out your wall art. (If you enjoy creating seasonal art, check out our digital paint-by-number daffodil pattern set; it is perfect for Spring!)

Is your home ready for Spring? How do you prepare your haven for this dearly beloved season? Share your comments with us today.

Read more Segmation blog posts about art and color:

Welcome Spring with a Freshly Painted Front Door

Colorful Flowers to Plant this Spring

Coloring Each Season with Healthy Food

Be an Artist in 2 minutes with Segmation SegPlay® PC (see more details here)

Segmation

Join us on FacebookSegPlay® Mobile iTunes now available for iPhone and iPad

www.segmation.com

Can Color Exist in the Dark?

Colors add beauty and variety to the world around us. They are pleasant from every perspective – expect the dark. After all, color cannot be seen without light. Or can it?

Color is created when light reflects an object. Light waves cause this to occur and the frequencies at which they travel, fast or slow, determines color. For instance, red has a low frequency while purple has a high frequency. If there is no light, there can be no light waves and color cannot be seen.

This is true most of the time. There is only one exception: items that glow in the dark.

Glow in the Dark

Glow in the dark products contain phosphors. These chemical substances are known for their luminescent qualities. All phosphors have three characteristics. These traits include:

• They need to be charged. Different glow in the dark objects require different types of energy to become charged. (This is why some items need to be held up to a light before glowing in the dark.)
• Phosphors contain the “color of visible light that they produce.”
• The persistence of the phosphor (or the length of time the product will glow).

After becoming charged, a phosphor will illuminate. This item can be seen in the dark where other colors cannot be seen.

We Use Phosphors Every Day

Toys “R” Us seems like the keeper of all-things glow in the dark. In everyday life these items seem far and few between. But adults use phosphors every day.

Television screens, computer monitors, and fluorescent lights all have phosphors. TV screens actually have thousands of phosphors that emit red, green, and blue. Fluorescent lights have many color combinations that make light look white.

Charging Items to Glow in the Dark

The charge that generates TV and lights comes from electricity. But other phosphors use different types of energy to charge. Much of the time, natural energy is used.

For instance, glow in the dark toys are often energized by normal light. To capture this charge and maintain it for some time, two phosphors are common: Zinc Sulfide and Stontium Aluminate. These chemical substances can be mixed in with plastic to create a toy that glows.

Some glow in the dark items do not need any charge. Take watches for example; a watch may use a combination of a phosphor and radioactive element. The radioactive part can continually charge the phosphor.

With phosphors, light can thrive in the dark. Better yet, items can glow.

Image made available by  tlr3automaton on Flickr through Creative Commons Licenses.

Read more Segmation blog posts about “Out of the Box” Art:

Art Illuminates Science

The Op-Art of Josef Albers

Art and Science – A Genius Combination

Be a Artist in 2 minutes with Segmation SegPlay® PC (see more details here)

Segmation

FREE Newsletter

Join us on FacebookSegPlay® Mobile iTunes now available for iPhone and iPad

www.segmation.com

Turrell does it right with Light Creates Space, Color, Perception and Art

The unique art of James Turrell infuses space with light. The artist makes entire rooms, museums, and even craters his canvases by transforming large areas into viewing experiences that manipulate how observers perceive their environments when natural and artificial lights alternate.

Turrell has been experimenting with light since 1966. He seems to be fascinated by the way light impacts how an individual understands space, perception, and even color. In relation, the American artist says this about the miraculous correlation:

“We teach the color wheel, but we really should speak about the light frequencies of each eye, and then the context of vision in which they reach the eye, because that’s how we perceive.”

This post explores James Turrell’s approach to art by briefly exploring how light manipulates space, how light changes perception, and the necessary relationship between light and art. At the conclusion, there are resources to inspire further exploration into this intricate subject.

Light Manipulates Space

Most people understand that light affects the way we see color and perceive the world around us. But is it comprehensible that light can manipulate space regardless of physical material? Turrell sets out to prove that a limited and definite space can be created without manmade parameters, like those set up with wood beams, steel rods, or concrete. This is because light itself creates space. When light stops so does vision. And when vision stops, so do the confines of a space. Turrell calls this, “using the eyes to penetrate the space.”

Light Changes Perception

This offers a little help in grasping how the absence or presence of light changes our perception of space. To further explain, Turrell points up. He says this earthly phenomenon is best understood by looking up to the atmosphere we experience every day.

In the light of the sun, it is impossible to see stars. However, as the sun goes down, an individual’s penetration of vision goes out, and the stars become evident again. Stars, which are constant in placement, are only visible lights when our eyes are able to perceive them as such. This can only happen when sunlight is mostly absent from our view.

Light and Art: A Relationship

Artists have always looked at the world with curious fascination and longing to use light as a means of creating space. This is why, when artists began using lights, shading, and perspective within paintings, the world marveled at how lifelike the images became. The reality is, like Turrell, artist have always seen what does not exist because they have brilliance all their own.

James Turrell’s first exhibition in a New York museum,  Guggenheim , since 1980, opens June 21 through September 25, 2013. James Turrell is also in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles County Museum until April 6, 2014.

To read more about the effects of life on art, follow the works and study of James Turrell. Here are some helpful links to begin this exploration:

• http://www.pbs.org/wnet/egg/215/turrell/interview_content_1.html
• http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/james-turrell
• http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/james-turrell-retrospective
• http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/exhibitions/on-view/james-turrell

If you enjoyed this Segmation blog post, you are sure to love:

-The Importance of Color Vision and Art

https://segmation.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/paint-by-number-color-vision-effects-art-appreciation/

– Are Your Colors What They Seem to be?

https://segmation.wordpress.com/2010/10/02/are-your-colors-what-they-seem-to-be/

– The Benefits of Making Art Outside

https://segmation.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/the-benefits-of-making-art-outside/

Be an Artist in 2 minutes with Segmation SegPlay® PC (see more details here)

Segmation

FREE Newsletter

Join us on FacebookSegPlay® Mobile iTunes now available for iPhone and iPad

www.segmation.com

Light Creates Space, Color, and Perception

The unique art of James Turrell infuses space with light. The artist makes entire rooms, museums, and even craters his canvases by transforming large areas into viewing experiences that manipulate how observers perceive their environments when natural and artificial lights alternate.

Turrell has been experimenting with light since 1966. He seems to be fascinated by the way light impacts how an individual understands space, perception, and even color. In relation, the American artist says this about the miraculous correlation:

“We teach the color wheel, but we really should speak about the light frequencies of each eye, and then the context of vision in which they reach the eye, because that’s how we perceive.”

This post explores James Turrell’s approach to art by briefly exploring how light manipulates space, how light changes perception, and the necessary relationship between light and art. At the conclusion, there are resources to inspire further exploration into this intricate subject.

Light Manipulates Space

Most people understand that light affects the way we see color and perceive the world around us. But is it comprehensible that light can manipulate space regardless of physical material? Turrell sets out to prove that a limited and definite space can be created without manmade parameters, like those set up with wood beams, steel rods, or concrete. This is because light itself creates space. When light stops so does vision. And when vision stops, so do the confines of a space. Turrell calls this, “using the eyes to penetrate the space.”

Light Changes Perception

This offers a little help in grasping how the absence or presence of light changes our perception of space. To further explain, Turrell points up. He says this earthly phenomenon is best understood by looking up to the atmosphere we experience every day.

In the light of the sun, it is impossible to see stars. However, as the sun goes down, an individual’s penetration of vision goes out, and the stars become evident again. Stars, which are constant in placement, are only visible lights when our eyes are able to perceive them as such. This can only happen when sunlight is mostly absent from our view.

Light and Art: A Relationship

Artists have always looked at the world with curious fascination and longing to use light as a means of creating space. This is why, when artists began using lights, shading, and perspective within paintings, the world marveled at how lifelike the images became. The reality is, like Turrell, artist have always seen what does not exist because they have brilliance all their own.

To read more about the effects of life on art, follow the works and study of James Turrell. Here are some helpful links to begin this exploration:

• http://www.pbs.org/wnet/egg/215/turrell/interview_content_1.html
• http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/james-turrell
• http://style.time.com/2013/02/21/spring-preview-the-latest-style-news/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Turrell

If you enjoyed this Segmation blog post, you are sure to love:

-The Importance of Color Vision and Art

https://segmation.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/paint-by-number-color-vision-effects-art-appreciation/

– Are Your Colors What They Seem to be?

https://segmation.wordpress.com/2010/10/02/are-your-colors-what-they-seem-to-be/

– The Benefits of Making Art Outside

https://segmation.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/the-benefits-of-making-art-outside/

Be an Artist in 2 minutes with Segmation SegPlay® PC (see more details here)

Segmation

FREE Newsletter

Join us on FacebookSegPlay® Mobile iTunes now available for iPhone and iPad

www.segmation.com

Thomas Kinkade Is Remembered Through His Artwork

Thomas Kinkade’s death on April 6th of 2012 came as a shock to both the art community and the public at large. Kinkade, known as “The Painter of Light,” was made famous by his works of art. His prints were wildly popular and sold millions. This is proven by the reported fact that 1 in 20 Americans has a Kinkade print in their home. Without a doubt, Thomas Kinkade was, and remains, a celebrated artist.

Though Kinkade is no longer with us, his art remains. His last work (from what is currently known) was shown in Cape May, New Jersey, at the Victorian Walk Gallery in August of 2012. The piece, “Away From It All,” displays a cottage in the woods, a crescent moon, and, of course, emanates painted light.

The Victorian Walk Gallery displayed “Away From It All” during “The Thomas Kinkade Legacy Celebration.” Patrick, Kinkade’s brother, gave a presentation about the painting at its showing. 3,000 people arrived at the Victorian Walk Gallery just three hours after the exhibit opened.

Some of the art world has in general never “taken” to Kinkade’s artwork. Although he has sold millions of dollars worth of prints, paintings, and merchandise, the topic of Kinkade’s art remains heated and controversial. Still, Thomas Kinkade received art training at the Art Center College of Design located in Pasadena. He also studied at the University of California at Berkeley. Kinkade was raised in Placerville, California.

Thomas Kinkade is well known for painting soft, lush, idyllic scenes. He often depicted streams, lovely homes, and nature settings. His passion for creating paintings that evoked emotions of peace is made evident by the artwork he crafted. The “light” that he is so noted for painting is the thread of continuity that runs throughout all his works.

Of his own work, the painter was reported to have said, “If people look at my work and are reminded of the way things once were or perhaps the way they could be, then I’ve done my job.” Kinkade’s family members and artwork will undoubtedly cause him to be remembered for generations to come.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/20/thomas-kinkades-last-know_n_1811090.html

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/04/07/artist-thomas-kinkade-dies-in-california-at-age-54/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2126413/Thomas-Kinkade-dead-Millionaire-painter-light-dies-aged-54.html

Be an Artist in 2 minutes with Segmation SegPlay® PC (see more details here)

Segmation

FREE Newsletter

Join us on Facebook

SegPlay® Mobile iTunes now available for iPhone and iPad

www.segmation.com

Plexiglass + Light = Awe Inspiring Art

SegPlay® Mobile youtube

Think back to when you were a child, easily fascinated by the tiniest things. Maybe you remember the excitement of finding a rainbow on the wall and the joy of discovering the crystal figurine that seemed to magically create this kaleidoscope of color. Perhaps you even spent the afternoon moving that figurine around the house waiting to see where the rainbow would appear next.

Do you remember the first time you saw a rainbow through the hazy drizzle after a storm? Your first sunset on a beach? Can you recall that first stained glass window that caught your eye and captured your attention?

More importantly, can you call back that simple childlike joy; the pure awe of bearing witness to something so fantastical? It’s hard to do as adults when we are able to wrap our minds around the scientific reasons behind rainbows and light.

Currently on display at the De Pury Gallery in London is a unique style of artwork which calls to the surface that simple, childlike wonder. The image above is part of the “Fly to Baku” Contemporary Art Exhibition.

The effect is achieved by shining light through Plexiglass airplanes. The arrangement of these airplanes creates the image on the wall. If the mobile of hanging airplanes doesn’t stop you in your tracks, then the picture it creates is sure to amaze.

Light has an important relationship with color and with art. Painters go to great lengths to achieve a specific light or a hint of a shadow in their paintings. Those who make stained glass pieces consider how the glass will react to light shining behind it. Sculptures can’t escape light either and seem to constantly change as light rotates around them. Even interior decorators factor in the way light filters through a space when they choose colors and designs.

In the case of “Fly to Baku,” light harnessed in little Plexiglass airplanes is actually creating pieces of art. Take a moment to really look at the image above. You may just find yourself entranced by childlike awe.

Image courtesy of http://www.imgur.com/gallery/86upn

Be an Artist in 2 minutes with Segmation SegPlay® PC (see more details here)

Segmation

SegPlay® Mobile iTunes now available for iPhone and iPad

www.segmation.com

Related articles

• Make a Stained Glass Butterfly (education.com)
• Valentine craft for toddlers: Oil and paper “stained glass” window decoration (parenthacks.com)
• Stained Glass Morning (simplyolivia.wordpress.com)

Thomas Kinkade: The “Painter of Light”

Thomas Kinkade, popularly known as the “Painter of Light,” passed away in his sleep at the age of 54. His inspirational work touched the lives of many and will continue to live on.

Blessed with an ability to capture a moment in time, Kinkade preserved some of the most beautiful scenes of life in his paintings. Those who admire his work know that each of his paintings offer an escape from reality.

His idyllic settings, infused with radiant light, include nature scenes; gardens and seascapes, as well as nostalgic homes, cottages and cityscapes. He painted a classic America; one that many dream of and long for. Kinkade’s paintings depict the world that many people wanted to be part of – picture perfect in every way.

The painter once said, “My mission as an artist is to capture those special moments in life adorned with beauty and light. I work to create images that project a serene simplicity that can be appreciated and enjoyed by everyone.” He painted for the people, not for the critics.

Even those unfamiliar with Kinkade’s paintings can see that his work tells a story. The champions and collectors of Kinkade’s endeavors know there is more than meets the eye in each painting. For instance, the “Painter of Light” always included his wife’s initials. He also inserted his very first hero, Norman Rockwell, into many of his pieces. If you spot the boy working his paper rout on a bicycle in “Hometown Morning”, then you have discovered Kinkade himself, preserved in the moment he met his beloved wife Nanette.

Much of the inspiration for his art was fueled by his faith. Despite a less than ideal childhood, Kinkade always clung to his art. By the age of sixteen, he had become an accomplished painter. He studied at the University of California at Berkley and then worked as an artist for films.

Many people credit his time spent working on films as the experience that enabled him to grasp the effects of light, which he transferred to his painting. All of his paintings include a warm, radiant and comforting light that calls one back to a simpler time.

Thomas Kinkade’s life mission, to make art available to everyone that they might enjoy beauty, is still a reality. Though the talented and generous man is gone, he lives on through his paintings. Millions of people will still stand looking at his paintings, caught for a moment in the comforting and inspiring worlds he created.

http://www.artbythomaskinkade.com/thomas_kinkade.html

http://www.thomaskinkade.com/magi/servlet/com.asucon.ebiz.biography.web.tk.BiographyServlet

Be an Artist in 2 minutes with Segmation SegPlay® PC (see more details here)

Segmation

SegPlay® Mobile iTunes now available for iPhone and iTouch

www.segmation.com

Related articles

• “Painter of Light,” Thomas Kinkade dies at 54 (rhymeetreason.com)
• Is Your Thomas Kinkade Painting About to Increase in Value? (dailyfinance.com)
• Tribute to Thomas Kinkade (realmanure.wordpress.com)

Photography: Black and White or in Living Colors

Does anyone remember a time before color photographs?

When photography began to flourish in the early 1900s, the camera produced only black and white images. However, a desire stirred inside many people, like physicist James Clerk Maxwell, who wrote about the first technique used to color photographs in 1855. Through his work, other photography enthusiasts were able to develop the capacity to capture life in living colors.

Maxwell predicted that it was possible to capture the essence of a photograph—the arrangement of color—in a time when only black and white photographs were produced. He wrote about color vision; a study to advance the concept that color identified by both human brains and machines is based on the wavelengths of light that reflect, emit, or transmit color signals. Maxwell found that a wide range of colors could be created by mixing only three pure colors of light: red, green, and blue. This manipulation of color had to be done in proportional amounts to stimulate the three types of cells the same way “real” colors did. In his writing, Maxwell used black and white photography as an analogy for his findings.

Maxwell’s Analogy:

If three black and white photographs were taken of the same setting through red, green, and blue filters, then made into transparencies (also known as negatives or slides), one could project light through these filters and superimpose them into a single image on a screen. The result would be an image that reproduced all of the colors seen in the original setting, not just red, green, and blue.

At this time, Isaac Newton’s work advancing the fact that all color is influenced by light, was common knowledge. In a similar fashion, Maxwell insisted that eyes see color on the surface of a perceived shade, where millions of intermingled cone cells represent only three colors. Red and blue sit at opposite ends of the spectrum with green planted as a middle region. They signal sensitivities (red) and stimulation (blue) that eyes receive when light shines through particular colors. The process of taking a set of three monochrome “color separations,” was also known as the triple projection method. Maxwell’s analogy was first tested by Thomas Sutton in 1861. However, the experiment did not work and the desire for photographs to represent living colors encouraged other enthusiasts to develop the art of color photography, which picked up steam again in 1890.

Color photography has been around for a little over one hundred years, and look at how far it has come. Flawless colors and mass production of images show how color photography has influenced enthusiasts and much of the world. This, however, is made possible because of the records kept during photograph exposure, like the triple exposure method which was outlined in Maxwell’s analogy. At the end of the appropriate exposure time, analyzing the spectrum of colors into three channels of information, red, green and blue, helped form a method to imitate the way a human eye senses color. The recorded information has been used to reproduce and enhance the original colors by mixing together aspects of the red, green, and blue lights and removing or adding elements of white light.

Be a Artist in 2 minutes with Segmation SegPlay® PC (see more details here)

Segmation

SegPlay® Mobile iTunes now available for iPhone and iTouch

www.segmation.com

A Closer Look at the Color Red

How do you feel when you gaze at a large red Rothko painting, spend time in a room with regal red wallpaper, or see a stop sign?  While the color red carries different meanings depending on its context, the body’s biological response is the same: red can raise both your pulse and your blood pressure.  Additionally, red can even make you feel hungry by increasing your body’s metabolism – which is why many restaurants use the color red in their logos and decor!

Red is the longest visible light wave, ranging from light pinks to deep crimsons that have a wavelength between 610 and 780 nm.  Our modern word “red” comes from the Old English word rēad.  This warm, eye-catching color has strong meanings that tap into the heart of various human emotions and experiences, depending on the specific context in which it is found.

For instance, in Western culture, red can signify anger and aggression (as in “blood red” or “a face that turns red with anger”), but it can also denote love, lust and passion (from red roses to the red-light district).  It also functions as a strong warning color that represents danger or emergencies.

On the other hand, the color red in China is related to happiness and good fortune.  In both China and India, red is the traditional color for wedding dresses.  In Africa however, red is associated with death and mourning.

Red is one of the earliest pigments used by our prehistoric ancestors, who made red ochre pigment from clay to paint the walls of caves.  Red pigments have been created from several surprising sources, such as crushed cochineal insects used to make carmine red.  Madder lake derives from the roots of the madder plant, while vermilion was made from powdered mineral cinnabar, which is a red mercury ore.  These days, most red artists’ pigments are created synthetically in factories, including hues such as poppy red, cadmium red, rose, alizarin crimson, and quinacridrone magenta.

Segmation

FREE Newsletter

Join us on Facebook

FREE SegPlay® Art Painting Evaluation for 10 days, Enjoy us, so easy, fun and what a brain teaser with no mess!