Introduction to Fauvism (www.segmation.com)

Henri Matisse, Woman with a Hat, 1905, Oil on Canvas

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How would you describe Henri Matisse’s painting, shown above? First you will probably note that it is a portrait of a woman – however, it is an unusual portrait because of its strange use of color and its choppy, energetic brushstrokes.

This painting by Matisse was part of the Fauvist movement, which lasted only a few years in the early 20th century in France. The French word “Fauve” means “wild beast”. When you look at this painting, can you figure out why the word for “wild beast” came to symbolize this art movement?

The Fauvists interpreted the world around them through color, but they did not seek to represent the world using real-life colors. Instead they utilized bright, bold colors in unexpected places. For instance, take a close look at the woman’s face in the painting above and notice all the different greens that Matisse used to shape her face. Matisse’s composition is so masterful that the greens don’t seem out of place, even though in real life her face wouldn’t normally appear green.

Due to Matisse’s balanced use of bold color and his strong, painterly brushstrokes, he is able to depict the energy, or essence of the people and places around him. These two visual characteristics defined the Fauvist movement, which evolved from a combination of Post-Impressionism and Pointillism.

The most well-known painters of Fauvism are Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, and Maurice de Vlaminck. They created landscapes and portraits that can be described as “simplified” to the point where they are almost abstract – yet they are still recognizable as landscapes and portraits. Even though the movement was short-lived, the Fauvist artists left behind a body of work that is both visually and mentally stimulating.

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Maurice de Vlaminck, The River Seine at Chatou, 1906, Oil on Canvas

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Art for Peace

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Art can be a powerful vehicle for social change, offering the opportunity for reflection upon pressing issues and social injustices. Through image-making, those who feel powerless are given a voice. One of the most critical, ongoing topics of global concern is the quest for world peace.

In September, scores of artists gathered in Moscow, Russia to paint benches for the The Bench of Peace International Art Project, shown above. Placed side by side, the benches stretched 400 meters along Lavrushinsky Lane and were later auctioned off for charity. Events such as this demonstrate that art is not just about making a pretty picture – art also makes a statement, one that may linger in viewers’ memories long after they’ve stopped looking at the art.

Pablo Picasso, one of the 20th centuries most celebrated artists, created many drawings and lithographs of doves, the international symbol of peace. While his first dove artwork in 1949 was created in a realistic style, his subsequent peace doves took on a more elegant, minimalistic style. On the opposite end of the spectrum, his painting Guernica depicts the horrors of war, and is hailed as one of history’s most powerful anti-war paintings.

Organizations such as the Global Art Project aim to promote peace through art. Through various visual art projects, they seek to educate the public about diversity and tolerance. Art for peace can take the form of community-based projects that focus participants’ minds on the causes of conflicts and solutions for spreading inner harmony and outer peace.

From conceptual street art to traditional fine art, the variety of art created for peace demonstrates the power of images to transform the world, one person at a time.

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Zodiac Signs

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The Zodiac is a ring of constellations that form a path across the celestial sky that the Sun takes. There are twelve constellations which divide the path into equal portions. Although the zodiac remains the basis of the ecliptic coordinate system in use in astronomy, the term “zodiac” and the names of the twelve signs are mostly associated with horoscopes. The signs of the zodiac are: Aries (Ram), Taurus (Bull), Gemini (Twins), Cancer (Crab), Leo (Lion), Virgo (Maiden), Libra (Scales), Scorpio (Scorpion), Sagittarius (Archer), Capricorn (Goat), Aquarius (Water Bearer), and Pisces (Fish). Our collection of Zodiac Signs contains illustrations of the signs in four contemporary art styles.

This set contains 48 paintable patterns.

Zodiac Signs

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Football Fun

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Football is the predominant fall season sport in the United States and Canada. It’s also referred to as Gridiron outside North America. It’s a physically demanding sport, which requires a significant amount of training and teamwork. The main objective of the game is a touchdown where a team must advance the football into the opposing team’s end zone. Points can also be scored by kicking the ball through goal posts placed at the end zone. Our pattern set includes 21 fun and simple illustrations of football players in various aspects of the game. There are also patterns of cheerleaders, a coach, and a referee.

This set contains 21 paintable patterns.

Football Fun

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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In Awe of Autumn and Thanksgiving

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Autumn is one of the four annual seasons and ranges (in the Northern Hemisphere) from September 22th to December 21st. The exact times are measured by the Autumn equinox and the Winter solstice. Autumn is associated with many natural events including harvesting of crops, a cooling of temperatures, a graying of skies, and most noticeably, the changing colors of leaves. Segmation’s “In Awe of Autumn” set contains a colorful array of photographs which depict autumn at its finest. Yellow, red, and orange leaves are shown in numerous forms. Skies are shown with dynamic coloring as well. Rivers, mountains, fields, ducks, apples, and country roads are also shown in fall season.

Segmation’s In Awe of Autumn set contains over 20 paintable patterns in all different painting levels.

You’ll find in our Segmation SegPlay® Thanksgiving pattern collection, many contemporary scenes of the Thanksgiving holiday, including numerous colorful turkeys, cornucopias, pumpkins, pilgrims, thanksgiving art, being thankful and harvests.  Gooble Gooble!

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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Alternative Exhibition Spaces for Artists

An important aspect of creative art marketing is finding new opportunities to exhibit your art. If you are just embarking on your art career, you may encounter difficulty getting into traditional galleries, especially because the current economy is making art galleries less inclined to take on emerging artists with no proven sales record. While participating in art fairs is another option for artists who want to get their art in the public eye, some of the best art fairs charge high booth fees (in the ballpark of $200 for one weekend), which can be a huge chunk of money for emerging artists on a tight budget. So what’s the best route for emerging artists?

To launch your art career, take your future into your own hands. Seek alternative exhibition spaces and create your own opportunities for exhibiting your work. Here are a few ideas for alternative exhibition spaces that will help get you started:

• Cafes, restaurants and coffee shops – Many independently-owned cafes and restaurants are open to the idea of hanging the work of local artists. Some may request a small commission on works sold while others will let you hang your work for free.
• Your own home – Transform your living room into a temporary gallery space. Send out invitations to everyone you know as well as local art critics and gallery owners. If you have several artist friends living nearby, see if they are interested in opening up their homes in a similar way on a certain evening, and you can advertise your “open houses” as part of an Art Walk.
• Office buildings – If you work in an office, or have a friend or relative who does, ask if you could hang a temporary exhibit on their walls. You never know who might see your art and what kind of contacts (and sales!) you could make as a result.
• Libraries – Most libraries have changing exhibitions throughout their buildings, and some even actively seek out local artists to exhibit. Inquire at the front desk of your local library.
• Bank lobbies – Hanging artwork in bank lobbies can work especially well if you do regional art, such as local landscapes or cityscapes, but other types of art can be hung in bank lobbies, too. If people already have their wallet out, they are in a prime position to buy art.
• Empty warehouse or storefront – Offer to rent an empty warehouse or storefront for a month, or even for just a week or a weekend. (If you rent it for a short time, be sure that you advertise widely so that people know about your special art event.) Landlords will usually be glad to let you fill the storefront, rather than have an empty window. You will even be doing your city a favor by revitalizing the area with art and culture. If you can’t afford the rent by yourself, round up a group of artists to chip in.
• Sell art from the trunk of your car. This may sound extreme, but this practice has been used by folk artists around the world. You can set up by the side of the road (but be sure to check beforehand whether or not you need a permit). Be sure to have a large eye-catching sign proclaiming “art for sale” and display some of your pieces on easels next to your car, so that people will know what you have to offer.

No matter where you are in your art career, the opportunities for exhibition are always out there – even if you have to create them yourself!

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Thanksgiving Scenes

Beautiful Thanksgiving Scenes to be thankful for. Gooble Gooble!  All Ages can enjoy and have fun!

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Thanksgiving is a traditional holiday in North America, which gives thanks for a bountiful harvest. The festival dates back to the pilgrims in the 1600s celebrating their harvest with native Indians at the Plymouth Plantation. In the United States, Thanksgiving is observed on the fourth Thursday in November where parades, football games, and an elaborate family Turkey dinner are the most commonplace activities.

You’ll find in our SegPlay® Thanksgiving pattern collection, many contemporary scenes of the Thanksgiving holiday, including numerous colorful turkeys, cornucopias, pumpkins, pilgrims, and harvests.

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The Hidden Costs of Displaying Major Works of Art

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When we visit famous works of art in renowned museums, we spend our time admiring the paintings, sculptures, and drawings that have inspired humanity for centuries, if not millennia.

Rarely do we consider the resources that are necessary to make those works of art available to the public on a daily basis, from the structurally safe buildings that must be able to both handle a continual stream of visitors and also protect the artwork in a climate-controlled environment, to the number of staff members needed to guard the art, clean the buildings, sell the tickets, tear the tickets, lead the tours, etc. Additionally, the most celebrated works of art draw large masses of visitors to the cities in which they are held, which can create a social and environmental strain on the host city.

These factors recently came to the fore in Italy, where Michelangelo’s marble masterpiece David (shown above) is the centerpiece at L’Accademia in Florence, bringing in 8 million euros worth of ticket sales each year. However, instead of helping Florence cope with the strain of hosting so many tourists, that money goes to the Italian government. While Renaissance marvels such as Michelangelo’s David are responsible for making Florence one of the most visited cities in the world, the city of Florence does not in itself benefit financially from having the well-known statue in its midst.

Matteo Renzi, the mayor of Florence, brought this discrepancy to light and requested that the revenue from David be transferred to Florence instead of the Italian government. This opened an investigation into who or what is the true owner of the celebrated statue. Both the city of Florence and the Italian government claim ownership of the statue and both dispute the other’s sense of entitlement to the revenues.

The debate will continue until either a consensus is reached or the revenue is shared fairly with Florence. In the meantime, thousands of visitors per day will stream past Michelangelo’s David as Florence continues to pay for the upkeep while Italy pockets all the profits.

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What is Art? A Brief History of the Definition of Art

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Some people may look at a Jackson Pollock painting, like the one above, and wonder “Why is that considered art?” Modern art remains a mystery to those who believe that “art” should consist solely of paintings whose contents are recognizable – portraits, still lifes, or landscapes that mirror reality.

The true definition of what art is and what it isn’t has been constantly expanding and changing over time, growing ever broader as humanity progresses and advances on many levels – technologically, scientifically, morally, religiously, and spiritually. How does Pollock’s painting fit into the timeline of art?

The idea of creating “art for art’s sake” is a fairly new concept. The earliest sculptures and drawings created by prehistoric man were not considered “art” at the time of their creation; these images were used for ritual purposes relating to fertility and hunting – necessary elements for the survival of humankind. As early families coalesced into tribes and communities and eventually organized themselves into societies, objects were created for both mythological and religious reasons relating to ritual use and representation – from the tribal masks of African clans to the gilded Medieval paintings of pivotal Biblical scenes. As technology advanced and the middle class rose, Christianity and the aristocracy became less of a dominant presence in art-making as artists began to portray “regular people” as well as scenes from everyday life, in addition to depicting their views on socio-political happenings. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the definition of art was radically altered and expanded as artists explored daring subject matter and paved new paths for personal expression.

These days, the definition of art is as fluid as the one who ponders upon it. The term “art” now includes and embraces various forms of expression that once fell outside the commonly-held perception of what art is – from conceptual art to performance art and installation art. Although Pollock’s paintings might not be overtly or recognizably religious, his artistic output can be seen as an homage to the internal. His energetic paintings celebrate the process of art-making, each drip of paint recording a precise moment in time that can never be repeated.

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Hildegarde von Bingen: Feminist Ahead of Her Time

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As an abbess, composer, author, and herbalist, Hildegarde of Bingen made her mark on the art, music, and theology of the 12th century – a time when women were rarely able to rise to positions of respect or artistic authority.

Born in Germany in 1098, she was the tenth child in her family, so tradition mandated that she would be destined for the Church. Hildegarde was sent into a harsh religious life at the tender age of eight, but she rose from that difficult beginning to become an artist, composer, healer, and visionary whose works were celebrated during her lifetime and continue to be heralded today.

Also known as “Saint Hildegarde,” “Sybil of the Rhine,” and “Hildegarde von Bingen,” she rose to influence within the German Benedictine Church, widely famed for her musical compositions and medical writings. Hildegarde was also a scientist and philosopher, consulted by popes and elected into power by the nuns of her abbey.

Among her many accomplishments were her religious illuminations (illustrations to accompany religious text), which were inspired by powerful visions that began during her childhood. Hildegarde believed her visions were sent by God, and used them as the inspiration for her art and other works.

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