VERY VERSATILE VINTAGE!

If you've not thought of using vintage in your decor, you're missing out on a wonderful way to add distinctiveness to your home. If you are using vintage in your decor, you will love reading this short post and maybe learning a thing or two!

As an interior designer, I believe my forte has been finding and utilizing unusual artwork in the home. For years the copy shop was my design best friend. In my own home I have a 36" X 48" print of a vintage photograph on my living room wall as a focal point. I have have this for years and never tire of it and it's always a conversation piece. I like to have visitors guess the year :-)

A great place to find unique and personal artwork is Etsy. Etsy is the eBay of the art - and now -vintage world. The offerings are uncommon and extremely varied so that you're sure to find some things you love! In my Etsy shoppe, Stardust & Roses, I've started offering INSTANT ART. That's vintage or antique ephemera, photographs, paintings, and more that can be downloaded instantly. Most are sized to fit a standard 8X10 mat or frame, unless noted. You pay, print, frame and voila! instant art. (Of course you can resize them and all images are high resolution.) You can also use them in a myriad of arts and crafts projects. Mixed media, altered art, dolls, greeting cards, gifts, etc. Your imagination is the limit!

Here are some samples and, unfortunately, Etsy has required the use of watermarks. The watermark is not on the printable art you choose! Hope you find some inspiration and head to Etsy to check out my shoppe and so many other wonderful, creative shops as well.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Stardustandroses

 HOPE YOU HAVE A LOVELY DAY!! 

 https://www.etsy.com/shop/Stardustandroses

EVERY CHILD IS AN ARTIST

 “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up,” said Picasso. There's a time when everything a child creates, he or she sees it as good enough. Even beautiful. Can't wait to show it off. For those of us who are adults and artists, why do we so often question, second-guess, and even berate our own creative efforts? I don't have the definitive answer, but part of the answer to this question is surely COMPARISON. "Comparison is the thief of joy," is attributed to Teddy Roosevelt, and those words are certainly still true today. Why do we do it if it so affects our happiness? Another question I have no perfect answer for but only a suggestion: Let's try harder to simply appreciate others' works of art, their creativity, their perceptions, all the while giving ourselves credit for having a DIFFERENT point of view. A different voice. Celebrate the diversity of other artists as we do other writers, musicians, dancers, etc. But celebrate our own efforts as well. 

Following is just a small sampling of some art and artists I have loved and appreciated over the years. I love something about every single one of them. No doubt they had, and some may continue to have, doubts about their artistic efforts. They persevered. They didn't get to be this good by saying, 'So and so is so much better, I can never even compare. I'm quitting." They persevered.

Hope you enjoy these as much as I have!


LET'S BEGIN WITH JEANNIE VODDEN'S WARM AND WONDERFUL WATERCOLORS:

NEXT ARTIST: Ali Cavanaugh

NEXT ARTIST: Andrea Kowch

NEXT ARTIST: Lita Cabellut

NEXT ARTIST: Francois Bard

NEXT ARTIST: Thomas Benjamin Kennington (1856-1915)

NEXT ARTIST: Louise Fenne

NEXT ARTIST: Mary Jane Ansell

NEXT ARTIST: Mary Whyte

NEXT ARTIST: Robert Bateman

NEXT ARTIST: Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884)

NEXT ARTIST:  Tang Wei Min

TODAY'S FINAL ARTIST: Francoise de Felice

THERE'S MORE ART TO COME!!!