Add a Little Whimsy to Your Life

Whimsical art is a playful combination of colors and images that utilize a carefree style to express a variety of emotions from fairy tale delight to nightmarishly disturbing. Themes are often unsettling, surreal and humorous. They frequently combine anthropomorphic (partially human) beings or more traditional creatures in imaginative and unique ways. Often associated with picture books, this style of art is showing up in swank art galleries, trendy coffee shops and living-room walls across the country.

James Christensen, based out of Orem, Utah utilizes world myths, fables and tales to create his elaborate works of art. Each painting is a world where the fantastic and outlandish reside side by side with the achingly beautiful. His attention to detail results in a complex finished products that provide new insights and surprises each time they are viewed.

Pristine Catera-Turkus loves that her art work makes people smile. She draws upon such fantastical subjects as mermaids, angels, flora and fauna and even brightly decorated sugar skulls used for the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead to create works of art that are both startling and irresistible. Her bright colors, fresh themes and folk art/whimsical style sets her work apart as an artist to watch.

You'll find pink polar bears, rainbow-hued giraffes and violet-purple Bison in the work of artist Clara Nilles. Clara's drawings and paintings feature wellknown animals in vivid and surprising color combinations. These startling yet attractive tones reach out to patrons and touch them on an emotional level.

Up and coming Irish artist Thomas Joseph Stephenson, known simply as Thomas Joseph of Carrickfergus, Ireland, employs a country primitive style to create his whimsical and humorous paintings. Featuring a host of barnyard characters including the endearing sheep for which his work is known, Thomas's drawings have gained a following both in Europe and in the United States. The bright colors and simple lines of his work convey a warm and cheerful feeling to young and old alike. Thomas uses the rural scenes of his homeland as inspiration for his popular collection, and his artwork can be found on a variety of specialty gift products, note cards and framed prints.

Individuals, who choose whimsical themes in the art work they display, the note cards and stationery they send, and even the calendar they use, demonstrate their zest for life, and a desire to look beyond the ordinary in their world, to find the extraordinary.

Deanne Blackhurst is a writer for Alana Marketing, a company that specializes in promoting promising new artists and their products to the general public. We carry a full line of Thomas Joseph Whimsical products as well as other unique and specialty items by exciting new designers. Visit us at http://www.alanamarketing.com/

Original article

Vincent Van Gogh - how little we really know

We know all of his wonderful paintings, but how much we know about the man himself? It's fascinating how little we really know, and since he died in 1890 some things will always be the object of speculation.

The first point of interest is that it is not known with certainty if Vincent was a right or left hand artist. In all the correspondence between him and his closest friend Gauguin this is never mentioned. Primary school of Dutch researchers confirmed that he was handed over to the right. It is strange because in one of his most famous self portraits it is clearly demonstrated with the palette with his left hand, but if we accept, he painted the portrait with the help of a mirror and then it would have been holding the palette with his right hand, so he would have held the brushes and paint with his left hand.

Many people, however, say that as an artist, that it could easily have reverse the hand holding the palette to give a clear idea of what hand, he has used to paint as an artist myself I would always be myself as delivered left because that is what I am actually. A point more complexity. Although there were many left handed artists, Michaelangelo and Leonardo to name but two. At the time of the life of Van Gogh, left chirality was associated with the devil. Being left handed over has been strongly discouraged. Is French for "scrum" left and awkward French is "maladriot" or literally wrong in law. Paint with hand left is something to be practised as discreetly as possible.

The second point of discussion is his famous, partially severed ear. The standard of the line of thought is that it cuts off part of his ear and he then presented to a prostitute, he fell in love. A more modern theory, explains that, actually, Gauguin cut off the coast of the ear of Van Gogh to an argument that had to at the outset. It is possible that they shared a love for the same woman. He is known, however, that Gauguin was an expert with a sword and was a burly man who was not afraid of her exercise. It is also recorded that the brother of Van Gogh, Theo, wrote: "it is as well as Gauguin was not armed with a more modern weapon." Was Theo referring to this argument and just be grateful that Vincent had escaped from his life. The pair in decided to conceal the truth. Gauguin continued to write to Van Gogh in passionate, rights terms until his unfortunate death. If they then submitted this is never mentioned in letters of Gauguin.

Yet again, this remains probably an unsolved mystery. Strange how that we know so paintings and yet little is known about the man.

Mark Robb is an artist practicing Haworth. If you enjoyed the above article then he invites you to browse the website http://firstforart.com/ where you will find all kinds of equipment-art, art prints and other tips and tricks to help you become a better artist

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