Ur A Clever One!

Frame It Tape by Urban Outfitters

...why didn't I think of that?  Urban Outfitters still manages to stir my creative juices with product ideas like this "frame it tape".  Professional Interior Designers might claim it lazy, tacky, cheap or worse, but that is exactly what I love about it...being a starving student and all.  Let's face it, college students making it on their own in this crazy world don't have the time or enough coins in the piggy bank to design their dungeons.  Break away from the Ikea people!  Think outside the box with Urban Outfitters (pun intended).  Frame out your life, and be clever minded about it. You still have the freedom to do so! Thanks again UO, for making my life beautifully easier!

I welcome your ideas for the use of this Frame It Tape in the comment box below!

Picasso: Dove of Peace

“Everyone wants to understand art. 
Why don’t we try to understand the song of a bird? 
Why do we love the night, the flowers, everything around us, 
without trying to understand them? 
But in the case of a painting, people think they have to understand. 
If only they would realize above all that an artist works of necessity, 
that he himself is only an insignificant part of the world, 
and that no more importance should be attached to him
than to plenty of other things which please us in the world” 

Pablo Picasso

That's Questionable

A question that sparks curiosities... Were advertisement and entertainment posters of the 19th century considered decorative art?  Were they considered street art and did that mean graffiti which is equivalent to today's graffiti? Since they were a new form of art, what were the overall intentions and public opinions regarding them?  Did they decorate the streets or pollute them?

Bloody Beautiful!

In celebration for the season premier of DEXTER starting tomorrow night on Showtime, these wall murals scream bloody wonderful!  Blood as an art form?  Yes.  Dexter is a blood splatter expert (among other things) and these murals by PIXERS are sure to make your walls come alive!  The wallpaper graphics are a crossbreed of a Polanski horror film and a Pollock drip painting... horrifyingly genius.

PIXERS is a company that decided interior walls should be more than just a gallery space for famous history paintings (ahem...Mona Lisa).  So, a team from London started making graphic images to display as wall murals.  They showcase 20 million wall murals, prints, posters, and stickers on their website ranging from a variety of subjects for all ages.  Wallpaper comes in 4 different types of installation, from easy self-adhesive to manual vinyl install... but don't worry because they even have a 'how to install' video for all types.  There is also a program on their website that helps you view each mural in a room.

The best thing about this product is their Eco green printed stamp of approval.

I can't help but wonder what Dexter would say about this room...

Images via freshome design & architecture

"The Scam" A book poster

What did it mean being a woman in Paris during the 19th century?  How are the gender roles represented in art and are these representations accurate?  The most interesting illustrations of Parisian life are the lithographic posters of advertisements attributed to Jules Cheret, the father of the poster.  The 'real world' of bourgeois society had a clear distinction between genders and their roles in public and private spaces.  Men had freedom to appear equally in both public and private areas, whereas women were subjected to a domestic and private role.  It is of no surprise then to see women in the spotlight of most of the posters to feed the hunger of the male dominated voyeuristic public eye.

  

So, why do we see an equal number of men and women in this Jules Cheret poster?  Still we need to notice that the prominent figure giving a squeakish smirk is female!  Well, the French would understand from the title that this was an illustration for a book about people living in the fast lane written by Felicien Champsaur titled 'La Gomme' or a scam and le gommeux referring to swells or a cheap dandy... Well the dandies here are in their top hats frolicking around with women attached to their waists (prostitutes?), but who is deceiving who? That fiery redheaded female, tipping her feather hat, so much cleavage she could easily expose herself....but does she want to "expose" herself?  We will never know unless we read the book!!!