Realign your budget - purchase your first piece of fine art

Written by Susan G Phillips


If you don't have at least one piece of fine art in your home, then you just have no idea what you are missing out on. Whether an original or reproduction piece, fine art adds warmth, beauty and interest to every room. So why is it that people tend to spend lavishly on furniture, carpets and accessories, but do not provide in their budget forrepparttar piece that could berepparttar 116037 focal point ofrepparttar 116038 room?

We are indeed fortunate now to have a wide range of fine art available to us onrepparttar 116039 Internet. In just a few short hours, you can browse museums and galleries aroundrepparttar 116040 world to findrepparttar 116041 fine art painting you love. Reproductions of major artwork are available in several formats, from inexpensive prints to hand-painted oils. All atrepparttar 116042 touch of a button. You can also find original fine art online, often very inexpensively. Artists who have not yet become famed can exhibit their work at online galleries and reach a much wider audience than would be otherwise possible in smaller bricks and mortar galleries. Bringing a new piece of art into your home is always exciting, but imagine how much more intriguing it would be if it was something you'd discovered for yourself through your own research.

While prints will brighten up a room, you should also consider investing in a real oil painting or another form of original on canvas. Sincerepparttar 116043 Internet allows galleries to show their work to a wide audience with little overhead, real paintings can be had for very reasonable prices. And you'll findrepparttar 116044 texture and substance of a painting as opposed to a print to be well worthrepparttar 116045 added expense. Home decor is a challenge for many home owners sorepparttar 116046 hardest part is not necessarily coming up withrepparttar 116047 theme, but tying it all together and making all ofrepparttar 116048 colors, textures and themes combine. In order to decorate your home successfully there are a few things for you to consider.

Porcelain Jewellery for Beginners

Written by Winnie Tam


Making large objects from clay takes a lot of patience, sweat and dexterity, but making tiny pieces of jewellery can be another challenge altogether. For those of you who have decided to venture off into this delicate art form, here’s a few tips to get you started and keep you onrepparttar path to making some fine, wearable pieces you can be proud of.

List of Supplies:

Small sponge Wooden rolling pin Hole cutter Cutting wire Pottery knife Fine sable watercolour brushes Metal findings (for earrings and brooches) Face mask (for firing)

Be Prepared

You want to make sure you have everything at your finger tips so that you don’t have to run torepparttar 116036 store midway and come back to a hardened un-useable lump of clay. You can find supplies at most pottery stores. Greenbarn Pottery Supplies in Surrey, BC is one of my favourites.

The Right Clay forrepparttar 116037 Right Job

Porcelain isrepparttar 116038 best type of clay to use for jewellery because of its refined quality. It is smooth, pure and becomes very hard after being fired at 2200 degrees.

Shaping Techniques

It can be a fun exercise to pound away at your clay and throw great lumps to vent your frustrations, but for jewellery, a more delicate touch is required.

After rollingrepparttar 116039 clay to about 1/8 inches thick, use your pre-shaped cutter to press down and create uniform shapes, just like making cookies. Or forrepparttar 116040 more adventurous types, make your own shapes using dry hands, and a small sponge to smooth outrepparttar 116041 edges. Using a picture for reference always helps but remember to makerepparttar 116042 pieces slightly larger to allow for shrinkage. A word of warning: thin shapes can be broken very easily. For example,repparttar 116043 thin legs of animals should be avoided. For a look at some effective shapes, take a look atrepparttar 116044 animal pins on my website at www.winnietam.ca.

Making Holes

Now that you have your shapes ready, it’s time to put in holes for earrings, necklace chains or brooches. This can be done by using hole cutters of varying sizes, found at any pottery store. Don’t makerepparttar 116045 holes too close torepparttar 116046 edges, as they can easily break.

Painting

This requires good eyesight forrepparttar 116047 fine details and a steady hand. Under glazes arerepparttar 116048 only type of colour to use as they can withstandrepparttar 116049 high temperature of firing. The only drawback is that you cannot seerepparttar 116050 exact colour untilrepparttar 116051 final firing, so this will take some trial and error.

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