Furniture Painting – The Best Way to Do It
Painting is one of the best ways to treat and protect furniture. Paint is available on many forms that will help in livening up the furnishings of a home or office. Paint unlike varnish doesn’t bring out the grains of the wood, nor is it restricted to be used on wooden artifacts. The paint coating can vary in nature as well as depth in its use; it can also be used in combinations highlighting some aspects of the subject. Once painted over the items surface, it hides any blemish that causes a discoloration on the general object. It is also a cheap method to decorate and treat furniture.Before painting, it is important to prepare the surface. Mostly the main concern comes in the form of dirt. Particles of dust and other residues of waste such as sawdust will tarnish the surface to be painted ad might result into rough surfaces. The most common particles that are wiped of the surface to be painted include dust, grease stains, and dirt. A good scrubbing using scouring pads or sand paper in the case of wood is important to ensure the paint does stick on the surface of the furniture. After cleaning the surface should be allowed to dry out completely.The painting process is one that should be taken seriously to attain good results. It is advisable to start with an undercoat. Beginning the painting with primer is a good idea and one that will have an effect on the overall results of painting. Using a multipurpose primer undercoat on all surfaces gives the paint a better surface to stick on, for wood a wood primer is available. A second layer of primer should be used if one is looking to paint a light color on the furniture while an undercoat of the paint should be used in the event that the paint to paint the surface with is dark.The top paint can now be applied, and at this point one has two choices, the oil based paints and water based gloss paints. Both have different purposes and can be applied to different situations. In most cases two layers of the paint are enough to give furniture that luster from the paint, but in some cases a third layer of paint is required. In oil based paints the time required for it to dry may be long lasting from 48 hours all the way to months, making the furniture unusable for lengthy periods.
Evolution of Juried Art Exhibitions in a Digital Age
The Juried Art process that we know today was morphed over thousands of years, with its roots deep in the great civilizations of Ancient Greece, Egypt and Rome. The medium du jour was focused on sculpture, architecture and, to a lesser degree, painting. A tincture of time would provide for the development of a sophisticated process that would eventually create an atmosphere for inclusion and exclusion of art works and even the artists that created them. The system would create an aura of reputation that artists would come to depend on to generate sales and justify prices they would garner from sales resulting from the exhibitions.Art exhibitions have purpose. They provide a display of the style and technique of contributing artists and the trends the arts are taking. Over years they helped define the general periods in art form that have been measured in history. The types of exhibition are:• Open Exhibitions
• Invitational Exhibitions
• Juried ExhibitionsThe come one come all format of an Open Exhibit was filled with many art forms and varying degrees of artistic talent. An Invitational Exhibit found fewer works and attendees but frequently a more critical consumer. A Juried Exhibit allowed only those artists or works that were approved for the exhibit by an expert individual or group of expert “jurors”. All exhibition formats play a distinct part in the world of art and have proved beneficial to artists and to the viewing and buying public.It was during the 18th and 19th Centuries that art exhibitions came to full bloom. Primarily in France and England art exhibitions were found to be thriving in Salons, Academies and Museums. This fashionable and aristocratic environment continued into the U.S. in the early 20th Century. The exhibitions of the arts were to become embedded in modern society and now were a significant source of revenue for artists, collectors and art traders.The logistical challenges of getting to the art were, at the time, enormous. Soon to become the salvation of this dilemma was the advancing technology in modern photography. What became of the art of photography was now the photography of the art. Photos of art work were a relatively fast and efficient way to view art around the world. The quality in the photographic process was such that exhibits could be seen without the need of traveling to them. By the late 20th Century digital photography and personal computing had taken the art exhibition even a step further. Digitization of photographs of art works allows presentation to be manually manipulated to achieve perfection in appearance.Online art exhibitions come in many different formats and venues, from the viewing of the classics to online marketplaces abounding with the arts and crafts of entrepreneurial artists and artisans. It is here that the quality and presentation are critical. In a world teeming with art, art products and visual arts it is apparent that we have drawn a crowd. A very large crowd.This is the order of the digital age. Best estimates are that over 100 billion live websites are out there, so finding a quality artisan marketplace may require a degree of resourcefulness on the part of art critics and consumers. And then to find the right art product…good luck!So, how do the artists and crafters find their way to market? A perfect example is the Online Handmade Industry where there are a number of notable and shoppable sites to explore. The ease in presentation on the web has made it relatively simple to place art works and crafts before the consuming public and hence to the cash register. Electronic advances and the accessibility of the internet have attracted millions of buyers, many who shop exclusively on the WWW. Plus the attraction of the Online Handmade Industry (OHI) depends on art works and crafts to be handmade, thereby guaranteeing a “one of a kind” inventory mentality.The OHI is not without problems. The handmade aspect in some cases is without warrant and there have been reports of “Re-Sellers” making their way into handmade marketplaces. This practice involves an “artist/seller” purchasing an item elsewhere and then presenting it as handmade, which it is not, on an unsuspecting website. So big is this problem is that a large number of legitimate handmade artists have given up on some of the “Open Exhibition” sites in favor of “Juried” sites. A Juried site, like a Juried Exhibition, maintain a degree of exclusivity by a jury of experts previewing art works by particular artist before they are allowed to place works on the site.The practice of juried art is beneficial to both the artist and the consumer. The artists benefit by the site maintaining the integrity of the handmade concept and the inherent quality provided by the process, plus the sheer numbers of competing works are restricted by the exclusive design of a juried site. Consumers benefit by knowing the artists they shop have been pre-screened.The nature and scope of the internet is such that what may be a relevant search result is difficult for the buyer to achieve. Understanding how the search engines work is important but the reality is the average buyer just wants to see what they are looking for. Presence on a Juried site helps accomplish this. Another way to look at this is what I call “Culling the Herd”. This is the process of weeding out less desirable elements in whatever your “Herd” consists of.Juried sites are both inclusive and exclusive. Artisans seek to be included in an exclusive environment, and they do so consciously. A Juried marketplace will send a message of quality and unique value of art products and visual arts. The ultimate benefit is being a part of something special and that will result in increased consumer loyalty and return frequency.The old cliché “There’s safety in numbers” is not always the case. The successful artist/artisan markets to their market in a manner that is exclusive by design. The bottom line…Don’t run with the pack!By Dennis Speer
Compare Health Insurance Rates – Finding Cheap Cover
Everyone wants to find out ways of making savings on their health insurance cover. The key to making significant savings lies in knowing the different plans and which would best suit you. You need to know to save.HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATIONS (HMOs)In looking at plans that can result in savings, we need to first know our health needs. If you are someone who requires constant medical attention that would require that you see a doctor, you may need to look at a plan that can afford you this without costing an arm and a leg. One such plan is taken out a policy with Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs). They offer the cheapest plans. This is possible because they have a pool of doctors, hospitals and other health service providers that form a network. Members of these networks are covered so long as they receive treatment from doctors and hospitals in the network. It works out cheaper. Of course there are some draw backs since any treatment that requires you to get treatment from doctors or hospital outside the network would not be covered by the health insurance policy.HIGH DEDUCTIBLE HEALTH PLANSIt is very possible for you to make nice savings with high deductible health insurance plans if you are someone who rarely needs health care. If you are sure that your health needs are very minimal, then read on to make nice savings while still having very comprehensive coverage.Unlike making savings with HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations) for people who need constant health care, you can go for the usual traditional and more expensive health plan but then make huge savings by using high deductibles to reduce your rates.The simplest way to go about this is to get a health savings account. This savings account works with a minimum deductible. This means that your deductible needs to be at least up to a stipulated amount before you can qualify for this account.How does this account work? This unlike your regular savings account is an account where you can save money and earn interest tax free. The money saved in this account is saved towards the payment of your deductible whenever you need it and since your health is such that you hardly require medical care and would not require to pay your deductibles often, it becomes and ideal solution since the high deductible reduce your monthly rates very significantly.It is important however to note that the money saved under a health savings account can only be used for health related issue. If you do not use it in a year, it would be moved to the next year and is still yours to use for health related issues like paying your deductibles, paying for visit to the dentist, therapist etc.Whichever plan is best for you, do not fail to compare health insurance rates by getting free health quotes now so you can really save.