Featured Artist - Arlene Taus Salomon

I would like to share the work of Arlene Taus Saloman with you, she is a 4 star member of Design Style Guide. Arlene resides in Hawaii and her Etsy store is iliahi.etsy.com

She is a very talented photographer, her photographs are exotic and beautiful and come in different photo sizes from 5x7 to 11x17 inches. Most images are also available in Giclee print and Gallery Wrapped on canvas, sized from 11x14 to 24x30 inches. So you have many options from a small simple print, to a large fantastic gallery wrapped print. All depending on the look you want.

Here are some of her images that are available;

Hawaiian sandalwood flowers

Red Orange Wiliwili Flowers

Ohi'a lehua Hawaiian Tree

The Mighty Silversword

Trees Of The Lava Fields
Straight from her Bio;
"Arlene Taus Salomon has her B.F.A. in Fine Arts and is an ISA Certified Arborist. She is an instructor of art and plant sciences and has taught workshops at the Art Center and Community College on Maui. She has a multimedia studio in her home where she experiments mostly with photography, fiber art related mediums, metalsmith and jewelry design. Her photography features views of Hawaii with dazzling botanical prints and sweeping landscapes reproduced as large size giclees. Her handmade papers are made by cooking and pounding local plant fibers. Recently, she has begun to print her images onto her handmade papers using alternative photographic techniques like cyanotype, Van Dyke brown printing and photogravure. Another aspect of her life is Arboriculture or tree/plant biology. When she is not in her studio she is out in the field managing her horticultural business in which she consults, specializes in native plant landscape design and all aspects of tree care."

I hope you enjoyed seeing Arlene's work as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you. Make sure you check out her etsy shop.

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Featured Artist - Barbara Furlong

Riverside Escape 282 oil painting

Lilacs & Butterfly #819 oil painting

Poppies original oil painting #809

I'd like to introduce you to a very talented artist named Barbara Furlong. She is a 4-star member on Design Style Guide. Barbara first started doing tole paintings many years ago, but soon found and fell in love with oil painting and has been using oils ever since.

Barbara Furlong not only paints beautiful paintings, but she also teaches painting classes and has done so for several years now. "Barbara took the Bob Ross certifications, times 3. After 360 hours of training she got certified in landscapes, classes from Joyce Ortner, Buck Paulson, Susan Jenkins and soon from Valerie Stewart. She also is certified 4 ways with Donna Dewberry and has taught for Donna in the past at the BEE Painting and Crafting Expo in Florida."

You can see in her paintings, how much she loves doing what she does. The beauty in her work, the soft color palette she chooses, I believe, comes from the heart of a romantic.

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Village in Late Summer by Carl Sandburg

Lips half-willing in a doorway.

Wallflower by ArtSnark.

Lips half-singing at a window.

Cat in a Window by Gary Heller Photography.

Eyes half-dreaming in the walls.

Linger by Robin Maria Pedrero.

Feet half-dancing in the kitchen.

Red by Zombie Penguen.

Even the clocks half-yawn the hours

Framed Photograph on Canvas by The Painted Lily.

And the farmers make half-answers.

Cultivating the Peas by Walt Curlee.

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Room With A View - Welcome To My World

Whether your world is big or small, mad or wonderful, it is a wide, wide world in terms of interior design and home decor. Liven up any room in your home with handmade decor featuring coast to coast world and map graphics by the Design Style Guide team on Etsy.

This world map wall decal from rEvolv3r comes in several sizes and colors, and is especially suited to a living room or home office.

Home accessories, such as this custom decoupaged map tray from Carolina's Cottage, are sure to assist your desk or tabletop organization while incorporating visual interest into any decorating style.

This vintage globe turned wall clock from IMOTIME adds dimension, color, and humor to the art of clock-watching.

A black and white topography art pottery bowl from Love Art Works is large enough for showcasing favorite tabletop treasures while allowing the design to shine through.

Handcut and etched copper, over glossy textured red, punches up a representation of the Seattle, Washington area in wall art from Copper Leaf Studios.

Roads Traveled, an original acrylic painting from Fauve Studio, suggests a world map in striking, abstract style.

Functional art, this storage table from Kelly Guswiler Studio displays a Chesapeake Bay, Virginia chart map preserved under polyacrylic, and accented with stained glass mosaic tiling and rain glass doors.

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Springtime

It is around this time of year, when winter has overstayed its welcome, that I begin longing for spring. I impatiently wait for spring rain showers and low, rumbling thunderstorms; for trees to unfurl their greenery and flowers to bloom and bring some color back to the landscape; for birds to return and fill the air with their playful song, signaling the warmer, lazier days to come.

Be sure to click on the captions and visit the etsy shops of these very talented artists. And there is music involved, so if you happen to be viewing this at work, you may want to adjust your volume accordingly before clicking on the play button. Enjoy!

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Imagine

Imagine. "To form a mental image." The word comes from Latin imaginari which is from imago or image.

The holidays are a time for imagination; and visual imagery is an important aspect of imagination. From the visions of sugar plums, to the decorations in every home, the festive sights and sounds are everywhere. People are busy rushing here and there; some even frantically trying to finish every last detail to create this impression of wonder.

Since the image is the base of imagination I thought this months posting would be a quieter reflection of images from the Design Style Guide photographers. Take some time out of your busy day for quiet reflection and let your imagination drift around the globe through the images of the many talented photographers on Design Style Guide

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una ciudad dorada

I have a warm cup of café con leche in my hand, which I’m taking sips from while composing sentences. It’s cool in Mexico City these days but golden too, because every day there’s a full sun, unabbreviated by clouds. Today is no exception. Through the open window in my apartment, squares of yellow light spill onto the floor, where they lie like mosaics when the shadows of olmos trees tessellate the ceramic tiles. One by one, the leaves stir in a chill breeze that brings faint traces of sulfur up from Versalles, where peseros trundle loudly over potholes, hauling passengers to Reforma or Insurgentes.

On a Wednesday morning, the street corners of my neighborhood are crowded with torta vendors, each one frying eggs on smooth oiled griddles in their portable carts. So the sidewalks around intersections are crowded with clusters of salary people in suits, clutching quick breakfasts to eat rapidly before work. A little bit further up the block, there’s a woman that sells big Styrofoam cups of jugo, made from oranges and grapefruits that she squeezes by hand on an old metal press. Sometimes, the fragrance is so strong that you can taste citrus on the tongue as you pass by.

This is a city with a special vibrancy: with flavors that are potent, colors that are diverse, and sounds that are utterly memorable. One could find endless creative insight here, I suspect. So, in honor of the inspirational nature of the Distrito Federal, I want to bring you some images from a particularly brilliant Etsy artist who happens to call Mexico City her home. It’s rosiemusic.

My Melodies
//
Sweet n Sour

Too Shy no. 2

Flowers and Polka Dots
//
By the Sea

Fungi Girl

Shy Boy and Shy Girl

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thank god, there's a hephalump here

As I’m writing this, the weather here in Maine is dismal. I peek out the window onto a scene of gloomy gray, broken only by an untidy smear of orange where a couple of stubborn trees still grasp the last handful of their bright leaves. I’ve been looking for reprieve at my computer, and I’ve found it. It seems to me that tsktsk is the opposite of a rainy day.

What could be more cheery than a trio of hephalumps? Gentle hephalump, baby hephalump, and party hephalump stare up inquisitively from my monitor, their eager looks like the expectant gaze of puppies at the Humane Society, and I can’t help but want to adopt them all! How endearing they look with their colorfully branded hides, emotive trunks, and dainty black toenails.



Aussie designer tsktsk produces delightful matryoshka-doll, folk-girl and bird illustrations as well. Of these, my favorites are the quartet of gals with names derived from Native American words: Wapeka, Lakota, Sakari, and Tehya. The blues and tans in these compositions are rich and soft, and on the figures' faces quiet emotions are mirrored with rare accuracy.

For more insight into this artist’s creative life, you might want to visit tsktsk blog.

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Room With A View - Switchplates

The ubiquitous switchplate - everywhere, in every room at least once, and often an overlooked opportunity for affordable wall art and self-expression. Whether you're a country mouse or a city mouse, whatever your decorating style, there is a switchplate to match your room and personality. Here are just a few from a wonderful array of handmade and hand embellished switchplates on Etsy:

a la mode














Mosaico Decor













Rathina Decor










Lindsay's Lights













Pieces in Time













Marcia's Passions













Funky Chicken Designs

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Color me with WATER

When you purchase a piece of Original artwork, how do you know you're getting a piece of quality and value? Today I wanted to think about some things to consider before purchasing a watercolor painting!

One of the first things you want to see the artist mention, is that they have used artist quality paints. This should always be stated, and often the brands are given as well! You will see many brands as watercolorists all vary in what they prefer - but you may see names like Winsor and Newton, Daniel Smith, M. Graham, and Holbein.

(c) TorrieSmiley


The next thing to consider is the weight of the paper. The paper will greatly determine the look and feel of the painting and, again, different artists have different preferences in the maker. But a quality watercolor is always painted on 140lb or 300lb. Anything lower and the paper is going to be thin and of very low quality.

(c) Jean Hood

Then you may want to look for certain techniques that show you the artist has studied and understands watercolor! Here's are two great examples of negative painting - painting in the background to bring forward an object.

(c) Kauaiartist


(c) Jean Hood


Now there are some very unusual techniques you can also look for in a watercolor painting. The use of some sort of masking allows a painter to keep an area unpainted or painted over without taking color. There are also artists who use paint spattering as great way to bring texture and movement to their artwork. You can see examples of these techniques in these two paintings:

(c) Aerten



(c) TheCreatorPalette


Another thing to consider as you look at watercolor paintings, are some of the more unusual surfaces that can be used. Here is an example of a type of rice paper, that is wetted, crumpled, then flatted and painted. It creates this wonderful batik type look!

(c) YankeeGirl


Then there is Yupo. Yupo is a synthetic paper, which means that the paint simply floats on top! It's hard to paint on with watercolor because it can just wipe off with a bit of water, but it creates some fantastic looks!!! After it's been painted, it must be sealed with a spray sealant. Here's an abstract example of a Yupo watercolor painting. This artist not only painted the yupo, but also carefully removed certain areas of paint with water, before sealing the painting.

(c) TheCreatorsPalette

Lastly, stetched canvas has often been consider only an oil or acrylic surface! But recently there are two companies that have come out with canvas that can be painted on with watercolor! (Fredrix and YES!) These too, have a bit of different look, and must also be sealed with a spray sealant, but now, watercolor can be painted on gallery canvas just like the oils and acrylics!

(c) TheCreatorPalette


We have a large variety of painters on the Design Style team. Click here to see a search of all the artists offering watercolor paintings on Etsy!

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where sparrows may be found

In an Etsy shop overflowing with treasurable images, littlesparrowsnest presents stills of rural life that form a kind of reverie visitors may experience vicariously. Episodic and wistful, the photography of littlesparrowsnest is carefree and positively unassuming. It is as though, in each delicate square of wood block photography, she has managed to distill a single moment into a keepsake, a memento to share. Perhaps the warmth of her photography is due to her generous nature, for, like a number of other Etsy sellers, littlesparrowsnest donates a portion of her profits to charities like Farm Sanctuary and United Way of the Black Hills. Or perhaps the gentle quality of her images is a result of her veganism, which, in an interview with Vegan Etsy, littlesparrowsnest explains is motivated by a combination of humanism, environmental consciousness, and spirituality. Maybe it is simply the landscape of her home, the whispering prairie, that manifests placidity in her photography. Whatever the source, a certain sweetness in littlesparrowsnest’s work does indeed convey the “optimistic hopes and intentions” she speaks of in her Etsy profile, with lovely and (in the opinion of this blogger, at least) inspirational results.

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