Beauty In Chaos

Abstract Art

Photo by: Paul Blenkhorn @ Sensory Art House @sensoryarthouse

Find the beauty in everything. What do you see in this painting? Does it seem as if the artist was happy, sad or indifferent? There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. It is what ever you see and feel.

Art can be a useful tool when working through difficult roadblocks in life. Let’s try to create emotional art. This can be kept as personal as a journal. Creating abstract art is a satisfying form of expression to release anger, fear, anxiety or depression. There are no rules. Try blindfolding yourself for this exercise if you find it difficult to get started and need to work around self criticism.

This is a great tool for young children who are learning about releasing their frustration and anger. Children with divorced parents benefit from this as it is an adjustment going between houses. If you’re with a child or a friend while they experience a strong emotion, gently offer some paper (can even be a newspaper or a grocery bag) and hand them a marker, pencil or paint. Use whatever is accessible to move the paint around. Nothing fancy and no rules allowed. The goal is to move that emotion through the body and onto the page. The beauty comes after. Walk away from the drawing or painting and when you return you’ll see/feel the beauty of that true release of emotion. Throw it away or keep it to serve as a journal where you will see a progression of emotional expression. Once it leaves you, it’s over. No two paintings will be the same. Notice the color, shapes and lines that were created.

Stand at a distance to see what beauty came from this emotional “breakdown” that may lead to a breakthrough. Keep this exercise in mind and use it as often as you need. Share this technique with anyone that may benefit from this experience.

Art Therapy

Photo by: Kelly Sikkema @kellysikkema

HEALING THROUGH ART

Art can create a pathway to healing from a wide variety of diseases and disorders. Hospitals facilitate creative time for patients to serve as both an outlet and a distraction away from their health conditions.

For children, art therapy can act as a vehicle of communication when language skills are still in the developmental stages. Art Therapy has been in practice since 1942, when artist, Adrian Hill discovered the healing benefits of art while recovering from tuberculosis.

Children’s drawings are analyzed through the weight, length and consistency of lines. Color does not always play a major roll since limited color choices at any given moment may effect what a child uses. However, the consistent use of the same colors could be helpful in an analysis of a child’s drawing.

Here are three attributes to identify when analyzing a drawing.

• Anger could be indicated through large hands, arms or features

• Anxiety could be indicated through the use of birds, bad weather and closed or missing eyes

• Impulsivity could be indicated with asymmetrical limbs on a figure or larger figures

Consider using a form of creativity when stress is running high or when dealing with a compromised immune system. This includes parents and care takers since they exert large amounts of energy caring for others and are at risk of becoming depleted if they do not practice self-care.

Weekend Design & Wellness Project

Reflection

Photo by: Aaron Burden @aaronburden

Reflecting on a moment in time can be a helpful way to be grateful for where you’ve been and keep focused on where you’re going. Take some time this weekend to write a few hurtles you’ve jumped through to get where you are today. Find some gratitude for your strength and even be in a bit of awe of your resilience. Life is challenging so reflecting on the whole picture can be rewarding. If you’d like a visual to support this idea, then take a look at Pointillism (also known as stippling), an Impressionist painting style. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac created this stippled technique as a branch of Impressionism Art. Millions of little dots are strategically placed so when seen from a distance it appears as one big picture. If you’re feeling creative, give pointillism a try. You do not need an art degree to pull this off. Stipple smiley face, the sunshine or a flower. Doodling has calming effects so it’s perfect for alleviating stress and anxiety.

Happy reflecting and stippling weekend!

Featured Designer

Todd Amos, Designer | Vinyl Artist | Snow Sculptor

Graphic designer, vinyl artist, business owner, snow sculptor, soccer player, youth soccer coach, Jeep enthusiast, devoted father and husband, Todd Amos has been chosen as our featured designer.

Todd Amos, Designer & Owner of The Vinyl FOXX

Many designers work behind the scenes and are rarely brought to the forefront. Graphic designers are part of a larger picture alongside a marketing team, web designers and production artists. The names of these individuals do not appear on the finished products that they spend hours, weeks, months and years tooling over every detail until client perfection is achieved. These individuals will likely never even appear on their company’s website. Behind the scenes creatives get satisfaction from being part of successful teams that rely on one another to evolve as a collective group in lieu of standing out for personal fame. (Although personal recognition wouldn’t hurt once in a while.)

Why Todd? Well, Todd Amos is a tireless designer and innovator who has devoted over twenty years as an in-house designer while creating his own vinyl design and printing brand, The Vinyl FOXX. His vinyl designs are sold on his Etsy store and make perfect gifts as well as branded corporate products. Todd manages to balance being the world’s coolest dad by bringing his kid’s imaginations to life with interactive snow sculptures while wooing his wife with handmade and up-cycled personal vinyl art for special occasions. Oh yeah, Todd has also been a youth soccer coach and trainer for 10 years and plays soccer in a few men’s leagues. Phew, Todd is on his way to earning superhero status.

Curious to know how Todd’s over twenty year design career has been? Well, Todd has spent the past 16 years with his previous company where he attributes a lot of his personal and professional growth starting as a mid level designer and advancing to Production Manager, then Sr Designer. As Todd rose within the company, their customer readership increased by 10%, and their sales increased by over 40%. Over the last six plus years, he was overseeing the in-house print and digital marketing department. Todd’s daily jobs consisted of managing multi-catalog production and scheduling, creating page layouts, cover concepts ranging from presentations to final photo shoots, designed product packaging, social media marketing, and product branding. Todd said that his attention for detail and high standards for organization helped him rise up in the department. Todd’s advice to designers in the making is to apply all of their effort into each position they hold regardless of the title or industry since it will create the foundation for many opportunities in the future. When asked is he ever stops moving, Todd’s reply is, “no, and I don't plan on it.”

Here is more about some of Todd’s work in his own words.

“A few of my favorite covers (in the slideshow below) were catalogs printed 20 times a year, each seasonal and different, printed up to 800K and were mailed all over the world. The cover of the customer catalog was the face of the company and something I took great pride in. I was involved with all of the studio production for the last twelve years and directing for seven of those years. I always went above and beyond to make sure I produced the best quality of work. From concept to completion, I created and directed each cover. As I was managing the design team and two photographers, I created shot lists, gathered and made props, scouted locations, screened and hired models, for in studio or on location followed by all of the digital editing.

The Holiday Front and Back cover was interesting as this shoot took me two days to set it up with one day to shoot. The Holiday Kids cover is special to me because I was able to have my sister’s kids as the models. I had to stage all of the gifts and even had to put together laminate wood flooring from Home Depot in the studio to have a Jeep rolled onto it. The real trick was finding a big enough Pine tree that we were able to cut down in October.

Then, there is the Barn Find cover which was cool because it's every “Jeeper's” dream to find an old jeep in a barn. This was shot on location and on one of the scouting days my team and I had to take shelter in that barn because of a random freak tornado warning. We came back the next day to shoot and even used the owner/farmer of the barn, seen in the background. The "father and son" are models.”

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Thank you Todd, for sharing your story and behind the scenes insight into the hard work of a designer and small business owner. With your devotion and expertise, your future will be a continued success.

Please enjoy looking through some of Todd’s work below and be sure to check out his Etsy page The Vinyl FOXX where you’ll find his original designs. Connect with Todd on LinkedIn for your graphic design and art direction needs.

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Print Design and Art Direction

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Before

After

The Vinyl FOXX

Snow Sculptures - The Urban Foxx YouTube Channel

Staging is Believing

Here are 3 1/2 ways to warm up your staged home and 3 of my design pet peeves.

1. Textiles add dimension, coziness and warmth. This is not ground breaking design news. However, it's how and where the textiles are used that really communicate the feel of home. For example, a knitted blanket gently tossed on a large chair under a window with a book on top of it creates a moment that most people want to have at home. This is a warm snapshot or a glimpse of a moment for a buyer to experience while touring your home. Sometimes people need a little permission to have something special for themselves. If a buyer sees that you take time to relax and enjoy a book all cozied up in this house, then they will feel like they will finally be able to have that...in your house...if they buy it.

*The value textiles can add to a staged a home is impactful personally to a buyer and financially for you. The impression you create in your home staging now becomes an expectation for a buyer during their search.

2. Baskets are your friends! Not only do they add aesthetic texture, they serve two main purposes, training and storage. Place baskets in the known drop zones in your home. This will train you and your housemates to keep clutter off of surfaces. It will also help to locate lost items since you already know what items gather where. Once the clutter is under control the baskets then serve the purpose as the go-to spots for specific items.

*The value of baskets is time saving while being visually pleasing.

3. Life's Accessories. Add a sweater, grocery shopping tote and/or a kid's backpack to an entryway hook along with a pair of clean shoes by the door. This is how we live on a day-to-day basis so feel free to display some real life items in the house to show that real people can live there.

The value of portraying normalcy of human life and activities puts people at ease and reduces the pressure for perfectionism in their own lives.

1/2. What year was your home built? Bring in an item reflective of that era. If its a new build, then choose a design style or period that appeals to you. Find an item that reflects the feeling of this era to bring into your home. It can be a color, a small accessory or a piece of furniture.

*The value of finding your design style is the beginning of creating the feeling you want each time you enter your home or space.

3 of my design pet peeves:

1. Flippers assuming they know what buyers want. Hint: It's not builder grade anything nor is it the flipper's favorite colors.

2. Trendy or dated before the house is listed, kitchen backslashes! i.e, Tiny square tiles in metallic or beige, horizontal and arabesque.

3. Grandma Granite. Just stop it. Please!

*Bonus Peeves:

-Beige box houses. (Blaaa, boring cookie cutter)

-Stark white ceilings with bold colors on the walls trapped by 6" mouldings and baseboards...6" each for 8' walls. (Eh, eye sore)

-Different bold colors in every room. (Anxiety inducing)

-Varying heights of kitchen cabinets none of which reaching the ceiling. (Merry-go-round cabinets, dizzying to the eye)

-Crown moulding in mid-century homes. (No!)

Warning: These are my own opinions and irritations. I am having fun here and in no way do I mean to offend anyone's personal style or taste. We all have our own preferences. Creating a personal space that brings you happiness is all that really matters. My goal is to help you find your personal style so you don't have to live a cookie cutter life.

How does your home make you feel? Can you apply these tips to your home while you are still living in it? Leave a comment below.

Happy Staging!

OPEN HOUSE!

Every home for sale should have a signature scent that brings the entire home’s feel or vibe together. Rather than using toxic air fresheners try adding an essential oil diffuser to the home the day before an open house. Choose light, natural and delicious scents such as; lemon, vanilla, peppermint, white tea… Be sure to go light on these flavors since the scent of the home works best if it’s subtle, enticing and warm. Too strong of a home scent and people will be running from the home with a headache.

Natural Scent Recipe:

• 2tbs Vanilla extract, 1 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice (Meyer if possible)

• Place in small soufflé dish or ramekin in the oven on 150 degrees.

• Start this a few hours before the potential buyers arrive and leave on throughout the day.

(natalini’s custom “Om Spray” essential oil room spray and hand sanitizer is available upon request)