The Painting is too small...

There is not much to say about the complete room but you can get a pretty good feeling from this vignette. There is simplicity, no ornamental schnickschnack and it seems to be a room full of serenity. And no doubt this fireplace defines the atmosphere of this room.

The only "problem" I have with this vignette is that the original art piece above the mantle nearly disappears.

 (original image source: www.housebeautiful.com)

As an alternative I would hang a larger painting such as the one below. It also adds a bit more drama and effect to the room, repeating nicely the colour of the fire mantle.

The acrylic painting is called The Rain Dancer and depicts one of my favourite models, Pete, the pigeon patron from our feral pigeon family, while he takes a shower in the rain. If you look closely (click on the image to enlarge) you will see all the droplets in his plumage and the content look in his face. Pigeons love to bathe or to take a shower in the rain.

"The Rain Dancer"
(from the Pigeons series) 
18" x 26" acrylic on cotton
©Petra Voegtle

If you would like to learn more about pigeons, how intelligent and funny these birds are, simply amazing creatures - then please check out my blog/diary Pigeon Tales. I can tell you that you will not be disappointed. There are lots of funny and sweet photos, little videos and stories about their adventures.Additionally you will find a lot of interesting links about birds and pigeons especially.

~

Even in the tiniest Room there is a Place for a Piece of Art!

Yes - that's my credo! And even the tiniest room will look more sophisticated and well taken care of if you place a piece of art that adds some focus. It should not disappear - it should be a bit more prominent.

That's why I would choose something more colourful and prominent than the original images here. Although it contradicts somehow the natural response that you should use something small in a small room it does not always function. You would be surprised what a difference it can make to ignore the rules sometimes...

(original image source getdecorating.com)

"Sari II"

(from the Patterns series)

20" x 15", acrylic on paper

©Petra Voegtle

 ~

GIVEAWAY: a 60$ Giveaway from CSN Stores

I have two news - a wonderful one and a bad one. The wonderful one is that I am very happy to announce that I am ready for my first giveaway! The bad news is that this is unfortunately only applicable for people living in the US and Canada. I am really sorry for this. But at least I can make someone happy.

I was contacted this week by CSN Stores who kindly offered a 60$ gift certificate that can be used on ANY product from their stores. This is truly a very generous gift I find. I am really disappointed that I cannot use it myself and if I could and if I had a house with a garden I would certainly look for some fancy "outdoor lighting". Check these out and you will see what I am talking about. The sheer amount of outdoor lamps they are offering blew me away and also the range from very simple lamps to very sophisticated outdoor lighting. In the end YOU will have the pain of the choice. I am sure you would find whatever you are looking for. Here are only 3 examples from more than 2000 outdoor lamps!!

Imagine you could sit in warm summer nights in your rocking chair on your terrace, with the garden immersed in a wonderful warm light between the trees, listening to the sound of the cicadas and dreaming off into the night. What could be more relaxing?

Remember that you need not spend your gift certificate necessarily on outdoor lighting. You can use it for any product from the CSN Stores assortment.And here is how you can win this giveaway:

1. follow publicly this blog and enter a short comment on this post that you did (mandatory)
2. don't forget to enter a valid email address (will not be published)
3. spread the word about this giveaway via facebook and twitter with reference to this post (if you do this you get 2 voices!)

The winner will be announced on Mar 23!

Good luck to everybody!
Btw - I have no advantage from this and I am not getting paid for this...

~

BLOGGING: Missing Thumbnail Images

About 2 weeks ago I realized that the thumbnail images in my blogrolls did not appear any more - only a few were showing up but most had disappeared.I realized in the comments of other blogger that I was not the only one with this problem.

It took some time to find the answer in the help forums i.e. there is a work around until this problem has been fixed - therefore I am posting this here in case you are desperately looking for a solution as well:

Go into the "edit" mode of your post, look for the first image that will normally appear as thumbnail and replace the following:

"The solution lies in replacing https with http and googleusercontent with ggpht

So for example:

   https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

becomes
   http://lh3.ggpht.com/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

If you do these substitutions in your first image, the thumbnail will be generated without problem."

Be sure to do this twice in the code of your first image - otherwise it will not work!

~

A Gathering above the Fireplace

I had this photo for quite a while in my files and never found an idea what to hang instead of that dark something above the fireplace. Although this room is much too dark for my personal taste - I love light light light - I like it somehow but not that black strange thing - a wreath? - above the fireplace. This makes the room even gloomier.

Instead I would love to hang a painting such as this one, called The Gathering, from my pigeons series. This might be a strange choice but if you look closely at the painting it adds a lot of wit and a smile will appear on your face - I am sure of this.

(original image source getdecorating.com)

The painting depicts a mother pigeon and two of her sons, Willy and Joey, all members of our balcony pigeon family and about whose adventures you could read in my diary the Pigeon Tales with many amusing and also sad stories, diligently collected and written down since several years now.

"The Gathering"
(from the Pigeons series) 

26" x 18" acrylic

©Petra Voegtle

If you would like to know more about this painting and series please check this link.

~