Stripes are one of my favorite patterns and that's saying a lot because I don’t like a lot of patterns. Simplicity is key for me and that’s why stripes catch my eye. Lately I'm seeing a lot of stripes in restaurants, stores, and my friend’s homes. This trend is exciting because stripes are the easiest way to make a room pop. The question is how are you going to incorporate stripes into your life?

Once again Grand Image is honored to have our original artwork featured on AMC’s hit drama Mad Men.

The first thing I think of when I hear “floral pattern” is my Grandma’s guest bedroom where everything was floral. I mean everything matched and it was horrible. The duvet cover, pillows, curtains, lamp shades, and the chair in the corner all had the same floral pattern. All that flower power was not a good look and I hated staying in there. That room made me think floral patterns were for old ladies who couldn’t stop buying matching things. Luckily floral is growing on me because it has a new twist. This new twist is a simple white background. Let’s face it the floral pattern needed a new look that wasn’t over powering.

Desire for self-expression is more and more obvious in the houses of people everywhere. We want to have furniture and decorations that mean something, that make us smile and that ultimately make the place feel like home. Re-purposing various objects and materials is now both a passion and a form of art.

I read an interesting post featured on Freshome a while back with some ideas on how to bring letters into your home. Hand sketching and wall writing will be more and more popular this year, as graphic artists will start collaborating with interior designers in creating original wall imprints. Imagine your favorite message elegantly written in the hallway or various letters adorning the ceiling. Here is a nice example below:

Grand Image is seeing a huge trend in request for imagery that is successful in more masculine living spaces. Many men are working out of their home or playing greater roles as stay-at-home parents and current residential design reflects this.

In the early 1960s, as Lawrence Herbert drove to work in a blue Cadillac with cherry red seats, he mulled over a problem: How to create a “universal language” of color. Herbert, the owner of the Pantone printing company, had just produced a retail display card that helped shoppers choose pantyhose.

Until the end of this month, frozen New Yorkers looking to comfortably kill time or ward off the wintertime blues will find faux summertime bliss at Park Here, an indoor ”pop-up park.” It got me thinking about how I could bring the outdoors in to my day here in rainy grey Seattle. I do not have the space for a full faux park in my living room.

Grand Image is saddened by the unexpected loss of artist,  Ted L. Goerschner on December 23, 2012.  He was charismatic and inspirational painter and teacher,  repeatedly emphasizing the need to paint from life.

Please join us in Booth 1513 at the West Coast Art & Frame Show, January 28 - 30th at the Mirage Resort & Casino in Las Vegas!

The 18th Annual Los Angeles Art Show is Presented by The Palm Beach Show Group In tandem with THE 28th Annual IFPDA Los Angeles Fine Print Fair.  Grand Image's very own Jay Kelly will be exhibiting new work at Axiom Contemporary gallery from Santa Monica, CA.

The FeliXart Museum brings for the first time in 30 years a retrospective of Jan Yoors powerful work, consisting of gouaches, sculptures and abstract rugs.

On of our artists, James Bourret will be showing with 12 other notable artists at The Ordover Gallery,  a major art gallery at the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park, San Diego,CA.   The show is called "On the Trail of Ansel Adams, Black and White Nature Images From Nature" and runs from January 17, 2013 through April 2013.  The Opening Reception to the public is coming up on  January 26th.   

Oscar Niemeyer, the architect who shaped Brazil's futuristic capital city Brasilia in the 1950s and '60s with bold, often-voluptuous structures, died late Wednesday in Rio De Janeiro. He was 104.

Please join us at the West Coast Art & Frame Show Booth 1513, January 28 - 30, 2013 at the Mirage Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV!

My husband and I are expecting our first child in November so I have been feverishly nesting all summer, which mostly means a great excuse for decorating my house!   I have been pleasantly surprised with all the really cool, modern decor options for babies and small children.

There will be a drawing for a signed Studio Edition of Red Amber Persian Pair by Chihuly as part of the Transplant House Charity Auction, being held on November 16th at the Harbor Club Seattle. You do not need to be present to WIN! 100% of the money raised will go to support Transplant House's mission of providing safe and affordable housing for organ transplant recipients and their families. 

Join NEWH/Northwest Chapter for the Muse Masquerade Ball on Friday, October 26, 2012!  MUSE - a costumed Masquerade party where attendees are encouraged to come as an Artist's Muse, Art Movement or anything outside the 'canvas'.  Think:  Andy Warhol's Golden Marilyn, Jeff Koon's Balloon Dogs, Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Manet's Flaneurs, or perform Abramović's The Artist is Present for all of us! We look forward to rewarding your creativity and have only one more requirement - that you MASK yourself with an assessory or paint!

Larry Winn, Grand Image CEO, reports the passing of the gifted North Carolina artist Patrick Atkinson (1978-2012). Patrick passed away in his home in Wilmington, N.C. The entire staff of Grand Image sends our condolences to Sarah and their two boys, Lief and Caspian, his parents, Rocky and Dulce and the extended Atkinson family and friends.

BIG NEWS for joSon! A new book joSon: Intimate Portraits of Plants (Graphis Press, spring 2013) is going to the presses! 

When I first started at Grand Image in Winter 2003, one of the first people I met in the Gi corporate offices was Maeve Harris. We were the same age, we both grew up on the East Coast – me in Pennsylvania and Maeve in New Jersey.

Grand Image remembers those lost on Septemeber 11, 2001. Across the country, Americans marked the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, tolling church bells, pausing in silence to reflect and mourning the loss of the nearly 3,000 people who died.

Grand Image is so excited for our artist FRED LISAIUS. Recently his work was featured on the HGTV series DesignStar ALL-STARS. His artwork looks fantastic in in the designed space! Watch the video online and let us know what you think!

Grand Image's Lisa Kesler was selected by the City of Urbana Public Arts "Murals on Glass" program this summer!  She was interviewed by ArtsNow and her lively, energitic Fiesta 1 is on view at the Urbana, IL Parking Deck South Window, corner of Broadway Avenue & Elm Street.

I am one of the new kids on the block. No, not the boy band we all know and loved but, one of the newest members of the Grand Image family. My first three weeks have been a whirl wind of activities.  The Grand Image staff is a fun loving group with an eye for art and a passion for good food. As Devan, the National Sales Manager, said to me, “if we aren’t selling we are eating”

Top 10 Rundown of the #London2012 Olympics by Grand Image's very own Olympic Enthusiast: Devan Walker

The winner of Grand Image's Block Party drawing to benefit Transplant House was Carmela de Grasse of Art Today in Bellevue!  Lucky Carmela stopped by our Showroom yesterday to pick up her original Maeve Harris painting.

Grand Image and the modern design businesses of the 4000 block of Ohio Ave S invite you to attend the 4^th Annual Block Party on Wednesday July 18^th from 4:00pm – 8:00pm.  This year’s event will feature a variety of demonstrations, behind the scenes tours, free food + drink and much more! This is a rare opportunity for the general public and greater Seattle design community to visit, experience and learn more about the unique businesses in SoDo's light industrial corridor.

Pioneer of the limited edition art print business and famed artist LeRoy Neiman Dies at 91. Neiman, whose brilliantly colored, impressionistic sketches of sporting events and the international high life made him one of the most popular artists in the United States, died on Wednesday in Manhattan.

I thought I would revisit my blog post from last year and keep my chi in line.  My hubby and I had found a feng shui book and took care of our red south wall.  I’ve since convinced Barb Adams to keep a red candle lit in the south corner of her office.  If you know Barb, you know that is a personal triumph.  We also updated our purple corner of wealth, our green wall of family and health and then our blue “calm” corner.  (For those of you who didn’t read the first one – we had a fight in the meditation corner while deciding what to place there…so apropos.)

Mark your calendars for the 4th Annual Modern Design Block Party on Wednesday, July 18th 2012.

This year's event features more live music, food, drink, demonstrations and great art for a great cause!

The 2012 event is hosted by Grand Image, 3form Light Art, Resolute, Seattle Granite, Choice Linens, Tom Bihn, Jan Sewell Design, and Two Beers Brewery.