Father's day is approaching, and when June 19^th comes round, I am sure all of us who were blessed with good dads will get a little nostalgic for that first and most important man in our lives. Not everybody has a good dad, but that fact just makes those of us who do all the more grateful for the family we lucked in to. I personally had a really amazing father. He was, and is, totally supportive and caring, and even if he can be a bit of a jerk sometimes, he always made it completely obvious that he loved me and my sister more than anything else in the world. And I forgot to call him on his birthday.

This is the thing about fathers. Somehow, even though they know you love them, and you know it means so much to them, they seem to rarely ever get told. Maybe because they are men, and men are supposed to be less demonstrative than women, we think it would be better for these things to remain unspoken. It seems like we never forget Mom. We all make sure we have a gift, or at least a phone call for mom on mother's day. But we often let father's day pass unmarked. This June, maybe it is time to make up for past silences and make sure dad gets the message loud and clear. No mater how much we think something is understood, however, it is always good to let someone know for sure how special and important they are to us.

Loud and clear does not have to mean unsubtle or not beautiful. At USA on Canvas we can create a personalized canvas print or fine art print that will be all the more meaningful because the subject matter is chosen by you. Find a picture that you know dad will particularly like, I could be of him, or of you of the kids, but it could also be of that perfect day at the cottage, or the old car he drove until he couldn't drive it anymore. Whatever it is, we can have it printed on paper or canvas and delivered to dad's door with a message from you.

We can also create a custom collage on canvas of pictures from the photo album or of his grand-kids. This is a great way of sharing and preserving memories in a beautiful presentation that will last for years and years.

At USA on Canvas we can also create a piece of text art for you. This is a new service that we have just put in place. If you send us a file with a list of memories, a poem, or words that you think of when you think of dad, we can design an art piece that will convey how you really feel. I have created an example using the text of the first page of this post to show you what I mean.

You know what dad would like best, Just be sure not to forget him on June 19^th, Father's day.

Choosing a Picture Frame

Picture frames are one of those necessities of design that often gets overlooked. This is because like all good design, if done right, the picture frame will compliment the both the artwork and the room without drawing attention to its self. A frames job is to compliment, so if it does it's job right, becomes part of the decor so seamlessly that it does not stand out.

It is not always easy to choose the right frame. There are a couple of major points to consider when choosing a picture frame:

Factory or Custom Frame

Traditional frames are made of wood, and where hand-carved and hand joined. They where expensive and time-consuming to manufacture and often works of art in themselves. Modern technology has mechanized this process, and picture frames are now available in wood, metal, plastic, fiberglass, and particleboard. You can purchase ready-made frames at many art supply and interior design stores that have been mass produced. The advantage of these frames is that they are less expensive than custom frames. However, the disadvantage is that they are usual only available in certain standard sizes.

Custom picture frames, as the name implies are created to order by a professional framer, such as those at Usa On Canvas. The chosen wood or metal molding is cut to order and joined using special machines. A framer can also cut a matt to fit your artwork. A matt is a piece of archival art board that acts as a margin or buffer between the art and the frame. It is cut to fit the frame, and then a window is cut to display the artwork.

Color:

Frames are available in every colour of the rainbow. Traditional frames are often wood or wood veneer, or gold or silver leaf for the more elaborate variety. Metal frames are either enamelled, or exposed polished, brushed, or antiqued. The colour of the frame needs to compliment both the artwork and the room. Often natural wood or more neutral color will make the image stand out better, and not detract from the colors or details of the image. People often choose frames a little darker than the colors in the image. Usually gold and silver frames are used for more detailed images with lots of color, which can hold their own against the richness of the frame.

Shape:

Shape refers usually to the shape of the cross-section of the molding. It can be anything from flat with a small bevel, to an elaborate scoop with ornate carvings and edgings. Like color, the shape of the frame needs to compliment the picture. Ornate frames are often used for representational, detailed images like traditional paintings or portraits. Abstract work is often framed with something very modern and streamlined, with little ornamentation.

Giclee prints are sometimes frames using a floater frame, which is shaped like a staircase on the cross-section. This frame type is unusual because it is front-loading, and rather than having a rabbet, there is a gap between the edge of the canvas and the frame, creating the effect of the canvas “floating” int he frame. This is a very contemporary type of frame that is well suited to giclee prints of photographs.

Width:

Frames come in a range of widths, from1/4 of an inch to 4-6 inches wide. For a larger picture, a wider frame is more sturdy, and will also look proportional to the size of the picture. The wider the frame is in comparison the the size of the artwork, the more the frame becomes part of the work. It can be a bold choice to frame small pieces with a wide, ornate frame. However, it is more common to choose frame width that is more proportional to the artwork size.

Rabbet:

Rabbet is a technical term for the space behind the lip of the frame. This space needs to be big enough to fit everything that is being framed, the work, the backing, matting and glass. When framing three-dimensional objects, like fabric or souvenirs, the size of the rabbet is an important consideration. Selecting a frame with an appropriate rabbet is an important part of the work of a professional framer.

These are just some considerations to keep in mind when choosing a frame. The final consideration is of course your own taste. No-one can tell you what looks good to you, and it is most important that the frame you choose suites your taste and style. A professional framer can give you good advice and suggestions on what frame to choose, but remember, you are the one who will be living with it!

Classic Art giclees

At USA on Canvas we understand the importance of art. Art can brighten a room, it can be like a friend that you greet everyday, and it came make you happy, calm your mind, or make you think. USA on Canvas knows that artistic ability is not restricted to a few 'geniuses'. We know this because every day we create stunning canvas pieces from photos and images created by our customers. We also host an Online Art Gallery of American artists, a place where artists can display their work on line and have it printed on demand by us. We believe that the single best thing about Giclee printing is that it can help make art available to everyone.

We know that art, specifically painting and drawing, has a long history and glorious history. Painters like Klimt, Van Gogh, and Renoir are still loved today for the striking, beautiful, and sometimes unsettling images they created. Many of these images have become iconic, like William-Adolphe Bouguereau's "First Kiss", but there are many many more images by these same artists that are more obscure, but just as interesting and just as beautiful.

To view a selection of some of the best classic art of the past, visit the Classic Art Gallery at USAoncanvas.com, where we have a of high resolution images of many great artists. The best part is, all of these images can be ordered as a giclee canvas print in a variety of sizes for only the price of the print. Because we use the highest quality of inks and canvas, and high resolution files of these classic art images, the canvas prints we make for you are as close as possible to owning the original painting.

Of course not everyone can own an original Monet or Cezanne, in fact, most people think it is better for these treasures of mankind to be kept in museums, so that everyone can enjoy them once in a while. But at the same, time, a treasured painting is somthing you want to be able to see every day, not just once in a while. Fine art printing can let you own the painting for a tiny fraction of the the cost, and also allows and unlimited number of people to own the same painting, without taking away from the enjoyment of others. This is made possible due to fine art scanning technology, which convert the colors and brush strokes to digital information so that it can be reproduced digitally. The power to convert and image to digital has greatly increased the availability of fine art to its audience. A great example of this is the Google Art project, which has digitized and mapped dozens of galleries and thousands of artworks.

Digital images are great, but no one wants to look at a painting on a computer screen for very long. This is where giclee printing comes in. Before it was possible to print on canvas, the only way to hang a classic art piece in your own home was either to be a millionaire, or to purchase a poster print of the classic work. Paper, however, lacks the physical presence and texture of a classic painting. The giclee process has allowed printers a much greater choice in the materials they print on, and many companies not make canvas for the giclee process this canvas can be stretched in exactly the same manner in which artists and their assistants once stretched the canvas on which they worked. A canvas print is one step closer to the look and feel of the original and for this reason it has become a popular choice for art reproduction among artist and art lovers.

To view our Classic Art Gallery and order prints, please visit USAOnCanvas.com