Posts Tagged ‘art’

While the idea of all-American good looks now extends far beyond the blonde-haired and blue-eyed, diversity can still be hard to find. Sometimes you’ve just got to take matters into your own hands.

New online shop Kisha’s Kids operates with the mission to fill children’s surroundings with images of kids who actually look like them. The concept comes from founder Kisha Holt, who became frustrated after not being able to find brown-skinned faces on decor for her own kids’ rooms. Contemporary and vintage-inspired accessories and toys, many of which are exclusive to the site, range from original area rugs illustrated by artist Lizzy Rockwell to giclee clocks featuring old-fashioned cars. Kids of all backgrounds will relate to the playful images, like fairies and fire trucks, that reflect their ever-changing worlds.

Available at kishaskids.com.

A fairy mural might look nice, but Sonny and Cher is more your speed when it comes to a quirky kid’s room.

Mr. T, Andy Warhol, Spock and Joey Ramone are just some of the people painted by artist Seana Corcoran, who creates these hipster portraits after her three children go to bed. The original artwork, done in fun, bright colors, grow with a little one and blend from crib to big bed.

Plus it’ll teach him about who was cool in your day.

Available at lumalum.com.

Your decorating style is uniquely yours (art deco-meets-African?) but you want your little one to have a room of her own.

Start with art: Honeybee Gallery offers an eclectic assortment of original art for a kid’s bedroom or baby’s nursery. Developed by a mom and experienced family therapist, this online gallery of child-oriented pieces ranges from vintage-inspired silkscreens to contemporary oil on canvas. Sure there are the usual ducks, bunnies and princesses, but you’ll find offbeat renderings as well. The well-organized collection is broken down by artist (don’t miss Anne Leuck Feldhaus or Maureen O’Connor), style (whimsical, folk, retro) and theme (music, animals, things that float) for easy searching.

Point, click, decorate.

Available at honeybeegallery.com.

Your kids spent an hour at the drugstore searching for the perfect Mother’s Day card for Grandma — and came up empty handed. Canned greetings just don’t make the kind of creative statement they’re after.

RUVAcards helps children express themselves with personalized stationery featuring their own artwork. Send a digital scan (or the original piece via snail mail) and they will match the colored dots to customize a stationery set. Plus, the inside holds the artist’s information, so she’ll never be end up undiscovered.

Available at ruvacards.com.

The wannabe Warhol-inspired paintings of your kid in Technicolor just won’t cut it when it comes to original art.

Give the old-fashioned portrait a new take: Name Your Design uses a photo of your child’s profile to create a custom silhouette. This modern spin, done on an 18X24 canvas, is classic yet totally contemporary. Available in turquoise, pink, blue or orange, with mod dots, your new unique piece comes ready to hang.

Make some room on the wall.

Available at nameyourdesign.com.

You could sure use the help of a decorating-on-a-dime expert, given your funds to build a dream nursery (near zero) and your penchant for product (zilch).

Penny People’s adorable Alphabet Print is the best deal for your decor budget. For $15 to $25, owner Lindsay Stephenson will customize your kid’s name onto a colorfully modern A-to-Z poster that will look great an inexpensive frame. The stylized design will last long after he learns his ABCs.

Available at pennypeople.com.

Those imitation Warhols or your baby’s face are not exactly the type of “original art” you have in mind.

Try something a bit more unique: Massachusetts-based artist Lisa Foster will create a rendering of a child that is rich in texture, using reproduction quilting fabrics (from the colonial period to the 1930s) and acrylic paint. Reminiscent of the decorative arts, her pieces are for the true collector (prices start around $900, to $6000 and more depending on the size).

It’s an investment not for the faint of heart (or wallet), but a wise one indeed.

Visit lisaafoster.com.

High style has hit the nursery wall, with the primary-colored, saccharine, alphabet-blocks-and-teddy-bears motifs of yesteryear giving way to modish art that even an adult might consider poking a hole in the wall for.

Petit Collage’s magnificent plaques are constructed of beautifully grained maple plywood, accented with found, recycled, painted and vintage papers. Constructed by San Francisco artist Lorena Siminovich, a former art director/product developer for innovative New York toy manufacturer Mudpuppy, Petit Collage’s wall hangings appear deceptively simple on first look. But upon examination, rich details jump out: the swirls on a piece of paper forming a bird’s wing echo the grain of the wood behind it, or stripes carefully meet at odd angles. It all makes for art that you long to run your hands over, and that you don’t get sick of seeing above the changing table every day.

Available at petitcollage.com.

The kids say they’re tired of coloring books and crayons. But you’d need formal art training to keep their creative minds occupied.

Eye Can Art offers enough entertainment for at least a few afternoons. The kits provide high-quality, non-toxic materials for fun projects like Japanese-style brush paining, wax drawing and printmaking (and yes, instructions too). Exposing little artistes to new techniques is sure to inspire a few new fridge-worthy masterpieces.

Which gives you time to research the next activity.

Visit eyecanart.com.

It’s one of those universal guilty parenting moments: Your child comes home, brimming with pride over his latest crayon on construction paper, and your first thought is not “Art lessons! This kid’s clearly the next Kandinsky.” But rather: “Where the heck am I going to put this one?”

When you’ve maxed out the installations at the office and your drawers are overflowing, it’s time to try a new tack. Send the creations, along with your child’s photo, age, grade and a few fun facts (favorite color, book) to the Art Archives. They’ll make a personalized DVD, set to music, of his or her greatest artistic hits.

Which leaves you free to surreptitiously recycle the “World’s Best Mom” series — without relinquishing the title.

For more information visit theartarchives.com.