What Abstract Painting is all About

Perhaps you've seen a lot of paintings already and out of the paintings you've seen, you appreciate only a few of them. You see, there are different painting styles and techniques used by painters. One of these styles is abstract painting. When you say abstract painting, not many appreciate it probably because of its different style and not so ordinary appearance. But despite the oddness of such painting style, you should not judge it at first sight. Instead, you should try to understand why it was painted.

Abstract painting started hundreds of years ago. There are famous abstract paintings housed in museums. Private collectors who love abstract painting also have some of them. Abstract paintings are good investments as well as collection items. You'll never know how much a certain painting would cost in the future and with the great awareness and appreciation of people nowadays for abstract painting, even you can't tell a paintings value. Some of the famous abstract painters were Picasso, Van Gogh, and Modigliani. Because of these artist's beautiful works, abstract painting became even more famous.

Do you know what abstract painting is? This type of painting can be defined in various ways. Unlike traditional paintings, abstract painting doesn’t portray reality. Before, painting was all about depicting a realistic or photographic expression of something or someone. However, abstract paintings are a lot different. The painting itself does not illustrate real objects. The shapes and colors shown in abstract paintings are non-objective and non-representing. The painting may refer to a person or to any other individual, anything, or even nothing. If you can't understand the meaning of a particular painting, you can ask the experts or even the painter about its meaning. Natural art lovers on the other hand, don’t need explanations because if they love abstract paintings, they will understand clearly the significance of the painting.

Try to look at an abstract painting. You will see bright, vivid, and bold colors. Aside from the colors, you will also note that the painting has biometric shapes. For art lovers, this is a beautiful and strange piece.

Way back in 1940, Abstract Expressionism is a movement pushed through by the artists. The artists and painters supported abstract painting and they wanted the freedom of expression through the paintings they made. This made abstract painting more popular. The movement began in a particular school in New York and the movement was also called Action Painting. Among the American schools that joined the movement declared their independence from the artworks of European style. After this, abstract painting was pushed forward.

In order to understand and appreciate abstract painting, you must know its humble beginnings. Even if abstract painting is quite odd, you should still learn to love it because its part of history and it is still a painting which expresses the thoughts and feelings of painters. You can get paintings like this in art galleries online and local art shops. Some are quite expensive but there are also cheap ones. You can get replicas of the original classic abstract paintings made by the famous painters by purchasing them in certain companies that commission this kind of painting style.

Try to conduct a research about abstract painting. You can find many resources online so that you will understand more about this painting style. A painting is not always a representation of a specific object or person and that is exactly what abstract painting is all about.

The Wonderful Colors of Feng Shui

Colors affect people in different ways. By using the right colors, you can strengthen the elements of Feng Shui. These wonderful colors are divided into cool which is Yin and warm which is Yang. There must a balance at all times because everything possesses these two components. Aside from Yin colors being cool, it also represents healing and relaxation. To give you an idea, here are the colors. • Blue has yin energy because it reflects love. It also creates a feeling of peace and trust. Since it is the color of both the sea and sky, Feng Shui experts associate it with adventure and exploration. Among the different shades of blue, navy blue is the color that best describes intellect and wisdom. • Black symbolizes money and income. It is great for those who are focusing on their careers especially when this color is combined with metal. In Feng Shui, it is the color of emotional protection and power. • Next is purple that lies at the end of the spectrum. In Feng Shui, it is associated with spiritual awareness as it is excellent for physical and mental healing. • White represents confidence, poise and purity. Feng Shui experts use this color in combination with gold and silver as it generates a calm atmosphere. • You also have green which is represents balancing, normalizing, nurturing and refreshing. It is the color of balance, harmony, healing and health in the emotional, physical and spiritual aspect of things. Yang colors tend to be fire and wood elements. It is these colors that provide you with positive energy or enthusiasm and here are the colors. • Yellow represents cheerfulness and friendliness. However, too much exposure to this color can be bad because it often leads to anxiety. • Orange helps you strengthen your concentration especially in times when your creativity runs dry. • Tan or being represents the colors of the earth. It portrays neatness and helps conceal emotion. • Lavender is the color of sexual indecision. Feng Shui experts believe this color suggests an ability to be manipulated. • Maroon is one of the shades of red. In Feng Shui, this represents indecisiveness. There are other colors aside from those mentioned that represent Yin and Yang in Feng Shui. If you want to know more about it, do some research as this is written in books and also posted online. As mentioned, these colors should be used in different combinations with other Feng Shui elements in order to balance the Chi. These elements are namely earth, water, fire, wind and metal. Each of the colors above represents one of these elements and by making sure there is balance, you will be able to bring prosperity wherever you need it like in your home or for your business. For instance, if you want balance in the bathroom, you shouldn’t add the color black as there is enough water already there. Doing so will cause an imbalance and surely you wouldn’t want that to happen. The wonderful colors of Feng Shui can be used to your advantage depending on the energy you need. For you to achieve prosperity, you have to bring them into your home or office not only in the colors of the wall but also the furniture and décor as well.

Love, Relationships and Feng Shui

If you think that Feng Shui is only good for your home or your office, think again. This can also be used for love and relationships. Here are some tips you should know.

1. If you are married or in a relationship, hang pictures of you together with your mate.

2. For married couples, place a pair of objects in the far right corner of the bedroom otherwise known as the southwest corner. A few good examples are a pair of Mandarin ducks or cranes as these are symbols of marital bliss. Another is a heart shaped figurine made from pink quartz crystal.

3. You surely have mirrors in the bedroom. If they are facing the bed, relocate them because it reflects the couple on the bed. Some believe that this will cause a failure in the relationship because of the entry of a third party. Believe it or not, televisions are just as negative as mirrors do get rid of it.

4. As for the bed, make sure that this is not in direct line to the door. This is because the dead take your with your feet first. It should also be accessible from three sides as this will allow you to keep your partner.

5. You should always treat yourselves to fresh flowers and once they wilt, replace it. Never put these in the southwest corner of the room as this will clash with the element of romance, namely earth.

6. If there are any abstract, dark or sad artworks in the bedroom, take it out. These things encourage negativity when this room should be peaceful and safe for those who sleep there. You can replace it with a painting of Peonies, love birds or silk flowers as these represents love.

7. You must never work out in the bedroom because this represents hard work that is often a hindrance of romantic space.

8. Should the bedroom doors squeak, fix it because it blocks romantic energy from entering the bedroom.

9. For those who have toilets and unfortunately this is located on the south west corner of the room, don’t worry because you can fix it by hanging a five rod wind chime.

10. The bedroom should be well ventilated so old energy moves out of the room.

11. It will also be a good idea to buy yourselves a gift as this symbolizes your relationship. Put this in a prominent place in the room or the home so you are able to remember your partner.

12. But what if you are still single? Well Feng Shui may also work for you. You do this by making a wish list of what qualities you want in an ideal partner and also the ideal relationship. These are two different things and when you write it, be specific. It may not happen today or tomorrow but one day, your ideal partner will show up and you can have your dream come true.

Feng Shui can help you keep the love alive in your relationship by blocking out negative things and then embracing those that are positive. This may mean relying more of Yin which symbolizes femininity more than Yang which is masculinity but it is all good as this causes a healthy balance with the opposite sex.

Save Money on Text Books

One of the most expensive areas of attending college seems to be the cost of the text books these days. Since most colleges only use a particular book for a year or two it is very hard to purchase them in advance. Yet there are some good ways you can catch a break when it comes to paying for the text books you need. Almost all colleges have bulletin boards so you can place an ad for the various books you need. Hopefully individuals who have just finished the course will gladly part with the book for much less than they paid for it.

If you have text books from courses you have finished you may be able to trade what you need for what someone else needs. If you are in a particular type of program such as business or education you will likely find other students who need to take the same classes as you. Setting up a text book swap is a great way to maximize the amount of money that you do spend on text books.

It can be very frustrating to get the newest edition of a particular text book and then find out it hasn’t changed very much at all from the previous edition. Take to your instructor as they will likely have gone through the new edition and make comparisons to the old one. Most instructors are fine with you using an older edition of the same book. You can save a substantial amount of money if you are able to do so.

Another frustration can be to find out after your purchase such a text book that you won’t need it very much as the instructor mainly teaches from notes. If this is the case consider purchasing a book with a classmate and splitting the cost. This won’t work well if you will have a great deal of text book reading or assignments to complete though.

Check to see if the college library offers copies of text books rather than purchasing them. Most libraries that offer this option don’t allow the text books to be checked out but you can use them in the library as you need to. If you choose this option make sure you start on assignments as quickly as possible so that you don’t have to stress about someone else already using the book.

Some book stores offer to place used text books on consignment for students. These are often placed in the bookstore with the new books on the shelves. While they may have some wear and tear as well as highlighting they will serve the purpose of a one semester course. These consigned books generally sell fast so make sure you go to the bookstore at the very end of the semester. As students complete their finals they will take their books into the bookstore.

On the back of each textbook is an ISBN number. It is generally found above or underneath the bar code on the book. You can use this number to search for the text book on the internet. There are several places where you can purchase new and used textbooks at a price that is much less than what you will pay for it at the college campus bookstore.

Advertising-Options

After the advent of online selling sites, shopping has been made so easy that it can be done within the comfort of the home. Online selling gave rise to online advertising also known as iAdvertising, which is proving to be the best way to reach a larger audience within a short time using less money.

There are many options available on the Internet to get started. Creating a website and then placing its link on different websites is one of the ways. Pages can be submitted to the search engines after applying search engine optimization techniques. Websites offer various payment methods. Some take money for simply placing an ad or link on their website, some take money only if a visitors clicks on the link or website and some take money only if the visitors visits a link and have bought something or availed some service. There are options available for the type of ad being placed. There are pop-up ads, banner ads, wallpaper ads, polite ads, video ads, etc. Businesses with really low budget can send mails to targeted customers.

Radio stations offer a good price to advertise during the non-peak time. Get in touch with the local station and try to ask for a discount. The same applies to television; even they have a minimal amount for advertising slots during the non-prime hours, especially after midnight. Contact different television station to compare pricing.

The age-old tradition of advertising in yellow pages directories is always a success. All businesses from small to big register themselves in the yellow pages and have sworn to be benefited from it. People can look up for contact numbers, addresses and services offered directly from the pages.

Newspaper is the next best thing. First analyze the audience to be targeted by age group, sex, and location. Choose the local newspaper and section where the ad should be placed depending on the audiences to be targeted. The classifieds department of the local newspapers have special offers, find out in detail about the pricing structure for the size of the advertisements, number of words, font size, etc.

Design the business cards with accuracy. Try to include all the vital information about the business like the name of the company, where it is located, services provided, working hours, and contact information like landline number, cell number and person to be contacted. Personalized business cards are good way of reaching the genuine customers.

Other way to advertise is to give presentations on your products. Brochures can be inserted in the business presentation package. Other than things like history of the company and annual turn-up, once again business cards can be included in the package. Distribute newsletters with information about the latest offers and discounts. Informational letters of a page length and e-mails can be sent too on a regular basis. All this can become lot easier by getting in touch with companies who can provide the mailing list of a particular locality and it comes for a very small price. Again the yellow pages can be referred to get information about such companies. After getting the information get in touch with company to get a copy of the latest mailing list. Different companies charge different prices

The word of mouth is also a good method of advertising. Try growing the links in your network and join organizations which deals with advertising like trade associations and chamber of commerce. Active participation in events of these organizations eventually helps reaching more number of people.

Save Money on your Purchases

Many manufacturers offer mail in rebates to encourage consumers to buy their product. The way these rebates work is that you have to pay the full price for the product when you get it. Then you fill out the rebate information and mail it in along with a copy of your receipt. They will then send you a check.

However, you will be amazed at how many people fail to get around to sending in the information for their rebate. Most offers have a set time frame so it is a good idea to get the information in the mail as quickly as possible. They either don’t want to mess around with the process or the simply forget with so many other things taking place in their life.

Since it can take weeks to get your rebate in the mail, it is a good idea to keep a file of the rebates you have mailed in. Always make a copy of the rebate information and the receipt before you mail it in. This way you have proof of your purchase and a phone number to contact them if you don’t receive the rebate in a timely manner.

The amount of any given rebate will vary but when you consider that the average on is $25, that is a great deal of money that consumers aren’t taking advantage of. It is a good idea to always use them to your advantage. Otherwise you are simply throwing your money away.

Each rebate process may be slightly different so make sure you take the time to read all the information that comes with it. You don’t want the frustration of waiting for 60 days to get the rebate only to get a letter instead that says you aren’t eligible because you failed to provide some piece of information or your form wasn’t completely filled out.

It is also a good idea to take action when a rebate you send it is not honored. This doesn’t happen very often but it is very important that you follow up. If you only purchased the item at the price offered because of the rebate than it is even more important that you get it.

Getting your rebate should never exceed 60 days. If you don’t have it by then contact the company. Make sure you document all the information about when you called and who you spoke to. It is good to have a log of this information so that if you want to pursue getting the rebate by other means you can back up your information.

There are a couple good websites you can use to track your rebate including www.MyRebates.com, www.WheresMyRebate.com, and www.Rebatestatus.com. If you don’t find your rebate and the manufacturer isn’t working with you then file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau.

The majority of company’s who offer rebates do honor them though so this really should never be an ongoing issue for you. There are plenty of businesses that do look forward to the unclaimed rebates though because at least 40% of them never get filed by the consumer.

As a rule of thumb though, I wouldn’t recommend basing your purchase on a rebate. If you don’t end up with the funds then the product cost you more than you were willing to pay for it. While you wait for the rebate process to be completed you will have the loss of that additional money that could be allocated for something else.

You should also be prepared for rebates to ask for your personal information including your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address. This could result in you getting coupons and promotions that will save you more money in the future. However, they can result in you getting bombarded by offers by the manufacturer that you aren’t interested in.