Category Archives: Nature Photography

What is Great Big Canvas?

It’s great and it’s big, I get that and bigger IS better right? Greatness is determined by service, so we will have to come back to that. Based on the name alone though, Great Big Canvas must have something truly special to offer in the world of canvas wall art right?

Formed in 2002, Great Big Canvas is a private company located in Raleigh, North Carolina that offers canvas prints, framed prints, posters and large canvas wall art both online and at the retail level with distribution through brick n mortar stores such as Walmart, Amazon and Wayfair. While the materials used to produce Great Big Canvas wall art are imported from overseas, the assembly of the materials is completed in the USA. Let’s dive in and find out if buying canvas art from Great Big Canvas will be a positive experience or a great big mistake.

What Is Canvas Wall Art?

Canvas wall art is either printed using digital photography or art or painted onto thick canvas material and then stretched and stapled to a wooden frame. Traditionally, canvas was produced using hemp. In modern times, hemp has been replaced by cotton and linen. The majority of canvas art that you will purchase for your home use cotton or polyester. The main difference between cotton and polyester when it comes to canvas wall art is absorption of inks. Color seeps into cotton fibers while resting on top of material made with synthetic polyester strands. Cotton prints are typically longer lasting while polyester blends more vivid visually.

Canvas Prints Vs Framed Canvas Prints

Great Big Canvas offers their artwork rolled and unmounted, stretched and stapled around a wooden frame and externally framed. If purchasing a rolled print, the artwork will need to be stretched whether wrapping and stapling or traditionally framing the work. The choice between framed and unframed canvas art ultimately comes down to personal choice and style of decor. That being said, there are advantages and disadvantages to both options.

Stretched canvas prints, especially in larger sizes are prone to warping over time. Canvas art is also known to sag, losing it’s rigidity over time. The artwork is also unprotected against damage from light, dirt, contact from foreign objects and humidity.

Framed canvas prints add elegance to canvas art and a higher sense of visual quality. Additional support can be provided as part of the framing process to reduce the chances of warping or sagging. An extra dimension is added to the artwork when a frame is used and the glass, or plexiglass used during the framing process can protect against dust and contact damage. Normal glass does not provide any type of UV protection and is also susceptible to humidity and water damage in the same way that stretched canvases are.

The Great Big Canvas Experience

The first time I visited the Great Big Canvas Website I was immediately bombarded with a pop up offering 50% off my order. While everyone loves to save money, a 50% discount the moment I say hello doesn’t speak well to quality or value in my experience. At the very least this tells me that the company already has a significant profit margin built into their pricing structure.

The second thing that jumped out at me was the overwhelming collision of options on the homepage. For those who love to look through every available option, you are going to need to clear your calendar through 2087 to look through all of the canvas styles, colors, artists, rooms, subjects, featured collections, best sellers and ideas. Most of us search for artwork visually and being bombarded by a cocktail of pop art, paintings, graffiti and posters of wizards and witches, natural wildlife and Jesus curing the blind, I felt instantly overwhelmed by too many options and lack of cohesion.

Nevertheless I dug it and picked one artwork to look into pricing. Prior to the 50% discount offer, a stretched 18″ canvas print started at $114 and rose to $739.99 for a 60″ print! When you compare these prices to the $79 and $99 canvas prints you can purchase at any Target, World Market or Walmart, you get a very clear picture for why they are so quick to offer a 50% discount.

Great Big Canvas Reviews

Enough about my opinions. After all, I don’t deal in cheap art and never have. My clients aren’t looking for cheap, they are looking for luxuriousness, luminance, quality and value. Since I may be biased, let’s have a look at what others think by following the Trustpilot link on the Great Big Canvas Website.

The first review gets 1 star. “Terrible Customer Consideration” and DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY were a few of the highlights from this review.

The second review must be better right? “Total Waste of Money” and “ridiculously ugly” are the rave reviews from this customer.

Remember, this was literally the first two reviews, but don’t worry I’m sure it gets better from there. I guess it could be worse. Great BIG Canvas is 34 out of 71 best companies in the category Decoration and Interior Design Store on Trustpilot.

While I may be biased against Canvas Prints themselves, there is no doubt that customer service determines the value of your brand. While a picture is worth a thousand words, Testimonials from your clients are worth far more than that. Don’t worry though, Great Big Canvas has cherry-picked only 5 star reviews for you to run on a carousel at the bottom of their site, hoping you don’t dig any deeper for yourself.

Quality Fine Art vs Canvas Art

Many forms of art can be quite expensive, from hundreds of dollars to millions, there is an endless range of cost and quality across the world of art. Once you get past the marketing and the description of the artwork itself, it all comes down to real world quality. I personally have never been moved emotionally by a roll of cotton fabric no matter what was printed on it. Ok, I take that back. The Shroud of Turin is undoubtedly impressive and alluring. Great Big Canvas though….. not so much.

As an artist the work that I produce is the made using the highest quality materials on the planet and I wouldn’t have it any other way. While I certainly could produce my work using cheaper materials, that would just make it cheap. You do truly get what you pay for, so don’t be surprised when your $65 canvas art shows up at your doorstep… or doesn’t. 😉

Mass Produced Wall Art, Posters & Prints

If you are looking for cheap, mass produced wall art, it can be found everywhere you look from your local Target or Wal-Mart, to print-on-demand sites such as Fine Art America or Art.Com. If you need a wide selection and a higher level of quality you can check out Lumas Art Galleries or Yellowkorner Photography Galleries. However, if you want the very best photographic wall art available today, you won’t find it on any of these websites.

Where To Purchase The Highest Quality Wall Art?

The highest quality photographic art can most often be found by purchasing directly from the artist themselves. Once middlemen, mass production, overseas materials and poor customer service get involved you can pretty much guarantee a lackluster return on your investment.

Benefits To Working Directly With An Artist

As a family-owned and operated business you will always work with me (the artist) directly, never disconnected office staff, wholesale distributors or pushy gallery directors. I believe in offering the highest quality photographic art available in the world today, while continuously going above and beyond for collectors of my work, providing exceptional and personal customer service. Whether you are simply looking for a single showpiece to transform a room or have a grand vision to fill your home or office with the world’s finest photographic art, my level of dedication to you never wavers.

Here in my online galleries, you will find stunning limited edition nature and landscape photography collections showcasing the beauty of our natural world. From the unbridled wonder of trees to the repetition of abstracts found in nature and much more, I am confident you will find inspiring and uplifting art you will fall in love with.

Fresh faced! Anne Hathaway showed off her natural beauty in a stunning makeup-free selfie.

Most Radiant Celebrity Makeup-Free Moments of 2022: Bethenny Frankel, Gigi Hadid and More

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The Princess Diaries actress, 40, took to Instagram on Sunday, January 22, unveiling her no-glam glow, leaving fans in awe. In the shot, Hathaway is seen lying in bed, giving the camera sultry pout. The Armageddon Time star looked cozy in a white robe as her brunette tresses cascaded down her shoulders and framed her face.

The up-close photo highlighted her rosy cheeks, scattered freckles and dark brown eyes.

“Swipe right for a warm surprise…” the Les Misérables star captioned the social media post, directing attention to the second slide of the carousel, which showed a cup of coffee with her face etched in foam.

Hathaway’s fans praised the slideshow in the comments section, with one writing: “She doesn’t age. Like AT ALL.” Another called Hathaway a “natural beauty” as a third gushed: “Wow! Absolutely stunning!”

The Bride Wars star looks just as fab with a clean face as she does glammed up. On Saturday, January 21, the New York native dressed up to attend the Eileen premiere during Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. For the soirée, the Locked Down actress sported a fitted Versace coat dress that featured a corset bodice and miniskirt. To spice up the look even more, she wore sheer tights and platform leather booties with gold details.

It’s Back! Sundance Film Festival 2023: Dakota Johnson, More Stars Attend

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Underneath the outerwear, Hathaway rocked a black tweed minidress that was equipped with spaghetti straps, a subtle checkered pattern and a sheer back.

The Devil Wears Prada star posted two snapshots from the event via Instagram and captioned them, “This coat was another warm surprise

,” and tagged celebrity hairstylist Orlando Pita.

The Hustle actress’ strands were parted down the side and texturized. For glam, Hathaway looked radiant with warm eyeshadow tones, light mascara, eyeliner and peachy lips.

Celebrity friends and fans added their loving words to her comment section. Pita commented a heart emoji and Donatella Versace wrote, “So beautiful!!” while actress Krysten Ritter added fire emojis.

Pita has also worked his magic on Cindy Crawford, Lily Collins, Selena Gomez, Gwyneth Paltrow and more.

Joey King! Megan Fox! The Most Daring Celebrity Eye Makeup Looks of 2022

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The stylist was the brains behind Hathaway’s hair for a Vogue Hong Kong photoshoot in October 2022. For the spread, he styled her mane in a voluminous updo featuring a slicked back ponytail with her tresses cascading down to her waist.

Adorning your home with photographic wall art is a great way to make each room reflect your unique style and assign each area a specific purpose. Decorating each room with art pieces can help separate spaces or make the whole dwelling one cohesive project, depending on your intentions.

Choosing art for each room in your home requires some element of planning, though. Clashing pieces or items that don’t match the scale of your space can get in the way of the vision you have in mind, or the mood you want your rooms to create.

Read on to learn about how to choose appropriate photographic art pieces for each room in your home. Following these guidelines can make it easier to make the spaces you’ve created in your mind become a reality.

As amazing as it sounds, your brain has the same reaction to looking at nature as it does to actually being in nature. You don’t believe me? It’s true, and a wonderful trick to play on your brain.

The fact of the matter is that people who live in cities and urban areas are 17% more likely to suffer psychological distress of some kind — anxiety, depression, the usual. You might be thinking you’re perfectly fine living your big city life, fulfilling your big city dreams. I’m sure you’re right. But like it or not, nature is absolutely mandatory in some capacity in order for our brains to function properly. We need it every once in a while to stay sane. Let’s face it, even New Yorkers — the definitive city-dwellers, if you will — live in a city that’s centerpiece is a huge park, meant to give them a much needed break from the high energy, high intensity lifestyle of the city.

Why Do Different Rooms Call for Different Art Types?

Each room in your home serves a unique purpose, as such, the way you decorate each room should emphasize its purpose. For example, you probably wouldn’t decorate your bedroom with bright neon lights like you would in your home’s game room. Just like you probably wouldn’t hang nursery art in your garage. Each room should have its own style because each room works differently to serve you in your dwelling.

Below, I’ll cover five key rooms in your home, present examples of artwork that fits each space, and list the common elements that go into decorating these spaces.

Living Room Wall Art

A living room is the primary space for visiting in a person’s home, and because of this, the art in this area should be welcoming and promote conversation. Hanging any random piece of wall art isn’t going to create the most balanced room, so when choosing living room art, think about a few things.

Your primary colors, themes, and textures should incorporate your art pieces into the overall flow of the room rather than clashing with them. Making sure that each piece complements the room without overshadowing other art pieces is a smart goal to keep in mind.

When intentional and focused wall art is used, your living room is a perfect place to display a large statement piece, typically hung above a fireplace, a sofa or against the exterior wall of a large staircase. Smaller wall art pieces are often overlooked by the majority of guests. On the other hand, large beautiful scenes of nature command attention, creating welcoming, conversation starters for everyone who enters your home.

Popular living room art, aside from traditional landscapes includes still life and abstract photography, especially in more modern contemporary home designs. Natural wood or stone sculptures, large crystal and mineral specimens and exotic wood furniture are all design ideas that many use to tie art photography together with the rest of their space and throughout the home.

Bedroom Wall Art

Unlike living rooms, bedrooms are private areas designed to embrace solitude and encourage relaxation. The function of a bedroom influences the pieces of art that should adorn the space, so calm, soothing artwork is usually ideal.

Relaxing colors are important in a bedroom, and much of the time, it’s worth finding art that matches the room’s existing color scheme. Blues and natural shades are common in bedrooms, so try to focus on art that emphasizes these colors.

Landscapes, seascapes and smooth abstract imagery, are all perfect art elements to add to a bedroom.

That said, bedrooms present the greatest opportunity to showcase elements of oneself. Because your bedroom is a space few visitors see, you’re free to choose art pieces that appeal to your sense of calm on a personal level.

Accent pieces are great bedroom additions as well. Small framed prints, simplistic sketches of flowers and leaves, or miniature figurines atop shelves or dressers can add little elements of comfort to a space without drawing attention away from the room’s overall purpose.

Bathroom Wall Art

While bathroom artwork should be minimal compared to other rooms in your home, this room presents you with the chance to have fun and get creative.

Bathrooms are perfect for showcasing statement pieces, quirky art selections, and abstract photography that aims to soothe the viewer.

You might want to combine art mediums in the bathroom as well. For example, a smaller (approx 24”) piece of wall art hanging over the toilet can pair nicely with countertop figurines or tubside sculptures.

Bathroom art can be a combination of style and function as well. Because your bathroom is a designated rest area, adding a unique incense diffuser that makes the room smell like lavender or sandalwood is functional and aesthetically pleasing. In addition, if you store your dirty laundry in the bathroom, keeping hampers that double as artwork removes clutter and enhances the space. Colorful weaved baskets or large pieces of pottery make attractive sculptures as well as laundry enclosures.

Dining Room Wall Art

Dining rooms are another common visiting area in a home, where hosts and their guests gather and share food, drinks, and stories.

While living room art should inspire conversation and tie the room together at the same time, dining room art can be more on the bold side. Taking risks is part of what makes dining room decor so interesting, as it allows you to display art that might not enhance other rooms in your home.

Oversized wall art, dramatic sculptures, vibrant colors, and other elaborate pieces are perfect for dining rooms. If you’re working with wall art, consider making the frames as bold and interesting as the pieces themselves.

In the dining room, the goal is to encourage conversation and keep the energy flowing from person to person. This is compared to living rooms, which aim to start conversations but in a more relaxed and measured manner.

Home Office Wall Art

If you have a home office space, it’s a good idea to spruce it up in a way that not only makes the space more comfortable, but improves your ability to focus as well.

Motivational and inspirational pieces are great for home offices, as are calming images and color schemes associated with positive energy (soft greens, pops of pastel color, natural woods or metals). Popular subjects in office artwork include seascapes, beautiful landscapes & wildlife photography. Often times a natural scene that draws you in and calms you, or a powerful natural element like a large waterfall or majestic mountain scene fit well, depending on the type of work you do.

The purpose of office art is to help you maintain your focus without pushing yourself farther than what’s mentally constructive. You want to feel energized and able to take on the day’s workload, but relaxed enough to manage your time without leading yourself into burnout territory.

Part of the joy of having your own home is finding little ways to make each space therein look and feel like it truly belongs to you. Taking steps to ensure that your home is a representation of you as a person is a crucial component to focus on when you’re turning a house into a home.

The gathering areas in your house should display the same positive elements your family and friends enjoy about you. Your home should make others feel like they’re looking at a visual extension of who you are to them.

The secluded areas in your home should aim to welcome and relax you by showing you the visual cues that affect you most appropriately. If, say, images of waterfalls help ease you into sleep, this element should be a key focus of your bedroom art.

What Makes You Happy?

As every person is unique, the art collections they choose for each room in their homes will be too. Do your best to choose pieces that speak to you and you’ll be sure to make all of your spaces fit the mood you have in mind. If you’d like to explore more of the photography art that I offer, you can get lost in a number of online galleries including nature photography from Iceland to the American Southwest and everything in between.