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Bourgeois Gothic - The Perpendicular style, with its fan vaults and thin screen-like walls, was the English reaction to the Black Death. While the French were still crushed by the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) they built almost nothing, but when they did they created in the flamboyant style of St Maclou and the Beauvais Cathedral transepts stunning feats of architectural virtuosity.

In the East the centres of architectural excellence moved into the Hanseatic trading towns along the Baltic coast, and to the mining areas of central Europe. Everywhere masons developed a very sophisticated architecture, exquisitely carved and often looking as if it had been designed without much effort. The mouldings and the way different elements penetrated one another as they crossed over was handled with great intelligence and ambiguity. The supreme clarity of earlier buildings was replaced with an uncertainty in both function and structure.

The work is both clever and humane, reflecting the new learning of the Reformation. Castles were no longer the pre-eminent lay construction; now there was a demand for colleges of learning, great and often ostentatious mansions and flamboyant town halls. Examples are the Oxford colleges, the house of the great Belgian hanker, Jacques Coeur at Bourges, and the huge Hegel-de-Ville at Rouen with its exuberantly decorated chimneys and an ornate court not much smaller than the king’s at Fontainebleau.

The reduced population, now living off the best land, generated an economic boom, especially after 1450, from which the whole of Europe benefited. Both princes and merchants wanted clear, usable and interesting architecture that would extol their material virtues and comforts. They were not interested in the inspired mystic work of earlier times nor did they want sombre interiors in which the light only filtered lingeringly through dark stained glass. They wanted to be able to read their prayer hooks, and ordered grey glass that turned their churches into practical meeting places.

Medieval architecture went out in a blaze of excitement and virtuosity before being replaced by the regenerated Classical style coming from Italy. Vaults became woven nets, often with ribs detached from the surface to he left suspended, functionless, in space. Sometimes they did not meet their shafts, but were cut off in mid-span. In the ceilings and tracery of Kutna Hora in Czechoslovakia the diamantine geometry was twisted and curved like shimmering flames of pure energy. There was little in this bravura display to quiet the pilgrim’s soul, and decadence, as always, heralded an imminent change.

Walker is neither a famous architect nor artist. He enjoys reading architecture articles at http://www.archilogy.com/.

The extraordinary period of invention in the history of art and architecture ended as the increasingly hot, dry climate burnt the fields and desiccated the northern French vineyards which had funded much of this work. As the population continued to increase in spite of worsening conditions, ordinary people became poorer and wealth was increasingly concentrated among the kings and nobility.

Where earlier churches expressed the spirit of the abbeys and the towns, much French architecture of the next century or two originated in the Court. France was by now the most populous country in Europe, and her society and culture was the most prestigious. Foreigners eagerly adopted the new “Opus Francorum” and spread the Court Gothic style throughout northern Europe and Spain. In the 1240s one country after another either imported French masons or sent their men to France to emulate what had been done there. They were most excited by la Sainte-Chapelle, the royal chapel built by King Louis for the Crown of Thorns, a holy relic from the Byzantine Empire.

In England the solid Norman architecture was replaced with much lighter structures. Sometimes whimsical, seldom pompous, the new style appealed to the people over the Channel. The great traceried windows were so beguiling that whole walls of earlier churches were ripped out in order to make those glorious fantasies in thin stone and stained glass as large as possible.

Unlike their prototypes in France, little sense of structure permeates English Gothic. The thin ribs and shafts in the Paris area, although decorative, always relate to their structural purpose, with ribs running from one support to another and arches remaining as arches without being disguised by heavy decoration. In England, however, the master masons often let pattern run its own course with little regard for the purpose behind it; the French called it cosmetique.

The French style hardly touched Italy, as that region was so pervasively influenced by the many Roman remains. Milan cathedral was built only after a long controversy between French and German masons who had been brought in to advise the locals who had no experience of or even interest in the new style.

It is symptomatic of the times that the quantity of construction throughout the whole of Europe in the century before the Black Death of 1348 was hardly more than that in the Paris Basin alone during the previous century. The Black Death marks a crucial watershed in architectural development. The population had trebled since the turn of the millennium, yet there was still no shortage of virgin lands to till. The plague killed one in three people within a few short months, and the style of architecture changed to suit.

Max is not one of those famous architects or artists. He is just an ordinary guy who enjoys reading architecture articles at http://www.archilogy.com/.

When it comes to packing and moving, for me, it’s a relatively easy task. That’s not to say that I don’t get mind numbingly fatigued by it all but the fact that my most precious items are memorabilia from when the kids were little makes my packing a little easier than for those who have to transport fine art worth hundreds of thousands of pounds upwards.

I’m sure we’ve all had items lost or broken on every house move. What confuses me is the fact that you know you put it in that box but you’re damned if you can find it again. You trawl through every box and it isn’t there. It’s gone to the great removal company in the sky.

For those lucky enough to own fine art, moving house must surely be a very stressful time. Can you imagine? One slip in the loading of a van and there’s a whole right through your Monet. Your kids inheritance has now turned into a picture worth as much as one of their early doodles - that’s monetary value of course, the sentimental value of these things hold no price.
Of course, most of those fine art owners would have the sense to employ a very reputable removal company that specialise in moving this type of thing. They will appreciate the fact this art demands very careful handling indeed. They will know if it is to be stored that there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration.

Temperature is one thing that can affect a precious painting and damage it beyond recognition. The climate needs to be controlled along with the temperature. The last thing you need is mould spores growing on your DaVinci! An ambient temperature for storing fine art is one thing that a specialising removal company will now all about. If they’re bluffing just to get the business, don’t do it, it’s not worth the risk!

Light is something all fine art collectors know about. The way a precious painting is subjected to light has a huge effect on the quality of the artwork and how long it will last. A faded Botticeli is worth nothing compared with one that has been looked after! Employ the right removal company and they will understand that all these things need close attention paid to them to make sure your paintings arrive in the same state as what they went out.

Of course, the benefits of using a removal company that specialise in this sort of thing is that they are going to be more aware of how to handle all delicate items. Their packing, moving and storing of all priceless items will be well worth the extra they might charge. A few extra quid now could save thousands in the future.

It’s not simply expensive items that these companies are adept with. There are many possessions a person will have that they have formed a strong emotional attachment to. Sentimental value is not something you can put a price on and as soft as it sounds, the last thing I want to lose when I move, is the paintings my kids did when they were little.

You picture them in your mind with a paintbrush in their chubby little hands, splodging great clumps of colour onto paper. The subject is not always discernable but they knew exactly what it was meant to be and painted it with the love for their parents in mind. You can never replace those days and never get them back again so, for me at least, sentimental value is worth so much more than any fine art in existence.

Art expert Catherine Harvey looks at the way a removal company can specialise in moving fine art and precious items. To find out more please visit http://www.cadogantate.com/

As the train pulls into London Victoria train station and commuters arrive for another day’s work in the city, those that look out of the window will notice an abundance of ‘tags’ that adorn the carriages and walls. There will be many reactions to these pieces of art ranging from appreciation of the skill involved to disgust at the lack of respect for private property. Whether you love or hate graffiti and the various forms of graffiti art, the main issue that critics raise is that it is illegal and the artist is therefore a criminal.

The most famous of all graffiti artists is the notoriously elusive Banksy. His pieces are generally satirical statements and his targets have ranged from Disney to the Mona Lisa. The so-called ‘guerilla art’ that Banksy is responsible for has become hugely popular with the general public as well as with art-buying celebrities including Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera. At Sotheby’s in 2007, three of his works fetched a combined total of 170,400 pounds with one piece alone selling for over 100,000. Banksy reacted to this growing popularity by adding the following comment to his own website ‘I Can’t Believe You Morons Actually Buy This S***.’ Enough said.

As the most high-profile graffiti artist in the UK today, Banksy’s work encourages many copycats and aspiring contemporaries. However, for every Banksy there will be so many more graffiti artists that lack the creativity, wit and skill to produce ‘art’ and so their stylings will be regarded solely as a nuisance. Can we really set one rule for Banksy and another for a young kid spraying his name on the side of someone’s house? Critics will point to the fact that graffiti is criminal damage and its artistic merits are irrelevant to the argument.

The law surrounding graffiti is far more black-and-white than people’s reactions to it. Banksy’s murals spark debate wherever they appear and moreso due to the high value that the pieces now achieve at auction. In a London street, council workers recently whitewashed a Banksy original after some residents complained. One council spokesman commented that ‘it’s graffiti and we treat it that way’ proving that if residents complain then the ‘art’ will be removed.

The law denotes that graffiti is criminal damage and the maximum sentence if convicted is 10 years imprisonment. The severity of this sentence indicates how seriously the government considers graffiti to be, and the impact it will have on the wider community. Residential areas with excessive levels of graffiti will often be associated with neglect and poverty. However inaccurate or accurate this assumption may be, it is believed that when graffiti has been removed quickly then it is less likely to reappear. People take pride in where they live and should not have to suffer for someone else’s art.

It is hard to associate Banksy with the graffiti artists that spray poorly designed and conceived logos on bus shelters and shop windows across the country. But we must compare them as they adopt the principles that constitute the fundamental qualities of graffiti. However much we appreciate the intelligence behind the design and the skill in its execution, graffiti is in its very nature a criminal act and little more.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Heathrow Parking, Heathrow Hotels and I have a travel blog site.(http://www.holidayextras.co.uk/heathrow-airport-hotels.html)

So, what are your favorite lighthouse posters. There are plenty different types to pick from. Different styles, different colors, different feelings, and plain and simple, many different lighthouses. You know, there is the very simple, but stereotypical Cape Cod lighthouse. Just looking at one of these, you can image the sand getting stuck in your toes, and the mournful cries of seagulls fighting the wind and each other in their quest for scraps left by the sea. It’s a pleasant and calming image to be sure. Assuming of course, that you like the water and the beach. Who doesn’t after all.

Then of course there is the much more dramatic images of lighthouses that have been popular as of late. A lonely light house on a desolate rock somewhere in the eerie and dark ocean. A simple beach on light belching out it’s warning. What makes the prints so dramatic, is not so much the lighthouse itself, but the waves pounding onto the building and the rocks at it’s base. Big, huge monstrous waves. Waves that practically engulf the entire building. As if they’re trying to extinguish the lighthouse beacon, to make it easier for them to entice more ships to their doom. As if the light house is all that’s standing between them, and a tasty meal of shipwrecked sailors.

Of course, the lighthouse is a might adversary, and not one to be trifled with. It knows it’s duty, and stands up to pounding wave after pounding wave. Year after year, generation after generation. What I have to wonder, is what it would feel like to be the lighthouse keeper inside one of the buildings, when the storms fury is at it’s fullest. Probably makes you wonder a little about your chosen career. I know I do sometimes, and I don’t have 50 foot waves crashing into my walls. Lighthouse keepers are of sterner stuff I suppose.

And what about the photographers that snap pictures of those forces of nature, that get turned into such dramatic lighthouse posters? What I want to know, is where are they while all this is going on. Hopefully on shore somewhere safe. I can’t imagine they’d be on a visual and still hold a camera still enough to get a shot good enough to be developed into a poster. Even the the best digital image editor couldn’t fix those shots. I do I couldn’t, but I certainly do enjoy the final result.

If you like to see the absolute best lighthouse poster deals or simply browse through a listing of lighthouse poster sales, be sure to visit http://foolishmumbles.com/2006/09/15/light-house-poster/

So you’ve been looking for lighthouse posters all over the place, and can’t seem to find exactly the one that strikes your fancy. Something that appeals to your aesthetic sense of balance, yet still fits in with the decor or the master bedroom. Or whatever room you have in mind for that magnificent print. And kid yourself not, these prints can be very dramatic. What with waves crashing all over the place, in a display of fury and power unequaled in any other niche of nature.

Apart for the strength and ferocity of this artwork, they’re is something symbolic about a light house picture as well. A certain reassuring calm, and sense of serenity pervades one, when looking at one of these pictures. A feeling, that seems somewhat removed from the true nature of why the building was put there in the first place. It was as we all know put there because of mortal danger. Mortal danger great enough to take hundreds of lives if given a chance.

Maybe not that dramatic for all, as many of todays existing lighthouses are simple navigational beacons. Not necessarily a messenger of impending doom. But more perhaps a gentle warning and suggestion as to which which one should go. A slight nudge perhaps, without being too pushy.

Lighthouses strike a number of human emotions. Because they are always near water, they evoke the maternal feel of mother ocean. As Jimmy Buffet would say ‘mother mother ocean, I have heard your call . . .” . One of my favorite of his songs. Lighthouses evoke a similar response in many of us. The ocean / sea / lake are all gentle romantic places, with a darker side to be sure.

The artwork you’ll find in this quest to cover that lonely patch of wall, is sure to show you some remarkably different vistas. From crashing waves, to calming regretful sunsets, to inspiring promising sunrises. They all belong in this genre, as they show the many faces of the lighthouse posters. As many faces as there are characteristics of man. The adviser, the tempest, the leader, the beacon of hope, and the harbinger of doom.

All I can say to guide you along in your search for the perfect image, is to go with your gut instinct. How do you feel, when you gaze upon one of these images. What kind of personality are you. Looking inside will help guide you to the right picture for any room in your home.

If you like to see the absolute top rated digital cameras or simply browse through a listing of the best rated digital cameras in your inbox be sure to visit http://foolishmumbles.com/DigitalCameraRecommendations/

Fine art prints are the best way to add flair and appeal to your home. Choosing fine art prints tends to be a matter of personal taste that will automatically match with your common taste in your furniture and surrounding decor. However, even with this there are several things to consider before purchasing fine art prints for your home.

What are Fine Art Prints?

First, let’s explore a little more about fine art prints. Fine art prints come in many forms, sizes and reproductions depending on the supplier. Unless you are lucky enough to have an original piece of fine art from a notable artist you will most likely be purchasing a reproduction. The pricing on fine art prints varies wildly from $10 - $5000 depending on the paper, canvas or other medium the art is printed on. For the most part your fine art prints will be a high quality scan reprinted on very high quality paper ready for framing. Most quality online art stores will mail this to you in an incredibly solid cardboard tube with paper wrapping to protect your print and this is essential to ensuring your print is protected and in perfect quality ready to be placed on your wall.

The correct selection of fine art prints can actually increase the perceived value of your home by giving an air of elegance to prospective home buyers or it can just leave you with a warm feeling that this home is really a place to live.

So, what are the important considerations when buying fine art prints for your home? First, look at the rooms you are going to place these fine art prints in, what are the primary and secondary colors you are working with? Do you want this art to stand out from the walls or look like it was there all along?

Important Questions When Selecting Fine Art Prints

These are important questions and will greatly affect your choices when selecting high quality fine art prints for your home. For example if you were in a elegant living room with dark wood furniture and white walls you would likely choose a light picture with a dark frame to let the frame blend with your furniture and the light picture will blend with the walls, regardless of the pictures content which would be your personal choice. You could also choose a dark frame, light matting and a dark image if you like.

Fine Art Prints as a Centerpiece

If you want to create a centerpiece of the room or anchor for the eye with a large print then consider that you still need to make this part of the room’s features and share common colors already present. A lot of home decorators look at this and take it into consideration when purchasing fine art prints and you can do a great part of this yourself.

Using the Fine Art Print Tools

Now, the greater consideration when buying a series of common fine art prints is creating not only a common theme or artist or even color throughout your house. Most of the top online art stores provide you some form of searching for similar prints. For example most popular art sites offer you a way to search for similar colored items within the same category of art you may find or fine more items by the same artist. With these tools you can easily find similar prints to keep the common theme and make the right choices for your home when you finally purchase your fine art prints.

Sean Donahoe is the creator and owner of http://www.arteblanche.com, a fine art prints specialist store that has over 200,000 fine art prints, posters and tapestries with something for everyone’s taste, low cost flat rate shipping and first class customer care, you will be in good hands.

Egyptian men used two types of chairs. The first type was made of wood with a slight curved inwards seat. This design was probably to make for more comfortable sitting.

This type of chair was built with three wooden legs, which curved outwards. The chair was of a simple design and purposely built for long term use. It could withstand constant daily rough treatment. This type of chair could easily be placed in a present day kitchen, and would not appear out of place.

The second type of chair used by Egyptian men had a more elaborate design. This type of chair had crossed supports and could be folded or collapsed for easy carrying.

The bottom of the legs of this chair were carved and shaped with geese heads. Ivory was inlaid to this type of chair. The end result was a splendid piece of furniture.

Most Egyptian antique furniture is extremely old, dating from 1500 to 1400 B.C. And some furniture found in Egypt is believed to be three thousand years old. Some even dating much older.

Egyptian craftsmen were extremely talented and turned out furniture rails and legs as if they had used a present day lathe. Perfect fitting mortise and tenon joints appearing as if they had been machine made.

Small wooden boxes were made, probably to keep jewellery in. Some were inlaid with small blue pottery squares and coloured with bright turquoise. Other boxes were inlaid with ivory veneer.

Spoons made of wood have been found, with various designs intricately carved into them. A lot of this work required artistic men with great skill to carve the many designs.

Different types of wood was used to make Egyptian furniture. Many types of furniture was made from ebony. This is a hard and heavy jet-black wood. Ebony takes on a high polish and was ideal for the Egyptians, when making carvings, woodwind instruments and knife handles as well as furniture. Ebony was also used to make some types of Egyptian jewellery.

Another type of wood used by the Egyptians to make furniture was cedar. This is a hard yellow sweet-smelling type of wood. Cedar is also used today for making furniture and for building houses.

Other types of wood was also used to make Egyptian furniture as well as the two mentioned. It is important to know the different types of wood used by the Egyptians, what they look like, and the purpose they were used for. That is, if you want to be able to know how to spot Egyptian antique furniture.

Robert McMurtrie of HK Antiques. http://www.hk-antiques.com/

It is only when you get close enough do you realise that despite their deeply out of place appearance these ladies are more a part of Margate than any other resident, they are in fact a part of the town, they are made from it. Painstakingly crafted from shells, primarily those of the local scallops the glistening white shell ladies are the pearls of Margate.

The sculptures are the work of a locally based artist, Ann Carrington whose client list is almost as impressive as her work. Her pieces grace the collections of Elton John, Rothschild, Paul Smith and Levi Strauss. Ms. Carrington has exhibited around the globe and with the Commonwealth Fellowship for sculpture on her mantle it is unsurprising her work exudes such effortless and graceful charm.
On her official website theshelllady, Ms. Carrington states that the inspiration for her work came from the shell ornaments still sold on Margates seafront. Despite such humble beginnings the shell ladies cut impressive figures, even more so when gathered in numbers. Ms Carrington has assembled a total of twelve women, each named after a famous lady of Margate and each with her own distinctive appearance. Thankfully the ladies chosen are all famous in a historical sense rather than in a modern tabloid sense so Tracy Emin has, for now missed out on the chance to be immortalised in seashell form.

In life Baroness Orczy was the well travelled and glamorous author of ‘The Scarlet Pimpernel’. Her seashell counterpart stands over six feet tall with a beehive of painted urchin shells and a heavy skirt of scallops. No doubt the Baroness would approve of her image causing such a stir among Margate’s steady, if slightly diminished stream of tourists. Those without a keen interest in the town’s history may struggle to recognise the names of many of the shell ladies but all have firm links with the seaside resort. From children’s writer Mary Lamb to the owner of Margate’s famous shell grotto, Ann Hill. Each lady is a thread in the rich tapestry of the once great town’s history.

Perhaps the most striking thing about the sculptures is how effortlessly they evoke the colourful history of Margate. This effect is bolstered by clever advertising with abandoned shop fronts sporting graphics designed very much in the Victorian style. Even these graphics are cleverly thought out to both complement the ladies and to be beneficial to local business. Ms Carrington states on her website that the graphics were put in place by locally based sign writers many of whom are third generation businesses. It is wonderful to imagine that the families who long ago maintained the arcades, bathing machines and ice cream carts are now part of a project which has the same camp seaside charm that drew so many tourists to the sandy beaches in the early 1900s.

Surprisingly the ladies, despite the effort put into them and their disarming beauty are little more than advertising for a far larger project. In September 2008 a twelve foot shell lady cast in bronze will be placed at the end of Margate’s old town harbour arm to become a permanent feature of the towns steely grey seascape. As Ms Carrington points out the remarkable thing about this choice of placement is the fact the dramatic seascape was once a favourite of Margate’s most famous resident J. M. W. Turner, one of the most noteworthy landscape painters of the nineteenth century.

By placing the giant shell lady against one of the most important backdrops in the history of landscape painting Margate will be permanently bonding its two distinctive sides. The historical summer retreat of English high society. A place of elegance, wealth and beauty will be fused with the saucy postcard, bucket and spade image which, for many epitomises towns like Margate. The bronze shell lady will be named “Mrs Booth” after the seaside landlady with whom Turner chose to stay while in Margate. The pair fell in love and lived as Mr and Mrs Booth, with Mrs Booth acting as Turner’s patron until his death.

Once the bronze is erected in this summer it will be the first conspicuous step in the slow regeneration of Margate. Planning is underway to construct a new gallery in order to kick start the local tourist economy in a similar way the Tate did for St Ives. We can only hope Mrs Booth will one day keep watch over a revitalised Margate that her presence is at least partially responsible for.

Samantha is a London theatre fanatic and regular West End theatregoer. She is currently researching the new West End show Oliver! - http://www.show-and-stay.co.uk/oliver.html

When it comes to getting a tattoo, it’s just as important to know what design you want as much as you are sure that you want a tattoo. Having an experienced tattoo artist, the design of the tattoo is very important as well. Don’t forget you will need to live with that design for the rest of your existence. The last thing you need to do is choose a tattoo from the studios book just before getting it.

When I went for my first tattoo, I was in college. At that time, I wasn’t thinking too clearly and looked at the most five seconds into the future at any given time. So when it was time to get my tattoo, I put myself in a bad situation. I was barreling through with the books to see what tattoo designs I liked. Nonetheless, I did not care for anything. Also, I was putting pressure on myself, because I sensed that everyone was ready and waiting for their turn. Including my friends, the other clients and most importantly the tattoo artist.

However, when push came to shove I produced the most miraculous decision in my life. I was wearing my baseball cap, and I resolved to get the logo of my favorite baseball team. Even though this wasn’t the most fortunate position for me to be in, I still have that tattoo nowadays and don’t regret it one bit. Still, I realized how significant it is to research a design the next time I get a tattoo. That’s precisely what I’ve been doing. Here are some tips to help you in finding the correct tattoo design to avoid being the same situation I was.

Don’t be impulsive when it comes tattoos especially choosing yours. You may wind up regretting it. Spend your time looking for a tattoo artist and searching for for a tattoo design. After you come up with an artist, you should endure looking over thousands of designs, because in that respect there are many to select from. Tribal tattoos, sports team logos, or even animals are some of the categories you’ll be researching.

A tattoo design needs to be individual choice and you should get a design that is very significant for you. After all, the tattoo will be there for the rest of your days. So you want to make up a sound conclusion when it comes to tattoo design idead. Moreover when you narrow it down to a few designs, you may want to test them out by calling for your friends feelings on it. Expect ample feedback from them. Be persistant in getting information from them.

Last, I wish to add that researching a tattoo design should be fun and definitely not looked at at as a daunting chore or something you “have to do.” Otherwise, have a fun time exploring tattoo design ideas and getting the tattoo you always desired.

Are you looking for great tattoo design ideas? Visit our blog at http://cooltattooideas.blogspot.com for more information on finding the right tattoo.