Christmas and Halloween seem to get the lion’s share of everyone’s holiday decoration budget, but there’s no reason to leave out Thanksgiving, especially when photo to canvas prints make such unique and beautiful decorations.

While the images of Christmas – Santa, reindeer, angels, stars, and evergreen trees – and those of Halloween – jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, witches, and black cats – are quite particular, those associated with Thanksgiving are somewhat less so.  Halloween shares its pumpkins with Thanksgiving – though they have generally become pies by then – and Christmas shares its turkey and lavish family dinners.  Crisp days, autumn leaves changing color, and football – either participating in friendly family games, or watching the pros on TV – are things we associate with both Thanksgiving and the fall season.  The only things that Thanksgiving doesn’t seem to share with the rest of the season are the images of our pilgrim forefathers.

With so many possibilities, Thanksgiving really should get more decorative attention.  Thanksgiving reminds us of family, friends, and food, and the memories that combination can make also serve as great ideas.  A few examples:

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  Norman Rockwell’s ‘Thanksgiving’ painting of the family seated at the table in the foreground as the grandmother presents the golden turkey and the grandfather prepares to lead grace is a true American icon.  Why not re-enact the painting with your own family?  A white table cloth, an oven-roasted turkey, and enough people are all you need.  A photograph like that would be not only a one of a kind Thanksgiving decoration but a treasured family photograph.

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  Another family picture idea: dress up as pilgrims.  Costumes are available or easy to make if you’re a bit crafty with a sewing machine and a glue gun.  It’s something that will make a great memory year after year.

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  Football season – and football weather – is another great idea to explore.  Some families play touch football before Thanksgiving dinner – to work up an appetite – or afterward – to work off the pumpkin pie.  A photo of your family scrambling around in the fall leaves would make a beautiful printed canvas; even better if you have family team jerseys.  If your clan is more the ‘weekend warrior’ and ‘armchair quarterback’ type, snap of shot of everyone on the couch in the living room watching the game.

Once you have the digital photos you want to transfer to canvas, send them to Canvas Press and we’ll take care of it from there.  Your holiday printed canvases will be not only beautiful, but durable and easy to care for.  Gallery wrapped canvases need no frame, so there is no glass that might break while hanging or storing.  While the quality of your printed canvas will be such that you may want to display it all year, if you do want to use it just for seasonal decoration, just keep it in a cool, dry place where it’s safe from moisture.  When you bring it out for the holidays, your stretched canvas will need only a light dusting – if that – and it’s ready to hang.

If you want to know more or get some guidance on a project, visit www.canvaspress.com and let us show you how Canvas Press can make your holidays brighter.  Email us at the website or call (888) 784-5553 and we’ll be glad to help.

-Karen from Canvas Press

Through the LifeWorks Home Improvement Challenge (HIC), corporate and community teams partner with a decorator to design the space of a LifeWorks client. LifeWorks clients live in Supportive Housing – a program offering subsidized housing to kids who need a “getting on your feet period.” LifeWorks clients are former foster care children, former homeless youth and teen parents who may have never before received the help they need for a fresh start.

November Design Group of Austin, Texas contacted us about working with them to create a special canvas artwork piece to be featured in the living room of the makeover apartment. The girl living there was not able to bring her cat there with her, so we made a beautiful sepia-toned 30×30 gallery wrap canvas of her cat so she would always be there with her.

For more information on LifeWorks and how you can get involved visit www.lifeworksweb.org

Some of you may have heard about the new products we’re offering at Canvas Press. We’re very excited to be offering digital printing on glass, aluminum, and FRP. Here’s a sneak peek of our booth at MetroCon 2009, an interior design and architecture convention in Dallas, TX.

We are really enjoying our Canvas Press photos on canvas in our new dental office.  Everyone comments on them and we have referred many to your website.  Here are a few photos to show how beautiful the canvases look. 

- Rosemary & Terry

After contacting Canvas Press, your Commercial Art Project Manager (CAPM) will help you plan your project as well as meet your budget and deadline.  There are several healthcare wall décor solutions available from Canvas Press.  Canvas Press’s main product, the gallery wrapped canvas, can be used in a variety of ways to ensure your healthcare environment is individualized and inviting. 

Employee Walls

Patients are often eager to return home while staying in a healthcare facility.  A wall of employee photos printed on canvas is a way to create a connection between patients and hospital staff.  Retiring employees as well as distinguished employees can be recognized with large specialty canvases.  These prints may include text with the employees name, position and years of service on the bottom.

Vision Statements

Displaying the healthcare facility’s mission statement on canvas in a very visible spot within the facility can serve as a reminder for employees of their greater purpose on a daily basis.  This makes your wall décor solution serve a dual purpose of art and relationship builder.

Logos

The hospital may want to display its logo in the main entrance. Healthcare funding donors may also be highlighted with canvas art.  Oftentimes, donors come from very different industries and individuals.  By using custom printed canvas art to display donors, it is ensured the logos will be formatted in a cohesive manner with similar sizing and texture.

Expansion Highlights

It can often take as long as a decade to complete healthcare renovations.  It is important to keep healthcare visitors and donors excited and informed about the transformation.  For under $200, a 30” by 40” canvas can be updated each quarter to keep everyone updated on the progress.

Inspirational Stories

Hospitals can often be places of stress.  Having cancer survivors’ stories and photos, for instance, lining the walls can serve to calm visitors.  This moves beyond art as a wall décor solution and into art as a reflective story of those who inhabit a space.

Calming Colors

Colors have meaning in all cultures.  White for purity, red for love, and yellow for happiness – all colors have understood cultural meanings.  Abstract patterns of a certain color can be hung on healthcare walls to create a desired mood.  Check out the Abstract section of the Canvas Press sister site www.ReallyBigCanvas.com.

Photography

Photographs are particularly nice wall décor solutions in healthcare facilities as they evoke an immediate human-to-human relation.  Smiling faces within a photo deepen this relationship even further.   

Signage

Canvas prints may also be used as signage to direct traffic flow within a healthcare facility as well as indicate reception locations, restroom entrances and waiting areas.

Art Interaction

Not all wall décor solutions have to be DO NOT TOUCH items.  Photos may be printed in the center of a large white canvas.  The white border areas may be signed with thin black Sharpie markers by patients and visitors.

Easy cleaning is a major benefit of using canvas as a healthcare wall décor solution.  Simply wiping the dust away with a gentle stroke completes the cleaning.    Additionally canvases are extremely safe because of their light weight and lack of glass.  Canvas Press products arrive with special hardware included to minimize the possibility of art falling if bumped by a patient.  Specialty safety hangers are available upon request.

If you would like to speak to a Commercial Art Project Manager about your healthcare wall décor solution, please call 512-828-5553.

For more information on healthcare wall solutions, please visit http://www.healthcarefineart.com/.

A Michigan Art Director sent his agency’s take on Canvas Press:

I am an art director at an ad agency in Michigan. We decided to take our mission, vision and values and lay them out with some typographical styles. When decided on printing we explored several vendors and products, but we’re so happy we chose Canvas Press. The artwork turned out beautifully and the gallery wraps look amazing in our office in the creative neighborhood we work in. Thank you so much for such an amazing product. We’ve already ordered another canvas and plan to work with Canvas Press in the future.Best,
Aaron

Framing stretched canvas is quite different from framing a traditional photograph. Stretched canvas does not require a mat or glass and it fits into an open back frame. You can take your Standard Stretch canvases to a professional frame shop or use these instructions to do it yourself and save money.

With a Canvas Press Standard Stretch canvas, the image is on the front while the sides are white. The wood frame the canvas is stretched around is ¾” thick and we staple the canvas on the back. You may see a small amount of white when looking at the canvas straight on because of the canvas folds; however this will be hidden by the decorative frame.

Go to your local frame shop or craft store with a selection of ready made, open-back frames. The standard sizes are usually 8×10, 11×14, 16×20, 18×24, 20×24, 24×30, and 30×40, some stores will have other sizes like 10×20. You may want to see what is available in your area before placing the order for your canvas.

If you require a custom size cut and assembled by framing professionals you can still save money by finishing it off yourself. The frame will have a lip that the canvas rests on, depending on the frame it may cover ¼” to ½” of the canvas. Keep this in mind when cropping your image and make sure there is room for this overlap.

You will also need clips to secure the canvas to the frame. These are usually found on the same aisle as stretcher bars. They should come in a pack of four, the exact amount for one frame.

Once you have gathered these supplies you are ready to finish assembling the framed canvas. Set the canvas inside the frame so it is resting on the lip. Every frame will be slightly different, some fit tightly while others are loose. Just be careful not to scratch the ink on the canvas when placing it in the frame.

Now you can apply the clips to secure the canvas. Slide the pointed end down along the edge and against the frame like shown in the pictures below. Pull the remaining clip over the stretcher bar and press firmly in place.

The frame is complete. There are many different ways to hang the finished piece. You can hammer a sawtooth hanger onto the part that sticks out the furthest, be it frame or stretcher bar. Another option is to attach a wire across the back. Many frame shops will clean up the look of the back by taping or stapling a solid sheet of black butcher paper. You can also set your framed canvas on an easel for display.

Hang artwork like a pro to give yourself a gallery at home. Hanging art is not usually a fun chore. You end up making a mess, banging up the walls, and it just doesn’t always end up the way you thought it would. There is no real secret to hanging art, it just requires a little thought and some patience.

The first step is to pick the right pieces for the right wall. Apply the Goldilocks method… This one is too big, this is too small, and this one is JUST RIGHT. If you hang a small piece on a large wall or around other large pieces such as a sofa then it can get lost and be ineffective. On the same token, a piece that is too large will appear cramped and make your space look and feel smaller.

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New Year, new room. Freshen up your living space for a new outlook on things. With the rush and hustle of the holidays now a blurry memory, you may have jumped right back into work or school and not had time to recuperate. Chances are, there are still lights hung on your house, the tree may be put away or thrown out, but a few stockings and decorations are left lying around. Maybe even an ornament or two lost their way and just didn’t get put back…

It’s not going to get any better or easier as the year moves on, so you know you have to do it now. Why not make the most of it, and while you’re cleaning up the holiday remnants spend a little time sprucing up the house for the rest of the year.
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In health care, art has proven an important factor. Pulse, a medical magazine from the United Kingdom, wrote in June of 2006, “Artwork in surgeries can reduce stress, improve interaction between doctors and patients and even help recruit and retain staff.” They noted that 91% of General Practitioners say the nature of the work environment could improve interaction with patients, 75% said it can improve recruitment and retention of staff. The factors that matter in a work environment were light, plants, photography and art.

In Art Business News, December 2005, “Art for health’s sake” discussed that abstract or landscape images can transport a person to a different location. This therefore can help distract a patient from pain or anxiety; it can also create an ice-breaker or new topic of conversation.
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