By Caroline Ulbrich

Every man has that “dream” item on his wish list… The kind of thing he knows he’ll never really have. Usually, practicality stops us from achieving these dreams. If you have a wife and two kids you likely won’t run off to live on a sailboat. But, there is one thing you can do to give him a ‘taste’ of the dream and maybe even some motivation of something to work for. Make dad a fantastic gift of a picture of his dream printed on beautiful artist canvas so he can admire it every day.

Is dad into classic cars? Is he the kind of guy who always heads to car shows? Maybe you even have bits and parts of an old classic car in the garage he’s restoring. A photo of that favorite, classic automobile on canvas will be the perfect gift. A muscle car, an antique, a monster truck, whatever his heart desires. He can even hang the canvas in the garage. It will hold up just fine that environment…that is assuming he doesn’t hang it with greasy fingers!

Does the idea of living on a sailboat make your ears perk up? Is that something you’ve heard dad ‘joke’ about? He must love the water then, so make him artwork to decorate his office or even to accent your home with a maritime theme. What about a beautiful sunset with a sailboat silhouetted on the horizon? That will brighten the look of any room and when he looks at it, he can imagine that generic sailboat shape as his own. Who knows, maybe someday it will be! After all, the kids will grow up and start their own families, and retiring in a sailboat… that sounds pretty nice.

As a kid, did he dream of playing for the NBA? Dig out some of his high school sports photos from the basketball team, football team, whatever he was passionate about. Not only will it be fun for the whole family to see what dad looked like in his glory days, but it will be great for him to reminisce about all those big ideas he had as a kid.

Another great idea for a photo on canvas is a picture of his favorite place, or somewhere he’s always wanted to go. It could be the perfect beach vacation spot or maybe an exotic, far-away country. As you save up to go there someday, get a beautiful photo of it printed on canvas to decorate your home. Our sister site, www.ReallyBigCanvas.com has a huge collection of photos from around the world, you are sure to find the location you’re looking for.

Finally, one last ‘dream’ you can give dad on canvas… His family! Of all the unattainable or impractical dreams he may have, a happy family is the most important of all. Dad would be the most proud on Father’s Day to get a gift of his loving, smiling family. Make a copy for home and let him take this one to show off at his office!

Whether you use it for motivation or substitution, a photo of dad’s dream toy on canvas will make a great Father’s Day gift.

The people from Canvas Press are eager for everyone to see their beautiful products. They contacted me and, after picking a picture, I quickly received a 16×20″ canvas of my choice of photo. My choice (our wedding day) was converted from a digital image into the beautiful, gallery-worthy canvas you see below.

I had to think long and hard about the picture I wanted to make into a big shot for our family’s home. Initially, I thought that a picture of my children would be the best. But which one? And when I really started to think about it, I realized that we had NO pictures from our wedding larger than a 4×7. (long story about a photographer who changed locations and then didn’t develop pictures anymore and, well, we never got any pictures past the proofs that belonged to us… So this was NOT a copyright infringement! Trust me.) I selected the above photo with a black border for the gallery wrap and intend on hanging it above our bed. It will be STUNNING. I am absolutely thrilled with how it turned out and positively weepy that we finally have a beautiful piece of art from our wedding day. Thank you to Canvas Press! This will be treasured by my family for generations.

I’ve been wanting to get a large canvas for a while now. I don’t know what could be better than a huge picture of something adorable!When Canvas Press contacted me about doing a review of one of their canvases, I was so excited. It was a very simple and fast process to upload the picture online and complete the order. I got the 16 X 20 size with a 1.5″ gallery wrap.

When I got the package in the mail, I was really impressed with the way they packaged it. Very safe and secure and in absolutely perfect condition when it arrived to my house!

When I was ordering it online, I wasn’t sure which border option to select, so I just picked one I thought would work best. I was really pleased when Canvas Press called me and told me they thought another one would work better for this picture and size. I really appreciated them going the extra mile and calling me to make sure it looked good… I figured they knew what would look best more than me so I trusted them to pick the best border style!

The quality is great and I absolutely love it!

I have so many favorite photographs of my girls but I don’t always get around to printing them or even framing them.  Last fall we had portraits taken of the girls by local Nashville photographer Ben Hancock at Edwin Warner Park and I’ve been wanting to have one enlarged for our den.

Canvas Press contacted me about trying their services. I chose one of my favorite photos from our fall photo shoot at the park. The website was very easy to use and navigate.  They have several framing options to choose from but I really love the simple full wrapped canvas look. They also have a wide variety of sizes, from 8 x 10 to 36 x 48.  You can also choose from black and white or sepia. Shipping was fast and it arrived packaged with great care. I absolutely love the final product! In fact when our wrapped canvas arrived my husband was home at the time and drove to my office with the canvas so he could show it to me. He knew I would love it THAT much and he was right!

A wrapped canvas custom photograph would make a fantastic Mother’s Day or Father’s Day present. I can honestly say this is one of the best gift items I’ve had the opportunity to review. I love the way the wrapped canvas looks in our home! The colors are stunning and the image is just gorgeous. I now have it hanging in our den.

I am not a decorator. By that, I mean that my walls are bare because I’m generally too focused on other, more practical endeavors, like road tripping. Its a curse, actually. My family and I moved into a house about 2.5 years ago that has a lot of wall space, and aside from fingerprints and various chocolate smudges, my walls are just as they were when we moved in. (I really hope that’s chocolate.)

When I was approached by Canvas Press to do a review, I was excited, simply because I’m really beginning to think I may want to have something to stare at besides a computer when I sit on my couch. Since my cries for original vulvtacular artwork have been ignored, Canvas Press became very important to me and I am absolutely delighted with the product I received.

My art was easy to order; I just uploaded a photo and selected a few simple details and within a week, I had art. True art. Art that featured my wonderful marauding troop of children. It is an absolutely beautiful rendition of the four of them proving that they are just evil enough to be cute, or is that cute enough to be evil? Bottom line, I am totally impressed and I absolutely recommend Canvas Press to anyone who wants to make a photo even more special, or send a gift to an obscure relative who already has everything.

Canvas Press has made my wall just a bit more homey (yo), and I am so happy to be able to bring you this endorsement in which I was compensated only by the product I reviewed.

When I was contacted by Canvas Press to review one of their photo canvases, I was excited, but skeptical. I had ordered canvases from other companies in the past and was deeply disappointed with the quality and coloring. I ordered my 16×20 gallery wrapped family portrait canvas online (which was a snap BTW) and hoped for the best.

From the minute I started opening the package, I knew this experience was going to be far more positive! The canvas was so carefully packed to keep everything intact and perfect.

I was astonished at how beautiful it looked! The colors were vibrant and true to the picture and the quality of the canvas was right on point. It was mounted on a quality wood frame that was built to last. I love that it was made right here in the USA!

I hung the canvas on the stairway in my entry way so all those entering will be able to see it. I am so very pleased with the look, but also with the ease and speed of ordering. I truly could not have asked for more.

The following was published in the Fort Hood Sentinel by Dave Larsen on March 18, 2010…

Sixty art canvases that went up on the walls of the Fort Hood Resiliency Campus Friday were donated by the Round Rock-based company Canvas Press.

Canvas Press chief executive officer Doak Walker said he made the donation after hearing about the campus and taking a tour of the facilities in late 2009.

“I think it is an honor to be a part of this campus, to stand proud with Fort Hood Soldiers,” Walker said.

The canvases were created from digital photographs depicting a wide variety of events and activities at the Resiliency Campus and elsewhere on Fort Hood.

“I like the aesthetics; it’s beautiful,” 1st Lt. David Ochs, assistant operations officer for the Resiliency Campus, said. “I also think it adds to the excitement of the campus. You see a lot of smiles in the pictures.”

Ochs helped select the photographs to be made into the canvassed art. He said he looked for images reflecting the services offered at the campus.

“Based on the services we provide, it’s almost like a warm blanket for the post,” Ochs said of the Resiliency Campus. “From fitness counseling to how to do your job better … even cooking classes, we offer so much in so many facets of life.”

The process of creating the canvases, called “Giclee” or art prints, helps create artwork from digital sources, like a digital photo, or can preserve old photographs and paintings.

Walker called the Canvas Press donation, estimated in value at $7,000, as simply one neighbor helping another.

“Having the largest U.S. base in our own backyard is a great honor,” Walker said. “The community of Round Rock is very proud to reach out and help.”

Text and photo by Dave Larsen of the Fort Hood Sentinel… http://www.forthoodsentinel.com/story.php?id=3374

Alison of No. 16 Photography has some unique and creative photography. When she contacted us about doing a large restaurant project we were excited to help and see what amazing shots would be included. Here are a few pictures of the finished results and a testimonial from her, we’d like to thank her very much for the kind words!

I couldn’t be more pleased with Canvas Press’s quality and service!

As a professional photographer, I do an extreme amount of research before committing to a product. Past reviews, incredibly helpful and pleasant customer service, and extraordinary offers and pricing convinced me at once that Canvas Press was the right choice for my photos.

My first order with Canvas Press included three custom sized black and white images. When I received them, I was incredibly happy to see that they were just as the way I had previewed them on the easy-to-use website. When I was contracted to do 33 photo canvases for a restaurant, I knew that Canvas Press could handle it and guarantee the quality I desired. ALL 33 canvases were perfect. Canvas Press’s safe shipping of all 33 canvases was and is unsurpassed.

There is no doubt that I will continue to use Canvas Press for all of my photo canvas needs. The quality of canvas and use of inks is superb. Each canvas that I have ordered is clear, sharp and rich in color. The stretching of the canvas itself on my gallery wrapped projects is just as superior.

I thank you for all your wonderful help and support. Your customer service reps are the best I’ve ever dealt with. The friendly staff is always so very helpful with any and all of my questions and/or concerns.

Thank you again for your wonderful business!

Alison, No. 16 Photography

Nishi Kumar is an artist of a new generation. She uses a digital tablet and Adobe software to sketch her designs before ever touching a paint brush. Rare Austin Magazine likens her early work to Edgar Degas. A warm color palette unites her works. Like the artist herself, her subject is a blend of East and West. Ballerinas in motion are common in her work. When I asked if she had studied dance, she quickly responded “no”.

Canvas Press printed an 18″ by 24″ Gallery Wrapped print of Kumar’s Liquid Emotion, the original was 30″ x 24″ oil on canvas, for her March 26^th show.

Any art work can be reproduced by scanning or photographing. If the original is larger than 8.5″ by 11″, it must be photographed by our photographer Caroline or scanned on a large bed scanner.  Art reproducts are much less expensive than originals and custom-sized.  Artists are not restricted to painting sizes that sell well.  Reproductions free the artist to focus on their work and enable easier distribution.  Canvas Press can ship to clients while the artist places the order.

To read more about Nishi Kumar, check out her blog. http://creativesolve.com/profile.html.

Read her January 2009 feature story in Rare Austin Magazine. http://issuu.com/raremagazine/docs/january2009.

Canvas Press is currently partnering with Austin Woman Magazine to provide each feature lady with a 16″ by 20″ Gallery Wrapped – Colored Border canvas. These canvases will be large duplicates of the magazine’s cover with black borders on all sides. The magazine can be found at merchants around Austin and is free. Find pick-up locations in your zip code,

http://www.austinwomanmagazine.com/distribution.html.

The March issue features Blues legend Marcia Ball (Sneak a peek on page 41 to find Canvas Press). Austin Woman Magazine’s Web site offers the following lead in to the article,

At six feet tall, blues singer and pianist Marcia Ball is hard to miss. Her height is only one of the things that make this Austin icon stand out. For 2009, her 60th birthday and fourth Grammy nomination are reasons to celebrate. Yet, she says there’s an even bigger celebration this year and it has her on fire and looking forward.
Story by Julie Tereshchuk

In addition to having ads in the magazine and gifting canvases to the cover women, Canvas Press will participate in Austin Woman’s monthly happy hour Tiara Tuesday. Please join us for a charity raffle, silent auction, discounted drinks, and food specials at Ruth’s Chris from 6-8pm on March 24, 2009. For more information on Tiara Tuesday, check out the following link

http://www.austinwomanmagazine.com/tiara_tuesday.html