Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Finding double bed ideas for small rooms can be a tricky balance between comfort and a crowded-looking space. Here, we help you to create a stylish, organized and well-thought out design around this essential, but dominant, bedroom furniture.

When planning your bed ideas, thinking cleverly about the area that surrounds your double bed will ensure you make the most out of the space available in a smaller room.

From beautiful tall headboards to innovative storage solutions, you do not have to compromise on style or personality for small bedroom ideas.

Beds for small rooms need to strike the perfect balance between style and practicality.

Carefully considering a double bed's placement in a room and how you can enhance your sleep space to feel spacious, welcoming and cozy is key.

To help you choose the right double bed ideas for small rooms in your space, we have gathered our favorite bedroom ideas for some beautiful inspiration.

Andrew Martin, Rita Custom Headboard in Wessex Charcoal with Chrome Studs

(Image credit: Andrew Martin)

Headboard ideas can establish an eye-catching focal point and design feature in a bedroom.

Playing with scale in interior design can be highly effective in smaller spaces. For double bed ideas for small rooms, choosing a tall headboard can gently draw the eye upwards, creating the illusion of more space.

Choosing colorful, patterned headboard designs is also a great way to inject texture and character into your smaller bedroom space, as Martin Waller, Founder of Andrew Martin (opens in new tab) explains, 'headboards are an inexpensive way of transforming a small bedroom. They are essentially alternative forms of artwork. A statement headboard will introduce personality to a space. Our bedroom interiors should be as individual as the people that inhabit them. Dont be afraid to choose a more outlandish style as this only adds more character'.

Explore our collection of statement headboards for some stand-out inspiration.

(Image credit: KJM Interiors)

A simple way to make a small bedroom feel more spacious and calming, making sure the area around you double bed feels light and bright will only make for a more welcoming space.

As shown in this bedroom by KJM Interiors (opens in new tab), which was 'designed as a mellow retreat from a stressful job' the designer 'combined woven textiles, linen bedding, and textured ceramic lamps.' The darker colors used on the bedding, headboard, furniture and lighting create a cozy environment, with the fresh white walls making the space feel open and inviting.

The overall neutral color palette works well in this small bedroom space, with lighter, calming color choices a great option to make a room feel bigger.

(Image credit: James Merrell)

Embracing symmetry in interior design is a great way to help with small bedroom layout ideas, creating a harmonious environment that feels well-considered and elegantly styled.

In this bedroom, the beautiful red patterned headboard is surrounded by the symmetrical placement of framed drawings and matching bed-side tables and lamps.

Simple design details that can truly make a difference, planning symmetrical designs around a double bed in a small room can create a feeling of enhanced space and achieve a smart, balanced look.

(Image credit: Alicia Taylor)

Bedroom wallpaper ideas not only bring color, character and texture to a room, they can also be used in certain sections of a room to mark distinct zones.

For double bed ideas for small rooms, using wallpaper around the bed can beautifully define the area with color and pattern, creating a room within a room effect in a small space.

Choosing a tonal color palette and picking a wallpaper that coordinates with the other colors used in your bedroom will ensure the overall look does not feel too overwhelming. In this beautiful blue bedroom, the wallpaper perfectly complements the headboard, bedding and blinds, creating a zoned sleep space that still remains cohesive and stylish.

(Image credit: Interior Fox)

A multipurpose design detail, decorating with art in the bedroom can add visual interest to the room as well enhance the feeling of space, so get creative with above the bed decor ideas and decorate with some eye-catching pieces of art.

Jen & Mar, Co-Founders of Interior Fox (opens in new tab) state that, 'the bed is the focal point of any bedroom, and the area above is the perfect spot for artwork. For maximum impact in a smaller room, opt for larger pieces of art over the bed to bring the scheme together. If youre stuck for what color or design to opt for, take this opportunity to pull in an accent color. Whether thats black used in the furniture or a color from the soft furnishings, sticking to this rule will make the room flow and feel cohesive.'

(Image credit: Jon Day Photography)

Nook bed ideas can be as simple as positioning a double bed up against a wall, to as theatrical as incorporating bespoke false walls, curtains and canopies. A true embodiment of comfort, relaxation and warmth, a nook bed can work wonderfully in a small bedroom space.

For double bed ideas for small rooms, a cozy nook bed can make the most out of awkward alcoves and the space available, as well as creating a truly inviting and cozy bedroom environment.

Inspired by the Bloomsbury Set and the Arts & Crafts movement, this stand-out nook bed unites color, pattern and texture to create a stunning design feature and artistic statement in a small bedroom.

(Image credit: Margaret Ash Design)

Decorating with mirrors is renowned to make a room feel more spacious and bright, so why not position mirrors above or around a double bed for an enhanced feeling of space.

Helen Pratt, Designer Ambassador at Arteriors (opens in new tab) states, 'where possible throughout the home, utilizing mirrors to reflect light will make rooms seem larger than they are - particular when occupying a full wall'.

In this sophisticated master bedroom designed by Margaret Ash Design (opens in new tab), she states of the overall home design, 'this classic Victorian home in San Francisco's Pacific Heights was given a fresh update with clean, soft neutrals taking advantage of the abundance of natural light which fills the space'.

The bedroom mirror ideas shown in this room enhance the beautiful light that floods in through the large windows, with the matching mirrors positioned either side of the double bed to create a feeling of openness, symmetry and space.

(Image credit: Jody Stewart)

Small bedroom storage ideas are one of the most important factors to plan in when organizing a design for a small bedroom.

If you are looking for a bed that has hidden storage compartments, Patricia Gibbons on the Design Team at Sofa.com (opens in new tab) states, 'for everyday access, divan styles are best as the drawers are accessible for daily needs, but for a seasonal change-over of clothing, duvets and blankets, then an ottoman bed is the one for you.'

For storage ideas around the bed, this bedroom highlights how a double bed can fit neatly into the space between two alcove shelving units. The alcoves work as both a storage and display space as well as providing a practical surface area either side of the bed - like that of a bed-side table.

Whether you choose an innovative double bed design with hidden storage, or build custom storage units around the bed, there are many options to choose from that can provide innovative storage solutions in smaller spaces.

(Image credit: Paul Raeside)

We have discussed the effect of a tall headboard, so why not go the other way (literally) and choose an oversized design to create a stylish, elongated effect.

Adding beautiful texture and visual interest to a small bedroom, an oversized headboard can also make your double bed feel bigger than it actual is, creating a unique, stretched effect.

In this colorful yet refined bedroom, the blue headboard has been crafted to fit into the space exactly. The design effortlessly anchors the bed into this cozy corner of the room, as well as establishing an elegant focal point and splash of color in the space.

(Image credit: Jonathan Gooch)

Jen & Mar from Interior Fox state when planning the lighting around the double bed in a small room, 'wall lights make a great alternative to table lamps as they free up the space while creating symmetry.'

A decorative and functional addition to the area around you bed for bedroom wall lighting ideas, using wall lights in this space can create an inviting, boutique hotel effect.

Whether you choose a design that focuses on providing practical, direct light, ideal for reading, or calming designs that provide a warming, relaxing glow - or a light that does both - wall lights can save space as well as add a decorative finishing touch, making your double bed feel stylish and sophisticated.

As we have explored, the bed is the main feature in a bedroom - especially in a small room as it will take up the majority of the space.

Designing the area around your double bed to be fun, practical and inviting will create a design that looks good and can stand the test of time.

From being creative with artwork, to thinking about clever storage solutions, your bed area can work hard to cater to the exact needs of your room.

If the only option for you bed is up against a wall, style this space so it becomes a cozy nook. If your bedroom is lacking in natural light, use mirrors to enhance on the light available.

You can still be adventurous with color, pattern and sizing in a small bedroom, and centering your design around your double bed will only make your small bedroom space feel more welcoming, stylish and functional.

See the article here:
Double bed ideas for small rooms 10 clever ways with compact spaces - Homes & Gardens

JUPITER, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Capture and PhotoRepairPro have partnered to create The Memory Makeover Project, an initiative to give back to military and veteran families while helping others preserve photo, film and video memories.

Our two companies have worked together for over a decade supporting major photo retailers, including Walmart, Costco, CVS and others. Today we have joined forces to start a new mission: To help families preserve their fading photo, film and video memories, said Lisa McCabe, CEO of Capture.

We are most excited about our initiative to give back to military and veteran families, adds Paul Good, Founder/CEO of PhotoRepairPro. Until May 23, 2023, 5% of sales revenue will be donated to Fisher House Foundation, a charity that builds comfort homes where military and veteran families can stay free of charge, while a loved one is in the hospital.

The initiative launched on the 30th Season of Military Makeover with Montel, hosted by Montel Williams, airing on Lifetime and the American Forces Network.

TheMemoryMakeoverProject.com was enlisted and entrusted alongside expert designers, contractors, landscapers, and other professionals to rebuild the home of an extraordinarily heroic and deserving military family, the Zieglers.

The shows production staff organized the familys old photos in need of repair, then handed them off to TheMemoryMakeoverProject.com for restoration. Longtime partner Walmart Photo kindly donated the wall mounted prints for the gallery wall.

I loved that we were able to take memories of our veteran family and have them fixed to use as wall art. Its fun to work with companies that care about our veteran families, said show designer, Jennifer Bertrand.

The team from Capture gifted the Zieglers a Time Capsule, the companys simplified media shipping kit, to fill up with any video, film, photo and digital content. Were thrilled to offer professional digitization services so that the Zieglers may preserve their memories and share them online, said McCabe.

About:

TheMemoryMakeoverProject.com: Photo, film and video preservation services donating 5% to military and veterans.

Capture: Film and Video Transfer Services

PhotoRepairPro: Photo Restoration Services

Military Makeover with Montel, A BrandStar Original, is Americas leading branded reality TV show offering hope and a helping hand to members of our military and their loved ones.

Justin and Kristie Ziegler: Featured family

Fisher House Foundation: Serving military and veteran families.

See original here:
Capture and PhotoRepairPro Join Forces to Give Back to Military and Veteran Families - Business Wire

Each week in Screen Icons we take you behind the doors of the homes made famous by some of our favourite TV shows and movies.

When Cindy and Kieran Killian bought their 19th-century mansion they had no idea they were the difference between the historic home being saved from demolition.

The property at 105 Aberdeen Avenue, Hamilton, in Ontario, Canada was scheduled to be knocked down the day after the couple closed the deal.

The family-of-six bought the home in the mid-90s after spending two years searching for a home to buy.

When we walked in my husband said: No negotiating, give them what they are asking. This is the house, Cindy told Our Homes magazine in 2015.

Today, the large seven-bedroom home is known by millions from the hit US television dystopian series, The Handmaids Tale.

READ MORE: Historic 'Top Gun' cottage given new address

Set in the fictional Republic of Gilead, the property is home to central characters Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) and his wife Serena Joy Yvonne Strahovski).

The series, starring Elisabeth Moss as heroine June Osborne/Offred, is an adaptation of the Margaret Atwood novel of the same name.

The creators of The Handmaids Tale reportedly chose the property for its Victorian-style architecture.

Exterior shots of the home were used in the series, as well as the sitting room.

The property has seven bedrooms on the top two floors and 12-foot ceilings.

Its kitchen was renovated in the 1990s and was originally four small rooms. High cupboards were installed after 2014 after the home experienced a burst pipe.

A number of additional buildings, including a greenhouse and a garage with an apartment, were added to the property specifically for the TV series.

Other rooms in the show, including the bedrooms, the kitchen, library and dining room, were filmed on a soundstage in Toronto.

READ MORE: The Hollywood mansion where the front gates must remain closed

Just as you can get a sense of someones personality by the way they decorate their house or by the clothes they wear, set design is supposed to tell the story of the characters that inhabit the sets, Houzz quoted the shows production designer Elisabeth Williams in 2018.

Each element is carefully chosen to give the audience a sense of what that characters life is like beyond the dialogue and immediate action you see on-screen.

The Killians reportedly stay in a hotel when their home is being used for filming.

The mansion was built in 1893 on land carved from what was known as the Inglewood estate.

Originally posted here:
How 'The Handmaid's Tale' mansion was saved from the wrecking ball - Nine

WHEN it comes to decorating and choosing accessories, its often hard to know exactly where to put them.

Luckily, an interior designer has come to the rescue, offering her foolproof triangle technique that works perfectly when arranging your home.

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TikTok user Katie Pellegrino, aka @katiepellegrinodecor, shared a video to her social media account, titled: Easy and free interior design trick part two.

As the camera panned in on a vase sitting on top of a pile of books, she went on to explain her method.

She said: Style your accessories in a triangle shape. The easiest way to do this is one tall object, one short.

The triangle tip simply means that a triangle could easily be drawn around the objects and they would fit inside of it.

Katie added another part to the video, showing how it also applies to two vases with one taller and one shorter sitting side by side on top of the same books.

The homes expert also added that it doesnt have to cost a penny to transform your home in this way.

Instead, you can use the accessories you already have, but just laid out in a different way.

She wrote alongside the video: Super basic and you can use things you already have - just placing them intentionally to create rhythm.

Katie also explained that the same method could be used when choosing how to decorate larger areas, like around the fireplace.

You dont need a stack of books, either. They just add to it. Works on a larger scale too (mantle, sideboard etc).

As fans thanked her for the trusty tip, others said they have already been following it subconsciously as they knew it looked more aesthetically pleasing.

Katie has also posted other similarly helpful hacks on her account, which has amassed 15,500 followers since it first launched.

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Follow this link:
Im an interior designer, this free and easy triangle tip will transform your home & should ALWAYS be fol... - The US Sun

Thanks to Instagram accounts like Zillow Gone Wild, eclectic haunts from every corner of the worldincluding one 1920s-era blue-roofed abode in Michigan that internet admirers have dubbed The Smurf Houseare stealing hearts near and far. Whatever comes next, stay in the know with our weekly roundup of headlines, launches and events, recommended reading and more.

Business News

Pinterest has entered into an agreement to acquire The Yes, an AI-powered shopping platform for fashion that provides users with a personalized feed based on their brand, style and size preferences. The Yes currently hosts hundreds of brands, whose offerings are curated by an algorithm that Pinterest wants to apply to categories such as home, beauty and food. Pinterest expects to finalize the acquisition this quarter, after which it plans to sunset The Yes app and website and merge the companys team with its own.

Franchise Groupthe parent company of American Freight, Badcock Home Furniture & More and Buddys Home Furnishingshas entered into an exclusive three-week negotiation period to acquire Kohls Corp for nearly $8 billion in cash, Reuters reports. The transactionwhich values the department store chains stock at $60 per share, $15 above where it trades todayis subject to Kohls board approval. Kohls faced pressure to sell itself earlier this year after activist investors Macellum Advisors GP LLC and Engine Capital LP called upon the company to do so. More recently, bidders such as Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and J.C. Penney investors Simon Property Group Inc. submitted competing offers for the retail chain.

Target has announced plans to cut prices and cancel orders to get rid of unwanted inventory. According to The New York Times, the move comes in response to a recent shift in consumer behavior away from home goods, tech and athleisure and toward travel and out-of-home experiences. The change has left retailers like Target with an overload of inventory, which the company stocked up on during the recent period of skyrocketing pandemic demand. The new plans will cut profit in the current quarter, the company saida blow that comes just three weeks after Targets stock fell nearly 25 percent following a dismal earnings report.

Horticulture lifestyle brand Lively Root has closed a $4 million seed funding round, with participation from former Jack in the Box CEO Jake Goodall, original Vuori investor CJ Stos and McKenzie Farms founder Ken Cook, among others. Founded in July 2020, the company aims to encourage the creation of more green spaces by connecting people with curated plant selections from local nurseries. Armed with the new funding, Lively Root has set its sights on expanding beyond its current markets in California, Oregon and Florida; moving into additional categories such as outdoor plants, holiday items and plant care accessories; and preparing to kick off a Series A fundraising round later this year.

San Franciscobased startup Pulley has announced the completion of a $4.4 million seed funding round led by Susa Ventures, TechCrunch reports. Co-founders Andreas Rotenberg and Charlie Jacobson started the company to streamline the construction permit processan often frustrating experience, they say, due to the nations 19,000 different permitting jurisdictions, which each have their own system for interpreting and enforcing building codesthrough the implementation of its workflow software. With the new injection of capital, the company plans to build out its core product, grow its team and expand into additional markets.

According to a survey from financial services company Bankrate, 74 percent of respondents view owning a home as the highest possible achievement, above that of a successful career, raising a family or earning a college degree, The New York Times reports. Among respondents who did not own homes, roughly the same share cited affordability factors like income level and record-high housing prices as preventing them from making a down payment. To reach the goal of homeownership, 58 percent noted that they would be willing to make compromises such as relocating to another state, buying a fixer-upper or moving into a less desirable area.

Nate Berkus teamed up with Beautyrest to create a new sleep-centric collectionCourtesy of Beautyrest

Launches and Collaborations

Design icon Nate Berkus has partnered with Beautyrest for a limited edition sleep collection. The new line includes mattresses, mattress protectors and down pillows, with each item incorporating upcycled plastics recovered from the ocean.

Showhouses

The Kaleidoscope Project, a nonprofit dedicated to providing opportunities to designers in BIPOC communities, has announced the location and date of this years designer showhouse: the 1906 Tyler Street Firehouse in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on August 5. The organization has selected four design teamsEverick and Lisa Walker Brown of Everick Brown Design; Denise Gordon, Tanya Lewis and Marilyn Lavergne of the Austin Gray Design Group; Virginia Toledo, a partner in Toledo Geller; and Rasheeda Gray of Gray Space Interiorsto reimagine four residential units within the converted firehouse with a focus on sustainability.

Recommended Reading

Practicality and minimalism may have been the dominating design influences of the past decade, but the pandemic awoke in many the taste for something much more opulent at home. For Eater, Jaya Saxena dives into one manifestation of the present trend toward maximalismthe current online craze and growing community surrounding the collection of vintage china.

When it comes to residential suburban development, homeowner-activists on the local level enjoy an inordinate amount of control over new buildsa set of circumstances that led to the rise of NIMBY, an acronym that stands for not in my backyard and describes neighbors who fight nearby construction, especially multi-unit properties. For The New York Times, Conor Dougherty offers a thorough look at the roots of NIMBYism, the policies that have both enabled and counteracted the phenomenon and the groups that have emerged in opposition as the nations housing crisis worsens.

Call for Entries

Jamie Stern Furniture, Carpet & Leather has opened submissions for its third annual Rug Design Contest. The competition encourages members of the architecture and design community to submit an original design for the chance to win a custom wool rug produced by Jamie Stern, with winners to be selected from each of the four regionsNortheast, Southeast, Midwest and Western. To submit an entry before the July 1 deadline, click here.

The International Furnishings and Design Association is now accepting applications for six professional grants available through its Educational Foundation. The awards include the Irma Dobkin Universal Design Grant, a $3,000 prize open to an individual involved in a Universal Design project; the Ina Mae Kaplan Historic Preservation Grant, $2,000 open to those involved in the restoration or preservation of design/furnishings; the Elizabeth Brown Grant, $2,500 open to an accredited U.S. interior design program; the Tony Torrice Professional Development Grant, $1,500 open to design professionals seeking advanced study; the Valerie Moran Memorial Grant, a prize of up to $3,000 for an IFDA professional member; and the Barbara Brock Memorial Grant, a $1,500 prize for two IFDA experts to travel to speak at various industry venues. For more information, click here.

In Memoriam

Susan BecherCourtesy of Julia Duke

Susan Becher, an industry leader and pioneer of design public relations, passed away on June 3. For more than 35 years, Becher served at the helm of her eponymous New Yorkbased boutique public relations and marketing firm, which specializes in representing home decor and lifestyle brands and personalities (the firm is currently run by principals Julia Duke and Molly Bates). Becher rose to prominence working alongside brands such as Marimekko, Flos, Cassina, Boffi, Pottery Barn and Waterworks, as well as with design greats such as Victoria Hagan, Thomas Jayne and Orlando Diaz-Azcuy. She was much lauded for her contributions in design, but she is often most remembered by her peers for mentoring women in the fields of design and public relations. She started her own firm in an era when women could hardly get their own credit cards, says Duke. She consciously committed to an all-women firm for the entirety of her career and nurtured her employees by empowering them to have leadership roles in her business and with her clients. Becher is survived by her husband, Bruce; sons David and Marc; and Marcs fiancee Danielle. They will be holding a public memorial at 2:30 p.m. on June 12 at the New York Society for Ethical Culture at 2 West 64th St., where Bruce and Susan were married in 1978.

Photographer Patrick Cline passed away late last month, leaving behind a legacy in the interior design industry for high-standard imagery featured in titles such as InStyle, Redbook, V Magazine and Vanity Fair, with a lauded subject list that includes the work of Albert Hadley, Celerie Kemble, Kelly Wearstler, Mark D. Sikes and more. Cline fell in love with photography as an 18-year-old apprentice processing film in a studio under Spitalfields Market and went on to build a name for himself photographing interiors. In 2009, Cline co-founded Lonny magazine alongside Michelle Adams and went on to serve as the titles director of photography for three years. Pats sharp eye, innate talent and genuine love for photography brought our magazine to life. He was a natural, easily able to capture dozens of outstanding photos in just a couple of hours, says Adams. His charming personality and dry sense of humor ensured laughter at every shoot and made him a favorite in the design community. He will be sorely missed.

Homepage image: A room designed by Virginia Toledo for last years designer showhouse for The Kaleidoscope Project | The Kaleidoscope Project

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Pinterest makes an acquisition, Nate Berkus gets into the sleep game and more - Business of Home

The Marketplace at Pirna

A decades-long battle over ownership of a painting once sold to Adolf Hitler's art collector was recently resolved in favor of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

"The Marketplace at Pirna" by Bernardo Bellotto has been a part of the museum's collection since 1961. However, the grandchildren of Max Emden, a German Jewish art collector, claim that he was coerced into selling the piece to Hitler's art collector Karl Haberstock in the 1930s.

The family argued they should have ownership of the painting as his heirs, but a ruling by a federal judge earlier this month will keep the painting at MFAH.

The Monuments Men and Women, who work to return "cultural treasures" to their rightful owners, recovered the painting along with two others by Bellotto following World War II. Emden had sold all three to Haberstock in June of 1938 for 60,000 Swiss francs.

Monuments Men Foundation Chairman Robert Edsel, a guest on Tuesday's Houston Matters, said the group sent the painting to the Netherlands after the Dutch government claimed in 1946 that they were searching for it.

However, there are "multiple versions" of a Bellotto painting under the same name, Edsel said.

"(The Monuments Men and Women) erroneously thought that one of these three paintings of Emden's was the painting that the Netherlands was looking for," Edsel told Houston Matters.

The Dutch government restituted that painting to art dealer Hugo Moser, who claimed the painting was his, MFAH wrote in a July 2021 statement. But Edsel said Moser was mistaken, and when he realized the mix up, "fraudulently" removed labels from the back of the painting and sold it to a collector who later donated it to MFAH.

"They acquired it as a consequence of a clerical error, compounded by a fraud," Edsel told Houston Matters.

But Thaddeus Stauber, MFAH legal counsel, told Houston Matters that the museum is justified in its possession of the painting, and that the sale was not made under duress.

Stauber said that when the claim by Emden's heirs was brought to the museum's attention in 2007, he and Laurie Stein a specialist in World War II-era provenance research found evidence that their ancestor had left Germany in the 1920s and moved to an island in Switzerland where he housed his art collection. Emden initiated and conducted the sale of "The Marketplace at Pirna" to Haberstock through Jewish Gallerist Anni Caspari, museum officials said.

While Stauber acknowledged Emden may have felt some level of stress in Germany during Hitler's rule, he claims that Emden did not face the same level of pressure while in Switzerland and that it was his decision to sell.

"After the war, we discovered that Mr. Emdens son had submitted for claims of property that was lost in Germany, but had made no claims to these particular artworks," Stauber said.

U.S. District Court Judge Keith P. Ellison dismissed the suit on May 2 on the basis that the court could not interfere with the choices of other sovereign governments under the "Act of State" doctrine, referring to the role of the Dutch government in "mistakenly" returning it to Moser.

MFAH has maintained that Haberstock met Emden's asking price of 60,000 Swiss francs, which was received in Emden's Swiss bank account, and that no evidence of coercion has been confirmed.

Emden's heirs are permitted to appeal the U.S. federal court's decision or file another lawsuit in the future.

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Court sides with MFAH in dispute over painting once sold to Hitlers art collector - Houston Public Media

Photo Taken In Milwaukee, United States

Ever since he was a young boy growing up in Milwaukee on the shores of Lake Michigan, Khari Turner (b. 1991) has been drawn to water. Turner has found a unique way of continuing that connection by incorporating water sourced from lakes, rivers and oceans with personal associations or connections to Black history into his contemporary figurative paintings.

To reflect the composition of the human body, he mixes paints composed of almost 60% water. He also uses his found water as a primer applied to canvases before painting.

Now through July 10, 2022, the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend, WI presents Turners first solo museum show in his home state, Mirroring Reflection, showcasing his work in a gallery overlooking the Milwaukee River, a source the artist has drawn water from for use in paintings on view in the show.

Khari Turner, Flower of the Lake, 2022. Acrylic, oil, ink, charcoal, sand, African mahogany, water ... [+] from: Coast of Senegal, lower Manhattan docks, Lake Michigan, Milwaukee River, Pacific Ocean.

Water was always prevalent in terms of spaces to think and spaces for me to really start questioning what do I want to do with my life, how do I want to move forward; or if I was having a tough time I'd just sit next to water, Turner told Forbes.com.

The show features 26 of his water-infused works.

It was always so calming, he remembers about coming of age around water, adding with a chuckle, and then I used to skip rocks all time.

Turners paintings are highly symbolic, combining abstract and realistic renderings of Black figures to underscore the spiritual and physical relationship of his ancestors to water. Any discussion of Black life and history in America where it connects to water must trace its roots back to the Transatlantic slave trade. Turner approaches that reality from a different perspective.

I used to try making art about that trauma, but (I thought) it's not helpful to people who are already looking at this work and know about it, Turner said.

Instead of belaboring the point, reproducing the anguish being expressed by countless other artists, he found a different way of putting the water to use.

It helps me to be able to create work with this material because I can handle having all of that information, all of the atrocities of slavery and also all of the ideas around migration and travel, but I don't have to make imagery that displays that because the material does it already, you know where these materials came from, Turner explains.

The bodies of Black ancestors thrown overboard between Africa and the Americas decomposed in the water. They became one with it. A part of them returns through Turners paintings when he sources water from the ocean.

The material tells that terrible story sufficiently.

Then I am allowed to create images of happiness and joy, but never anything that has to deal with the trauma from that water, Turner said. The water does all the heavy lifting. That frees me up as an artist to be able to create images saying I know that there's this history, but I choose to live along with it in a way that I can still talk about joy.

Khari Turner, River Steps, 2022, Acrylic, oil, ink, charcoal, African mahogany, water from: Coast of ... [+] Senegal, lower Manhattan docks, Lake Michigan, Milwaukee River, Pacific Ocean.

Doing so reveals a more authentic self.

It felt like it was a lot more personal and it was a better message if I (could take that water) and apply it to (joy)we will still ride bikes, we're still going to the park, we still are having a good time, Turner said, referencing imagery from his paintings. (Trauma from water) is a part of history, and you should know this is a part of history, but I'm not going to stop being an artist. I'm going to be here doing what I want to do and I want to be able to create joy even though I know this history.

Mirroring Reflection follows Turners solo international debut at the 2022 Venice Biennale this past spring where a presentation of his paintings remains on view through November at Palazzo Bembo to coincide with the ongoing Super Bowl of contemporary art.

He spent the month of May in Stockholm, Sweden preparing a show of entirely new work for exhibition there this summer.

Coming off a residency during the pandemic in Venice, CA with a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University to his credit, the increasingly global artist who now lives in Brooklyn is undoubtedly on the verge of a major career breakthrough.

Despite that international success, Turner considers the MOWA show an early career highpoint.

The people who really influenced my work or who grew up seeing me got to see that show, he said. My high school art teacher came to that show and people who I used to work with, so it's really an amazing moment. Venice is great and hopefully one day I get my own pavilion to represent the United States, but it was definitely different being able to give back to (my) community, making artwork and showing it, (hoping) this might remind (visitors) of home because a lot of these images are based on me growing up (in Milwaukee)kids on bikes, going to the pool, sitting in class.

Museum of Wisconsin Art; West Bend, WI; HGA Architects and Engineers.

For additional insight into Turners evolution as a man and artist, he recommends a visit to Klode Park in Whitefish Bay, a community just north of downtown Milwaukee and less than an hours drive from MOWA.

It's the best park I've ever been to and is really where I got a lot of my motivation and where I grab water from when I use Lake Michigan water for work that I make, Turner said. That park is set up where you see Lake Michigan, but the land around it curves on each side so you don't see any of the city and it's mostly all trees and when you look out into it, it feels like you're looking at the ocean.

Looking into a Khari Turner painting.

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Water Inspires And Imbues Milwaukee Native Khari Turners Joyful Paintings - Forbes

As part of our ongoing "Getting to Know Your Local Businesses" series,we sat down this week with Dave Cole, owner of Coastal Painting Associates.

How did you decide to get involved in this line of work? How did the business get started?After over 20 years as a Corporate Recruiter and Manager I decided to return to my roots. I began painting in high school and later worked part-time in a hardware store mixing and selling paint. So, I was familiar with the products and processes.

Tell us a couple things you are proud of about your business. What are you known for? What separates you from the competition?We pride ourselves on our flexibility to meet our customers needs, our attention to detail, and our fluid processes. We recognize the hardship a paint project adds to our clients lives and view our role as making this as painless as possible. We operate under the camping motto: leave it cleaner than you found it!

What is your favorite part of running this business?Seeing the finished project and the satisfaction on the faces of our clients! Thats really what its all about.

Who is your ideal customer/client? Who do you serve best?Those who appreciate quality work and view their home as an investment they want to protect and be proud of.

Are there any special promotions, annual sales, or special events that you'd like to mention?Currently we are offering 15% Off any painting project.

Is there any other information you'd like your potential customers/clients to know about your business?We are A+ BBB Rated (we are accredited), insured and our references are amazing! The thing I hear most often from my clients is that we respond. We have old school integrity, and it shows!

How do you see your business growing and improving over the next couple of years?We have incorporated new systems internally this year and will continue to look for technology to help run the business. Houston is growing and so are we!

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Interview With Dave Cole of Coastal Painting Associates - Kingwood

Leonardo da Vincis Mona Lisa may be one of the most beloved artworks in the world. Seen by millions of people each year, it is considered to be the crown jewel of the Louvres collection, an iconic work of the Renaissance, and a painting that is impossible to value because it is seen as being priceless. It has also been the target of theft and vandalism on several occasions.

Since the start of the 20th century, the painting, which was acquired by France in 1797, has had spray paint and a teacup thrown at it. This week, it was caked. In 1956 alone, two vandals tried to use a razor blade and a rock to defile it on separate occasions. Each time, the Mona Lisa has emerged without damage. (All of this doesnt count the various artists who have altered the Mona Lisas image, among the Marcel Duchamp, who famously put a mustache on a reproduction of the Leonardo painting, or the era during World War II when the painting risked being seized by the Nazis during their occupation of France.)

In short, the Mona Lisa has faced so much potential damage that even Salvador Dal was once moved to speak on all the vandalism, attributing to the painting a power, unique in all art history, to provoke the most violent and different kinds of aggressions.

To look back on this unusual art-historical lineage, ARTnews has charted below five times in which the Mona Lisa was vandalized or stolen.

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5 Times the Mona Lisa Was Vandalized or Stolen - ARTnews

Art

Ayanna Dozier

Installation view of Everything is Beautiful, 2022, at Frist Art Museum. Photo by John Schweikert. Courtesy of Frist Art Museum.

Alma Thomass paintings create portals into other worlds through color and form. And though the late artist, who died in 1978, is now regarded as a seminal painter of Abstract Expressionism, her first major museum solo exhibition did not arrive until she was 80. That show, held at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1972, came to fruition thanks to a recommendation by the esteemed artist and curator David Driskell. At the opening, Thomas wore a vivid geometric dress she designed herself, which matched her abstract paintings that were inspired by her love of nature and space exploration. The exhibition launched a meteoric rise in Thomass career that lasted until her death at the age of 86.

While Thomas gained success late in life, her inclusion in the art historical canon, and the ascent of her market, did not comelike many Black abstract paintersuntil the 21st century. Over the past decade, Thomass work has been included in several reparative exhibitions that have cemented her place in Modern and abstract art, such as the forthcoming Put it This Way: (Re)Visions of the Hirshhorn Collection at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden this summer. Thomas is currently the subject of a traveling, four-city retrospective titled Everything Is Beautiful, which closes on June 5th at the Frist Art Museum, before reaching its final stop, the Columbus Museum in Columbus, Georgia, this July; the show was also featured at the Chrysler Museum of Art and The Phillips Collection.

Portrait of Alma Thomas with two students at the Howard University Art Gallery, 1928 or after. Courtesy of Alma W. Thomas Papers, The Columbus Museum, GA.

Thomas was born in Columbus, Georgia, in 1891 and spent two-thirds of her life living in and dealing with the effects of racially segregated environments in the United States. Her family moved to Washington, D.C. in 1907, when she was 15, to further her education; as Black Americans in Columbus, there were little to no educational opportunities beyond middle school.

In 1921, at the age of 30, Thomas enrolled in the Home Economics program at Howard University to pursue costume design; though she originally sought to pursue a career in architecture, Thomas abandoned that goal due to the lack of educational programs for Black women in the field. At Howard, her costumes caught the attention of James V. Herring, who founded the universitys department of art in 1921 and invited Thomas to join it. In 1924, Thomas became Howards first fine arts graduate. In 1934, she earned a masters in education from Columbia Universitys Teachers College.

Though she went on to a career in teaching, Thomas never ceased her painting practice. Her indefatigable approach to art shaped her painterly practice, leading her to experiment with Modern art styles like Cubism and pure abstraction over a 35 year period.

Alma W. Thomas, Untitled, 1922/1924. Alma Thomas. Courtesy of The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection.

A masterful Untitled still life from 1924 displays the inspiration she gleaned from Paul Czanneparticularly, his use of color, rather than line, to create a sense of form. Untitled is a vibrant, full-bodied painting where color is used to immerse audiences in a scene of wine bottles, a die, and other cube-like forms. The heavy use of red and pink across the painting dominate the mood, suggesting a hot, if not, sensuous tone that is heightened by the empty wine bottles. The red die is unusually large, occupying as much space as the wine bottles beside it, evoking a hint of Alice in Wonderland. This dreamlike still life evokes Thomass interest in the scene design and puppetry. Her masters thesis, after all, was focused on marionettes.

Thomas began making abstract paintings in earnest in 1960, following her retirement at age 68. That was also when she finished a decade-long practice of taking modernist painting courses at American University. In Red Abstraction (1960), she used large swaths of red against a green background and black gestural lines to minimize depth. The painting is a free-flowing atmosphere dominated by color and brushstrokes.

The painting March on Washington (1964) documents Thomass participation in the titular march alongside her friend, opera singer Lillian Evanti. In it, the outlines of the marchers bodies combine to become a swirling blur of color and movement. The result is the effect or feeling of the march, rather than the specific representation of it.

Alma W. Thomas, Untitled, 1968. Alma Thomas. Courtesy of Steve and Lesley Testan Collection, as curated by Emily Friedman Fine Art.

Thomas is best known for her distinctive, mosaic-like paintings, characterized by a heavy arrangement of warm blocks of yellow, orange, and red, bleeding into a smaller circular pattern of cool blues and purples. She began these works in 1966 with the painting Resurrection, which was made for her first gallery show at Howard University.

Her interest in colors emotive properties began after reading Johannes Ittens work on color theory. As she pursued abstraction in the 1960s, Ittens scholarship on color and emotions led Thomas to use color as a force that can positively and negatively alter space and mood.

Thomas composed the mosaic paintings for her Whitney exhibition with strips of painted paper that she cut and placed on a stretched canvas to form a grid, as in Untitled (1968). This technique allowed Thomas to carefully build up the color on each work over time, as opposed to painting her colors all at once. X-rays of select paintings in Everything is Beautiful reveal Thomas as a masterful color corrector: the excessive buildup of color in some areas suggest that she added additional layers of darker colors for contrast and used white paint in some places to dilute intensity.

Installation view of Blast Off, 1970, Natures Red Impressions, 1968, Breeze Rustling Through Fall Flowers, 1968, aA Joyful Scene of Spring, 1968 in Everything is Beautiful, 2022, at Frist Art Museum. Photo by John Schweikert. Courtesy of Frist Art Museum.

In Blast Off (1970), Thomas used color and shape to represent the force and speed of a rocket. This imaginative subject matter conveys Thomass desire to escape or build another environment devoid of racial oppression; as Sun Ra put it, space is the place. In a 1979 Washington Post interview, Thomas shared her preference for being defined as an American artist rather than a Black artist. She said this precisely because her experiences as Black woman were, to her, distinctively American insofar as it was the United Statess segregationist policies that shaped her life and practice.

In spite of racial oppression, Thomass career did gain an audience during her lifetime and her renown has only continued to soar in the years since. The expansive world-building that emerges through Thomass deft use of color transforms audiences into space travelers. Even now, decades after her death, in seeing these paintings, Thomas sends us to the moon and beyond.

Ayanna Dozier

Ayanna Dozier is Artsys Staff Writer.

Thumbnail image: Portrait of Alma Thomas at Whitney Museum of American Art exhibition opening, 1972. Courtesy of the Alma Thomas papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution and Alma W. Thomas, Blast Off, 1970.

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How Alma Thomas Arrived at Her Seminal Style of Vibrant Abstract Painting - Artsy