Archive for April, 2010


Artwork is a very important element of any home decor. It adds a human and aesthetic touch that can tie the other elements of the room together and make it extraordinary. It’s unfortunate, however, that most people leave the artwork as the last step in the decorating process.

If the selection of artwork is left as the last step, it can be very difficult to find. I often talk to people who spend years trying to find the right piece that will fit with the colors and designs already in place.

As a result of this, fifty percent of my artwork sales are custom pieces. A client will first pick a piece they like from my collection; and then send me fabric or paint swatches to match. I will also custom size the piece to fit precisely in the intended location in the home. This works out well, but it would be better to do it the other way around.

Ideally, one would be looking at artwork at the beginning of the design process. Unfortunately, many people are already overwhelmed by the process at the very start and can’t even think about one more thing. Buying a new home, condo, or even re-decorating and be a huge endeavor. However, if one can take into consideration the artwork from the start, they are more likely to get an extraordinary result of which they can be proud and enjoy every day.

Some of my clients will design their home or room around a particular piece of my artwork. They will request color swatches that I can provide from the artwork from which paint can be mixed to match. It is much easier to color match paint than to go out and find artwork to match the paint.

In conclusion, the next time you decorate, do yourself a favor and consider the artwork at the start of the design process. You may actually find it much easier to pick paint schemes and fabrics when you already have a theme in place based upon the artwork.

Scott J. Menaul • scott@menaul-art.com.com • www.menaul-art.com

High dynamic range imaging (HDR for short) is a photographic technique that has become all the rage lately. The f8 Consortium, a group of local Tampa and Clearwater photographers (including myself) is opening an exhibit this Saturday, April 24, called “New Visions” (more details). Here is one of the pieces I will be showing, “Wholesale Sponges,” taken at the nearby Tarpon Springs sponge docks:

View high resolution on HDRCreme.com

The “New Visions” exhibit features amazing shots and everyone should check it out!

“My artwork resonates with emotion and adds life to spaces,” says Scott Menaul, artist and owner of Menaul Art Gallery in Clearwater, FL. “My inspiration is the desire to bring people joy and to reach them on an emotional level.”

Modern technology gives Scott Menaul the freedom to re-imagine his artwork in any combination of sizes and colors. “I create my work by sculpting virtual glass inside the computer so it reflects and refracts light,” says Scott. “The interplay of light and glass can be both subtle and dramatic. And my artistic methods allow me a great degree of flexibility to change colors, sizes and composition—even after I’m done with my creation.”

“While redecorating, people often leave the selection of artwork until the last minute. The problem in doing that is they’ve already committed themselves to specific colors and styles and it can be very challenging to find artwork that is both pleasing and fits the décor.”

“When I am creating custom artwork for a client, it is not uncommon to discover that they’ve been looking for a suitable art piece for years! The rest of the redesign was finished long ago and yet they’re still struggling to find the right artwork. My ability to customize the artwork so that it is the right size and has the right colors solves a major problem—and it is quite a relief for them to be finally done with their project.”

“Some people buy art simply because they love it. Others buy it because it matches their decor. My methods put me in the unique position of appealing to both approaches to art: I create original artwork that stands on its own; but I am not afraid to customize my artwork to suit a client’s needs.”

As an ASID Industry Partner, Menaul Art is aware of the demands of interior design. “Interior designers have a balancing act between their artistic expression and creativity and the real world concerns of budgets and deadlines,” says Scott Menaul. “The custom artwork I create not only saves time and money, but also lets designers realize their full vision, rather than just settling on whatever they can find on the walls in a furniture store.”

Tom Jackson, an ASID member in Sarasota, recently collaborated with Scott to create art for an interior design project. “Scott’s line has created so much flexibility in meshing art and interior design, with a virtual color palette limited only by our combined imaginations… I started with his wonderful images and tweaked them to fit my design requirements.”

When asked if he feels he is compromising on his artistic integrity by altering his artwork, Scott answered, “Interior designers often have the most creative ideas on how to put a new spin on my art. It is a joy to see how my art evolves as it finds its place in different environments.”

Menaul Art has experience working on projects of every size, ranging from a single piece for a homeowner’s living room to a large-scale installation in a new condo building.

How to Collaborate with Menaul Art

Visit the Menaul Art studio in Clearwater, FL or browse the gallery online at www.menaul-art.com and find your favorite pieces of art.
Discuss your project with Scott and let him know what you need and want. You can give the colors and sizes you need and Scott can customize an existing piece or create a new one for you. He can work from fabric samples or paint color swatches and Scott will incorporate them in the style of the artwork. If you have photographs of the space, Scott can digitally add the artwork to the room so you and your clients can preview how it will look before it is committed to canvas. After you approve a paper proof, the final piece is produced on high quality canvas, paper or other media.

Alice Alexander is an interior designers who participated in “The Ideas of March,” a showcase of art and interior design hosted in my art gallery in Clearwater, FL. Here she is in front of her display, giving an interview on her work:

I’ll be posting more interviews with other designers soon.

Triptychs


Sunset Triptych

Triptychs are a wonderful format for artwork. They look great over a couch, along the wall behind the dining room table, over a large screen TV or over the headboard of a bed. Gallery wrapped as three panels, the depth of the canvas panels adds a 3D aspect to the artwork (almost like a hanging sculpture) creating a more interesting presentation that invites the eye and intrigues the senses.

Almost any piece of my artwork can be re-worked into a triptych.

One of the original challenges of making triptychs was figuring out how to plan for the proper overlap of the artwork on each of the three canvases so that there there is no break in continuity looking across the three panels. What would appear in-between the panels is wrapped on the inner edges of the two adjacent panels, so one must allow for the proper overlap when creating each panel.

Hanging triptychs so that each panel is in perfect alignment may seem like a daunting task, but it is actually quite easy. There are two methods that I can share with you in a future blog entry.

Media Decor

I saw something cool and wanted to share. Media Decor makes a creative solution for hiding TVs when the screen is off. A custom-built devise can automatically raise and lower art that covers the TV. Their Youtube page just put up a video of them testing a model with my art on it (the piece is a non-triptych version of “Triptych in Brown“.)

How cool is that!

Ideas of March

As an ASID Industry Partner, I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of Florida’s top interior designers. Collaborating with these designers has given me an new appreciation for their craft. It’s impressive to see how much thought and planning goes into designing a space and how much skill it takes to do right. More than just picking the curtains and carpet, an interior designer has to have a vision for creating a space that functions for the people in it and also please them aesthetically. Then they have to have practical, real-world know-how to see these visions made into a reality.

With the help of my wife Jerri, we’ve organized “Ideas of March,” an event showcasing ten of the top local ASID interior designers and their use of my artwork in their designs. The exhibit runs until April 10, 2010 and is open to the public. Read more about the Ideas of March here. The St. Petersburg Times also mentioned it in their Home & Garden section as “Inside designers’ minds.”

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