The Kelpies - B&W PRINT SET OFFER

Here is an opportunity to purchase a unique set of 4 high quality, black & white fine art prints of "The Kelpies" located in Falkirk, Scotland. These images are printed in MetalPrint high gloss or MetalPrint satin finish and are sized at 16" x 24" or 24" x 36". This set of 4 high quality prints have been priced as a special package (25% - 30% discount on normal price) and would make an exceptional framed series for the collector.

To purchase go to http://www.highlanderimages.com/Gallery/The-Kelpies/ then click the BUY PHOTOS button then choose BUY PHOTO PACKAGE to take advantage of this special package pricing.

To create MetalPrints we infuse dyes directly into specially coated aluminum sheets, creating truly archival works of art. These MetalPrints showcase a revolutionary new medium that is highly durable, waterproof, weatherproof, and ultra scratch-resistant. The unique printing method gives your photos a vibrant luminescence with incredible detail and resolution.

Choose from High Gloss and Satin finishes.

Each print has rounded corners for your safety and the surface can be easily cleaned with any commercial glass cleaner.

MetalPrints come ready-to-hang with two 3/4" thick lightweight foam blocks and aluminum plate with pre-drilled holes. MetalPrints sized 30x40" and up are backed with an inset frame for added stability.

When hung, these stunning prints will float off the wall.

Don't miss this opportunity to create an archival piece of art for your wall at home or in the office.

Thai Dancers

Dance in Thailand is the main dramatic art form of Thailand. Thai dance, like many forms of traditional Asian dance, can be divided into two major categories that correspond roughly to the high art (classical dance) and low art (folk dance) distinction.

Although the traditional performing arts are not as vibrant as they once were, suffering inroads by western entertainments and generally changing tastes, Thai dance drama is not extinct. What survives displays the elegance of an art form refined over centuries and supported by regal patronage.

The Thais reputedly first acquired a dance troupe when, in AD 1431, they conquered the ancient Khmer capital of Angkor and took as part of their spoils an entire corps de ballet. Dancers whose performances had once been seen as a symbolic link between nature, earth and the realm of the gods.

Aside from folk and regional dances (southern Thailand's Indian-influenced manohra dance, for example), the two major forms of Thai classical dance drama are khon and lakon nai. In the beginning both were exclusively court entertainments and it was not until much later that a popular style of dance theater, Likay, evolved as a diversion for the common folk who had no access to royal performances.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, built by Ferrovial and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. It is built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Atlantic Coast. The Guggenheim is one of several museums belonging to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. The museum features permanent and visiting exhibits of works by Spanish and international artists.

One of the most admired works of contemporary architecture, the building has been hailed as a "signal moment in the architectural culture" because it represents "one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something." The museum was the building most frequently named as one of the most important works completed since 1980 in the 2010 World Architecture Survey among architecture experts.

New York Roof Top Graffiti

Mention of the word graffiti usually conjures up a picture of a typical New York street scene with buildings and walls adorned by colourful graffiti work. In these apartment blocks close to the Brooklyn Bridge they have taken the graffiti from street level to rooftop level

Psychedelic Dragon at Spuistraat 199

This building in Spuistraat, Amsterdam had a glorious psychedelic, red-spotted green dragon painted on the yellow walls which brightened up the run-down street. I just wonder what type of local stimulant had been used by the artist prior to painting this.

Water Calligraphy

As I walked around the perimeter of the West Lake in Hangzhou I started to notice some strange markings on the tiled pathway. At first I thought it was just water marks but then recognised these as Chinese symbols. Further down the path I eventually found the source of these marks, a man with an oversized calligraphy brush and a can of water was meticulously practising his Chinese calligraphy in each square of the tiled pathway. 

Wayang Topeng

Javanese masks are worn by actors in traditional dance dramas known in the Indonesian language as wayang topeng. The plots of the dramas are taken either from traditional Javanese stories about the hero Panji or from the two great epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Both epics came originally from India, but for more than a thousand years have been an integral part of the cultures of Indonesia and other countries in Southeast Asia.

Wayang topeng performances are held at night and last for at least several hours. The performers are professionals who may be permanently employed at the courts of the sultans of Solo and Jogjakarta (or Yogyakarta) in Central Java, may be supported by government cultural agencies, or may be hired by wealthy villagers or townspeople to help celebrate a marriage or other festive event. Performances outside the royal courts are traditionally free for everyone who lives in the neighborhood. In the days before movies and television, they were exciting events for rural people, anticipated for months ahead of time and discussed for months afterward.

Museo de Arte Thyssen-Bornemisza

This is a rather unique and high impact advertisement printed and dropped full length on a building in Madrid, Spain. It was even custom made to fit around the large entrance door. The advert is for an exhibition called La Sombra (Shadows) at the Museo de Arte Thyssen-Bornemisza.

Chinese Art Brushes

I was in Shanghai over Christmas and the old city and back streets of Shanghai provided some great photo opportunities. This image shows some traditional Chinese art brushed used for watercolours and calligraphy and come in a large variety of sizes, designs and colours.

Belgian Graffiti

As you wander through the streets of the capital of the European Union, Brussels and just when you have almost had enough of beautiful ancient monuments, churches and grand palaces or the classic medieval, gothic style architecture you turn the corner and are brought back to reality with a splurge of graffiti grunge.

Guggenheim Grunge

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, built by Ferrovial and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. It is built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Atlantic Coast. The Guggenheim is one of several museums belonging to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. The museum features permanent and visiting exhibits of works by Spanish and international artists.

One of the most admired works of contemporary architecture, the building has been hailed as a "signal moment in the architectural culture" because it represents "one of those rare moments when critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something." The museum was the building most frequently named as one of the most important works completed since 1980 in the 2010 World Architecture Survey among architecture experts.

The Art of Stained Glass Windows

The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works made from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings. Although traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensional structures and sculpture.

Modern vernacular usage has often extended the term "stained glass" to include domestic leadlight and objects d'art created from lead came and copper foil glasswork exemplified in the famous lamps of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

As a material stained glass is glass that has been coloured by adding metallic salts during its manufacture. The coloured glass is crafted into stained glass windows in which small pieces of glass are arranged to form patterns or pictures, held together (traditionally) by strips of lead and supported by a rigid frame. Painted details and yellow stain are often used to enhance the design. The term stained glass is also applied to windows in which the colours have been painted onto the glass and then fused to the glass in a kiln.

Stained glass, as an art and a craft, requires the artistic skill to conceive an appropriate and workable design, and the engineering skills to assemble the piece. A window must fit snugly into the space for which it is made, must resist wind and rain, and also, especially in the larger windows, must support its own weight. Many large windows have withstood the test of time and remained substantially intact since the late Middle Ages. In Western Europe they constitute the major form of pictorial art to have survived. In this context, the purpose of a stained glass window is not to allow those within a building to see the world outside or even primarily to admit light but rather to control it. For this reason stained glass windows have been described as 'illuminated wall decorations'.

The design of a window may be non-figurative or figurative; may incorporate narratives drawn from the Bible, history, or literature; may represent saints or patrons, or use symbolic motifs, in particular armorial. Windows within a building may be thematic, for example: within a church - episodes from the life of Christ; within a parliament building - shields of the constituencies; within a college hall - figures representing the arts and sciences; or within a home - flora, fauna, or landscape.

   

Stairway to Heaven

This stairway inside the Opera House in Paris leads the eye up to the beautiful, intricate ceilings, arches and balconies. If you get a chance to visit Paris this is a must see place.

Mae Fah Luang Art & Cultural Park

The Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park on the outskirts of Chiang Rai, Thailand was originally started as the office of the Thai Hill Crafts Foundation. Through purchasing and marketing handicrafts, the Thai Hill Crafts Foundation helped preserve the traditional skills and support the livelihoods of ethnic minorities. Subsequently the Princess Mother of the Thai royal family initiated a youth development programme and Mae Fah Luang became a home for hundreds of youths from remote areas with no access for schooling. The area had lodgings for the ethnic minority youths who came to attend schools and also learn about living in urban areas, among other aspects of modern life in Thailand. These young people were from the immediate vicinity of Doi Tung and neighboring areas such as Payao province. In addition to textbooks or classroom lessons, the late Princess Mother believed in acquiring skills from actual experiences. Students learnt how to live as a community, developing their social skills. Having shared responsibilities, they cared for the younger, learnt about time management, worked in shifts to clean their lodgings, farmed, gardened, and tended vegetable plots. The goal was that this training would help students grow into dedicated, hard-working, ethical leaders of their communities.

Graffiti

Graffiti (singular: graffito; the plural is used as a mass noun) is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property. Graffiti is any type of public markings that may appear in the forms of simple written words to elaborate wall paintings. Graffiti has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. In modern times, spray paint, normal paint and markers have become the most commonly used materials. In most countries, defacing property with graffiti without the property owner's consent is considered vandalism, which is punishable by law. Sometimes graffiti is employed to communicate social and political messages. 

To some, it is an art form worthy of display in galleries and exhibitions; to others it is merely vandalism. Graffiti has since evolved into a pop culture existence often related to underground hip hop music and b-boying creating a lifestyle that remains hidden from the general public. Graffiti is used as a gang signal to mark territory or to serve as an indicator or "tag" for gang-related activity. The controversies that surround graffiti continue to create disagreement amongst city officials/ law enforcement and graffitists looking to display their work in public locations. There are many different types and styles of graffiti and it is a rapidly developing artform whose value is highly contested, being reviled by many authorities while also subject to protection, sometimes within the same jurisdiction.

I came across these great examples of graffiti on an old abandoned building at the bottom of Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur.

This art form has livened up the drab run-down walls of the buildings and created a large canvas for young artists to exhibit their creativity and artistic talents.

Antoni Gaudi

Antoni Gaudi's architectural work that I had the opportunity to see in Barcelona recently has got to be one of the most unique I have ever seen and appreciated. Architect and designer, Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) is the most internationally prestigious figure in spanish architecture. Born in Reus, in Catalonia, he graduated in Barcelona in 1878 and this city became the center of his activities. One important aspect is his capacity as designer.

This led him to create, in close collaboration with some of the very fine artisans of his time, all those elements making up architectural space - wrought iron, furniture, stained glass, sculptural work, mosaics, ceramics and so on - within an organic concept of decoration and with the integration of these elements into the construction process. The sea landscape was one of his most preferred inspirations.

In his own time, Gaudi was both admired and criticised for the audacity and singularity of his innovative solutions. His fame on a world scale has become an unquestioned fact both in specialised circles and among the general public.

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Sagrada Familia

The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família often simply called the Sagrada Família, is a massive, privately-funded Roman Catholic church that has been under construction in Barcelona, Spain since 1882 and is not expected to be complete until at least 2026. Considered the master-work of renowned Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi the project's vast scale and idiosyncratic design have made it one of Barcelona's (and Spain's) top tourist attractions for many years. A portion of the building's interior is scheduled to open for public worship and tours by September of 2010.

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Casa Mila

Casa Milà, better known as La Pedrera (Catalan for 'The Quarry'), was built during the years 1906–1910, being considered officially completed in 1912. It is located at 92, Passeig de Gracia (passeig is Catalan for promenade) in the Eixample district of Barcelona.

It was built for the married couple, Rosario Segimon and Pere Milà. Rosario Segimon was the wealthy widow of Jose Guardiola, an Indaino, a term applied locally to the Catalans returning from the American colonies with tremendous wealth. Her second husband, Pere Mila, was a developer who was criticized for his flamboyant lifestyle and ridiculed by the contemporary residents of Barcelona, when they joked about his love of money and opulence, wondering if he was not rather more interested in "the widow’s guardiola" (piggy bank), than in "Guardiola’s widow".

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Palau Guell

The Palau Güell is a town mansion (translated literally a "palace") in Barcelona designed by Gaudi for the Catalan industrial tycoon Eusebi Guell.

It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Works of Antoni Gaudi".

The home is centered on a main room for entertaining high society guests. Guests entered the home in horse drawn carriages through the front iron gates, which featured a parabolic arch and intricate patterns of forged iron-work resembling seaweed and in some parts a horsewhip. Animals could be taken down a ramp and kept in the livery stable in the basement where the servants resided, while the guests went up the stairs to the receiving room. The ornate walls and ceilings of the receiving room disguised small viewing windows high on the walls where the owners of the home could view their guests from the upper floor and get a 'sneak peak' before greeting them, in case they needed to adjust their attire accordingly.

The main party room has a high ceiling with small holes near the top where lanterns were hung at night from the outside to give the appearance of a starlit sky.

In 2004, visits by the public were completely suspended due to renovations; some of the stone used in the original construction was weak and has cracked over the years causing structural problems within the building. As of February 1, 2008, Palau Güell has been partially reopened to the public, with access to limited parts of the building only.

It was used in Antonioni’s film The Passenger as a backdrop for the first meeting between Jack Nicholson and Maria Schneider.

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Casa Batllo

Casa Batlló is a building restored by Antoni Gaudi and Josep Maria Jujol, built in the year 1877 and remodelled in the years 1905–1907; located at 43, Passeig de Gracia (passeig is Catalan for promenade or avenue), part of the Illa de la Discordia in the Eixample district of Barcelona.

The local name for the building is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones), and indeed it does have a visceral, skeletal organic quality. It was originally designed for a middle-class family and situated in a prosperous district of Barcelona.

The building looks very remarkable — like everything Gaudí designed, only identifiable as Modernisme or Art Nouveau in the broadest sense. The ground floor, in particular, is rather astonishing with tracery, irregular oval windows and flowing sculpted stone work.

It seems that the goal of the designer was to avoid straight lines completely. Much of the facade is decorated with a mosaic made of broken ceramic tiles that starts in shades of golden orange moving into greenish blues. The roof is arched and was likened to the back of a dragon or dinasaur. A common theory about the building is that the rounded feature to the left of centre, terminating at the top in a turret and cross, represents the sword of Saint George (patron saint of Catalonia), which has been plunged into the back of the dragon.