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Custom made engagement and wedding bands using your own gems or diamonds and gem stones the jeweler finds per your request are the go-to option right now. Even online retailers often provide great results in designing two tone diamond wedding bands for your special day, so if you don’t see the ring you’ve been dreaming of among a shop’s inventory, it never hurts to ask about custom orders!

One way to make an attractive modern statement is two tone and tricolor handmade rings. Tricolor and two tone wedding rings have a very distinctive look, and the use of multiple color scheme in designing these rings holds limitless possibilities. The beauty and originality of tricolor and two tone wedding bands in a number of styles have won over many a future bride, groom, or couple in search of the perfect wedding ring.

Some of the most popular and widely sold styles of two tone and tricolor mens wedding bands just simple variations on some classic designs, with the added feature of a contrasting metal color as a border, center, inlay, or accent.

In a tradition that dates back millennia, Celtic jewelry artisans are still known today for their fine design and amazing crafting of exquisite Celtic rings for men, along with many more types of jewelry. Mens Celtic rings, featuring beautiful traditional knotwork and Irish folk symbols like the claddagh, are among the oldest forms of a special type of jewelry that denoted one’s tribal, family, and trade affiliation. Celtic knot wedding rings in gold or platinum, which quickly become a treasure to people who own them, are known for their uniqueness, beauty and symbolism.

All in all, men now have a vast selection of metals and styles to choose from that will reflect their lifestyle and personality! Luckily, the mens wedding rings market of today features a much broader selection in general, and online retailers in particular showcase some of the most elegant and attractive weddings rings for men anywhere. In the past when thinking of mens wedding bands, most people didn’t consider design options beyond a plain domed or flat gold band, and many jewelers’ selections didn’t offer more variety than these basic styles either. Aren’t you glad that all that’s changed?

One way to make an attractive modern statement is two tone and tricolor handmade rings. Tricolor and two tone wedding rings have a very distinctive look, and the use of multiple color scheme in designing these rings holds limitless possibilities. The beauty and originality of tricolor and two tone wedding bands in a number of styles have won over many a future bride, groom, or couple in search of the perfect wedding ring.

Some of the most popular and widely sold styles of two tone and tricolor mens wedding bands just simple variations on some classic designs, with the added feature of a contrasting metal color as a border, center, inlay, or accent.

In a tradition that dates back millennia, Celtic jewelry artisans are still known today for their fine design and amazing crafting of exquisite Celtic rings for men, along with many more types of jewelry. Mens Celtic rings, featuring beautiful traditional knotwork and Irish folk symbols like the claddagh, are among the oldest forms of a special type of jewelry that denoted one’s tribal, family, and trade affiliation. Celtic knot wedding rings in gold or platinum, which quickly become a treasure to people who own them, are known for their uniqueness, beauty and symbolism.

Fine art is considered to be art  that is concerned with beauty. The term was adapted from the French term beaux arts in 1767.  Schools, institutes, and other organizations use the term in reference to visual arts.

What types of art fit into this category? Architecture, drawings, paintings and sculptures are the most popular. The world of art does not consider craftwork or applied art such as textiles to fit the fine art category.

Art history is an area of expertise that few fully understand and appreciate. Imagine being able to examine a piece of fine art and know the time period it was done and the estimated value of such work.  I recently saw an article about a woman who donated an old painting to the Goodwill. It was discovered that the painting was a watercolor by Frank W. Benson. The value of this piece of fine art is $165,000.00. Word to the wise, check the value on art work before you get rid of it. You never know. As they saying goes, one mans junk is another mans treasure!

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Do you dread your German translation exam? Many Art History students (and other graduate students who have to pass a language exam) do. And with good reason. They generally approach it with little prior knowledge of German, and to say that they’re going to face a challenge is putting it politely. Read on for some tips that may help you tame that German exam, or at least get you started in that direction. German has a reputation for being difficult. And it seems to live up to it in a lot of ways. For speakers of English, translating from German is indeed more challenging than for example translating from Spanish or even French. Why is that? Well, there’s the intimidation factor, for starters. German has all those articles and endings, and they make a huge difference in meaning. Moreover, because of those endings, German speakers have tools available for how to arrange their sentences that speakers of English do not. And in that way, French and Spanish are more like English. Then, some of the words are so loooong and look really intimidating. Well, that’s mostly bluff. Once you’ve learned how to decode those words properly, you’ll find that they are simple compounds and you can usually figure out their meanings by figuring out their parts. And speaking of long… Sentences are long too, and not just long, but seriously complex. Germans like to call them Schachtelsaetze, which essentially means box sentences. They’re like nested boxes, one nestled inside each other, a bit like those Russian nested dolls. It takes strategy to unravel them, but once you have mastered it, there’s little that can faze you. And yes, there are a few more tricky areas, but you know what, it’s not rocket science. What you need to do is learn to understand how German works. You could take a course in linguistics. Or get a good book and a good tutor. You could even get together with friends and practice together, and maybe hire a tutor to work with you as a group. And after some targeted hard work (okay, so yes, it does take work), your chances of acing that German translation exam are excellent.

The history of the United States is a wild and crazy one. From the early fifteenth century onward people have been colonizing the continent of North America. People wanted to preserve the history that was being laid out before them. Some of them wrote books, and many others did great art history paintings to remember the past.

The subjects of many of the first paintings done were the colonists themselves. Before most Europeans even arrived, the Spanish had already begun settling Mexico, the southwest, and Florida. Many of the Spaniards had valiant portraits of themselves done, reflecting the conquistadors of their age.

The Spanish also painted many pictures of the natives in Mexico. Many paintings of the Mayans and Aztecs were done before the Spaniards started their conquest of Mexico. These paintings give us an idea about Aztec and Mayan life.

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If it was not for Esurance surpassing the big dog insurance mongrels, I never would have known the secret identity of Ghostbot. Ghostbot specializes in traditional animation, Flash, storyboards, and design for feature film, television, commercials, internet, and toys. They create edgy, futuristic cartoons with dramatic flair.

This powerhouse of animation is not run by phantoms. It is run by three heads of some remarkable animation artists. Their cartoon feats are nothing to scoff at! Ghostbot was formed in 2004 by Alan Lau, Roque Ballesteros, and Brad Rau. Collectively they have collaborated with award-winning studios such as Walt Disney Television, Nickelodeon, (C)olossal Pictures, Curious Pictures, Wild Brain, Vinton Studios, Mondo Media, Madhouse, and Leap Frog.

Alan Lau is a San Francisco native that with a degree in design and animation. For the last 10 years, Alan has worked at some of the top 2-D animation studios. His first directorial debut was on Penelope Pitstop GT for cartoonnetwork.com. He directed Buddhist Monkey I and II for Mondomedia’s Happy Tree Friends series. Recently, Alan is one of the main creative forces behind the popular Esurance campaign.

Roque Ballesteros has worked his way up in the commercial world from intern to director at such award-winning studios as Olive Jar, Curious Pictures, and Wild Brain. His original series, Joe Paradise, was awarded 1st Place Internet Action Adventure at the World Animation Celebration 2000, as well as being nominated at other festivals in Ottawa, London, Rotterdam, and at Resfest 2000. The show aired on Sony’s broadband entertainment site, Screenblast.com.

Brad Rau graduated from the Vacouver Film School with a certificate in traditional animation. After graduating, he was kicked back across the border and started animating at big-time commercial studios including Wild Brain, Curious Pictures and Will Vinton Studios.

Elegant of form, fluidic in movement and possessing eyes that command your undivided attention, it is no wonder that cats have made their way into the world of art. Artists delight in subjects that seemingly flow onto the canvas. A single stroke of a brush can hint at the gentle curve from shoulder to tail. Jeweled eyes finely crafted effortlessly follow viewers around the room. The cat has a mesmerizing effect on most humans and this attraction has been going on for centuries.

Egypt

In ancient Egypt the cat was considered sacred. Images of cats can be found on the walls of tombs, on pottery and in statuary. Cat mummies, some buried next to Egyptian royalty are sill being discovered. The cat goddess Bast, sometimes called Bastet, was the deity associated with fertility and motherhood. Early representations of Bast were somewhat fierce, but as Egypt’s history entered a more tranquil period, her likeness softened. Rather than a lion style figure in full snarl, she became more like that of an attentive feline sitting and observing her domain. Bronze sculptures and amulets were crafted by the thousands. Sometimes Bast would be shown with one or more kittens. Women used these images to pray for children.

Maneki Neko, the Lucky Cat of Japan

Fashioned after a Japanese Bobtail, the Maneki Neko cat sculptures have been around since the 1870s. The origins are uncertain. One popular tale is that an emperor was drawn to a cat because she waved at him. He went to visit the cat and in the process avoided a trap that would have been deadly. Most commonly made of porcelain or ceramics, these chubby kitties with the upraised paw and wide eyed stare can be found in homes, shops, restaurants and temples. They are also known as the “Welcome Cat” because of the waving paw. A raised right paw is thought to bring good luck and wealth. The left paw pointing skyward is said to attract customers.

Shunga, an Introduction to a Japanese Erotic Mystery Shunga, literally “Images of Spring”, is the generic term used to describe erotic prints, books, scrolls and paintings of Japan. History The beginning of the shunga genre is connected with the origins of Ukiyo-e (‘Images of the floating world’) and starts with the work of Hishikawa Moronobu and his school between 1660-1670. Originally shunga were published as erotic manuals (guides) for the most popular courtesans in houses of pleasure. But with the growth of prosperity, the expansion of the brothels in Edo (today’s Tokyo) and the alterations in the Japanese caste system with the merchants getting wealthier, embracing a hedonistic lifestyle, shunga gained a more diverting purpose.

Shops in the pleasure quarters of Edo, called the Yoshiwara, sold shunga prints and books as souvenir to the visitors of the brothels. Shunga were also offered as dowry to newly-weds as an educational guide. Around 1765 with the transition to multi-colour woodblock printing, before woodblock prints were colored either by hand or printed with a limited palette, the shunga genre entered new ground (both aesthetically and commercially).This revival lasted another century ending at the start of the Meiji period (1868-1912) when Japan opened its economic and cultural gates to the West. During the Meiji period only a few artists specialized in designing shunga prints which were mainly influenced by Western art. Subjects and Themes At first glance a shunga image can have a confrontational effect on the (Western) viewer because of the undisguised way the subject matter has been portrayed or the exaggerated depiction of genitalia.

Once accustomed he can experience the striking compositions and use of colour, the humour and the daring handling of themes. The shunga genre accommodates a wide range of themes. Besides the rendering of conventional heterosexual love-making mostly between married couples or courtesans and their clients it also dealt with the homosexual and lesbian acts of love, scenes involving hermaphrodites, mythical figures, ghosts, Westerners, bestiality and even necrophelia.

Stained-glass art not only dazzles the senses but has been used for centuries to tell stories. The rich jewel-toned colors cast an array of shades in the sunlight. Complex fragments of glass are pieced together like a puzzle to produce an intricate pattern to amaze the eyes and make a visual statement.

Artist and metalworker Theophilus, a 12th century German monk, described in his text, “On Diverse Arts”, that he studied glaziers and glass painters at work. His purpose was to present comprehensive instructions for creating windows of “inestimable beauty.”

Taking sand and wood ash, the mixture was melted into liquid, and then cooled to become glass. The glass was colored with powdered metals while the glass was still molten. The molten glass was shaped, cut down the sides and was then flattened into a sheet.

In Medieval Europe, stained-glass artists illustrated ideas and suggestions. Brilliant windows of influence were created for grand cathedrals. The breath-taking glass filtered light and depicted biblical scenes of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and the many Saints. For the many individuals who could not read, the stories seen in the windows were an effective way for the church leaders to educate people about their religion.

One of the most delicate art forms, a large amount of the stained-glass art created in medieval times has been destroyed. However, considerable amounts of Europe’s medieval glass still survive. Some of the earliest and most superb stained-glass art can be found in Canterbury Cathedral.

The scenes depicted in the windows at Canterbury Cathedral have been noted to be quite mystifying and are so high they can be difficult to view. This collection of stained-glass art has been dated ranging from 1175 to 1500. Two medieval panels are displayed in the Tree of Jesse window in the Corona. The two panels are images of King Josiah and the Virgin Mary.

The Tate Britain, or the Tate, as it was known until the appearance of its modern counterpart in 2000, is a good all-rounder kind of gallery. Nearest tube station is Pimlico, or go to Vauxhall and make your way over the bridge to and walk east along thre river.

The building is rather grandeous, what you’d expect from a gallery really. Take note of the ice cream van parked out front of the main entrance. Remember, the gallery is FREE, so forget stopping for refreshments in the ridiculously expensive gallery cafe, pop outside for a break and get a 99 Flake instead (that’s Mr. Whippy vanilla ice cream in a cone with a cadbury’s flake in it, for you American folk).

If you can, try and leave a donation upon entrance, if not, scurry past, guiltily.

The galleries in the West wing tend to house the permanent collection, which is mainly European, 1400 – 1900: Rennaissance, Impressionist, Romantic and so on, Holbein, Degas, Turner, Constable, blah blah, you get the picture.

In the galleries on the East side of the main entrance exhibitions are housed. If you come towards the end of the year, around October/Novermber time, you can see what’s contending in the Turner Prize, but this will set you back around a tenner.

My enjoyment of the Tate goes only so far. The pieces on display here permanently should definitely be seen once, they are ‘important’ in the history of art, however they don’t move me enough to want to see them on a regular basis. I once saw a Tracy Emin exhibition there that really moved me, the curator responsible for that done good.