LONDON, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
DFS leads the UK's great Furniture Facelift in time for Britain's summer celebrations
DFS today reveals that despite 2012 being the UK's biggest year of outdoor celebrations, 61% of us Brits will be avoiding the crowds and queues, choosing instead to stay indoors and entertain friends in a more intimate setting: our very own front rooms.
It's time to forget Buckingham Palace; an Englishman's home is really his castle this year, with 70% of the UK announcing that 2012 is the year they will give-up saving to upgrade and move home, instead opting to make the most of what they already have and make sure it's as comfortable as possible for visiting friends and family.
From research polling 2,000 respondents across the UK, DFS found that rather than choosing latest gadgets or a new bathroom suite, picking a new sofa is at the top of the list of key status symbols to impress their friends.
To keep homes entertainment-ready, the UK is willing to spend up to £3,000 to make their front rooms as hospitable as possible. DFS found that Britain's great Furniture Facelift has been fuelled by TV events such as the recent series of Britain's Got Talent as well as at-home entertainment brands such as Netflix and SingStar ahead of this summer's season of celebrations.
Even though Londoners topped the list of residents most likely to host a party in their front room this summer, it's actually our friends in the North East and Wales who are most in tune with the trend, already planning to invest in a new sofa or easy chair.
To celebrate its first ever high street store on London's iconic Tottenham Court Road, DFS will be catering for people wanting to make the most of at-home summer entertainment, by stocking a new Trophy Cuddler Audio Sofa - a 'cuddler sized' two-person sofa, which comes with built-in iPod entertainment dock with Bluetooth connectivity and USB port, speakers and subwoofer.
DFS operations director Keith Baker commented, "It's no surprise to us at DFS that sofas are increasingly seen as the heart of the home with many people opting to stay in for the summer and transform their front rooms into front rows for the sporting, social and entertainment occasions ahead.
"We have also seen a shift towards 'action' and 'technology' furniture, such as the Audio Sofa, as shoppers increasingly look for furniture that enhances their lifestyle and fits into their family life. Staying in is a cost-conscious option in these days of belt tightening and a new sofa is a quick and simple way to transform a home instantly, without the hassle of redecorating or the cost of moving."
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Source: www.prnewswire.co.uk
Where is Kate Nickleby, missing since Charles Dickens died? - The Guardian
A missing person appeal has gone out for Kate Nickleby, the infuriatingly meek and virtuous heroine of Charles Dickens' novel Nicholas Nickleby, who has not been seen in public for well over a century. A curator who has spent decades trying to track her down hopes his new exhibition on Dickens and art may spark news of her whereabouts.
The portrait, by one of the superstars of Victorian art, William Powell Frith, will be conspicuously missing from the exhibition Dickens and the Artists, which opens at Watts Gallery near Guildford, Surrey, on Tuesday. The painting, which the gallery's curator, Mark Bills, failed to track down for earlier exhibitions, will be represented only by an 1848 engraving on loan from the National Portrait Gallery, and a 19th-century black and white photograph that shows the painting at Dickens' last home, Gad's Hill Place in Kent.
The house opens to the public for the first time this summer but, while in Dickens' day the walls were covered with paintings, with Kate hanging over the sideboard, all modern-day visitors will see is a rather bleak school dining room.
Dickens had such exacting and precise views of what his characters looked like that he fell out with many artists who attempted to illustrate his work – most notoriously with Robert Seymour, who killed himself after he was sacked from illustrating The Pickwick Papers.
Frith, however, famous for panoramic views of Victorian art such as The Derby Day, teeming with characters and incidents worthy of any of the author's works, remained a friend. Bills believes the picture of Kate and another by Frith of Dolly Varden, a character from Barnaby Rudge, were the only paintings of his characters Dickens actually commissioned.
Both were sold in an auction at Gad's Hill after Dickens died on a sofa in the conservatory there in 1870, worn out by overwork at the age of 58. Dolly Varden is now in the V&A collection and coming on loan to the exhibition, but Kate, recorded as sold to one R Attenborough for £210, has never been seen again.
Frith described Dickens as "one of the greatest geniuses that ever lived" in his autobiography, and recalled that he and his mother wept over the letter asking him to "do me the favour to paint me two little companion pictures".
Dickens came to his studio to collect them. Frith recalled "a young man" (Dickens was 30) "with long hair, a white hat, a formidable stick in his left hand, and his right extended to me with frank cordiality, and a friendly clasp that never relaxed till the day of his untimely death".
He sat down to look at the pictures, and Frith trembled, waiting for the verdict from "a man whom I thought superhuman" until Dickens finally said: "They are exactly what I meant, and I am very much obliged to you for painting them for me."
The exhibition will include works by Dickens illustrators, paintings he owned and admired, photographs and archive material. However, the one contemporary artist Dickens had no dealings with was the one in whose honour the gallery housing the exhibition was built – GF Watts, dubbed by his contemporaries "England's Michaelangelo".
Bills thinks this strange, as the artist and author shared many interests, including a passionate concern for social justice and inequality: Watts' 1849 Found Drowned shows the corpse of a young prostitute who has presumably killed herself, a fate that Dickens' Little Em'ly narrowly escapes.
"They must have been aware of one another, they must have been moving in the same circles, yet I can find no record of their ever meeting, still less conversing," Bills said.
Dickens is conspicuously missing from Watts' assembly of portraits of the contemporary writers, artists and politicians he regarded as heroes, despite being more famous than most of them. "I'm afraid Watts dismissed Dickens as a mere popular writer, and had no very high opinion of him," Bills concluded sadly.
Dickens and the Artists, 19 June to 28 October, Watts Gallery, Compton, Surrey
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Restaurant Furniture Canada and the Urban Sushi and Grill team-up to bring a Japanese fusion dining experience to the Canadian Prairie - YAHOO!
Leading commercial furniture supplier, Restaurant Furniture Canada, has helped the Urban Sushi and Grill become the hottest spot for Japanese fusion cuisine in all of Saskatchewan.
Toronto, Ontario (PRWEB) June 18, 2012
Located in Emerald Park, a hamlet just outside the capital city of Regina, the cutting edge menu and sleek furnishings of the Urban Sushi and Grill have helped introduce a bit of Japan to the Canadian prairie.Restaurant Furniture Canada Sales Representative Alberto C. gave the Urban Sushi and Grill's Richard Kim the guidance he needed to turn his 2,000 square foot space into the successful Japanese fusion restaurant he envisioned.
"Richard had a vision for a stylish and elegant restaurant which gave the impression of being both modern and traditional, much like his menu. He wanted his customers to feel like they were being transferred to another time and place once they stepped inside the door. He really wanted to set himself apart from the competition by offering an exotic design that would give the feeling of a dining experience, rather than just a place to get food."
As well as offering classic sushi rolls, sashimi, gyoza, noodle soups and grilled meats, the Urban Sushi and Grill specializes in fusion Japanese rolls which help bring traditional Japanese cuisine into the future by introducing an array of new and exciting flavors. Beautiful creations such as the Jungle Roll, Volcano Roll, Rainbow Roll and the Urban Tower are one of a kind works of art that require a setting worthy of their stature.
Both Richard and Alberto agreed that a mix of black tables, black chairs and black vinyl booths would provide the perfect backdrop for the colorful specialty rolls.
Richard opted for Restaurant Furniture Canada's X Back Metal Chair with a black vinyl seat, which at $44 offers both the modern and classic look that he was looking for.
He chose the Mahogany/Black finish Reversible Table Tops to match the chairs. The table tops sell for $35 and are designed for the everyday rigors of commercial use despite their elegant appearance. Alberto advised Richard to select the 30 inch high X Prong Table Base to match his table tops. Constructed of cast iron, the table bases offer supreme durability at $36.
Richard completed the look with the 6 Channel Quick Ship Dining Booth in black vinyl. At $250, the booth is comfortable, durable, easy-to-clean and ships from Restaurant Furniture Canada’s Toronto distribution center in two to three days.
“The furniture that Richard chose for the Urban Sushi and Grill were a big success. He had the foresight to realize that with a restaurant of that nature, the interior design is just as important as the food. He didn’t spend a lot of money, but he was able to seriously upgrade his venue by coming up with a clear vision and enlisting our advice to help him flesh it out,” Alberto C. said.
Restaurant Furniture Canada’s selection of chairs, barstools, table tops, table bases, booths and patio furniture can be browsed at http://www.restaurant-furniture.ca.
Contact the Urban Sushi and Grill at (306) 352-6697.
Nick Warren
Restaurant Furniture Canada
(888) 998-4222
Email Information
Source: news.yahoo.com
Outdoor patio furniture that can't take the outdoors - CBC
Source: www.cbc.ca
Vandal defaces Houston Picasso painting - Click2Houston.com
A vandal was captured on a cellphone video spray-painting a Picasso painting in a Houston museum.
The video hit the Internet on Wednesday. It shows a man walking up to the original 1929 Picasso dubbed "Conquista La Bestia," or "Conquer the Beast" inside the Menil Collection in Montrose. He is then seen using a stencil to spray-paint the word "conquista," which is Spanish for "couquer" on the painting before taking off.
The man who took the video did not want to be identified. He said he confronted the man after he witnessed him spray-paint it and asked him why he did it. According to the witnesses, the vandal said he was an up-and-coming artist and he did it to honor Picasso's work.
"I just thought it was pretty cool how he just went up to the painting without fear, spray painted it and just walked off," the witness told Local 2.
Other museums patrons like Bryant Bell weren't too amused at the vandal's addition to the priceless artwork.
"I just think that if you desecrate art, then you should be prosecuted," a patron said.
"He defaced a work of art," said Vance Muse, the Menil Collection's communication director. "We certainly live in a time where, you know, art is appropriated. You know that sort of thing, but there are clearly limits to that. But you know, this is an act of vandalism."
The painting has since been removed from the wall and it was immediately restored. The museum hopes to have the painting back on the wall later this week.
"How sad that someone would enter and do something like that to a work of art that should be enjoyed by everybody," Muse said.
So far, no criminal charges have been filed in the case.
Muse said there are surveillance cameras throughout the museum. He said he does not expect there to be any security changes.
Source: www.click2houston.com
Returning the pop to Renaissance paintings - msnbc.com
A new look at old paintings reveals never-before-seen details of two Renaissance works of art, including hidden decorations in brilliant silver and gold.
The hidden accents appear on frescoes painted in the Chapel of Theodelinda in the Monza Cathedral in Italy. To the naked eye, they appear dull and are sometimes even painted over. Using a new technique, however, Italian scientists can make the colors pop. These new visualizations could help art historians restore and conserve the paintings.
The technique is called thermal quasi-reflectography, or TQR. It uses reflected light to differentiate between different pigments on a piece of art.
"This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first time that this technique has been applied on artworks," study researcher Dario Ambrosini of the University of L'Aquila in Italy said in a statement. "This novel method represents a powerful yet safe tool for artwork diagnostics." [ See Photos of the Renaissance Art ]
A new light on old art
Art conservators have long used parts of the light spectrum not visible to the naked eye to bring out tiny details in old paintings. Infrared light, for example, has wavelengths longer than visible light. By taking images of artwork in these long wavelengths, scientists can see places where layers have been painted upon layers, revealing preparatory sketches and changes by the artist.
Other techniques use thermal, or heat, energy to investigate the materials a painting is made of as well as structural flaws. A dot of paint with an air bubble behind it, for example, will emit less heat than spots where the paint is flush because of the insulating properties of air.
Ambrosini and his colleagues turned this last technique on its head. Instead of measuring heat emitted from a painting, the researchers shone a halogen lamp in the mid-infrared spectrum onto the frescoes and measured the amount of light reflected back. A camera capable of capturing mid-wavelength infrared light recorded the image created as the light bounced off the art.
The set-up was simple, but the researchers had to control the environment carefully, ensuring that the lamp did not heat the painting surface and that there were no other sources of heat nearby.
Unseen detail
The researchers tested the TQR technique on two frescoes, or murals created on wet plaster on walls. The first were the 15th-century paintings in the Chapel of Theodelinda, which depict the life of the patron queen of the church. With the TQR system, the scientists were able to make out extra detail on the old frescoes. Suits of armor, dulled and uniform to the naked eye, reveal sharp lines and careful detail under the infrared technique. In one case, the individual fingers of a soldier grasping a staff come out of hiding.
Because silver and gold pigments are highly reflective, they stand out strongly in the new views of the Theodelinda frescoes. Decorations on the soldier's armor appear almost luminous in the new images.
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What was the Amazon like before Columbus?
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: A soil survey indicates that wide swaths of the Amazon Basin were virtually untouched by humans before the Europeans arrived, adding to the debate over pre-Columbian culture in the Americas.
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What was the Amazon like before Columbus?
Next, the researchers tried the technique on Piero della Francesca's "The Resurrection," which dates back to the 1460s and depicts the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This painting is held in the Museo Civico of Sansepolcro in Italy.
In this fresco, the new images showed differences in pigments that look nearly identical to the naked eye. They also showed telltale signs of retouching, as well as a segment of a soldier's sword painted with two different fresco techniques. These tiny details can be very important to art historians trying to restore a work to its original condition.
The researchers are now testing the technique on other, non-fresco types of paintings, hoping it can be used to tell what kinds of pigments were used to make the painting.
"Determining the chemical makeup of the pigments is important in determining how best to protect and restore the artwork," Ambrosini said. He and his colleagues reported their work Monday in the open-access journal Optics Express.
Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook and Google+.
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Source: www.msnbc.msn.com
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