Valentine’s Day, a holiday with a long history and great contemporary relevance, is just around the corner! February 14^th is celebrated as love day, but it was not always a holiday like it is today. Are you ready for Valentine’s Day? Traditionally, people send valentines, or love notes, to show their love at this time of the year, but you can also show love by changing your décor at home or in your work place. Artwork is a perfect way to celebrate this holiday that dates back to the early centuries A.D.

About Valentine’s Day

In ancient Rome, February was the month for the fertility festival called Lupercalia. At some point around the third century A.D., the Christian church began to observe Valentine’s Day, either as a way to Christianize the pagan Roman festival, or to commemorate the martyr Saint Valentine. The history is murky, but eventually February 14^th was established as the day of love, which we still celebrate today.

Inspirational Decorations

February 14^th is recognized as a special day for love, but it is by no means the only day for love. You can get your décor ready for the special day by changing your wall art. At Fulcrum Gallery, you can find dozens of inspirational posters on the theme of love. “Love Conquers All Things” and “Love Is All You Need” are just two of the beautiful sayings you can find here.

Birds

One poster you may like in particular is Alan Pelletier’s “Birds on a Wire – Love,” an evocative yet simple depiction of two birds together in space, balanced on a wire supporting the letters L O V E.  Birds are a fitting motif for Valentine’s Day because of the historic association between romance and birds. During the Middle Ages, when the celebration of Valentine’s Day was developing into its modern form, February was thought of as birds’ mating season, hence the connection between birds and romance. If the birds like February, it must be a romantic month!

Romantic

If you feel that there is nothing more romantic than Paris, Fulcrum Gallery has plenty of selections in its Romantic Art section. From prints called “Paris Romance” to Gustav Klimt’s well-known “The Kiss,” there is something sure to please your loved one this Valentine’s Day. If you or your loved one is more of a daredevil, or if you are a fan of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean, the black and white “Speedbound Red” may be what you are looking for.

Lips, Kissing

Decorations are great way to get into the spirit of Valentine’s Day, and Fulcrum Gallery also has lips- and kissing-themed posters in a variety of sizes, shapes, and styles. These posters can be given as gifts, but using them as decorations leading up to Valentine’s Day can make the holiday even more special.

It’s All About Love

We love people every day, but Valentine’s Day gives us a special opportunity to make people feel loved. Let’s get into the spirit and make the most of the holiday!

Martin Luther King, Jr., a central figure in the Civil Rights Movement, preached peace in the face of brutality and died a violent death at the age of 39. His methods, shared by Mahatma Gandhi and other well-known leaders, have been praised long after his death, and he lives on through his quotes. Color your living room with the words of a great man who continues to influence millions.

These art prints evoke a sense of hope and security, even through less vibrant colors like black and white. Although simple, they remind us that the words are the focal point by refraining from using graphics that can distract from them. This provides a calming contrast to more colorful decorations in your living room. If there aren’t many other decorations, it emphasizes the minimalism in a very classy way. Martin Luther King art prints fit in just about anywhere, no matter the environment.

Just Words

Some of the most bare bones art can be the most potent. Veruca Salt’s “Hate Cannot Drive Out Hate” proves this with black, cursive-like scripts against a plain white background. Featuring only four lines of text, it offers a quote that’s easy to remember. Capitalizing the word “LOVE”’ creates a focal point near the bottom center, and it also drives home the point of the quote and reminds us of how much power love really has. This is a great print to hang in the living room to bring your family together. Family love can turn into love for your fellow man for the people who live alone. “Hate Cannot Drive Out Hate” inspires warmth and simple goodness through its minimalistic approach.

This approach is repeated for Veruca Salt’s “You Have to Keep Moving Forward – Martin Luther King Jr,” which sets King's words in a variety of texts (most frequently block text) against a dark gray background. Using large letters that take up the entire space of the poster, it is easily readable. Capitalized verbs accentuate the importance of actions, while the word “forward” is italicized to create a forward slant. Different words are bolded to add emphasis.

Words And Simple Graphics

Taylor Greene’s “Martin” uses large capitalized white print over a generic silhouette. Rather than taking away from the text, the graphic enhances it, giving King’s words an ideological context by placing it within a person’s head. That it isn’t Martin Luther King’s head isn’t a problem: rather, it echoes the belief that his approaches are universal and that anyone can benefit from using them. With this print in their living areas people can challenge themselves to put King’s ideas into practice and bring him back to life through the realization of his ideas.

Martin Luther King, Jr. art prints can bring hope and positive energy to people’s homes and provide constant motivation to love one another and work for a better future. Treat yourself to a happier life by hanging Martin Luther King’s words on your wall.

FulcrumGallery.com is happy to introduce the art of new artist Veruca Salt to you this week!

 The artist puts her own spin on bus roll destinations within the US and around the world, and offers other various topics in the same bus roll style.   The Wine List Series is quickly becoming one of our most talked about artwork lines for the new year, and Veruca has just started on a series of foreign language images including the themes of Peace and Love, with more on the way soon!

 Veruca Salt’s word art is available in the traditional bus roll style, and square formats to complement rooms of any size or style.  These pieces look great framed, but in our opinion, canvas is the way to go to really show this art off in style.  With our gallery wrap option, the background image will wrap around the sides of the piece, with the text always staying featured on the front.  You can see that Veruca has designed some of these pieces with that in mind and the colored border shown on some pieces will wrap around the sides for a great painted effect.  You can also order any piece with black or white sides.  Use the “See It Framed” or “See It on Canvas” buttons to see all of the options available, and you can always give us a call at 800-644-1278 if you have any questions on how to best customize your piece.

Be sure to check our website for regular updates and additions to this great new line at http://fulcrumgallery.com.  And if you have any suggestion or requests for future word art pieces from this artist, please don’t hesitate to ask us at support@fulcrumgallery.com.

What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than with some inspirational art? Whether your relationship is brand new or you have celebrated many years of wedded bliss, your loved one will be thrilled with a gift of art for Valentine’s Day. Here are a few suggestions from our gallery:

• Go with tradition. We have a number of images with hearts on them, including Zebra Love and Barn Star with Heart Wreath. These pieces clearly state your message of love on Valentine’s Day.
• On the other hand, you may want to give a gift that says something more. We have heart art with all those words that you have trouble remembering “in the moment,” so check out Love Words, Prayer from the Heart or Let There be Love if you wish your art to carry your message for you.
• Maybe you feel the need to remember those important messages of love with your gift. We have a wide range of possibilities for loving reminders, such as Love and Peace or Love Never Fails.
• Possibly you want to give a gift to that special someone who is not a spouse or partner. A simple search will yield some lovely heart-oriented art for Grandmother, Rocker Moms Rule, and A Mother’s Heart.

This is but a small sampling of the inspirational art that is available in our galleries for your Valentine’s Day gifting. Start searching and we are certain you will find something to tug at your heart!