WHAT DOES GICLÉE MEAN?

The word giclée (jhee-clay) is derived from the French verb 'Gicler' meaning 'to squirt or spray.'

WHEN WAS GICLÉE DEVELOPED?

The process was started in the early 1990's when musician Graham Nash (of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young fame) and his associate Mac Holbert pioneered new ways of using the Iris inkjet printer. Nash and Holbert discovered how to take these machines which were originally developed for digital graphic proofing and adapted them to be used for digital fine art printing.

WHAT IS A GICLÉE PRINT?

Giclée prints are reproductions of original art, created from a digitised image. They are then printed with the highest quality pigment based inks on specialised printmaking paper or canvas. The image is sprayed onto the canvas at a rate of one million droplets of ink per second, giving an apparent visual resolution of over 1800 dots per inch. To make a large size giclée a master printer requires nearly two hours to create just one artwork. The quality is so good that giclée's are commonly found in museums and art galleries.

ARE AUTHENTIC AQUARIUS' GICLÉES MASS PRODUCED?

No, our Giclée paintings are individually produced to order.

HOW ARE THE PICTURES CREATED?

All our pictures are original works. All are inspired by the beauty of the crystals themselves and are designed to present them in a way that maximises their impact and influence on the observer. Some are created from original highest quality photographs, usually taken by the artists themselves, and some are created entirely in the digital domain and utilise a wide range of hand-applied techniques in their creation.

From initial proof-of-concept idea, through development, colour testing and preparation for print, one series of images can take up to 3 months to create.

Our pictures are produced individually at each size, so that maximum 300 DPI resolution is maintained in the largest print sizes. The Giclée print process is virtually 'resolution-less' in that it is impossible to spot ANY pixelation on any of our images, unless it is part of the design.

WHAT DOES GALLERY WRAPPED MEAN?

Gallery wrapped means that the printed canvas is stretched onto a high quality deep mortise jointed wooden frame. The canvass is wrapped around the edges of the frame and fixed to the reverse. As the picture continues around the edges of the frame this gives a contemporary look that does not require a picture frame, it is therefore ready to hang.

INTERIOR DESIGN: TO WHAT ENVIRONMENTS ARE THE PICTURES PARTICULARLY SUITED?

Our pictures are designed so that they are equally effective in the home, in an office environment, on public display, and even at gallery exhibitions.

Most of our chosen colours are very bold and saturated which is designed to bring out the energy and radiance of the crystals, which makes the pictures as a whole natural centerpieces of any display or room, rather than objects that blend unobtrusively into the background - our images are meant to be seen, and add beauty and vibrancy to any environment.

WHAT LIGHTING IS BEST FOR THE PICTURES?

The prints work well, and look good under normal household bulbs, halogen bulbs, and spotlights, though heat generating lights should be kept away from the immediate vicinity of the picture. However, if you can place a picture where the sun will catch it, you will find that the colours spring to life even more, and that the images radiate a spectacular intensity that is well worth seeing.

DO THE PRINTS LOOK LIKE THE PICTURES I SEE ON SCREEN?

Yes, they do. We have worked extremely hard and conducted exhaustive tests to establish a print system that matches the vibrancy of the on-screen files. We tried many times before we succeeded and found the perfect print delivery system. The combination of ultra bright white artists canvas as a substrate and highest quality giclée printing gives you what we can honestly say is an exceptional print. However all monitors display colour slightly differently, and although ours are professionally calibrated, it is of course possible that the colours in the paintings may differ slightly from what you see on screen.

We appreciate that in our gallery it is simply not possible to show you a picture with as much dramatic effect as it appears on a framed picture a meter wide. For this reason, and especially with our larger images, they are, in fact, rather MORE impressive than they appear on screen. We have tried to show the sometimes vast amounts of detail in a selection of our images by providing close-up preview pictures along side those of the picture as a whole.

DOES THE GICLÉE HAVE A PROTECTIVE COATING?

Yes, the Giclées are coated with a durable acrylic varnish. This means that they will not scratch, yellow or fade over time.

HOW DO I CLEAN AND LOOK AFTER MY PAINTING?

You clean your painting very gently with warm water and a lint free cloth. It is advisable not to hang your new painting over a direct heat source, such as a radiator.

HOW WILL MY PICTURE BE PACKAGED?

Your gallery wrapped picture will be bubble wrapped and then secured in a wooden frame, the whole thing is then put inside a strong cardboard outer case. The rolled canvasses are shipped rolled and packed in a durable cardboard tube with strong retaining fixings.

HOW CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT DR EMOTO'S WORK WITH WATER CRYSTALS?

You can find out everything you want to know about Dr Emoto and his fascinating work by logging on to his website, which is www.hado.com

WHAT MAKES A FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION?

Well, as we are new we have had to guess what you might want to know. So please feel free to ask us any questions, that way they can become real frequently asked questions!