Art you can afford: vintage (foreign) postcards

I'm always on the look out for interesting art that speaks to me, and I love having an art-filled home.  I have realized that while most people want art on their walls, many people don't have strong feelings about what it should be--they just want it to look good and not break the bank.  While there are now MANY wonderful sites for prints and limited editions, I always love using originals when I can--whether they are works by artists or interesting ephemera.

I was poking around etsy yesterday for a series of 6 small images I could use in a grid of frames in a dining room, when it occurred to me that postcards would be the right side for the mat openings in the frames I want to use.  Usually, I won't use ephemera from a place or an event if it is not personal (i.e. no concert posters if I wasn't there, no matter how awesome the graphic design).  But the postcards I found do not speak to a specific place.

Sometimes everything starts to look the same to me.  These cards are from Russia and Eastern Europe, and I love that they have a different graphic design style than what I see everywhere.

Russia, Female portraits, 1930s-1980s $25 for set of 25

Russia, Folk dancing 1957, $14 for 6 cards

Estonia, Car postcards 1970s, $18 for set of 5

Russian Folk postcards, $13 for set of 8

Ukraine, $23 for 32 cards

Wouldn't these look amazing framed and hung in a grid?  

We'll see what my client thinks about the ones I found for her!

And just for inspiration, here are a couple of rooms that use a series of items hung in a grid.

Big Art

Filling a large wall can be tricky--you generally need either a lot of small pieces, a pair of large pieces, or one REALLY big work to make a statement.  Problem is, all of those strategies add up, money-wise.

I was recently looking for wall-defining art for my brother and sister-in-law, and came across a number of pieces not right for them but that I felt I couldn't pass without comment.

All of these are extra large (at least one side over 5'), and all $1000 or under.  Obviously $1000 is still plenty of dough, but it's really not a lot for a wall-sized artwork that will make your space.

Melodie Allegre, folie a deux, acrylic and ink on canvas

Tijana Lukovic, untitled, oil on canvas, Belgium

Claire Elizabeth Jackson, Resham Singh Sandhu, High Sheriff of Leicester 2011, Oil on Canvas, United Kingdom

(you know I would want this for my dining room if I didn't already have Nai Nai)

Raj Yadav, The Mask, Oil, India

Alecs Heiduschka, Totem 2, acrylic on canvas, Germany

We're thinking about letting the girls have their own rooms--and some of the design schemes would leave me with a big wall to fill.  Keeping my eye on these!

Hope your holiday weekend was refreshing!

Art you can afford: Heart Art for you, Heart Art for me

As it turns out, plenty of retailers are in on the heart art trend.  I found pieces in many colors, sizes, and price points.  shall we?

Shown in relative scale.  Clockwise(ish) from left:

Multi-heart print (I love that this is a play on Damien Hirst's dot paintings): Saatchi Gallery online, both original and prints available (scale here is the large print.  Prints are reasonable, original is expensive.)

Neon pink heart poster, with write-in box: ElasticCo, through Domino

I worked with this poster's maker on projects long ago.  She is awesome and deserves her own post.

Chartreuse, pink, and ted (you know I love this color combo): Saatchi gallery online, both original and prints available at this scale (prints are reasonable, original is expensive)

Cartier Heart Strings, gold leaf: Natural Curiosities, to the trade.  Contact me for pricing

Love Letters Collection, Blue: Natural Curiosities, to the trade.  Contact me for pricing

Big heart (I used this print in this little girl's room): Minted, available in many sizes and frame options

Tiny black heart: Natural Curiosities, to the trade.  Contact me for pricing

Gold heart: Serena and Lily,  love the sparkle!

What do you think: would you go for the heart?

The Happy Hallway

I have long been tortured by our long, plain, windowless, featureless upstairs hallway.  After "finishing" the space once with unhappy results, I have had MANY ideas for the space, most of which were either prohibitivly expensive, relied on DIY work beyond my ability, or fought desperately with the rooms attached at either end.  I was also trying to avoid the obvious.  It almost did me in.

But then, I had a great conversation with a client who said she is trying to put her resources primarily to things that will make her family happy or improve their relationships and general well being.  A pretty solid plan, but one that too many of us forget to follow.

Lately things have felt a bit heavy.  Like we all are just a little crabby most of the time.  I decided that we all need some lightness, to be reminded of the silly side we all have, so I went through some old photos and printed out the ones that made me smile.  People making crazy faces, being silly, or doing something we don't normally associate with them--like my husband surfing.  I want us all to remember that we have many sides, that we have wonderful people in our lives, and that we are loved.

$12 in photo prints at Walgreens and one hour later, I had this.

All four of my kids' grandparents were here this weekend, and my, oh my, did my girls LOVE to look at these pictures with them!  I do a big photo book each year that tells a chronological and somewhat event-based story of our lives, but this one?  This one is purely emotional, and we all just love it.

To make it easy on myself, I printed the photos in black and white so I didn't have to worry about a color story.  To put them up, I grouped the loose prints by people--each of the girls, the girls together, the girls with parents, with grandparents, great grandparents, etc--then just sort of distributed them on the wall.  It was fun to make some connections between pictures, too, like having someone look out of the frame in one photo at something silly happening in another.

Now, of course, I want it to all feel a little more "finished."  I'll be back with ideas for that!

Tell me: are you a family-photos-in-the-house type?  Or do you just keep them in your phone, like I used to?

New Art Pour Moi

I have had such specific wish lists (and here and here) over the past few years as I decorate this house, no one has dared to go off-list all that much when it comes to gifts.  But this year, after subsidizing some house purchases as a gift in the past (like this one), my mom decided to--gasp!--give me something I didn't ask for, much less already buy myself.

And you know what?  It can be delightful when someone who knows you well gives you something they think you will like, and introduces you to new stuff in the process.

Jennifer Lashbrook is an oil painter based in Dallas who has become known for her "swatch paintings."  My parents hit up a lot of art fairs, and when they were in Arizona around Thanksgiving and saw these artworks made from paint swatches, well, they knew just who had to have one.  Or two, as it turned out.

Yes!  Those portraits are made from PAINT SWATCHES.  The originals are sold, but my parents got me signed, limited-edition prints.  Marilyn is about 8x8 and the Beatles are about 5 1/2" square, small enough to go just about anywhere, or to add to my office gallery wall.  

There are other art changes needed and/or happening.  Just when I thought the art was "Settles" it will breathe new life in here to mix it up.

P.S.  This would be an Art You Can Afford, except you can't seem to buy Jennifer's work anywhere but art fairs!

Art You Can Afford: Ashley Barlow

This morning my husband handed me a little square business card with super cute graphics, and said," there's a pop up shop next to work.  I think you would like these."

Right you are!

Ashley Barlow offers small prints at super reasonable prices through an etsy shop, too.  Check out some of my favorite pieces (these are the originals not prints):

Untitled

Collections

Play Time

Custom pieces, sold

Summer Camp

I love the use of vintage photos paired with a paint approach and palette that feels very contemporary.

Surely there is someone on your list who could use a cheerful, quirky print for the holidays?

A Quickie (but goodie!)

I'm always thinking about different ways to display art, and in particular, ways to create interesting art displays (or showcase a collection of objects or ephemera) even if you don't have much of an art collection.

I snapped this picture in a Pottery Barn store recently.  I love the way the frames make a sort of architectural installation, and you want to go up and see the images.

The images (or objects) could be anything that forms a collection: special seashells with notes on where they were collected, postcards you send to yourself from years of travel destinations, foreign stamps, bowties, the placecards for special family members from your wedding reception.  This arrangement is all about creating emphasis on a group of things that become more special when placed together.

Installation would be simple: just choose a simple hook, buy in multiple, and add pretty ribbon, twine, or cord to to eye hooks on the back of your frames.

What do you think: if you hung a display this way, what would you put in the frames?

I'm no artist

I probably "shouldn't" post this, but I'm gonna go ahead and do it anyway.

After sitting with a construction paper collage on canvas for a while, over spring break the girls and I just jumped in and started painting this giant canvas.

Basically, I chose a palette from the existing sample cans of latex house paint I had lying around (and believe me, there were LOTS to choose from!)  

This is all wrong: one should not paint a pre-stretched canvas using latex house paint.  I know this.  But this project is truly a matter of function, effect, and saving money, so there was no way I was going to invest in a bunch of oil paints and brushes.

I have been living with it in place for a while now to see how I feel about the colors, if it's too much of a pain to move the thing on and off the TV (it's not, though our TV has been broken for a couple of weeks, making it a wee bit moot), and whether I will ultimately feel the need to add a frame.

The gap at the sides actually doesn't bother me.  I do need to add a cross bar to the back to raise the whole thing up a couple of inches though.

Right now, the painting itself lacks depth and detail, but this is really just the base layer.  For now I am deciding how I feel about the base palette, whether to bring in black or gold or both, whether to add a more rigid geometric element and whether to do some embroidery on the canvas.  I know.

I share this today partly because blogs sometimes make it feel like a blogger has an idea and then Poof!  It's finished and perfect.  I tend to think a lot, and some decisions are very slow in coming.  I guess I want to make clear that these things can take time....and really, there's no rush.

Small Measures

 Via Oh Joy

Clip botanical prints at random.  Stick to a simple color palette to keep it from getting away from you: here, the yellow and green is sweet and summery.

Ashley has been hosting a little blogger tag sale this week--including vintage botanical book plates that would be perfect for this!

Progress on the TV art

One of the nice things about projects in your own home is the freedom to experiment on-site.  You don't have to have it all figured out before you start the install.

I mentioned a while back that I wanted to install a giant canvas over my TV, partly to hide the thing when not in use (and perhaps reduce the TV watching that I am engaging in), but mostly to make the room feel more finished most of the time.

I figured out the scale I wanted, my husband built a frame, and I covered it in inexpensive painters canvas (from here) with my staple gun, and hung it on up.  By which I mean I put the cross brace on the back of the frame right on top of the TV.

Without the TV visible and acting as a reference point, I noticed that the canvas feels a bit low.  So there's that.  Especially in relationship to the vertical stack of stamp art on the same wall.

See?  So it will move up, probably with some blocks added to the cross-brace in the back. Speaking of which, I noticed that whatever wood sits directly on the TV will need to be covered in felt, pronto.  No need to scratch up a perfectly good TV.

Before I started painting, I wanted to test out some ideas.  Do not judge what you are about to see.  Since I am thinking about a black and white abstract,  I got out all the black construction paper form my kids' pack and started taping it to the canvas in a sort of geometric way.

The idea is just to mock up the general gist of it to see how it plays in the room and how it relates to the other art and furniture.  I left it up for a day or two to see how I reacted to it as I moved through the house.

(By the way, do you like our state of the art stereo system?  I think my husband got that boom box in the 80s.  It's great for my 4 year old, who loves to play DJ.)

The verdict?  The bold black geometric pulls too much focus.  It grabbed my eye any time I went remotely near.  I'm thinking it needs to be more organic (the geometry mimics the frame stack too much), and medium to large scale (the framed paper is small scale, loose, and busy).  It needs to be a little more delicate, either in color or in line.  Another mock up is in my future.

An important note.  Generally, I would not recommend planning a painting this way.  No, sir.  Art should be art, and should not be "decor."  But in this case, it is a major statement in the space but also the last piece coming in to the room and I don't have any money to buy real art right now, so it makes sense to do something myself and plan it to the room.

Very process-y, right?  I hope it helps to see the thinking process, and to show that, while sometimes things just "work," more often there is a lot of planning and playing that goes in to each design decision along the way.

Small Measures

Frame a collection!  This one from OKL featuring tassels is an amazing antique with gorgeous handwriting and that perfectly out of place blue skein, but you could make your own.  Or try buttons, like this.  Unique, personal art.

Large Scale botanical on a budget

I popped in to Ikea yesterday to take a look at their curtain rack systems for a project, and happened to notice this large-scale botanical poster for $19.99.

Vintage versions have been making appearances (I blogged about them here), and really nice reproductions can be had from here, but if you want the look just for now, this is a great way to go.

I have to say, I kind of like that this poster LOOKS like a vintage knock-off.  Something about the way the images are styled, it almost ends up a little bit cheeky.  Know what I mean?

Art You Can Afford

To tell you the truth, I haven't been feeling particularly inspired lately.
Maybe it's the apathy that comes with image overload.  Maybe it is being spread too thin.  Maybe it's the sudden onset of humidity (or the utter lack of exercise.)

Whatever it is, last weekend's Art a Whirl lifted my spirits and slapped me upside the head with inspiration.  This open studios event in the Arts District of Northeast Minneapolis is inspiring not just because it offers up the work of hundreds of artists, but also because the community support is tremendous.  I don't know about you but seeing the masses flock to an event celebrating artists sets the world right for a while.

I had many favorites (mostly small scale super moody canvases, perhaps unsurprisingly).  But I felt particular uplift when I spotted a table full of icon images from Christy Johnson of redshoes26 design.

A graphic designer by trade, Christy created this icon series to herald special places in her home state (and she tells me she is branching out to other cities, as well--selects from Chicago and Florida are already available.)  I love that these works are tiny and feel very personal--the buildings she selects as icons include both the obvious and the quirky, without getting all insidery on you.  

She free-hands the images with her mouse, and her dad makes the perfect little frames by hand.

You can pick these up from her etsy shop here, and locals, see the full list of local shops that carry Christy's work, or head to honeyshine in Bryn Mawr, a shop that really deserves a post all its own.

I think I need to pick up a Walker Art Center.

And I know at least two people who were married at the Landmark Center.  I'm getting this really great idea for an anniversary gift.

So, tell me, what iconic building would you want immortalized in art?  Perhaps we can talk Christy in to some commissions....

Art You Can Afford: Society 6

More and more of these affordable-prints sites are cropping up.

From what I gather, Society 6 is not curated the way many are, and rather than produce a limited-edition run, they print on demand.  In addition to art prints or stretched canvases, a number of the images are available as iphone or laptop covers, t-shirts, and other products.  Because any artist can submit to sell their work here, it feels a bit more like etsy--some great stuff, but also lots of less-great stuff to wade through.

Interestingly, I found myself turned off by the images that were available to be printed in every format--it almost felt like the prints that were only prints had the most integrity, and I almost wished the site was divided by "art prints" and "graphic design".  But that may just be the curatorial degree rearing its (ugly?) head.

All that said, here are my top picks:
(note: because these are all available in multiple sizes and price points, I'm providing links to each item, but not writing in price points or other information here.  Click the picture to take you to the site.  Most prints start under $20 and top out under $100.)
































There are tons of great choices for kids spaces, too.
Do you have a favorite?