Art, Go Big, Go Bold

Interior by J White Interior Design - Artwork 'Frangrant Spring" by Elizabeth Horning

Art can make your home shine and put the finishing touches to a room but I believe that if you are going to invest in artwork, go big, go bold and let your art make a statement.  What are you passionate about in life, maybe you love flowers and nature, horses or dancing or you may have a love of the countryside or ocean. If you select art that reflects what you love about life, you are unlikely to tire of it.

Interior Designers Show Their Flair - Working With Art In Their Designs

Above: The painting determines the colours in this dining room. The bleached wood framed chairs reflect the white of the horse and the upholstery reflects the colours of the background of the painting. You may notice the curves of the tops of the chairs reflect the curves  seen in the horse. Other pictures are kept simple with black frames.

Above: Contemporary Dining Room by New York Interior Designers & Decorators Drew McGukin Interiors

A home without art can lack soul, embarrassingly, as an artist, I am the first to admit there is not enough art on my walls, something I am currently looking at improving. When we plan to decorate a room, we immediately start thinking, what colour, what patterns, what furniture etc and it can easily become overwhelming. Even the task of choosing a wall colour can become so absorbing that we forget about the whole picture. Interior designers however, know that art can be the perfect beginning to inspire their overall design.

A Belgian artist's colourful home

Yesterday was spent at the Auckland gift fair and my head is spinning from all the wonderful products displayed. The day definitely had an effect on me as I seem to be drawn to objects d' art and excited to discover the home of Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave. Isabelle is an incredibly talented artist who specialises in paper such as this beautifully detailed costume of a 1760 Gilet below. An extremely talented and versatile artist, Isabelle's work has been commissioned by museums and covers various mediums from  paper and bronze sculptures, to paintings on canvas. If you would like see more of Isabelle's art please visit her website, there is a link at the end of this post.

Gilet D'Homme, 1760 - Created from paper - Photo by Rene Stoeltie

Painting  on canvas- Canape  - Photograph by Alain Speltdoorn

Isabelle is an avid collector and her travels have enabled her to fill her home with colourful and interesting pieces. Such a talented artist must surely be inspired by her collection of fascinating object d'art...

Layers of texture and pattern

 An avid collector of unusual pieces

This amazing desk is an art piece in itself 

 More colourful objects 

The black and gold letter press in the centre (top shelf), is similar to one I inherited from my mother. Letter presses were used to emboss letterheads or envelopes. The paper is placed between the press and the levered handle is then pressed down to emboss the paper. 

 Mixing patterns is a feature throughout Isabelle's home

 Sunlight filters through the cutwork of the curtains creating  pretty patterns on the floors and wall

 A red painted table compliments the colours of the painting

 Asian antique chairs, wonderful textiles and a lovely table top vignette, create an interesting corner

 Isabelle's cat looks perfectly relaxed in the colourful bedroom

Isabelle's Art

Images source: via

If you love colourful interiors you may want to view the following posts:
An eclectic West Hollywood home| Take one white sofa - accessorising with colour 

Sharing this post with the following Blogs:

I should be Mopping the Floor

Savvy Southern Style
Not Just A Housewife

No Minimalist Here

My Romantic Home

French Interior - Ile De Re, France - Traditional & Contemporary Twist.

This lovely French home is in  Île de Ré on the French Atlantic coast. The  interior of this traditional French home is filled with lots of unexpected surprises and the garden has "real panache". A mix of both contemporary and antique furnishing and artwork, with twists and turns, each room has a completely different feel, I'm sure no one could get bored living in this fabulous home. Which is your favourite room?

Image sources via Trendland

We hope you've had a lovely weekend, were suffering the rain now in Auckland after our longest hot summer ever and I'm not looking forward to what might be a long wet winter :(.

How To Select The Perfect Artwork For Your Home

As my mind is starting to wind down after completing my mother's house which is now for sale (before and after shots I will be sharing in a few weeks time), I am beginning to think about my art again. I have a huge canvas beside me 3/4 finished and another smaller unfinished work on my easel, both begging for attention. With art on my mind, I've decided to share some of my thoughts about art and interiors and some important points to remember when seeking art for your home.

Firstly, art is a very personal choice, one person might love nature and flowers another figures, while another may prefer contemporary or abstract works. There is no right or wrong in selecting the "style" of a painting.  An abstract painting can be perfect for an 18th Century villa just as much as a 20th Century. However there is a right and wrong when it comes to choosing that painting to enhance your decor with regards to its size, colours etc.

A painting or artwork can be a focus in your home to catch the eye as someone walks into a room, or it may be a subtle part of a collection of art and accessories in a room.  Personally I like art to be a statement piece and without it "over" dominating a room, I like the art to be as large as possible.

From an artists/designers point of view I have created a check list to remember when purchasing and hanging a painting to compliment your interior.

• Don't make the mistake of hanging a painting too high or putting a small painting on a large expanse of wall. Make sure your chosen art is the correct size for the wall area.
• Art should be hung at "eye level" with eye level being the centre of the painting.
• Rule of thumb, large wall, large art or a collection of smaller pieces covering a larger area
• Don't cover up your painting if hung above a console by putting large items in front of it, (an artists nightmare). When I sell a piece of work I want it to be on show in its entirety. 
• Take into account your colour scheme, try to compliment the overall scheme of your decor by choosing accent colours that work with your art as can be seen in the images below.
• When hanging the art, remember to to take into account the space for a picture light above if you choose to have one.
• Ask if you can loan the artwork to try it in your house first. Often artist/galleries will allow you to try the artwork prior, especially if it is a large investment.
• If you can purchase direct from the artist and they are not solely gallery represented you should be able to purchase at a lesser price as  most New Zealand galleries add on a minimum of 40%. The artist will only receive around 60% of the purchase price less tax on a gallery sale.
• Don't hang paintings in direct sunlight, this can still fade a watercolour even if the best quality paints have been used. 
• If you do purchase a watercolour, make sure the artist has used "artist quality" paints, you don't want to spend a lot of money on a piece to find you may have a very pale version or, gasp!...a white piece of paper in a few years time. Yes I have seen this happen, people buy art at a local fair and then find that 5 years later it has faded to near nothing from the damage of light and the use of cheap watercolour pigments.
• Remember if your art is framed with glass you will get reflection, so personally I prefer oils or acrylics without glass in light filled areas. Large pieces of art are far better chosen without glass, a lot of watercolour artists who want to paint larger, turn to oils because of this reason. 
• Don't think that using "non reflective" glass will be the best solution, it may avoid reflection, however, non reflective glass will dull the colours of the art and personally, as an artist I would never use non reflective glass.
• Last of all, if you are buying art on line, please ask the artist if they use "artist quality paints and canvas", you want your painting to last longer than a lifetime.

Rather than selecting images where the work is incorrectly hung or doesn't compliment its surroundings I have selected images I feel work perfectly. Photo No.2 the work is slightly too high but this is because there is molding on the walls which determined the height of the picture. However I love this art and feel its absolutely perfect for the style and colours of this interior.

Above: Unknown artist

Above: Unknown artist

Above: Artist - Patricia Larsen

Above: Unknown artist - Interior design by Tiffany Eastman

The painting below is hung low over the console, however, if you look closely, there is an obvious reason as the ceiling height is limiting. I would normally not place items in front of a painting, however the green lamp and other accessories cleverly compliment these particular pieces of art work as they have a lot of white background.

Above: Paintings by Miranda Skoczek

The art below is actually painted directly onto the wall, I think it looks fabulous. I would not screw wall lights into a canvas but its perfectly fine in this respect and they reflect the style of the beams.  Is it my imagination? I feel the light on the left hand side of the screen is slightly higher, possibly an optical illusion.

Below, paintings in perfect harmony with their surroundings, you can catch a glimpse of my Lily painting, "Inspiration" hanging on the stairwell of this lovely Auckland home.  

The art in this NY apartment below, breaks all the rules, however, each individual art work has been hung to compliment the whole expanse of wall, creating a sense of  each piece being part of one large art work. I think this is extremely clever, don't you?

Before I end this post, I just want to add that a true artist will use only the finest quality paints, canvas and brushes which increases costs.  I can purchase a cotton canvas of 1 metre x 1 metre, ready made in an artist supplies store in New Zealand for around $35. However, I actually choose to pay $300 + for the same size canvas, hand stretched in Belgian linen as it not only will last more than a lifetime, it gives me the perfect surface to present my work. I also use brushes that cost me over $100 each, my fabulous blending brush cost me more than $200. You may gasp at this but the difference they make to my work is phenomenal and if cared for they will last many years. 

I hope you've managed to find some helpful information and inspiration, for selecting and hanging art  in your own home. Next month I am going to show you step by step how you can create a modern contemporary piece with absolutely no artist skills that will look fabulous in any interior.

If your not familiar with my own work you can see some of my sold works at my website. After an absence of painting the past 2 years because of my mothers illness I am beginning new works next month.

I will be sharing this post with the following blogs:

I Should Be Mopping The Floor

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here

Show and Tell Friday on My Romantic Home

Show and Tell Saturday at Sassy Little Lady

At the Picket Fence

Image sources 1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8