Friday, in preparation for Justin's parents' visit, Mom came over to hang pictures while I was cleaning the house. I felt that it was important to get some of our artwork up on the walls before his parents came to see the place, not only because they are an important finishing touch on the place, but because I think they're reflective of my taste, and my vision for our home. I have a ton of artwork that I've been collecting since I was in high school, preparing for the day when I would have a place of my own, and it was very rewarding to find the right place for everything. I think the condo looks really great now, and I'm thrilled to be another step closer to being finished. Check it out:
I had originally selected an ornamental sculpture to hang over the bed, consisting of numerous wire circles welded together, but Justin was not a fan. It had been hanging over the bed in my previous apartment, and one night the nail it was hanging on came loose and it fell on me in my sleep. I told him about how it startled the bejeezus out of me, and he was paranoid about a recurrence, so I nixed that idea and went with a set of photographs from Xavier Nuez, a local artist. He has a fascinating working method, in which he photographs dilapidated urban scenes with an extremely long exposure. While the camera is running, he turns on a series of brightly-colored lights within the scene, creating dramatic lighting effects. I fell in love with his work at the Old Town Art Fair last year, and snapped up a trio of prints.
We recently finished work on the master bathroom, and the color (a vibrant yellow-green that I probably wouldn't have chosen if it hadn't been a spot-on match to the bedroom carpet) is growing on me. Miraculously, this etching that I picked up at a previously-owned art sale in high school was also a perfect match for the room, and just the right size for that particular piece of wall.
I'm really pleased with the Star Wars posters that have been intended for the space over our futon in the mancave ever since I gave them to Justin for Christmas last year. They bring a nice pop of color to a largely monochromatic room, and the retro styling of them fits the design sensibility as well. I'm particularly happy with the mats I chose for them, which have subtle sparkles embedded in them that emulate the night sky. I was concerned that they would come across as glittery and girly, but they ended up being the perfect compliment to the sci-fi theme.
For our dining alcove, I selected another trio of photographic prints, this time from California artist, Audrey Heller. I saw her work at the One of a Kind Show at the Merchandise Mart several years back, and was struck by her sense of whimsy. You see, she photographs commonplace household and outdoor scenes, but includes tiny model figurines from toy train sets who interact with the regular-sized items in creative ways. The photo on the top left, for example, shows a bag of Goldfish Crackers, complete with tiny scuba divers. Since all three images are food-themed, I had purchased them with the intent of putting them in my future kitchen. There ended up being no wall space in the kitchen at our place, but I figured the dining room was the next best thing. Plus, Justin's mom pointed out that the warm tones in the artwork pick up on the colors in our vase of sticks, which is just an added bonus.
I struggled with what to hang over the fireplace, since I didn't have a single piece that was large enough. I ultimately decided that a thematically-unified grouping of images would have to do, and settled upon my collection of woodblock prints. The long, skinny one on the right has been a constant fixture at my place of residence since my last year of college, and it, along with the picture on the bottom left, both came from the same pre-owned art sale I used to frequent in high school. The print on the top left came into my life through my travels, when I spotted it in the window at an art dealer in Prague.I've long been a fan of German Expressionism, and while the artist is presumably Czech, I felt that the crying nuns it depicts were similar in tone.
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| Technically, there's no artwork in the kitchen, but I figured I'd include a photo of it anyway, while I was including photos of every other room in the house. |
The second bathroom is one of two rooms left that are incomplete (you can't see it, but the electrician had to make a hole in the wall to install the new light fixture, and it still needs to be repaired and painted), in addition to the curtains that still need to be hung in the master bedroom. Still, I'm pleased with how the polka-dotted shower curtain works with the towels and the paint that we recycled from our bedroom. It's always nice to save a bit of money when you can! I turned the bathroom into the etching room, with a collection of small format works I've assembled over the years.The other two pieces are on the wall on the other side of the mirror.
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