Choosing Artwork
3 Tips for Choosing Artwork
Painting by Albert Oehlen, Germany 1954, From The Broad,
Painting by Vancouver Artist, Lauren Morris
Choosing artwork can be the bane of a home dwellers existence. What on earth do we put on those blank walls? When we are first starting out, a lot of us don’t bring artwork into our new nest and we are faced with many blank walls. We get hand me down furniture and scour Craigslist for great finds but there is a whole component we are missing if we don’t address the walls.
And then as we grow older and perhaps have a bit more disposable income or have our design style sorted out, we can still have difficulty knowing what to put on our walls.
We have put together a few tips to help anyone find their way to adorning their blank walls with artwork.
Marilyn Paintings by Andy Warhol, The Vancouver Art Gallery
1. What vibe are you after in the space?
Do you already have a lot of colour in the room? If so, you can draw from those colours in the artwork as well. Artwork doesn’t need to match the space. It can start to look like a furniture showroom if the artwork matches the colour scheme exactly or matches too much. Artwork should compliment the décor in the room. If you want a calmer vibe in the room, then choose artwork that has more calming colours or more muted tones. This will add to the calm atmosphere. If you have mainly neutral décor then perhaps you could add a very graphic piece of artwork or a very colourful piece. This can help balance the neutrality of the space and make it feel more interesting.
2. Balance
This can be an important factor. If you have an art piece but it isn’t quite large enough for a particular wall you can place it off centre then balance it with smaller artwork. The key is, you don’t want a small piece of artwork in the middle of a large wall. It will just look like it is floating.
3. Go with what you like
Each of us is drawn to different artwork so go with what you like not with what is trendy or what someone else says looks good. Maybe photography is the medium that speaks to you. Maybe for someone else it’s oil paintings. Still others may like Pop art. Go out and look at art. Look at galleries, look online, and look in magazines, just look. This will expand your knowledge and understanding of what you like. Then go with what appeals to you. That is what makes each of our spaces individual and you will enjoy your space a whole lot more if you love the pieces you are putting in it including the artwork. What do YOU like?
Three Tips For Creating Your Own Artwork.
1. Use your kids artwork
I had this art piece below framed out about 15 years ago and I still love it. My goddaughter was in kindergarten and painted these little cards about the seasons and I just loved them. I decided to frame them and now they are still a favourite of mine.
Here is another idea for a kids gallery wall.
2. Get graphic
I found this wallpaper panel online many years ago and got it stretched onto a board by the framing store. They had never done a project like this before so were quite excited to oblige. I love the way it turned out and have had it in my kitchen ever since.
3. Go vintage
I found this marquee letter B at a vintage store in a bin and knew I wanted to use it in my office. Again, I took it to the same framing store and they helped me frame it out in a shadow box.
I hope this brings a bit of inspiration to you and gives you some idea of how to address those blank walls. Get creative and have fun with it and let us know what you are doing in your space to dress your walls.
