There is no heart without art
Adding life and colour to your walls is a great way to add warmth and personality to your home. It can help tie colour schemes together, and is in fact often a great point of inspiration for a room, and can be the starting place for great design.
In this world we live of instant gratification, constantly bombarded by images of perfect homes with beautiful art adoring the walls, its easy to want that for ourselves. However when it comes to art (and other finishing touches) for your home these things layer over time. Your collection will grow as you do - each piece having meaning is what really turns a house into a home.
To be honest, the walls of our home are pretty bare. Partially because when you’ve had to replace the roof it’s hard to justify spending money on the less practical aspects of our home. But it’s mainly because I want to really invest in pieces that not only give me visual pleasure now, but will continue to do so in thirty years time.
I’m not usually one for mass produced art but this caught my eye the other day in Spotlight (it could have been the $5 clearance sticker 😉). Personally this image of frosted blooms made me think of Canada, a place that has been on my mind a lot lately. I just Skyped my dad who is there at the moment staying with my uncle and auntie whom I adore. My cousin is getting married in a week, and I have friends with babies I’ve never met. Travel may broaden your mind but it can split your heart. This piece just spoke to me and now when I lay in bed and see it I’ll think of the people I love who I can’t be near.
Of course it wouldn’t be my home without some of my own Home Candy in there would it?! This window actually came out of this space which previously housed the laundry room. Most of the windows in our house are double hung, I love the beautiful shape and the layers of paint I exposed showing the history of our home. We have frequent dance parties in our pjs while having breakfast and getting ready for the day, so this quote was the perfect fit for us.
Other than that there is little on our walls, family photo’s are scattered around and of course the art created by my two talented girls on nearly every surface! But I know that there is art in my future, and each piece will add to our space and have special meaning in our hearts.
Some artists I adore…
Mrs Mighetto creates the most beautiful, whimsical images for children’s rooms. One day when I do our two girls spaces I would love to choose a print for them each and base my design around her stunning work. Follow her on Instagram here or Facebook here.
Glenn Jones does kiwiana art that is a snapshot of our culture. It’s full of humor and is like an ‘in joke’ to any kiwi. His work is great for home or bach, or for that friend living overseas. His website is here or you can find him on Instagram or Facebook.
Carolina Gruner-Ashcroft is an incredibly talented self-taught artist who I have followed on the gram for quite a while now. She is courageous in her honesty on social media, and her art is simply breathtaking. Plus she uses lots of pink ;P You can find her work here, or follow her on Instagram.
Donna O’Donoghue is a local (NP) artist. She works in a wide variety of mediums from surrealist images created on the computer to sculptures and everything in between. She loves working with resin creating beautiful pieces like the circle above and even runs workshops for kids and adults. You can find her work on Facebook here or Instagram.
