The Art of Choosing and Hanging Art
Renoir or bust? Original or forget it? Frankly, there are no hard fast rules when it comes to purchasing art, except this one: Buy what you love and, if possible, buy it when you see it. Must it be museum quality, collector quality or cost tens of thousands of dollars? Only if you’re an elitist or a billionaire. 🙂
Mix it Up
Try to open your thinking beyond just oils or watercolors hung everywhere. You can also hang wonderful pieces of architectural salvage too – grates, grillwork, wrought iron, heavily carved wooden doors with an ethnic bent (yes, you read that right…). You can frame things like black and white photos you took yourself – to collectible items like handkerchiefs from your grandmother – to old faded sheet music. Think outside the box. Try to vary things if you can. Rather than having every piece of art behind glass, do throw in an oil or watercolor or mixed media piece if it’s in line with your tastes. Don’t forget sculptures. Don’t overlook craft fairs.
How to Hang Artwork
Rather than taking up space here, if you’d like to know more, click on this link to a great archival post in my blog all about how to hang artwork. It’s filled with loads of great tips. In fact, COUNTRY ACCENTS MAGAZINE loved the post so much, they asked me to do a piece for them last fall. To read the blog post on hanging artwork, click here.
Great Art Resources
If you ARE in the market for a certain piece and size of “something” for some specific spot, here are two great resources I share with clients as appropriate; one is lower on the price point scale and one is higher. This 1st one deals in “giclees” – these are made to resemble oil paintings in an accurate manner, but are really printed on canvas. They can be hung unframed for tighter budgets, or framed if you have the bucks to spend on framing. This web site has a selection that is gi-hugical…and can customize your sizes! Check out Artaissance at www.artthatfits.com. They do sell directly to the public so you’re in like Flynn.
Another favorite resource of mine is in New York City. I often travel there from my home near Philadelphia, PA. They actually hand paint sections of paintings from Dutch masterpieces…to any size you want! Spectacular. Their work is stunning. Because it’s an original, you will wait 3-6 months for it and you will pay for the cost of a hand painted oil…although not an original. This resource does not sell directly to the public, (to the trade only…) so if you see something you like, give me a ring and I’ll help you purchase it. Check out: www.dutchtouchart.com.