Filed under: Your Home, Living Room, Projects, Fun Stuff, Crafts & Projects, Parties & Entertaining
Framing the art gives it that extra touch. Photo: Magnus D, Flickr
When one writer didn't have any art for his walls, he got a little help from his friends (and threw one great party).
My path toward becoming a "gallery owner" started the way a lot of people explore new things:
After getting out of a longtime relationship and living life out in the suburbs, I made a break for the big city and ended up in Brooklyn, where I found a 450-square-foot studio apartment in a building located next to a Sweet-and-Low factory. City living at its finest!
The place offered plenty of space for me to be alone with my thoughts, and I set about trying to make it as homey as possible, which I don't think is always the easiest task with a studio apartment. You have to be conscious of things not running into each other: For instance, you don't want your computer in your closet space! I felt I navigated that quite well, as I set up a corner of the small place for music, a space for reading, etc. Things started looking good.
Except for those walls!
When I say my place was 450 square feet, it felt like at least 400 of it had empty wall space. Or, maybe it was just the illusion created by the 12-foot high ceiling, the long hallway with nothing to look at that lead to the living space and the off-white color of said walls screaming for something to be done to them. I had a tiny cross that I hung up, which was immediately lost: It might as well have been camouflaged for all that it added.
I really hadn't given much thought to putting up stuff on the walls before, save for posters, but at age 31, I considered myself a full-fledged grown-up. I couldn't really decorate with INXS and R.E.M. memorabilia like I did when I was in high school. Plus, I was living in Brooklyn, the birthplace of hipster chic, so I really had to come correct! Meanwhile, I could feel those bare walls closing in on me every time I walked in the door.
One evening, I was hanging out at a co-worker's place in New York City's East Village when I noticed a series of cool abstract paintings on his wall. I asked him where he got them and he said that he had painted them over the years. He even gave me one -- It was a canvas of someone looking at a picture in a museum. (Go figure. I thought it was a stick of dynamite with a square around it.) Nevertheless, I took it home and proudly hung it above my TV: my first piece of art. The question was, though, how could I get more without breaking the bank, as "city living" was a lot more expensive than I thought.
Pick strong pieces to hang in the center of the room. Photo: Ani-Bee, FlickrAfter pondering how to build an art collection, it hit me: Why not ask more friends for things they've done? I knew plenty of people who painted and took artistic photographs. Aside from Chris, who gave me the first canvas, there was my buddy Tommy's wife Christy back home in Alabama, who liked to paint. I thought of Eric, who worked in photo archives at a magazine and graduated from art school. Plus, there was Bill, who I used to work with at a newspaper who drew caricatures of celebrities. So I reached out to all of them -- and they were thrilled that I did.
So was I. Suddenly, on the wall above my futon, I had a beautiful mix of art: my first canvas as the centerpiece, flanked by two smaller ones on each side with scenes ranging from tropical to abstract collages, as well as four of celebrity sketches and caricatures, including ones of Eminem and Chris Rock.
As an added incentive for donating their prized paintings, I told my friends that I would display them at my housewarming party. I'd let people know how to get in touch with them if there was interested in buying a piece. That is, if the artist was unable to attend the festivities.
So after procuring (a big word in the art gallery world) some of the artists' works, I strategically placed them on my poor, barren walls. The place immediately lit up and I couldn't wait to show people my new digs!
For the big night -- my "studio studio" opening -- I had bottles of wine and snacks to serve as any good host should. Plus, I even made little tags to put up by the artists' work, with contact info if anyone wanted to get in touch with them. When the guests arrived, I gave them the tour of my place ("That corner is the music room. The mantelpiece over there is my library ... "). With a studio apartment, the tour didn't really take that long. Then I directed them to gaze at my walls, my lovely walls!
Artists and guests mingled, and I overheard a few conversations about the artwork. (That's better than me telling people the centerpiece of Chris' work was a stick of dynamite!)
As the party ended and the place cleared out, I had to give myself a pat on the back. A good time was had by all, my painterly pals got to show their stuff and I ended up with walls that were no longer blank canvases, all for the low price of free, which my wallet thanked me for!
Here's some tips on how you can "go for Baroque" with your own pad:
A Little (or a Lot of) Help From Your Friends
Do you still keep in touch with those old friends from high school that were always doodling on their notebooks? Or the ones that graduated from art school? Either way, reach out to your friends that like nothing better than to put their creativity to canvas and ask them for a piece of their personal work.
Light the Way
Using lighting effectively, be it natural or otherwise, and putting it on your art is probably one of the most important things when it comes to displaying your new canvases or mini sculptures. If you want to get festive for your party, you can even use Christmas lights. (They're good for any time of the year!)
The Match (or Not) Game
Personally, my taste when it comes to home decor leans toward the conservative side. I'm big on matching my area rug to my curtains, for example. However, with the majority of the home being uniform, there's more room for expression with the art as far as color and imaging goes. If you like eclectic, you can stay that way with your art.
Size Can Matter
You don't want all 8-by-10-foot canvases adorning (or completely covering) your walls. A good mix of sizes, with three to five pieces per wall, can go a long way.
Party Time!
Everyone loves a party, right? Once you have a few pieces, why not plan a fun time with your new artwork as the center of attention? You can have wine drinking, cheese tasting and art watching, all in the comforts of your own home!.
For more home decorating tips, see these stories:
Design Drool: A New Kind of Beach House
Give Old Books New Life
How to Be at Home With Country