Fall in Love with your home all over again
A Simple Secret to Help You Love Your Artwork Even More
Often people bring a beautiful piece or art home, and display it in a way that does not show it off nearly to its best advantage. For example, factors such as wall color and wall texture can make a huge difference as to how the artwork is seen. How the piece is lighted can also have significant impact, bringing attention to one special detail, or the entire art piece as a whole. In this article, let’s take a closer look at the issue of color, and how it can enhance the display of treasured artwork.
In my work as a decorative painter, I find that wall color often makes a significant difference in how well art pieces stand out. Sometimes a surprising or bold non-matching color can actually draw attention to the piece, while creating a more interesting room. Against the unique color, the painting is center stage, rather than blending into everything else. Bold colors are not the only color fixes to help show off your art. Softer colors can also provide an excellent backdrop, enveloping the entire room, while providing a visual “frame” around artwork. Gentle glazing can soften “competing” wall textures.
One art collector we know, Margaret, found the use of color to be particularly helpful for her situation. Margaret fell in love with a painting at the gallery. This stunning painting featured color and images that spoke to her to so movingly, she couldn’t wait to get it home. And yet a relatively short time after she brought it home, Margaret noticed that she rarely even “saw” it anymore. Her spectacular art piece seemed to have lost its specialness.
As can sometimes happen, she had fallen victim to a common decorating mistake. Margaret had chosen a piece that was in her favorite colors, and because of that it matched her upholstery fabrics, with matching pillows and rugs. It had all felt so coordinated and so “safe” when she brought it home, and yet her new piece of artwork had simply gotten lost as it blended into everything else.
Wanting her painting to shine again, she went looking through decorating magazines with a different eye. What she noticed was the power of the accent pillow. Beautifully coordinated rooms often had a bold or vivid accent pillow providing a bit of color pop, and adding interest. Could she look at her painting as a more significant “accent pillow?” That was a great way of looking at decorating if her painting was a different color, but not Margaret's situation, where everything was blending together.
Margaret decided to consult a professional for decorating guidance. The decorator suggested that Margaret apply her insights into the power of color to her walls. She suggested changing the wall color behind the painting to a rich or vivid color which would differentiate and “frame”, thereby drawing attention to the painting. This would have the added benefit of bringing additional character to the room and creating a more interesting look than museum white.
The decorator also suggested other techniques such as wall glazes and changing wall textures, but these will be discussed in future articles. In Margaret's case, she decided to simply focus on changing the colors of her walls to a richer and more unique tone. She was amazed at the results, as were her friends and family. Several people asked if the painting was a new purchase!
In this case a simple change to the environment saved a special piece of artwork from being slowly forgotten.
I hope this helps you to look at your current walls and artwork with a bolder eye, and to perhaps develop some new possibilities.
Pam Grace helps contemporary art collectors to "fall in love with your artwork all over again". She is decorative painter and plasterer with 12+ years experience in the field, with projects ranging from cozy mountain homes to expansive and cutting edge show homes throughout the Colorado front range. Pam’s favorite clients are those who want to display special art pieces, or create a visually striking and dramatic accent area. They are often seeking a warm environment with updated sophistication.
Extra!! Free Podcast on How to Light Your Artwork
Listen to Pam’s recent podcast with Cheryl Gaiser of Inlighten Studios in Boulder, discussing some specifics about lighting artwork to it’s best advantage.
To DOWNLOAD the podcast Click Here
To LISTEN TO THE PODCAST ONLINE Click Here