Why art makes a home: Daily moments of joy that help you pause for thought
Homemaking
Do your paintings tell you stories as you walk past them on the wall? I’m convinced mine do. In fact I make a point of stopping to look at them, making sure I fully understand their narrative. Call me crazy if you like, however if you love contemporary fine art, Mid-century modern, Scandinavian style and small moments of calm as much as I do please read on. For me these are important ingredients in homemaking and art is at the heart.
Joy spotting
Walking between the rooms of your home do you pause for thought as you pass the pictures on the walls? Do you relish small moments where you stand in front of a painting and become absorbed in it’s colours, shapes and brush strokes, wondering how it came to be? Is there a favourite corner where a treasured piece of art hangs for you to enjoy at a particular time of day? These are all good questions that popped up over a hot cup of coffee on a blustery morning with a trusted friend. I’d started telling her about these very moments in my own home, the simple joy of walking between rooms and having a particular painting catch my eye. She paused for thought, wondering if she did the same in her own home.
Chance encounters of the art kind
To set the scene more fully, these moments are chance encounters. They happen as I pass the pictures in the hall when I’m walking out the kitchen with a basket of washing ready for the line. Or when I switch the corner lamp on next to the mirror in the living room and catch the reflected painting over the sofa. These are incidental moments during the course of a day that would otherwise go unnoticed, yet art has given them a grain of significance. I find it heartening that during tasks of domestic repetition art has interrupted the tedium and fed the soul.
Wonderful wander
As the conversation with my friend continued I came to realise that perhaps contemplative art pondering around ones home is not the norm. Does your eye wander to pictures on your wall as you walk around the house? If not, then why? To me this feels like a marvellous opportunity to shake things up and get art moving. After all art is there to inspire and evoke emotion and if it’s not doing this it’s either not in the right place or not the right art.
Take advantage of the situation
To illustrate the point, I’ve taken my camera for a walk around the house and photographed some of my daily moments of joy. Perhaps they may inspire a fresh look at what’s on your own walls. Are your pictures hung to full advantage or is there a missed opportunity crying out for something new?
Sometimes it’s a single painting that catches my eye and other times it’s a group of them. Often it’s the way pictures, furniture and objects are placed together that I find pleasing. Paintings have been arranged to bring interest to quiet corners or otherwise overlooked hallways. So many opportunities can be found within a home to bring moments of pause, you just have to look for them.
Reflecting on the view
A savoured example of what I’m talking about is the rare moment I sit in my favourite chair with a cup of tea and a copy of Elle Decoration. As I approach the chair and look in the mirror I savour the reflection of the painting above the sofa. In a predominantly calm room of chalk white walls, timber floors and tan leather upholstery, the flash of BRIGHT grabs my attention in the bevelled edges of the mirror. Like a jewel sparkling in the sunlight, it’s a view to be enjoyed.
Lighting the way
In the kitchen I planned another lovely moment. There’s a small section of wall between the junction of two windows. A small study of twigs in neon pink and cyan blue hangs below a feature light. The picture is framed in a bevelled white moulding with a double mount, drawing you into the picture without disturbing the calm of the white walls and black window frames. It’s a corner that brings delight through the year. When the spring light is cool and bright a vase of tulips fill it with life. When the light of autumn shines soft and golden this corner becomes a tranquil haven, shining like a beacon of joy across a kitchen of family ephemera. Even in the depth of winter it’s a pleasure to pull down the blinds, shut out the dark and enjoy it’s cozy electric glow.
Feed the soul
Sitting at the dinning table offers a feast for the eyes as well as a hot meal and place to work. I like to dress small slivers of space with well chosen paintings that feed the soul. These moments bring the punch of colour and vibrance into an otherwise neutral interior. This is why I love Scandinavia and Mid-century interiors so much. Wooden floors and furniture bring visual warmth to a room. Leather, linen and wool add natural texture, leaving neutral walls as prime real-estate for story telling. To me such rooms are wonderfully harmonious. They give my busy brain a clear space to think, relax and take pleasure from. They allow me to really see my abstract landscapes and botanical studies. I want the joyful colours and curious compositions of my paintings to be free to uplift the spirits. Keeping spaces simple and calm is my recipe for allowing this to happen. Sure life gets messy and rooms fill with clutter, but if the background to domestic drama is set on a clear stage then a beautiful painting will always catch your eye.
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it”
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