Q: Juliet, I need your help! We moved to a house with a million picture hooks and hardly any works of our own to hang on them. We’ve been here a year and still my walls are bare! What do you recommend to brighten us up?
A: Yes! Time to get hanging! I lived with bare walls for many years and then I went through a wall rejuvenation (still in process!). It was actually quite a few years ago that a friend of mine who is an avid art collector told me not to overthink it, but just to buy what I liked to look at, and what brought me happiness. I was so hung up on buying the "right" thing for the wall, that I bought nothing at all!
Original paintings which tell a story you love or which sing to you are always a great choice for the walls that you look at every day…and there are so many incredibly talented emerging artists that you may come across on social media or in your local community and feel an instant connection to. Artists love to connect with their audiences so if you come across someone whose work you love, send them a DM and simply ask them about their work!
It is even worth considering commissioning
a piece or work from an artist you love. But as you know, this process can often take some time.
So here is alternative to consider in the near term which may allow you some swifter coverage of the dozens of hooks you have in a cost effective way,… consider buying art prints and order in standard sizes so that you can pop them into ready made frames. I also just bought an amazing travel wall calendar with graphic images from cities around the world, and I am going to frame them and group them in a set of 9 ( 3 x 3) and hang them on the walls of my guest room.
Happy collecting! Do let me know how you get on