Thursday, July 11, 2013

Shuffling Art / Why Art


The photo my husband took outside the Pompidou centre works so much better in the bar area than the bathroom!!  It's perfect!!  Why didn't I try this sooner?

I moved Killarney* (twin images by Karen Curry) from the bar to under the stairs - so moody!

I bought a small Peter Andrew photo. I need to get it framed. We contemplated buying an ultra large photo after viewing them at Pikto, however, when I saw a 9x14 was available and affordable, I went for that instead.

We are making up our minds as to which large photo by Sean Galbraith we want to invest in. His booth at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition drew me in (tractor beam). Everything else at the show faded away...I didn't notice another piece of art after seeing his photos. I am in awe of his talent. His subject, decayed abandoned buildings, provokes.

Buying a Sean Galbraith will be the most we have spent on art...it gives me a bit of a tummy ache, even though I know that prices for art can sky rocket from here. Gertrude Stein said to buy pictures, not clothes (or something). Can I commit to that? No, probably not (definitely not)...

Why is art ok? Because the artist is being paid, and can keep creating. Because I am still energized by art we purchased 4 years ago...it doesn't get stale, my reaction to it doesn't stay the same, but I still SEE it...unlike the many things we spent money on when we renovated that I take for granted now.  Because each piece will forever be associated with a certain time in my life...it's like putting up little markers on my personal timeline...

*Karen Curry calls this series "Avenues to Stillness"...large panoramic photographs, "elements of remote, natural landscapes" (Source)

6 comments:

  1. Love that photo in the bar area - it's a great focal point.

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  2. Shannon - do you have any good online sources for original art? I live in Canada but far from Toronto. You have such good taste!!

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  3. Thanks Polly!! and now I can try again in the bathroom! Double bonus!

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  4. Unfortunately no source!!


    Art Interiors has everything online, but I can't imagine shipping!



    I have indulged in a small water colour or two from etsy...I have a small photo from etsy too that I love...then just get it professionally framed! I don't mind Ikea Ribba frames (we have a gallery wall of B&W family photos in our master), but sometimes, if you get a piece of art you like for $15-30, paying another $50-80 for a custom frame is worth it!!! Especially if you go with an irregular matte or square frame...



    The designer we worked with 4-5 years ago had 2 portrait and 1 landscape gestural drawings all framed as squares...so we have 3 identical square frames over our bed, but orientation of images is different. The pieces are all by the same artist, from art interiors...you could probably find some interesting gestural stuff on etsy!
    Lemmi look right now!.....

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  5. These would look great together:

    https://www.etsy.com/listing/127547385/seated-leaning-female-nude-figure?ref=shop_home_active

    https://www.etsy.com/listing/126595384/kneeling-female-nude-watercolor-postcard?ref=shop_home_active

    https://www.etsy.com/listing/126343236/reclining-female-nude-quick-gesture?ref=shop_home_active

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  6. Thank you SO MUCH for introducing me to the photography of Sean Galbraith. I used to live in coastal Ecuador and his photos of it (Jipijapa!) capture it perfectly. They make me so homesick for my beautiful, gritty home-away-from-home.

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