Every Day I'm Shufflin'

I haven't had a lot of time for DIYs, other than gluing things to other things (felt to tiles, pennies to rings), because I've been spending my time running around the townhouse with art, yelling "HOW ABOUT HERE?".  When the dining room painting was swapped out for another, my favorite oil painting needed a new wall.  I knew right away the office wanted to give it a home.  For those who thought, "yawn to the cream pillows," here's the dash of colour the office always wanted.

I've loved my black tree painting above Hubby's DIY desk, especially because it was a gift to Hubs from moi.  In my high school OAC art class, I decided my project would be a series of giant paintings inspired by the beauty of Thunder Bay.  Handy Hubby (then Buildy Boyfriend), created my stretchers, framed the finished pieces and didn't even flinch (or sigh!) when I sent back a few warped ones for a re-do.  I gave this painting to him because it was his favorite.  But the painting by Hubby's grandpa is even more special, so I'm happy with the switch. 

Bye Tree!

The tree is now temporarily chilling (super low) in the living room.  I already mentioned the living room needs more colour to keep up with the new dining room painting, so I took down the cat print (see below), but I couldn't stand the empty hook and bare wall.  More shuffling needs to be done (and possibly a new DIY piece of art!), but for now my arms are tired.

(The cat print only enjoyed a brief moment in the sun).

Bye Cats!

Large Scale Art in the Dining Room

If I'm going to do the all-white gallery inspired walls, I should go all out with the art, right?  I'm doing it.  We hammered quite a few nails into walls this weekend.  Up first: a quick art swap made all the difference in the dining room.  Here's the newest addition to the townhouse gallery:

New dining room art!

Here's the painting that was in the dining room before (don't worry, it now has a better home within the townhouse):

The dining room with another painting by Hubby's grandpa.

Where did the new painting come from?  In the fall, while I was in Budapest, Hubs went to visit some of his family, including his grandpa.  (The same grandpa who painted the two abstracts in the living room, the one in the dining room and also two large and two small paintings in the guestroom).

Hubby's grandpa was unbelievably generous and let Hubby take home another one of his amazing paintings.  I hear they had some good chats and really connected, too.  I think it's always nice to visit family solo once in awhile.  I visit my family alone sometimes too and, even though Hubby's been around so long, some of my family is a bit more relaxed when it's just me and so we get to chat more freely.

Anyway, it's so exciting for me that Hubby not only had a chance to connect with his grandpa without me making things awkward, but he also got to choose a painting without me chiming in.  I can be a bit bossy about anything that comes into the house, so it's neat that this was all Hubby's choice.  I'm trying to make sure the space stays "ours" and not just my design, and having Hubby's family's artwork up definitely helps ensure our space reflects him.  Did you know Hubby picks bolder art than I normally do?  Hello colour!

Because this painting is special, I wanted it to have a special home.  I originally planned to hang it over Hubby's desk, but it was too big!  In the dining room, it clashed a bit with the softer tones in the attached living room, but I decided I didn't care.  It's too beautiful a painting not to have a place of prominence.  The attached living room needs a shot of colour to keep up, but I'm already working on it!

The living room is going to be de-mellowed a bit.

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An Art Swaperoo Plus a "Project" From 2011

I got a little over-excited about answering a reader Q regarding our television storage and accidentally shared a little change to the living room before I meant to.  It might seem insignificant to you, but it is a huge deal for me - both aesthetically, and also because I got around to something I put off for a year.  Tackling something I've put off for that long always feels strangely gratifying and productive to me.

So what's the change?

I took down my beloved water colour from Paris - it was always too small for that wall - and finally hung up a vintage print I bought in 2011 from a mid-century shop.  Yup, you have to stick around for a year and a half to see the "after" sometimes.  Spot the difference?

 

The scale is so much better!!  The new piece isn't turquoise (gasp!) but I think it pairs well with the paintings over the sofa which have, in addition to turquoise (whew), similar pink and ochre hues.

In the end,  I just couldn't find a nice pre-made frame anywhere for this print, so I decided to have it professionally framed.  I love the print, plus it had come from the estate of the artist who must have loved it too because she kept this first edition.  I figured it was worth the splurge.  We DIY so much (even a lot of the art), that I think it looks nice to have a "real" piece of art with a great frame here and there.  

I have had a few pieces professionally framed (like my Hungarian embroidery piece) and am always surprised how much more affordable it is to go to a local shop, as opposed to a big box store (even with a 60% off coupon).  This time I went to Malen Framing, in Ottawa, and was really pleased with the fabulous customer service and also the quality and pricing.  I have never taken so long to decide on a frame, but the staff were patient and shared their experienced opinions without being pushy.  In the end, the frame I chose looks gorgeous - it's a perfect, muted, brushed gold that picks up on the warmth of the print and some of the metallic hues in the print itself. 

Malen Framing also nailed the matting; the print is on a really yellow-tinged paper and the wrong matting would have made it look smoke-stained.  But they picked one that is bright and crisp but still suits the print.

I know it's a crazy weird print, but I love it.



And don't worry about the little watercolour.

It found a new home on a blank wall in the stairwell, a perfect complement to the antique postcards and a nice pop of colour in a tiny space.

I have the hardest time moving art around, because I get so accustomed to having things where they are - plus I like my favorite pieces where I can see them most frequently - but I might need to do some art shuffling again when I'm home, because I couldn't resist buying a little print here, in Budapest. 

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