I am having a baby shower at my house on Sunday for my son and daughter-in-law so I am swamped cleaning and organizing the house. I was wondering if this ever happens to you? I am going room by room and all of a sudden, my husband chimes in. He says we need a new piece of art on this wall. I no longer can stand even looking at the art that I have on that wall even though I have loved that piece since it came into our home!
In order to start a piece of art for my walls, here is my art process: I find a canvas that will fit the space. The canvas that I found is a recycled piece that my son found someone discarding at his condo. I primed it white and went at it! It was busy — too busy! I left it on the wall for a week before I decided the size was wrong.
Now I find a couple long, skinny canvases that would look good on either side of this large canvas. I decide I want something more simple. I paint them and they turn into pastel wooden planks. Not bad! I have some feathers in my focal piece so I decide I want to add a large feather to each of these. Then, guess what? I remember that I have 2 peacock feathers in a vase in our entryway that no one probably has ever seen. I’m going to add these to these side panels. See below:
This is a work in progress, remember! So the peacock feather is not even adhered down yet! I like the look of it but it doesn’t go AT ALL with the busy focal canvas. That needs to be redone! I add white gesso to the entire canvas and start over. I know some people have a hard time doing that but for some reason I think I kind of like it. I like starting over with a fresh white base that I can add anything I want to it to get the look that is floating in my head!
So now I am taking the same colors from the background of the peacock canvas and applying them to the large center canvas. Do you know what appears? A landscape! I wasn’t even thinking landscape! At this point I feel like I need to go with it (the party is Sunday).
Here is a photo of my unfinished landscape piece that will hang between 2 peacock feather canvases:
You can really see the texture in this piece now! Hmm, that makes me want to highlight it!
I can’t say that this piece is complete but I promise to take a photo of the wall when it is all finished!
How do you go about getting statement pieces of art on your walls? Do you paint something yourself or head out to a retail store where you get a piece that is just like everyone elses? My recommendation is to find an emerging artist whose work you enjoy and ask for a commission piece for your wall. It will be unique, one-of-a-kind art at a reasonable price!
