The Art Conundrum

andecookstudio.com

 Lately, I have had a series of consults regarding art. Many clients are of the belief they must be wily as a fox to divine the perfect art  for their homes. I am not sure why so many people find art to be the most intimidating part of their design but, they do. I hear more anxiety expressed about art than any other element of design.

If the clients are art collectors they are requesting  counsel on how best to display the art. Sometimes, to my absolute joy, they want to use art  as the inspiration  for a room design. I love these projects! More often there are clients who are not collectors, have never bought  original art and are uncomfortable with even the idea of looking for art to enhance or balance a room.

Art lovers buy art because they experience an emotional response to the image  or movement or colours. Sometimes the mood and colors are compatible with the decor but often, this is not the case. These clients mostly need us to help them  edit out of their decor those objects, patterns, or colors which detract from the art.  Conversely, we also  have  clients with absolutely no interest in art! The governing  belief  here is art is a necessary "filler" to be purchased to match their design palette and style.

These clients take a good bit of shepherding to avoid the furniture store look. Often we are successful in directing these clients toward art which is related to an interest, hobby or location.

One client now has a colorful , (inexpensive) collection of  vintage travel posters reflecting his love of travel to ancient cities and cultures. He reports his dinner conversations are now more interesting than ever before because his guests have either visited some of the locations or yearn to.

 In the same way I hear the most anxiety about art I also see the most "mistakes" in the  presentation of  art. Most often the issue is the scale or the framing style or, the other items in the space which do not peacefully coexisit with the main art piece.  These are all pretty easily corrected. In the selection of art there really is not a list of "right" or "wrong".  I have many suggestions for art selection but only one rule. Which is,  if you are going to see it every day for the rest of your life, you should like it!

Jan had us work on her mountain home while she was in Florida. She had mentioned there was a variety or art and objects stored in her basement we could draw from. While searching her basement I found a signed Dali canvas! I called her and  asked why on Earth she had a valuable art piece in her store room? She explained her husband  had acquired it via a low silent bid at a charity auction in New York  decades ago.  Jan  had never liked the piece and did not want to look at it! We talked to her husband and shipped the canvas to Christie's  to be sold.

Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway

In newer open plan homes with soaring ceilings , huge spaces and expansive glass walls; getting the scale of the art correct is essential.  If you have a spectacular view from every window this is your primary art.  The palette is colorful, the scale enormous, the impact  immeasurable. Refraining from competing with art by God is always a good idea!


We often recommend to clients,
with these beautiful vistas,
we extrapolate their color palette from the view.
I have stood on many a deck holding up color cards to match the water, the sky, a sunset, a flowering tree.  It is often a beautiful marriage to select artwork which looks as if it has been extrapolated from the view.  While it is true the view is the dominant art during the day, during the prime "entertaining hours" darkness has cloaked the view.

Using architectural dimension or texture  to merge the feel of interior to exterior spaces is another way to incorporate what we call "volumetric art"  into a space.  Many people understand this in a themed architectural style like you see in log homes or Tudor designs. But, for some reason there is a resistance to adding architectural detailing to a new construction home of no particular architectural style.  Truthfully, there really is not a lot of excitement  with just drywall, crown moulding, door casings, baseboards and paint . A large empty wall , especially a two story wall,  cannot  gain interest from art alone.  A very large piece can dominate the space while a collection of small art can make it too busy-busy at  eye level and empty above.


If your home is graced with architectural detail, this too is  often the  art.  Suzanne and I spent hours designing windows, doors, paneling to make the welcoming statement she wanted for her Waterford home on Lake Keowee. Because her core is light filled  and high volume, with stairs going to both the penthouse level and the lake level, we wanted the play of light and shadow to introduce the feel of the house. We painted trims, walls, ceilings with white, high gloss oil.

Architectural detailing IS  art

We contrasted this with staining the floors, front door, stair treads and handrail in a rich chestnut finish. We encouraged this family to refrain from adding  framed art within the paneling, allowing the architectural detailing to be the art. They have been in their home for about two years and remain  pleased with this decision.

 Another of our clients has a "feature" wall in her
main gathering room. There are built-in bookcases flanking a fireplace. Above the mantle there is a soaring, two story slab of vanilla drywall. Their five year search has not been successful in solving their art conundrum . On my first visit to their home they escorted me into the space, pointed to this "feature wall"  and said, "Help!"  Theirs is a common problem of  scale and balance.  In this particular case the issue is magnified by the fireplace wall being taller than the room is wide. To add a cladding material like wood, brick or stone would result in an undesired visual heaviness. Because the fireplace is flanked by bookcases, a collection of anything  gets too busy. One massive art piece would overwhelm the feature of the bookcases and the fireplace. What was needed was an architectural solution not a decorative solution.  We have designed a  lightly scaled architectural over-mantle design with a low contrast finish  into which we incorporated an  arts and crafts style, stained glass window panel.

Frank Gee.com

Our client Leyda has colorful South American roots. For her there is no such thing as too much color. For her more conservative husband, a vibrantly colored  house in the mountains is  undesirable. Or to quote him, " I do not want a house which looks like it should be on Sesame Street".
The solution for this family was to paint the walls a natural linen color, fabricate drapes to match the wall color,  and to upholster the seating in a variety of heavy woven, solid colored,  textural linens. Next we searched for over sized, vibrantly colored canvases to anchor the main rooms. Whenever possible we borrow art "on approval" to try on site before finalizing purchases. Once we accept a painting as being THE piece for the room ,we begin giving depth to the designs by the selection and placement of rugs, accent textiles and objects. One necessary component of this contemporized design approach is the need for live plants or trees. For our clients who do not have green thumbs or who are seasonal residents we recommend the use of services for rotating or maintaining  the plants. We never recommend artificial plants. Never.

Art is one of the great presents of life.
Don't deprive yourselves of  this joy.
If you have a need for solving an art conundrum in your home, schedule  a consult!
We can be reached via:

  keoweedesigner@gmail.com