My thoughts on selecting art for your home or workplace
I’ve often been asked for help on choosing one or more pieces of original abstract art for someone’s home, their office or workplace. I decided to post my thoughts here so that it may help others facing this task.
The first thing we need to consider is pretty obvious – what size of space we have to hang our art. Hanging a small picture in a large area of wall would not work well visually. Likewise, hanging a large picture in a small area would not work well either.
Also, taking into consideration the shape of our wall – is it square, rectangular, is the ceiling high or low, are we hanging the art above furniture, what size is the furniture – these are all things we need to take into consideration before choosing what will make the most of our room or rooms and create the feeling we want to achieve.
The great thing about art is that we can move it around, usually fairly easily and by doing that we can totally change the look of a room without any added expense. I used to do this often when my children were all young as we could not afford to redecorate too often. Mind you, it did result in a few more holes in the wall!!! This obviously applies more to smaller pieces rather than maybe a large picture bought to fit a specific space in a room – then it’s not so easy.
It’s worthwhile remembering too that not every wall needs to have artwork – sometimes less is more and it is good to have white space in order to allow 1 eye catching piece of furniture in a room to stand out.
Next time we will talk about all the different types of art out there but, as a taster, here are a couple of examples:-
Acrylic Pour Paintings
Recently I started trying out some Acrylic Pouring which is fun to do and not nearly as easy as some would have you believe. Achieving an attractive pour depends on several things – the quality of acrylic paint used, the ratio used of paint to medium/water, the colours used, the type of pour and the preparation.
Pouring is unpredictable, it uses a huge amount of paint, so it is expensive, but it is great fun and really quite addictive.
Several additives can be used in addition to the acrylic pouring paint itself – silicone oil is just one example – and these do have a marked effect on the final result. Another technique I use involves the application of heat from a small blowtorch or hot air gun!
Abstract Acrylic Paintings and Watercolours
I often start an abstract acrylic painting or a watercolour painting with an image of a place or scene in my mind. This frequently changes as the piece progresses – sometimes over a few days – and the final outcome may evoke a completely different image in the eye of someone else. That’s what I love about abstract art. Show the same piece to five people and they will often come up with five different interpretations of what the piece conveys.
Here are a couple of examples – see if you agree with my titles:
If you are interested in viewing more examples of my abstract art or browsing my on-line shop, please do visit my main Art by Lyn website by clicking on the following button:-