Art in Your Home

[Aggie]

As an off-shoot of the Fine Arts thread, I thought it would be worth asking what art various Siblings have in their home. 

Other relevant questions might be:

What's the most you'd spend/have spent for a piece of art?

Does the identity of the artist matter i.e. do you consider a piece from a "professional artist" inherently superior to something made by an amateur?

Do you prefer art that fits into an overall decor or should pieces be taken entirely for their own merit, even if they clash with the surroundings (or do you choose the decor to fit the art?).

Other than a few mass-produced knick-knacks that are more akin to cheap souvenirs than art (and a couple of cheap decor-type paintings), I don't have much art around.  The most prized piece of art I have is a little metal sculpture given by a friend (kind of resembles a water lily).  The only self-bought piece of art around here is a bit of fractal art I took a shine to, and it's borderline as it's computer generated.  I iz a philistine.. 

[Griffin NoName]

My major installation is my bed

Other than that, I've run out of wall and shelf space. Pretty much a bit of everything, except sculpture which I love most. And it is price that has held me back there. Even a friend's first pieces which I adored were way out of reach.

[Swatopluk]

A few Norwegian water colours (or prints thereof), a painting of a (biological) cat with a (computer) mouse by my eldest brother, a number of stitched copies of oil paintings etc. made by my mother and my father. I drew some large (DIN A3) celtic knotwork panels but none of them is currently hanging on the wall (as they did a few years ago). A few large autostereograms.

[Pachyderm]

A few oil paintings (landscapes), photograph montages and an embroidery chicken done by Mum about 40 years ago, watercolours by a friend of ours of the house, and the Arch of Trajan in Leptis Magna (done from a photograph she took when we were there. The photograph has the family standing under it. Absent in the painting. Censorship!). Some African statuary and a soapstone rhino with a distinctly dyspeptic look about him. (Called Winston). Persian rugs and ceramics, Venetian blue glass and gold lights (I'm not a fan, but Mum loves them). Couple of wood panel paintings of teddy bears and toys (Dad hates them, but Mum loves them. Are you seeing a pattern here?) Do the Ottoman cavalry sabre and the collection of West African swords count as art?


I was going to say that I tend to prefer a harmonious approach to art and decor, then realised I'm sitting in the most chaotically disorganised houses in existence.

[Bluenose]

About 20 landscape oil paintings by a well known Australian oil painter (name withheld for security reasons), ranging in size from several miniatures 2 x 3"  a number of paintings in the order of 24 x 20" or so, one 24 x 48" 'panel' of Silverton, a remote down near Broken Hill, up to a large 36 x 60" painting of the Buchan River at its junction with the Snowy River.

A large number of "Art glass" of various forms (Mrs Blue loves glass and crystal), some ebony Masai warriors my father bought in Africa during the 1950s, a batik "painting" of a peacock on the wall in my office, a print of a wonderful water colour by Penleigh Boyd called "The edge of the forest" which shows a battered old eucalypt in the early morning mist - the print is great but I have seen the original in the Benalla Regional Art Gallery and it is awesome.  A number of art ceramics.  Sundry other items.

Overall, it seems that Casa del Blue has a rather ecclectic collection of art.  The more the merrier I say!

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I have 3 oil originals, two of them by unknown (by me) artists and one by an Ukrainian painter that roams Lincoln Ave in South Beach (that is without counting one made by my son two years ago in an art summer camp ). I have two oil replicas of Van Gogh, a Mayan calendar painted on a skin, an African mask I bought in Rome, and my wife's collection of small folkloric art artifacts.

[Opsa]

Good topic, Aggie!

I have several paintings around that I painted (including two goat portraits in the living room- Goatie would be pleased with me), a photograph by my grandfather of my grandmother's hand (He was a professional photographer and I think this was for a Modern Maturity magazine cover). I also have several smaller paintings by friends, a landscape study by my sister (a pro), a famous photo of my stepsister protesting at the Pentagon in 1967 (she has a flower and is trying to talk to an armed soldier), a nice Japanese scroll with a watercolor of children playing what lookes like "Blind Man's Bluff", four Chinese laquered panels depicting Three Ages of Man, some small sculpture, a great blown glass piece from my stepmom, a collection of metal lunchboxes (pop art?), and lots of creations by my creative daughter (aka Th' Opsalette).

I like to be surrounded by things that affect me on a personal level. If a piece commands a lot of attention, I believe that the environment should be shaped to accomodate it, not the other way around. My house is an ecclectic mishmash at best, a mess at worst!

[The Meromorph]

Four oils on paper that we bought from a young artist hawking his wares around the neighborhood (price substantial for that circumstance, but not really expensive - probaly the equivalent of $2-300 today) - Paul T. Windridge. Years later we found his own studio/gallery in a nearby resort town, went in to see if he was there, and to look at his new stuff (couldn't afford the prices he was getting by then). He remembered us, told us that our purchase was his only sale that entire (experimental) trip, but that it enabled him to eat for two weeks, until he sold some more, and encouraged him to keep going. He took our address, and turned up a couple of weeks later, finding his art on our walls, and signed each one (he hadn't had the confidence to sign his work before that sale).
Four fairly valuable Lee Hammer's, he was/is a personal friend, and one was a gift for my unblocking his toilet one foul night when he was very ill.
Various cheap prints that we happen to love, and about 20 or so of my, and a couple of my daughter's photographs.
We decorate in an 'art friendly' manner.

[Darlica]

There's not as much art on the walls of our home as I'd wish it was, mostly because the flat is small and bookshelf's cover most of the walls.
In the living room we have a print of a Chinese ink scroll depicting Confucius sailing on a straw of reed, a small etching I've done and a copper and tin plate engraved with floral patterns. In the bedroom we have a graphic art sheath by a long time friend of L, a photo I've taken in an abandoned industry and a 3 pictures in one frame with postcard prints of 3 Edward Weston photos.

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

In my room, an infrared photo of a lily by my aunt (professional photographer in LA) and a couple prints of Asian birds (cranes and some other one) that my step-dad picked up in Hong Kong.
In the rest of the house, some prints of tourist destinations (Mexico and somewhere in the South Pacific) a picture of my sister that was in the local paper six or so years ago, a couple other mishmash sort of prints, some nice wooden bowls my step father made and a couple ceramic bowls I bought at a sale here at school, and more pictures by my aunt. My house is pretty small with five people in it, so there's not a lot of room for larger pieces.

[Lindorm]

To add to the above, we also have some antique and new designer glassware from a few glassworks in Southern Sweden, most of whom I have a family connection to. There's also some pottery from an artist based in Ystad on the very southern tip of Sweden, together with some old (1940'-50'ies vintage) gauges and instruments from now-scrapped old Metro carriages. Darlica and I also like to collect stones, so we have quite a few of them, most of them with some sort of back story.

My mother is probably the bigger art collector in the family -she has some beautiful art glass pieces, for example some made by Bertil Vallien and Gerda Strömberg. She is also an avid collector of interesting stones. For her sixtieth birthday, I gave her a few medieval silver coins, some of the first coins to be struck in Sweden, a gift which she truly appreciated, since she and I are both very interested in history and archeology.