Matchy Matchy

Should you buy art to match your room or should you decorate you room to match your art?  Or maybe you should just buy art that really speaks to you, evokes an emotional response, buy it because you LOVE IT?

(frank Ropp)

Generally speaking If you always buy things you really LOVE then they usually go together.  Have you ever heard of anyone buying a painting with colors they hate? NO!  Have you ever heard of anyone buying furnishings in colors they hate? NO!  I generally find that people’s possessions - or what they gravitate to buying - usually sit well together.

(Kelly Wearstler)

I come from a family of art lovers and collectors so i would never buy art I didn't absolutely LOVE.  But what about the piece that hung in your childhood home?  You don’t LOVE it, it’s not exactly “you” but you have a deep connection to it?  Maybe it hangs in a guest room or maybe you build a room that you do love around it, all of a sudden it shines with new life.

(Melissa Gulley)

Or what about the art collector who buys for value first, then love?  When art is bought for value, it is then an investment and often the purchaser has many pieces they have collected that need to hang together - but do not relate.  In this case, a neutral pallet for interior design might be the best foundation for an eclectic collection.  Maybe even colorless so the art can shine. By hanging art in a room in which it clashes, the art is by no means de-valued, the space is.  The piece will not be appreciated fully, nor will the room…in that way the art can devalue the space.  When art doesn't look good in a room it’s very clear that something’s wrong.  There’s no harmony, the room looks disjointed and people’s enjoyment in spending time in the room will literally be diminished.

So with this said, if your not a collector by profession, should the art match the room?  Not necessarily.  However, it should compliment the room.  Or to put it another way, the room should compliment the art.  There should be a cohesive feeling.  Often it can complete the room even if purchased first (which came first the chicken or the egg).  Keep in mind; If you LOVE the piece of art, you may not want it to blend so much that it loses its voice. 

(Melissa Gulley)

The last problem not touched on is what to do when your husband or wife has favorite art that you hate?  As I have done with many clients- give them their room to hang the art and design the room as they see fit- an office, a man cave (or woman’s version).  If this doesn't work then there’s always divorce???

I’ve Been Clocked!

If you don’t know by now I have a pretty healthy obsession with the color turquoise.  It all started with a tiny French carriage clock given to me by my grandmother (who also LOVED the color)  This tiny clock was a gift from her father after he returned from a long trip to France in the early 1900’s.  He brought back three clocks for his three daughters, all somewhat similar- except for the color.  My grandmother Alice had turquoise, her sisters Ines and Winn had pink and yellow.  See my beloved clock below:

This clock started my obsession with turquoise, as well as a collection of Guilloche with enamel.  According to Wikipedia:

Guilloché, phonetically pronounced gee-oh-SHAY is a French word for the process of engraving either by hand or by machine intricate repetitive patterns.  Guilloché, is an engraving technique in which a very precise intricate repetitive pattern or design is mechanically etched into an underlying material with fine detail. Specifically, it involves a technique of engine turning, called guilloché in French after the French engineer “Guillot”, who invented a machine “that could scratch fine patterns and designs on metallic surfaces”. The machine improved upon the more time-consuming practice of making similar designs by hand, allowing for greater delicacy, precision, and closeness of the line, as well as greater speed.  Yet another account is that it derives from the French word for an engraving tool, not the engine turning machine.

Further details on Guilloche from e-Bay:

Although Enamel and Guilloché was used, pairing-first, applied by Peter Carl Fabergé on the Faberge eggs in the 1880’s-they are nevertheless two separate techniques and were not applied to one another until Fabergé.
Below is a picture of Guilloche with out the applied enamel:

Next group of pictures below are examples of Guilloche after enamel:

The machines used to create guilloché designs are no longer produced. Today true guilloché can be found in mostly luxury watches and then only a very few companies practice the art.  The guilloché technique can be seen in various antique and vintage jewelry and vanity items from compacts, pocket watches and  dresser sets to charms.

 And then of course, there is my favorite- CLOCKS.  See below a bevy of clocks to delight the eyes:

    

Because this process is no longer practiced, these items have become very desirable, expensive and hard to find.