Show Me Your Artwork!

[Haven]

Swimmer--Your cow art sounds great! We were going to get wood and nail it to the back of a canvas piece that our niece and nephew made, but I happened to find an incredible deal on a glass-free frame that fit it perfectly, so bought that instead. (I''ll post a picture below.)
How cool to have an artist in the family.
The watercolor is beautiful. What a talent.

Skippy--LOVE those paintings, they are really beautiful. Your friend and sister are very talented.
I have a thing for paintings of front doors, so that first painting really got me!

April--I covet your scrap metal rooster! I love roosters, and I have no idea why. Always have. We have a few hanging out in the house, but ours are wooden, not scrap metal!
And that paper sculpture is very cool. I really love unique pieces.

BeachRunner--No preface needed! I think your artwork is great. I''ll post some of ours in a minute, you''ll see it isn''t high brow or anything like that, just a bunch of pieces that we find beautiful, and many of them are different, too. I also love your paint color, it''s really nice.

Lynnie--I like funky, modern, and weird, too! Your friend''s piece is really great, and it looks like the patterns within the design give it some really great depth in-person. What a cool piece to have.
It reminds me of a Judy Chicago piece that my mother has had ever since I can remember, and which I''ve coveted for years now.

OUPear--I like Georgia O''Keefe, too, and I LOVE flowers. That''s a great piece, I think I would find it really calming to look at every day.

Okay, I''ve finally found the plug I needed to upload pictures from my camera to my computer.
Keep in mind that we just moved in to our home in July, so we haven''t repainted the walls, yet. Most of them are various shades of gray, which we''ll change when we can figure out what we want to do. (I''m sure I''ll post a "Decorating Help, Please!" thread pretty soon.)

This first piece is a large fake oil painting that I found at Hobby Lobby, of all places. I never expected to find any "art" there, but I saw it, stared at it for a while, and then walked away. Made a few more visits to see the piece again, and admitted that for some reason, I was really taken with it.
This is hanging up on one wall of our living room:

 

[Haven]

This is one of my favorite pieces, thus far. We created it with DH''s niece and nephew, they''re 10 and 7. Swimmer--This is the one that I found the perfect frame for.
It''s oil pastels on a canvas, we had so much fun creating it. The colors are really deep and beautiful in person, but I''m just not skilled enough with the camera to get them to translate to film.

This is hanging up in our dining room:

 

[Haven]

This piece is a 24" by 48" inch canvas which I covered with travel postcards that I''ve collected over the years. I used Mod Podge to create a glassy finish.
I''m currently working on two other canvases of the same size, one will be covered with 1" buttons (the badge kind, with the pins in the back) and the other will be covered in torn pages from an old book and clothing buttons. I''ll post a picture when I''m done with all three, but that could take a while!

This is hanging up in our living room on the opposite wall of the first oil painting that I posted. I don''t know how to take pictures that will pick up the vibrant colors in these pieces. Ah, well, here it is:

 

[Haven]

Okay, my sub-par photography skills are really showing here.
However, here''s the wall where the postcard canvas is hanging, and I plan on putting the other two on either side of it, you can see the bottom of it here. They will be lower, too, we plan on positioning them all when they''re finished.
You can''t really see it here, but we have really high ceilings, and the height of the canvases looks pretty cool.

The other picture is a close-up.

 

[Haven]

This is a smaller piece that we have hanging over a little sitting area in the very front of our house. We have a recliner, a small bookcase, books, an ottoman, and an entire wall of windows! I think this little picture fits the area perfectly:

 

[Haven]

And I know these aren''t traditional pieces of art, but these are my two very favorite things in our house.
The first is an old picture of the two of us, it''s probably about four years old. I don''t love my expression, but THAT is the perfect shot of DH''s genuine smile, and I can''t get enough of it.

The other picture is what I have on our foyer table right now. The vases and rocks are left over from the wedding, I threw a votive in each one. (I put them out yesterday when I finally took down the winter decorations. I didn''t have anything else!) But those tulips are perfect, aren''t they? I always have fresh flowers in the house, but this is one of the few places I can put them where they''re out of the cats'' reach. If flowers aren''t artwork, I don''t know what is.

 

[Haven]

We have a few more framed pieces, but they''re in a narrow hallway and if you thought these pictures look dim and bad, you should see the ones I took of the hallway pieces!

I''ll take pictures of the ketubah once we get it back.

Keep posting your artwork! I love seeing what people choose to see every day in their private homes, it''s so interesting, isn''t it?

 

[April20]

Date: 2/18/2009 10:22:55 PM
Author: Haven
This piece is a 24'' by 48'' inch canvas which I covered with travel postcards that I''ve collected over the years. I used Mod Podge to create a glassy finish.
I''m currently working on two other canvases of the same size, one will be covered with 1'' buttons (the badge kind, with the pins in the back) and the other will be covered in torn pages from an old book and clothing buttons. I''ll post a picture when I''m done with all three, but that could take a while!

This is hanging up in our living room on the opposite wall of the first oil painting that I posted. I don''t know how to take pictures that will pick up the vibrant colors in these pieces. Ah, well, here it is:

I am lusting over your post card collage. Seriously lusting. I''m thinking maybe I should/could do somthing like that! Give me a reality check. How long were you collecting them and how many cool places did you go to?

 

[BeachRunner]

Date: 2/18/2009 10:14:59 PM
Author: Haven
This is one of my favorite pieces, thus far. We created it with DH''s niece and nephew, they''re 10 and 7. Swimmer--This is the one that I found the perfect frame for.

It''s oil pastels on a canvas, we had so much fun creating it. The colors are really deep and beautiful in person, but I''m just not skilled enough with the camera to get them to translate to film.


This is hanging up in our dining room:

Haven, I LOVE this piece. It''s such a great idea!

 

[Haven]

Date: 2/19/2009 8:43:30 AM
Author: April20

Date: 2/18/2009 10:22:55 PM
Author: Haven
This piece is a 24' by 48' inch canvas which I covered with travel postcards that I've collected over the years. I used Mod Podge to create a glassy finish.
I'm currently working on two other canvases of the same size, one will be covered with 1' buttons (the badge kind, with the pins in the back) and the other will be covered in torn pages from an old book and clothing buttons. I'll post a picture when I'm done with all three, but that could take a while!

This is hanging up in our living room on the opposite wall of the first oil painting that I posted. I don't know how to take pictures that will pick up the vibrant colors in these pieces. Ah, well, here it is:

I am lusting over your post card collage. Seriously lusting. I'm thinking maybe I should/could do somthing like that! Give me a reality check. How long were you collecting them and how many cool places did you go to?

You should totally do it! I've been collecting postcards for YEARS, but really, most of these come from two collections I purchased quite a while ago. One set was published by Phaidon, the other I can't remember, but the irony is that I bought them both here in the US. I took all of my postcards and laid them out, but in the end I chose mostly cards from these two sets because the colors and images worked best together. Perhaps I should say that it represents my postcard collection, because I still have boxes of them waiting to be written and sent off!

It only took me a few hours to put the whole thing together once I laid them all out in the right configuration. I used a spray adhesive directly on the canvas to position the pieces, let that dry for a full day, and then slopped on several coats of Mod Podge until it had a nice, thick finish. It looks weird in the photos, but in real life it is so well coated that it looks really cool.

As for my travels, DH and I have collectively been to a lot of cool places. I've been to Mexico, the USVI and BVI, Israel, Greece, Poland, Egypt, Jordan, England, and France. DH has been to nearly all of those places, plus many countries in South America, and MANY more European countries. He's way cooler than me.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 2/18/2009 10:22:55 PM
Author: Haven
This piece is a 24' by 48' inch canvas which I covered with travel postcards that I've collected over the years. I used Mod Podge to create a glassy finish.
I'm currently working on two other canvases of the same size, one will be covered with 1' buttons (the badge kind, with the pins in the back) and the other will be covered in torn pages from an old book and clothing buttons. I'll post a picture when I'm done with all three, but that could take a while!

This is hanging up in our living room on the opposite wall of the first oil painting that I posted. I don't know how to take pictures that will pick up the vibrant colors in these pieces. Ah, well, here it is:

I love this, so cool!!!! I want to do one too! Thanks Haven; you are very creative

 

[Haven]

April--Have you heard of Postcrossing.com? You sign up to send and receive postcards from people all over the world. I was thinking that THAT would be an incredible way to collect postcards and then make a collage out of them. I might do it, myself.

Thanks for the nice words, Skippy! When I have my Haven up and running I''ll do a postcard collage weekend and we can all gather to make them!

Okay, I''m very excited because I picked up our framed ketubah and wedding invite yesterday and they look incredible!

Here''s the ketubah, the frame is 41" square, so it''s pretty big:

 

[Haven]

Here''s a shot with better light and a small view of the space. I wish I could take better pictures.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 2/18/2009 10:30:49 PM
Author: Haven
This is a smaller piece that we have hanging over a little sitting area in the very front of our house. We have a recliner, a small bookcase, books, an ottoman, and an entire wall of windows! I think this little picture fits the area perfectly:

I really like this picture.

 

[Haven]

These are two close-up shots of the calligraphy work. The script around the outside says: "The voice of gladness, the voice of joy, the voice of the groom, the voice of the bride", and
"I am my beloved''s and my beloved is mine."
We commissioned artist Izzy Pludwinski in Israel to create this for us. I saw a similar one on his website and said "THAT''S IT! That''s our ketubah!"

 

[Haven]

And here's our invitation and engraving plate. They did a great job framing this, they used a foam backing to hold the engraving plate because it's pretty heavy.
ETA: Funny story from when I brought this home and showed DH. He looked at it for a moment and said "OH MY GOSH, HONEY! Didn't you see what they did?! They put the engraving plate in backwards!"

 

[Haven]

Date: 2/21/2009 10:32:58 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 2/18/2009 10:30:49 PM

Author: Haven

This is a smaller piece that we have hanging over a little sitting area in the very front of our house. We have a recliner, a small bookcase, books, an ottoman, and an entire wall of windows! I think this little picture fits the area perfectly:

I really like this picture.

Thank you, Lorelei. Here''s a shot of my little reading nook, when I saw this picture I knew it was perfect for the space. The chair is facing a huge set of windows in the front of our house.

 

[April20]

Date: 2/21/2009 10:30:23 AM
Author: Haven
April--Have you heard of Postcrossing.com? You sign up to send and receive postcards from people all over the world. I was thinking that THAT would be an incredible way to collect postcards and then make a collage out of them. I might do it, myself.

Thanks for the nice words, Skippy! When I have my Haven up and running I''ll do a postcard collage weekend and we can all gather to make them!

Okay, I''m very excited because I picked up our framed ketubah and wedding invite yesterday and they look incredible!

Here''s the ketubah, the frame is 41'' square, so it''s pretty big:

I have not heard of it. I''m going to check it out. Thanks for the tip!

 

[princesss]

Haven, that postcard piece is incredible! I''m definitely going to have to create something like that for my bedroom. My parents just bought a house (yesterday) and I am busy designing my room. That''s an incredible piece, and would be SO much fun to do. Plus my room is going to be peacock blue, so I''m all for bursts of other colours.

And this is my official reminder to myself to post in here. I''ve got paintings from Panama and Morocco, plus a Buddha head from World Market, and pictures I''ve taken in Thailand. Oh, and a fan from Spain. My whole decorating "plan" is to make it look like my suitcase blew up.

Plus I''m going to grab some of those artsy, architectural postcards when I''m in Paris, and have at least one area packed with black and white images of Paris. (Paris and I are in love. Madly, deeply, insanely in love.)

 

[portia]

Haven,

I love what you did with your wedding invitations. What a great idea! And I like your reading nook... looks so cozy.

 

[portia]

I''m having so much fun looking at everyone''s art work here I got inspired to take some photos of the few I have.

This first one is one of my DH''s photos taken in our neighborhood. He printed, matted and framed it himself. I had to take it at a weird angle because of the flash.

 

[portia]

Next is a Huichol indian yarn painting we bought in Mexico. It''s supposedly by famed shaman/artist Jose Benitez Sanchez, but we''d have to have that verified. We really like it regardless of who the artist is. The Huichol indians are known for this type of art... it''s yarn pressed into beeswax and it tells a story. The story is written in spanish on the back. We still need to get it translated and also need to do a bit of maintenance on it. The frame on the back is causing the board to warp so we need to remove the extra pieces of wood.

 

[portia]

It''s quite large - 4'' x 4''. Here''s a close up of the yarn.

 

[portia]

Here''s an abstract that is actually a photo of a Yellowstone geothermal feature. It''s a macro shot of some of the bacteria that grows in the geothermal features which provide the colors. We had it made into a canvas. I''d actually like to see if we can redo it and make it larger.

 

[portia]

Last one... A painting my parents gave us for Christmas. My mom bought it last summer when we were vacationing in Telluride, CO. Every year when we go out there they have plein air artists there painting all over town and even up on some of the hiking trails. Telluride is a special place for us so I really love this one!

 

[platinumrock]

Date: 2/18/2009 2:53:20 PM
Author: Skippy123
House in Savannah

Thanks, Skippy! This is my favorite of your pieces so far. I love the colors!

 

[platinumrock]

Date: 2/18/2009 10:09:24 PM
Author: Haven
Swimmer--Your cow art sounds great! We were going to get wood and nail it to the back of a canvas piece that our niece and nephew made, but I happened to find an incredible deal on a glass-free frame that fit it perfectly, so bought that instead. (I''ll post a picture below.)
How cool to have an artist in the family.
The watercolor is beautiful. What a talent.

Skippy--LOVE those paintings, they are really beautiful. Your friend and sister are very talented.
I have a thing for paintings of front doors, so that first painting really got me!

April--I covet your scrap metal rooster! I love roosters, and I have no idea why. Always have. We have a few hanging out in the house, but ours are wooden, not scrap metal!
And that paper sculpture is very cool. I really love unique pieces.

BeachRunner--No preface needed! I think your artwork is great. I''ll post some of ours in a minute, you''ll see it isn''t high brow or anything like that, just a bunch of pieces that we find beautiful, and many of them are different, too. I also love your paint color, it''s really nice.

Lynnie--I like funky, modern, and weird, too! Your friend''s piece is really great, and it looks like the patterns within the design give it some really great depth in-person. What a cool piece to have.
It reminds me of a Judy Chicago piece that my mother has had ever since I can remember, and which I''ve coveted for years now.

OUPear--I like Georgia O''Keefe, too, and I LOVE flowers. That''s a great piece, I think I would find it really calming to look at every day.

Okay, I''ve finally found the plug I needed to upload pictures from my camera to my computer.
Keep in mind that we just moved in to our home in July, so we haven''t repainted the walls, yet. Most of them are various shades of gray, which we''ll change when we can figure out what we want to do. (I''m sure I''ll post a ''Decorating Help, Please!'' thread pretty soon.)

This first piece is a large fake oil painting that I found at Hobby Lobby, of all places. I never expected to find any ''art'' there, but I saw it, stared at it for a while, and then walked away. Made a few more visits to see the piece again, and admitted that for some reason, I was really taken with it.
This is hanging up on one wall of our living room:

Haven, this is my favorite piece so far. There''s so much drama and texture. And it''s a bit mysterious.

 

[Amandine]

We have a small framed print of John Singer Sargent''s Madame X. This is my favorite painting, and every time we go to NYC, I have to visit it at the Met. DH had never seen it before, and loved it, too. He is the one who had the print framed.

The painting created a scandal at the Paris Salon, partially due to one strap that Sargent had painted fallen off her shoulder, her daring dress and purposely white complexion. He eventually repainted the strap, but the scandal ruined his chances of becoming a portrait painter in Paris. He soon after left for England. Wiki Article

I just love it.

 

[packrat]

Fun thread! April-I adore your rooster Hank! My kitchen is full of roosters (even the wallpaper) and I have a couple big ones, one is colored tin and the other is that fake stone stuff.

We don''t have much for artwork..we''ve got a lot of plates to hang tho..my gramma used to collect the Swedish blue Mother''s Day plates, and some my Great Gramma brought back from a visit to Sweden. Gramma gave me the plates, and we still need to hang them up. And a Swedish cutting board that Gramma had before I was born, and she gave to me..it''s got kurbits and a saying on it in Swedish that Gramma made me learn to say before I could have it.

 

[Haven]

Portia and Amandine--Wow. Your pieces are phenomenal. I especially love your stories behind the pieces.

Portia--That yarn piece is incredible. I think I''d stare at it every single day.

Amandine--I love that image. What are your other favorite paintings or photographs? I''m just curious because this piece is so stunning, I''d love to see what else strikes you.