Found: art

As an art loving decorator, I am constantly acquiring pieces for myself and clients. My approach to buying art is that I tend to let it find me rather than going out and hunting for it. I relish in that romantic moment when I turn a corner and fall in love with a dusty painting or vivid photograph. Because of this my collection is varied and, certainly, not serious. Just a lovely mixed bag of paintings, photography, and prints that I have found on my travels or in my everyday. I tend to purchase art immediately because I know what I love (even when I can't explain why), and I'm also well aware someone else will be loving it in their home if I don't act quickly.

When it comes to hanging art for clients, myself and at Found, I typically take a 'gallery' (albeit free-form) approach to the installation. I tend to lie things on the ground first and think about what my starting point will be before nailing anything into the wall. The largest painting/frame typically starts the rhythm of the hanging and I go from there. You have to consider the size, shape, and frame but really my attitude is GO for it! You should try to keep the distances between the frames around 2-4" if you can, but this rule doesn't always apply.

Another note: you may not know this but I am basically obsessed with wallpaper (I truly believe that it will greatly improve your quality of life), and if I could I would paper every wall and ceiling in my home. Sometimes, I find that once I have installed a room and the client sees the magical powers of paper they can get a bit frightened of hanging art on top of it. I explain to them that they should not fret; the room will look even better with that layer of art on top. After all, naked paper is meditative but it can also look a little lonely. If you have gone with something patterned and bold, just make sure what you hang on those walls jives with the movement of the pattern. Often times, glamorous mirrors look their best on top of vivid papers.

Also, don't get nervous about thinking your art is not cool enough, not serious enough, not a real Cy Twombly and, therefore, convince yourself it is not important enough to be displayed. If you love it, hang it. Often times, tired pieces can be reinvented with a new frame or fresh matte (I love linen). I think it is so fun to walk into some one's home and see the people's personalities (and idiosyncrasies) reflected in their art collection. For example, when someone walks into Found and sees our Muses... they know exactly what Tyler and I are about.

Over the weekend I was enjoying the latest issue of New York magazine when I came across this article, which profiles a young prepster by the name of Maximillion (of course that is his name) and the dashing dorm room that he designed for himself. Check out this fella's acquisitions beautifully installed on some pretty fantastic oregano-colored walls.

I love it's organized haphazardness, a perfect representation of a young lad's dorm room, no? NO! I don't know about you but I never saw a dorm room look like this when I was in college. Where I went to school, boy's dorms had Bob Marley front and center, blessing their sacred space. Not Maximillion. He made his little room a mini mansion of chic-ness and the art has a lot to do with it.

Here at Found, we have recently moved some items around to show off our latest acquisitions. We had fun rearranging our art to work with the new pieces, one of which was the lovely watercolor at the start of the post. On it's own it is great (the sky is very spooky), but I love it even more accompanied by a friendly collection of our paintings.