Wednesday, February 08, 2006

interior desecrating

Twelve days ago, when I got home from Victoria, I had that 'summer holidays' feeling. The flurry of work was done and I could take a break before getting back down to it. But I'd let everything else slide for so long that before I knew it I was having the car that hadn't seen the inside of a garage for eight months serviced, attempting to brush the long-neglected dogs but finally resorting to just cutting out the mats and, worst of all, dusting (which I truly hate) ... to just skim the surface.

This flurry of domestic activity awakened my usually deeply-buried (if not downright catatonic)interior decorator. Most people assume that artists, by the mere fact that they create 'wall decorations', have a knack for and interest in this kind of thing. Some do, but some really don't. It's like crafts; when I was a teacher many of my colleagues automatically confused 'art' with 'craft' and assumed I could educate them on whatever project they wanted to do with their students, but I couldn't knit one purl two if someone poked me in the eye with a sharp knitting needle. Fortunately I have a lot of factors on my side: (a) I can put paintings on the walls (and paint them, too), (b) thanks to a mother with impeccable taste who seems to be constantly downsizing I get the world's best hand-me-downs, (c) I'm a neat freak who detests clutter, (d) practically everyone I know has more money than we do and gives us beautiful presents because we never buy that sort of thing ourselves, and (e) there's an Ikea 15 minutes down the road.

To make a long story slightly less long, I tackled the dining room yesterday. There was no longer enough duct tape in the world to salvage the sad cushions on the dining room chairs (which, along with the table, are still in excellent condition in spite of their age because my mother only discards the best), so off to Ikea I went and got new seat cushions. Before I knew it I was whipping the tired tablecloth off and polishing the glass, replacing the bowl in the centre with a beautiful glass one given as a present several years ago and putting fresh candles in the cheap, nasty Ikea candelabra. But there was still something missing. D'oh! Art, of course!

This part was surprisingly tough. As much as I shout and wave my arms about philistines who buy art to match the sofa, when push comes to shove, colour and format do matter to some degree (wow ~ I can't believe that the painting gods didn't just smite me for that one) and only one painting fit the bill. It's huge, 4' x 5', and dominates the area so much that it's more than a little overwhelming. Not only that, I'm not sure if bird skeletons and a million dirty little bird footprints will stimulate the appetites of guests, assuming we have guests. But for those two reasons alone I realised that the chances of me actually selling this painting are pretty darned slim. Besides, the colours work and the horizontal format is perfect.


Yeah, I know: time to abandon my domestic projects and get back to work! It was fun for the 10 minutes it lasted but I've recovered.

13 Comments:

Blogger Brian the Mennonite said...

Ooooo...I feel like I've just had a visit at your house. Feels nice.
Everyone has more money than you...getting repurposed goods from friends and family with more...sounds like my house. I like it like that. I don't know if I'd have it any other way.

8/2/06 2:55 p.m.  
Blogger valerie walsh said...

it is always good to purge, clean and get back to life once your goal has been acheived! Every time I have a show I do this very thing...

8/2/06 3:24 p.m.  
Blogger Unknown said...

Oh oh you are making the challenge to show pics of my house hard to resist. Perhaps when i get the living room done. ;) Every once in a while i just have to tackle the house cleaning. Then I feel better about spending time on the putter and in the studio
thanks for the view

8/2/06 4:12 p.m.  
Blogger kyknoord said...

If "...bird skeletons and a million dirty little bird footprints..." won't stimulate the appetite, then I don't know what will :)

9/2/06 12:47 a.m.  
Blogger Caroline said...

Looks good to me, and the only way that your painting would spoil my appetite is the sheer fascination of looking at it...

Sometimes I wish I was neat freak... but if I was I'd drive myself crazy!

9/2/06 4:44 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh Andrea you don't know what you've started! I LOVE playing around with interior design. You and I could so hang out!
Looks super nice.
a.

9/2/06 5:47 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your room looks great! Couldn't help notice your beautiful fireplace.I'm with Caroline...your painting is fascinating! It wouldn't spoil my appetite one bit.

I wish sometimes that I hated clutter. Neither my husband nor I are neat freaks. We could use one around here :-)

9/2/06 5:51 a.m.  
Blogger andrea said...

Brian: It does the recycling soul good, doesn't it?

VaL: Me too!

Toni: Looking forward to it.

Kyknoord: How about fish skeletons or deer drop... er... tracks? I have those, too.

Static: Well... I kave one nice room now, which isn't even a real room. I wouldn't go so far as to say 'house'...

Caroline: That's the key: 'crazy'. Keeping it from not turning into OCD is the other key.

Andrea: Being neat does not automatically translate into loving interior design. In fact, I think I'm done for this particular decade...

Nan: The fireplace is an interesting feature of the house and one we enjoy at this time of year! The sofas and tables in the living room are also hand-me-downs...

9/2/06 7:06 a.m.  
Blogger Mick said...

It always gives me a good belly laugh to see what lengths we artists will take to keep from getting back to our work - even if it's only for 10 minutes! :D

9/2/06 8:14 a.m.  
Blogger Brian the Mennonite said...

I've just had another look at the photo...is that TWO guitars I see? - one on the couch and the other leaning against the wall.

9/2/06 6:48 p.m.  
Blogger andrea said...

Mick: Not surprisingly, now that that's done I started paitning again today.

Brian: Yes, both recently (a) given to us and (b) refurbished from an old one. Now I'm looking for a local guitar teacher and damned if I can find one! We need a break from all the trombone playing around here...

9/2/06 7:01 p.m.  
Blogger Reluctant Nomad said...

You are a neat freak?? How surprising! Actually, not sure why I am surprised - maybe I imagine all artists to be a bit chaotic and happy with clutter.

Mmmm...is that my way of hoping there's a reason for my chaotic home and lifestyle?

10/2/06 10:27 a.m.  
Blogger The Unknown said...

How lucky you are to have a such a large choice of art to choose from to put on your wall!
love

19/2/06 4:49 p.m.  

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