Damn Cool Prints; Art for your Home and Where to Find It
Collecting art, prints and generally anything that can be flaunted on your walls is an ongoing hobby for those of us who love it. I truly believe there’s no hard stop to the amount of art that you should display in your home. You will always find space on your walls for that additional piece that your partner says will not fit! And when you do run out of wall space (I will accept the challenge to anyone who says they’ve run out of space!) you can lean your frames on top of your furniture as part of a styled vignette, or place them on the floor leaning against a wall or door to add layers of art at different heights throughout your home.
Although buying art is personal, I include sourcing it as part of my Digital Interior Design Service, alongside the furniture for your space, colour palette and accessories. I believe that art shouldn’t be purchased to ‘match’ with the rest of your room, instead I encourage you to follow your heart and purchase the oddity that really catches your eye, the one that you know will stand out with pride in your home and just look fantastic wherever it resides.
Double hung art, and one on the floor leaning against the wall.
As per my feelings towards interior design and colour choices, art really is the epitome of exhibiting your soul through the choice of what you display on your walls.
Here are my do’s and don’ts when buying art:
Please don’t feel the need to rush when buying art, it is something that happens, builds and grows organically over time and I strongly discourage the purchasing of art because it ‘fits’ within a ‘scheme’.
Don’t buy it to ‘dress’ your space quickly once the decorating has finished, take your time and look at various artists, illustrators and photographers to appreciate a whole range of work out there that you might not knew existed.
Do look at independent sellers. Yes Amazon, Desenio, iamfy and the like are great for affordability with a wide range of images, but you might end up with similar artwork to your friends as they are such commercial websites.
Do hunt down the Instagram accounts that sell their own art to support small, trawl second hand and vintage stalls for mid century classics as well as obscurities ,and consider commissioning your friends and family to create a piece for you. Nobody else will have it and I’m certain you’ll love the feeling of sentimentality.
Do think about the value that a piece will bring you. We all buy art for different reasons so think about the feeling you have when you look at artwork, the colours, the textures, the joy that it makes you feel, does it remind you of something? someone? is it cheeky like you or heavily detailed which will look great next to minimal furniture.
The reason why artists produce art is to express their creativity within, so we should select it based on that premise for our homes rather than colour matching to our rooms. It’s yet another form of communication of who we are in our homes, and it should inspire your mind and those around you when viewing it.
I’ve put together an edit of Damn Cool Prints showcasing some bold and interesting art and artists that I feel you’ll want to know about right now.
I’ve recently purchased the intricately painted Geisha print by Rachael Khan, a gift to myself during lockdown. When I saw this beautiful image via Rachael’s Instagram account, originally painted with acrylics on canvas, it completely blew me away and that’s exactly the feeling I want to capture within my home each time I look at it.
I felt that the design and style of the painting lent itself to a decadent gold gilt frame to pay tribute to the richness of colour and level of detail. I also opted for a 40 x 40 cm white mount to fit within a 50 x 50 cm frame to make the whole composition larger, to form a real stand out piece.
Geisha by Rachael Khan
Rachael didn’t paint until last year (which I actually can’t believe!) and she’s been painting her way through the Covid pandemic most nights after 9pm, and I’m so grateful because her art is fantastic. I found Rachael’s artwork scrolling though Instagram one day via a different account, and that’s what I’ve about Instagram, one thing leads to another and before you know it you’re reaching for your credit card to buy a piece of art that you can’t stop thinking about!
This 40x40cm print was £35 (+P&P) and my god it is stunning. The colours and detail are so beautiful and its going to move around my home. The first stop is here on the drinks cabinet and it will also sit nicely amongst other Japanese inspired artefacts and bold, graphic prints.
I’m always on the hunt for interesting art and great prints for the home. If you would like to share some of your finds, I’m all ears! Let me know by commenting below.
Shopping List
Jade Purple Brown - Fashion Killas art print
Rachael Khan geisha art print
Malika Favre Jour print art
Jade Purple Brown - Unbothered art print
Quentin Monge via Handsome Frank art print
Eeni Edit - Multitasking art print
Caroline Dowsett - Play print
Virginie Morgand - Les Cygnes art print
