People and Places to See in Akron

Dear readers, I've been preparing for a big move. Over the last month, I have been ruthlessly paring down my possessions. Along the way I discovered (or perhaps rediscovered is a better word) that possessions don't make me happy. Conversely, the more I created open space, the happier I felt. I crave freedom. Sorry, I digress, this is the topic of a future post.

So I've donated a ton of stuff - books, vases, shoes, purses, clothes, furniture to the Goodwill. One day I found I was down to my few favorite vases, so I thought I'd visit Land of Plenty to see if the owner would like to buy my vases.

 

Here is the lovely Kristi, owner of Land of Plenty, contemplating my vases. Normally I don't have any sentimental attachment to stuff, and can clear it out with ease. This was hard. Like I said these were my favorites. I had a lump in my throat as I looked at them on the counter. Don't they look pretty? To ease the pain, I took a look around the store. Kristi always keeps the inventory fresh by keeping her prices low. Every time I visit there is new stuff to see.  On this particular day she had some fabulous art by local artist Evona Dixon.

Evona stole my heart with her collected aesthetic. She explained to me that she instinctively uses zentangle in her work and that she uses prismacolors. The results are fabulous.

Here is the lovely Evona explaining her multimedia works. Evona is meticulous in her work and seeks to leave no white space on her canvases. I feel as if she and I are kindred spirits, I've collected many things over the years to make into collages. Collage is an art form that is not as easy as it looks, it's like a puzzle where many seemingly disparate objects are brought together to form a gestalt. After meeting Evona, I had to check my natural collector tendencies, I kept finding things I wanted to give her for future works!

Sorry for the quality of the pics, I took these with my phone.

Look at this meticulous drawing!  I adore it, I'm a big fan of cute little creatures. I could see many of her creatures produced by KidRobot. It's amazing how active her brain is. She explained to me that each creature is a character in a story that she tells her niece. I'd love to see Evona write children's books. I am amazed at the patience this work would require. I'm going to be following Evona's career, and you can too at her instagram page @nightofthelivingdread.

O.K. Peg, step away from the lamp. I had to quickly exit the store before I bought this lamp. Ya'll know that I am a lamp tramp. It wasn't easy. I had to remind myself that I am getting rid of stuff. Ahh, it's a sickness, getting rid of stuff, still looking at stuff.  Humans sure make beautiful things, don't they?

As I exited the store, I met N. William Tomlinson, owner of Venia Design. William recently opened a new store next to Land of Plenty.

As you can see, he's a real cutie. And he makes you feel very welcome in his store.

I fell in love with William's artwork, which he likes to incorporate in his design.

I love the ghostly nature of his work and his use of negative space. It was all I could do not to buy this piece.As you can see, his prices are very reasonable.

There are many eye pleasing vignettes in his store, each lovingly done. How cute are these orange vases?

Dig this coffee table with sunken section for plants!  Love it!  If you need help decorating your place on a small budget - including art selection - you don't have to travel all over town. You need look no further than this small block on W. Market in Akron.

Square Peg, Your Curator: Gray

Today's tour in my virtual gallery is all about gray.  My love for gray developed over the years of living in Cleveland. The Lake Erie sky is always changing, always so beautiful. Especially when it's gray. Gray is easy color on the eyes and very soothing. Gray is a wonderful color to use in your environment if you are living an overly stimulated, harried life. Decorate with gray and come home to rest and relaxation. So you live in a rental, you crave gray and you're not allowed to paint? Make a statement with art. Create a serene, mysterious, romantic and ethereal environment with gray art work.

Photo of Cleveland skyline by Peggy

 

Dreamy island paintings by Haley Litzenger

Image source unknown, please contact me if you know this photographer

Stephen Hancock

Above two etchings by 88editions

Reductive Gray Landscape by Matthew G. Beall

Simple Impact: Large Art

Decorating simply is not as easy as it looks.  Simplicity takes restraint.  Restraint is a beautiful thing, and makes your place look elegant.  The best way to accomplish this is go large with your art.  Fewer, larger pieces make great impact and keep your place looking uncluttered.  Jill Stuart's apartment is a perfect example.

This is one of my favorite apartments of all time!  The large art is impactful and yet the overall effect of the room is ethereal due to the soft colors and glass coffee table.  See the rest of this beautiful apartment at Elle Decor.

Simple Impact: Accent Walls and Large Art

I'm always obsessing about decor.  As you know, I think simplicity is key in designing a beautiful and relaxing room.  Over the next few days I'd like to focus on how to make a big impact in a simple way.  One of my favorite ways to freshen a room is with color.  I've been obsessing about Tiffany box blue for sometime and would love to do an accent wall in it.

This home boasts a stunning use of paint.  The room has just the right amount of drama and edginess, but still remains simple.  I love the look of a the large piece of over the sofa.  A large piece makes an impact and looks cleaner than a grouping.  The amazing light fixture on the ceiling is impactful in its size and geometry, and still maintains an airiness. The unexpected black boarders make the blue and yellow wall look like paintings.  I would love to do a room with large color blocks as the art.  

I love this yellow accent wall with the black border!  A great way to make an odd wall into a piece of art.  Above two spaces designed by Sarah Lavoine.  To see previous posts on color blocking, click here.

This is such a beautiful modern room.  I adore the color of the walls, and dig that coffee table with mismatched legs.   The only change I would make to this room is hang one large piece of art instead of the grouping.  I think groupings look cluttered.  Image via Falken Reynolds (this is a great post on lighting).

Here's my gratuitous plug.  I've edited the room to add one of my pieces to demonstrate the point.

Simple Living: Large Art Work

For the next few days, I'd like to focus on simple living.  Living simple does not mean you have to live without beauty.  You can live simply AND stylishly in a small place, and with very little money.  If you are craving stylish simplicity in your home, think about your art. Just because your space is small doesn't mean you need small art.  In fact, one large piece is very impactful and looks much less cluttered than a grouping of small art.  You can use a large piece to delineate separate spaces in your place.  

Victoria, the writer of one of my long-time favorite blogs, sfgirlbybay, recently moved into a new cottage.  It is great fun to watch her new place evolve.  Victoria's style fascinates me, I am intrigued that she chose a black sofa for her new place.  Her places have always featured a large amount of white, and are done in a soft and airy way.  So far her place is looking simple, soft and sophisticated.  I am in love with the coffee table and rug.

One of Victoria's regular guest bloggers is the Jealous Curator.  She writes a series called "Art Goes Here,"  and has a knack for choosing unexpected art.  I was very inspired by her post yesterday, where she chose some potential art for Victoria's new living room.  I got a little carried away, and started envisioning some of my photos hanging in her place.  (Of course, IMHO she needs to add one or more pink pillows to this room.)

I am in love with enlarged urban photography.  Digital cameras have made everyone an artist!  Perhaps this piece is a little too masculine.  Maybe it should be hanging in a restaurant in Akron.

I love this one.  It's surprising the effects you get when shooting reflections while window shopping.  I need those lace boots!

I think this is my favorite.  I love photographing the tops of churches, and I am always intrigued by the patterns of wires.

I couldn't stop there.  I had to try out some of my paintings as well.  These pieces have been sold, but are from my Sans Electric Chair series.  I may do a new series of these.

What do you think, dear readers?  Did you ever try having a photo enlarged on a canvas?  Even the most mundane object becomes art when taken out of context, photographed and enlarged.  I've found that the most reasonable place to have your photos enlarged is Staples, and they do a great job.  Stay tuned for a post on how to make all those family photos into art.  If you'd like to see more of my urban photography, click here.

More obsession...

Below I wrote about my obsession with (and mission to find) a new lamp.  As you know, when decorating one thing leads to the other.  I have been considering whether I need new art over my sofa once I buy a lamp.  Here are a few possibilities.

This is my new painting, which is still in process.

I love black and white photography and I love the graphic simplicity of this work.  From Etsy user honeytree.

This is one of my photos.  I've always wanted to have some of my photos printed on canvas.

This is one of my paintings which is sold.  I love the idea of hot pink and cool blue, I could recreate this painting.

I'd love to do a black accent wall but, as you know, I'm not allowed to paint.  I've experimented here with another photo of mine that I'd like to have printed on canvas.  I love how stark it is, but I think I'd get tired  of the black quickly.

This might be my favorite, although I've enlarged it for my purposes.  I love these colors!   I think I need some silky pale pink and pale blue pillows.  Painting from Etsy user Shauno.  What do you think, dear readers, do you have a favorite?  All suggestions welcome!

Qora & Shai

I am in love with the artwork at Qora & Shai!  Simple, graphic, geometric, minimal.  Beautiful use of positive and negative space.  Perfect for a modern home.  I love them all so I had a hard time picking just a few to feature here.

Square Peg, Your Curator

Today I am still thinking of the clean, crisp places below featuring the color aqua.  I am loving aqua used as a neutral, and am loving the organic touch provided by the capis wall below.  My thoughts are turning to organic art.  What sort of organic art would I feature in a minimal place featuring aqua?  Below are a few of my choices.  Hope you enjoy!

I adore the vision of Jennifer Booher.  She creates orderly patterns from objects found on the beach.  Makes me want to take a walk on the beach right now!

 

 

Beautiful paintings by Haynes Worth.  Love the soft hand here and, of course, the colors.

I adore the organic shapes of Kiran Chahal's multi-media works!  These would fit perfectly in an industrial, organic or mid-century loft.  I want them.  Okay I've got my art collection completed, now I just need to find a loft.