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.

an influential apartment and some blog love

Dear readers, as you know, Apartment Therapy features some amazing homes on their site. I adore seeing how people design their personal spaces. But sometimes, a home speaks to me in such a way that I feel compelled to write about it. This one not only spoke to me, it haunted me. I could not stop thinking about it. This is one of those homes that makes me want to throw everything away and start over. I've mentioned many times that I miss the minimalism of my youth. I am still highly enamored with minimalism, but I also love beautiful things. I'm not sure I'd call this a minimalist apartment, but it certainly flirts with minimalism. The curator of this home has showed a sense of restraint. But make no mistake, restraint is not easy. The look is simple, but it's not easy to achieve. It takes a soft and purposeful hand.

This is Mike's home. He's a student living in a studio apartment. A home should speak of its owner, and this one clearly does. It says, "I am confident in my choices and I know who I am." Such a marvelous thing in someone so young. He's definitely one to watch. He's going to have a successful career. I adore functional pieces as art. Witness the clothes rack which he made of pipes. It works because Mike's wardrobe color palate is carefully limited (for more on clothes racks, see my previous post here). Like I said, he knows who he is, he lives his art.

I love his sofa. It looks very much like my Danish sofa. I love the low scale.

The blue on the walls and stripes of the wood floors are art. He's correct not to make these beautiful elements compete with clutter.

He designed a perfect work space. The window is a nice touch.

This picture shows a simple, organic still life Mike created after purchasing a cup from ceramicist Teresa Chang. Love that tea pot, which I assume Teresa also made. Form and function, my favorite. In this case, creating simple Zen-like elegance. I'm also a lover of asymmetry.

This apartment makes me miss my studio apartment. It was small and humble, but it seems to be just the perfect amount of space. I'm beginning to look at alternatives to conventional living, and simple living in particular. How much space and stuff do we humans need? Of course we need a few pretty things, but we shouldn't get tied down to them. I think this is what the Buddhists meant by detachment. It doesn't mean you don't like things, or people. It just means that you value your freedom above all, and that you should always travel light.

Great job Mike! Thanks for the inspiration. I look forward to following your career. Mike's house tour on Apartment Therapy is here. Also check out Mike's fab blog, Other Blog. I will be adding Mike's blog to my link list. As always, thanks for reading! xxoo