The big picture

Large artwork on a budget is always a tricky find. But once again Etsy comes to the rescue. Check out these photos from Shoot Snap Images in Chicago that made a plain ol' blank white wall in a nautical playroom a lot more fun.

  

Here's the before photo of the lonely big white wall over the sofa:

And after the art rescue:

Photo by John Gillooly/PEI 

Printed on pearlescent photo paper the images really pop off the wall. I wanted something that was a series and these three images focused on ropes gave me a nice link to the seating area lamps and broke up the scale a bit more.

Not every photo at Snap Shoot is nautical either. I'm loving a series on cars they have. (It's on my Christmas gift list for my brother.) Every photo is a close up shot though, so you get a lot of texture and color - thank you again Snap Shoot. Photos can be ordered in sizes 8x10 up to 16x24, so go for it! Tell Hallur, the owner of Shoot Snap Images I say hi.

www.etsy.com/shop/ShootSnapImages

Details:
The frames are from IKEA (the ever popular and way too useful Ribba line). The mats are the ones that come with the frames but (they are an ugly creamy off white so) I spray painted them a flat light gray.

Never Say Never to A Can of Spray Paint

Glossy black spray paint is a staple in my house and it yet again came in handy so I could get some artwork up in my bathroom. The art itself is "borrowed" from a book I got from a museum bookshop (yes I saw the exhibit) so pretty pictures, and one quote in cool font, check. The frames were all bought at local yard sales for a total of maybe $15 so budget, check. Hit the Depot for a can of paint plus primer in glossy black and the local hardware store for a custom piece of glass to fit one of the yard sale frames, and I was ready to go. The whole project took about an hour and cost less than lunch, ok, lunch with a glass of wine.

One grouping

The frames are strong enough that nothing else is needed on the wall which is painted in my new favorite gray.

One pair of frames ties two distant walls together. The black frames help the accent in the original 1930s tile work  make more sense in the space.

One of my favorite frames, now that it's black!

Have a project you think a quick spray paint job with solve but need a little help? Send a photo to liz@ermillerdesign.com

Little Bugs and Little Animals

Artwork for a nursery or kids' rooms isn't always the first thing on your to do list but these prints from Rifle Paper Co. certainly bump it higher on the list. And if you don't know where to start on that new nursery or kids' room use their prints for some fun inspiration.

These bug ones are my favorite - a little nerdy and retro. 

Bug Print - Ant 8"x10"  $24

Bug Print - Ladybug 8"x10" $24

Animal Parade Print 8"x10"  $24

Animal Alphabet Chart 11"x14"  $40

If you don't have a little one in your life, Rifle Paper Co. is still worth a visit for their little old school, little new school stationary, cards, calendars, notepads and invitations. Remember paper and a pen?

  

Photos courtesy of Rifle Paper Co. 

Graphic Standards

I'm working on a new project for the gallery and it involves using Architectural Graphic Standards. I love organization and all that comes with it so a book of Standards, as in THIS is the way it is done, is right up my alley. Better yet, Architectural Graphic Standards has been around for what seems like forever so getting an old copy has the added pleasure of perusing the crisp but battered edged manila colored pages for beautiful vintage images as well as information.

This one made me appreciate all the geometry that makes simple arches look so, well, so beautifully simple.

You might not need a brickwork pattern for building a new home but if you need a different idea for how to layout the tile for a back splash or bathroom floor; or maybe a paver pattern for that garden patio that you can't wait to get out on because of all this winter weather, here you go:

Graphic Standards was first published in 1932 by John Wiley & Sons and it was written by Charles George Ramsey and Harold Reeve Sleeper. Back in those days things were different in many ways. The average cost of a new house was $6,510.00 and the average cost for house rental was $18.00 per month. A loaf of bread cost about seven cents*.

Lifestyles and houses were also drastically different. Great estates were built to include rooms for entertaining and living in ways that we no longer expect, such as drawing rooms, conservatories, stables, or greenhouses.  

However, some things stay the same, such as a good drink. And why not make that bar look good.




We have the same stuff but we lost the fancy names like davenport or divan. (More on this later.)

We also just lost the need for some things entirely.



Architectural Graphic Standards is in its eleventh edition, available on CD and as a good ol' book. Looking back at the old Standards it is very true that some things change but other things always stay the same.

*thepeoplehistory.com

The Art of Design

I don't know if they still make them, but remember those paint sets with the clear plastic cover that you flipped open to reveal the half dozen or so paint colors poured into perfect ovals, the thin brush clipped horizontally along the top of the case? I had one and loved it. Of course the colors ended up all getting mixed together to make that beautiful muck color and none of my paintings made is past the family frig.

art.com

I thought about that paint set the other day when I was watching a documentary about John Audubon. He didn't mess around with a cheap paint set needless to say. The documentary is a great story of his life (thank you PBS) but what I loved most about it was a reminder of how beautiful sketches, paintings and watercolors are. It is a lost art in the world of design. As much as I am a fan of the latest computer programs, such as 3DStudio Max, and the amazing graphics that they create, the personal touch that is present in a hand rendering is irreplaceable.

For those of you curious, Audubon used graphite, watercolors, gauche, among other materials, to document 497 birds, all at life size. His Birds of America, (yes, a creative title) was finally made available for purchase in 1826, when he was in his early 40s. In making his paintings, Audubon labored over each detail, even making his own paint brushes with just a single hair in order to paint each feather more accurately. Sure that's pretty crazy and he actually sounds like not that nice of a guy. However, his work is amazing. There is so much depth in each color and texture in every inch from the deepest crimson on thin light feathers to the faintest pale grey on a wrinkled foot. The longer you look at them the more you see. The birds look nearly real but there is still a veil that let's you know it is art, not reality. That is the true beauty.

Computer renderings on the other hand do not want that veil. They want to be real, but in that process, cool as it is, the art of rendering and the appreciation of the design of the space is lost. With the efficiency of the digital age hand renderings of architecture and interior spaces are becoming more and more rare. They are time consuming and require skills some of us simply didn't learn how to do. I sure can't use watercolors the way I would like to! Not so long ago however hand renderings and watercolors were pretty standard in the design world. That same notion of detail and personal touch Audubon put into his work was put into creating renderings of architecture and interiors. Here are a few watercolors I recently stumbled upon when I was flipping through Sister Parish Design: On Decorating. These watercolors are not as intensely detailed as Audubon's work but they still give the space a sense of magic, a glow that is intriguing and dimensional. You want to study it, take it in a bit more, understand the nuances of it.

(Yes, I know the birds on the wall - ironic, yet so fitting.)

While you're studying the watercolor you start to appreciate all the details of the space that you miss when you look at computer renderings because the computer generated images appear so real you don't feel like you need to look more closely. That magic is lost, the art is gone.

That veil, the distance between the image of the space and the reality of the space is what I enjoy. One thing that is so exciting about design is making the reality happen, creating the feeling and atmosphere you have in your mind's eye with physical things. But before we get to the reality, let's take some time to enjoy the art of it, that dreamy not so perfect part that reminds us that what we are making when we design is itself art.