<p>Ive collected a few art pieces over the years, some that my kids have done ( mostly ceramics), and art that I have bought at school auctions and at neighborhood art walks.</p>
<p>I dont have a lot of display space, but Ive pared down my book collection and so now I have room for other things on the shelves!</p>
<p>I’m not big on matching a rug/sofa, I buy what I like, but I think I could use some tips on how to display it. ( lots of upcoming studio open houses, and I want to be ready!)</p>
<p>I’ve been fortunate to have a mother-in-law who was an artists’ representative. DH and I had art before we had furniture (and we got it all at half-price–hooray!). Re: displaying–not sure what you mean, but I can tell you that, following her lead, we’ve gone from double- or triple-matting our pieces to what she calls “museum mounting”–simple, neutral matte on back and nothing on the front. She also saves her coupons and takes her framing to Michael’s–they do just as good a job as a pricier frame shop.</p>
<p>DH and I have started to travel for the better art festivals. If we absolutely love something we will buy it when we come upon it. (We try to keep a list of available spaces in the house (and dimensions) with us.) If we like an artist but aren’t sure about a purchase I take their info and put their website on my bookmark bar. Then I watch their calendars and see when they might be at an art show that’s within driving distance. I have a few artists on my wish list right now whose work I would really enjoy owning when the budget allows. We’ve also bought a few small pieces by students at the local U. Also, we check out galleries whenever we travel.</p>
<p>Funny - years ago we actually decorated our entire living room in our former house based on a giant plate we had bought at an art gallery. At the time, our living room was empty except for a Little Tikes playhouse and a bunch of toys. Figured we had to start somewhere, and we found the plate a couple of years before we were ready to do serious furniture shopping. It lived under our bed wrapped in bubble wrap until we brought it to the designer at the furniture store and said “this is what we have for starts … what would go with this?” </p>
<p>Fast forward: we like photographs and glass/fiber/metal pieces. Not paintings so much. We go to summer street art fairs, occasionally to galleries, museum school sales, etc. Usually not with anything in particular in mind. Never with a big budget. Framing usually ends up costing more than the piece. Sometimes we buy something, sometimes not. It’s all seredipity, which is what makes it fun for us. Display is all based on what we have found.</p>
<p>A world famous artist whose paintings sell for millions of dollars lives in my area. His mailbox out by the street in front of his home has his name hand painted on it and I presume he painted it on the mailbox. I’ve always been tempted to ‘collect’ his mailbox one night for my private art collection!</p>
<p>Try to buy direct from the artist. Many of the galleries I’ve visited have a 70/30 split with the artist getting 30%. Don’t buy anything that you hope to resell unless you get it dirt cheap or it’s a rare piece that will attract world-wide attention at auction.</p>
<p>P.S. If you like ceramics, then consider contacting the ceramics dept. at Alfred University to inquire about purchasing student & professor made pieces.</p>
<p>First of all you are on an excellent path: you buy what you like. The art has to stand for itself and not match the sofa…Find the price points that you feel comfortable for the pieces. If you have the budget you can hire a buyers’ broker. They generally charge a percentage and/or percentage plus time.</p>
<p>There are a lot of fakes out there. If it sounds too good to be true…It probably isn’t “real”. Lithos are particularly vulnerable. There was a high end gallery/retail space near us. It was closed by the federal government. Forgeries. You can go to auctions that are for estates (from a dead person’s home to yours) or a real auction.</p>
<p>If you are buying for investment, DEFINITELY do lots of research. Oh…never have direct sunlight hitting pieces. Even the glass the deflects sunshine, while good isn’t perfect.</p>
<p>I’m an artist…so I’ll weigh in. I think one of the most important things you can do in displaying art is to make sure you have some “quiet” space around each piece. Give your eye a place to rest, and you’ll enjoy it more. Certain 3-D pieces, such as ceramics, can sometimes be grouped together, but leave some space around the grouping.</p>
<p>“Art before furniture” is our motto. Too much art here to hang all on walls at once.</p>
<p>So…this winter, I’m organizing, hoping to make a rotating gallery within my home. Am grouping a half-dozen or so similar-sized glass-framed works on paper. I will put them into open-topped boxes to paw through. I hope to rotate these on the same wall spot, same hooks… and change it up every few months. </p>
<p>I think I’ll do similarly with some unframed canvasses, just carefully stack them against the wall in groups of 4. Then rotate hanging them in same wall spot.</p>
<p>As you can imagine, this floorspace only becomes possible after some kid leaves the nest! Whoever comes home for a brief visit gets to sleep with the art.</p>
<p>Sad: our kids aren’t ready to take pieces from us yet, and we have to downsize very soon. On rare occasion they’ll claim one, and we’re delighted. If they grow up around art, they want it in their homes but can’t afford it readily in their 20’s. </p>
<p>Husband’s uncle has been a working artist in NYC since 1935, with sales to collectors and museums. He will sell at discount to family. All the cousins have bought beautiful pieces. Recently we began photographing his pieces in our homes across the country, as he became curious (at age 94!!) to know whether we were enjoying his pieces. Yes we are.</p>
<p>We made a nicely lit display space in our front entry. While putting up a new wall, we noticed there was 4 inches depth between new wall studs. Before we hung the plaster drywall, we had a carpenter frame in that space (not a load-bearing wall, obviously). We put the drywall around the open space, put in a few small lights shining down into the space, then put in rows of glass shelves. We show all the smallest objects right there, and the lighting makes it a lovely entryway. I decided not to put glass sliding doors in front, so people can get close to the objects. Downside: dusty. I address it several times yearly.</p>
<p>As a part-time artist I’m happy is you buy my art through the gallery. I don’t want them to go out of business and I am not interested in spending a lot of time marketing. They only take 30%. I frame everything in plain maple or black frames with white mats, or what the artist put it in. I buy what I like and figure out where to put it afterwards. I also inherited a lot of art from both sets of parents - so in addition to the stuff we’ve bought there’s also a lot of African art, stuff from Indonesia, China, Thailand and Japan. I agree art needs air, but sometimes a tight grouping of similar style things looks great too.</p>
<p>We’ve bought a couple of pastels by an artist we love through a gallery (framed, as mathmom says, in simple black frames with a white mat). Aside from that, most of the art on our walls is antique maps and prints, and I usually buy those at auction, since I used to be in the business and know what I’m doing. Auction is a great way to get things for less, but you have to be careful, do your research, and not be the sort to get carried away!</p>
<p>A college friend gave me 2 of his paintings and they were my first art works. I’ve always displayed them.</p>
<p>Once I had a designer come in and redo our living room. She propped these paintings in a book case and I’ve kept them there. </p>
<p>I pick up things from all over the world. I find they work well with our furniture colors because I just naturally pick colors I like. My BIL is a photographer and has given me some wonderful photos. I took a trekking map from Nepal and put photos from our trek on it, with our route marked. We have masks from Africa and fabric hangings from India.</p>
<p>I more often stack art lately rather than arranging things horizontally across the wall.</p>
<p>There are a lot of good artists in VT and so I’ve acquired some of that, sometimes directly from the artist. Monhegan Island in ME is an artist colony we’ve often visited and I’ve bought several of my favorite painting there, including a portrait of my son. The artists have open studio hours and we visit them year after year. It’s fun to know the artists we buy from.</p>
<p>We have a sunroom and I’ve mostly put black and white art out there, but I have one print that has colors. I got the best UV protective glass, but I’m sure it will fade some over time. It was perfect for that room, so I’m not worrying about it. Much.</p>
<p>Sometimes I can find inexpensive fabric art. For years, I had a very inexpensive framer so I had a lot of stuff framed then. He was a wonderful elderly man who mostly framed for fun. Alas, he died at age 89.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, I make my own art. I have 10 of my photographs matted and framed in my house and three of my paintings. I have a few odds and ends that I’ve made glass blowing and glass fusing. (expensive hobby so I don’t have much!)</p>
<p>I have purchased a few items from other people - but they really have to ‘speak to me’. I bought a painting from a local artist a few years ago, and last year I bought a print of one of another of his paintings from him. he sold it with a matching mat and I’ve hung it in my bedroom. I also bought a painting from an an artist’s store when I was on vacation last year. A few years ago I stopped at another artist’s store in Myrtle beach and loved the one photograph. It reminded me of something I would take so I bought a copy of it on a stretched canvas. I still don’t know how I squished it in my suit case!</p>
<p>I also have two pieces that I bought at Ikea.</p>
<p>I love interior design. I don’t really have any education in it - but I did minor in art and take design classes in college.</p>
<p>It’s a crazy collection. I love gazing at my Navajo rug on the wall. Fabric art has always appealed to me, but it need to be framed properly. I have two embroideries from China that are not, but love the intricacy and patterns. </p>
<p>In Ecuador, the market town of Otavalo, weavings are the big thing. But I walked by a gallery and was blown away by the watercolors of mountain towns in the Andes. A friend matted and framed some of those watercolors when I returned. I have watercolors done by friends. A plate collection from Africa, courtesy of my friends who have been posted around the world. Some locally done pieces, and another watercolor from a garage sale that makes me very happy. </p>