Saturday, May 18, 2013

One Wall Down...

. . . well, not down. . . but you know what I mean. . . well, you will. . . 

It's been two months since BF and I moved into our amazing little house, and every day we try to do a little something to make it feel more and more like home, and it's coming along, slowly but surely.  This week was kind of a write-off though - BF was away for work for a few days and I've been feeling pretty under the weather for the rest, but I did manage to get one thing done.  I'd been curled up on the couch feeling pretty sorry for myself for a while, staring at the wall, when I started to see things - no, not pink elephants, more along the lines of pieces of our art collection making their way up there and finding homes.  Suddenly I was filled with inspiration to do a gallery wall.

As my energy allowed, I began a little bit at a time.


Between the two of us, BF and I have a lot of art.  Our old apartment had 12 foot ceilings so it was easy to find places for much of it, but our house has normal walls so we have to be more selective and creative when it comes to putting our collection out.  I started with the "Love Lives Here" print by Susan Black that BF gave me for Valentine's Day this year, and a print of a painting by Tom Thomson, called "Pine Island, Georgian Bay."

Then I kind of just went back to the couch.

The next day I came home from work early and took to the couch again.  I stared at that wall, this time not just feeling sorry for myself, but with purpose.  I thought hard about the pieces that we have, and what we wanted to put out and came up with a few more additions.


BF and I both love to have things in our home that have a story or history.  The butterfly at the top right, for example, was drawn by me when I was in high school, with a bottle of India ink and a toothpick, and the green print at the bottom middle, was a gift from a friend of a friend, the talented graphic designer behind Be Bold.  Beside it is an ancient post card of a Scottish castle, a flea market find that I came across with my aunt K about a million years ago, and above that is Group of Seven's Lawren Harris's "Mount LeRoy".

Yesterday I managed, over the course of the afternoon, to put up what I think will be the final pieces.



At the top we've got Danny Dennis's "Whale Moon Raven"; lyrics for the song "It Breaks You So," by our friend and amazing songwriter Steven Bowers; a print from the White Stripes' box set Under the Great White Northern Lights.  There is the gold foil sun mirror I got when I worked at an import shop a while back, "Mount LeRoy," "Love Lives Here," my butterfly, a tiny ink and paper piece by BF's wonderful friend and artist Camille Turner, and a beautiful Buddha plaque BF collected.  On the bottom is a print by Anna Stowe and on top of that, a little carved totem pole D brought me from Vancouver last time he went.  Then there is the red glasses owl from Collage-O-Rama, a gift from a Reddit exchange, the Scottish castle, and below that a photo of a little girl reaching hard to see herself in a mirror, a gift from my high school art teacher when I graduated.  Then, past Be Bold and Thom Thompson is an Ecuadorian mask, a gift from the owners of the import shop I worked at.

As of right now, we are pretty pleased with the results but we can always change things up any time we like.  Despite the fact that it took me the better part of a week to get it all up there, it feels great to be able to look over and see some of our favourite pieces out on our walls at last.  

Like I said, slowly, but surely. :)

Till next time, friends!

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