I was chatting with a gallerist friend when we got on the subject of people saying, “I really love it, but I haven’t got room for another painting!”
“That drives me crazy,” she said. She pointed out to me how, over time, we inevitably stop seeing the paintings on our walls (and everything else that’s part of our day-to-day existence).
I have a lovely little landscape by Tom Conner in my living room. It’s been hanging at the foot of my sofa, where I can look at it whenever I’m curled up with my laptop. Tom’s brushwork is similar to mine, so occasionally someone will say, “I love that painting. Did you just do it?” Each time, I look up and appreciate once again the dusty grandeur and serenity of the Sedona landscape as Tom saw it. Then I’m sad that so much time has gone by without my even noticing it.
That painting is on the same wall as a still life by my goddaughter. I recently switched them around. It’s interesting how much more evocative they both are, just by being in different spaces. Moving paintings around is a simple way to rekindle your joy in your art collection.
The joy of deaccessioning
I’m not averse to collecting something new and carefully wrapping and storing a painting that no longer catches my eye. There comes a point, however, when we just don’t want more stuff to store. Why not introduce a young person to the joys of collecting art by giving them paintings that are surplus to requirements?
Young people have studied less art history and appreciation, in general, than our generation. Because of wage stagnation, they have far less purchasing power than we did at their age. They’re buying houses, having babies, and at an earlier point in their careers. Taken together, these factors mean they don’t always have the spare cash to buy fine art, or the nous to know the difference between real art and the department-store imitations that are what they think they can afford.
You can help foster their art education by giving them a painting that is no longer important to you. That frees you up to acquire the one you really want.
Those aren’t my colors
Realtor Rachael Umstead asked me to hang some paintings in a sweet little house she has for sale in Camden, ME. With the warm floors and beautifully austere walls and cabinets, I thought something in red and orange tones would look great. Last week a client asked to see those paintings. I had to swap something else for them. I had two others in cool tones of blues and greens. I apologized to Rachael because I thought I was giving her a second-best option.
I was surprised and pleased to see that the cool paintings look just as good in that room. We sometimes get so hung up on matching our interior design scheme that we lose our perspective.
I set a painting on my kitchen counter to wrap for storage. I realized it looked great there, so I put it on the wall for a while. If I hadn’t set it down, I never would have believed it could look so good in that very blue space.
This post includes two shots from an interior design project that included one of my paintings. The painting wasn’t intended for this setting; the home was significantly damaged by flooding a few years ago. A good painting can be the anchor for a series of rooms, for generations in fact. Its color scheme is almost immaterial, as long as it is well-executed and exerts an emotional pull.
Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:
- Canyon Color for the Painter, Sedona, AZ, March 10-14, 2025
- Advanced Plein Air Painting, Rockport, ME, July 7-11, 2025.
- Sea and Sky at Acadia National Park, August 3-8, 2025.
- Find Your Authentic Voice in Plein Air, Berkshires, MA, August 11-15, 2025.
- Immersive In-Person Fall Workshop, Rockport, ME, October 6-10, 2025.