Following on from yesterday’s post, I thought I’d share a gallery wall which I’ve created. I’m no stranger to designing and hanging arrangements (I even posted a tutorial on Apartment Therapy on how I usually go about it), but of every one I’ve done, this is probably my favourite:
That’s my childhood bedroom you see above, looking quite grown-up as of last year. It was December, I was home for Christmas and sick to death of the newly-painted blank wall above my desk (not to mention sick of all my art being in storage). With an afternoon to kill, I grabbed a measuring tape, a hammer and some picture hooks and got to work.
After deciding on the pieces to include (which may have involved uh, “rescuing” some from other rooms in the house), I made templates with old newspaper and worked out an arrangement. I opted for a pyramid/Christmas tree-style layout, but there were lots of ways I could have gone. In general, I like to keep larger works near the bottom for weight, and avoid having pieces that are too similar in style or size right next to each other.
In case you’re wondering about any of my art, here’s a breakdown of the pieces I used:
1. Gouache on board painting by me, of Venice, Italy. Part of a first-year university art course.
2. Pencil drawing by me, aged 11, of a park in downtown Ottawa. My parents had this framed years ago and it’s been in many rooms in the house since. Kinda embarrassing, but I’ve grown to love its naive simplicity.
3. I’m a big fan of the National Portrait Gallery in London, and go to their BP Portrait Prize exhibit every year. In 2005 Jonathan Yeo’s portrait of model Erin O’Connor won a prize and featured on the event posters. Erin is my all-time favourite model, so of course I bought a copy and had it mounted.
4. This print of a George Stubbs painting was purchased at the National Gallery in London after seeing an exhibit there, and mounted in the same way as the above. A nod to my horse-obsessed childhood.
5. This watercolour pencil sketch gets pride of place in my arrangement, since it was done by my grandmother who was a gifted artist. You can’t really make it out, but it’s the view from her old dining room window, where we used to sit and paint together when I was little.
6. I first went to Italy at 16 years old on a school trip, and it was love at first sight. When I returned I did a series of three paintings based on my photos of Venice; this small, gloomy view of the Bridge of Sighs was the only one I kept for myself at the time.
7. This painting is part of the same series, and used to belong to my grandmother. When she died I reclaimed it to hang with its sister again. The third painting in the series was given to my favourite high school teacher as a wedding present.
8. This ink-on-paper sketch belonged to my grandmother as a young woman, and was done by a friend of hers. It depicts Jesus walking on water (not that you can tell in this photo, with the lamp reflection). I don’t really go for religious art so I must admit that it freaked me out at first, but I’ve since fallen hard for its modernist style.
Typing that out, I realise that 50% of the paintings in this arrangement were done by yours truly. Self-absorbed much?
Oh I remember that gouache of Venice. I loved it so.