Wall Art

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Have you ever come across a person who simply inspires you? If you haven’t, you need to change the people you’re spending time and networking with. There are a few people who inspire me who can also serve as an inspiration to all of my readers. Jennifer Ramos of MadeByGirl is one of those people.

It’s been a while since I have posted about something with a bird motif. Too long, if you ask me. I can’t help it — I am just drawn to the little critters by some unknown force. Thankfully for me, there’s no shortage of eco-friendly art featuring friendly birdies. These Bird Collages by Petite Flaneur would be welcome in my home any day. Just don’t tell my husband that. He’s not quite as fond of the birdies as I am.

I believe that the things a person chooses to have around them, in their home and elsewhere, are a reflection of who that person is. Because we haven’t been living in our own space for quite some time now, my husband and I look around and don’t see very many reflections of ourselves in our surroundings. There are the photos on the wall — but not much else. We’re hoping that this move to a new state also means a new start, and I intend to put my stamp on our space as much as possible.

You know the “3 Rs” mantra: reduce, reuse, recycle. Well, if artist Dolan Geiman had his way, there would probably be a fourth R: rescue. Geiman salvages wood and found objects and puts them together to create beautiful, eclectic works of art. These constructions often feature animals, and the paint used to create them comes from the Chicago Paint Exchange Program, which helps give traditional, but unwanted, paint a home.

In other words, you won’t find these at your local TJ Maxx or IKEA.

There are lots of things to love about being a mother, but one of my favorite things is that I get to stretch my imagination on a daily basis. Every night at bed time, I tell my daughter a story. But I don’t read from a book or recite the Three Little Pigs from memory. Instead, I make up a story in the moment — one of the few times when I’m comfortable improvising. They often involve little brown princesses, ballerinas, butterflies and other animals, because I let her pick the topic most nights.

When you work from home and work for yourself, it can be really easy to become uninspired and/or overwhelmed. There’s no face to face social interaction (although Twitter serves as a great virtual stand-in), and I’m always doing 10 things at once and feeling like I’m on the edge.

I know, I know…you’ve been seeing these posters everywhere. I have too, and I really want one — it is a concise reminder that no matter how overwhelmed I might feel, panicking won’t help matters. The message, originally intended as WWII propaganda, also has an eerie timeliness given the dire state our nation’s economy.

I truly believe that bare walls are the enemy of good design. Minimalism is fine, but bare walls tend to make a room feel cold and sterile — more like a place where you keep your furniture than a room that you live in. If you have BWS (Bare Wall Syndrome), these lively paintings from Beklina by Alta Walker will cure your ailment in a hurry.

Inspired by textiles, these pieces feature layers upon layers of paint in a variety of colors. Yellows, blues, reds, grays and all the colors in between coexist without clashing in a single painting. The technique appears haphazard and random, but that is what makes them unique. Here is what Walker had to say about her methods:

I am always impressed by mosaic artists.  There is a specific mosaic I can think of that uses tiny images of Bob Marley to create one large, poster-sized portrait of him.  Even as a graphic designer, its hard for me to fathom the skill and foresight it must take to put together tiny pieces of paper of tile to create images that are not only recognizable, but absolutely breathtaking.

That’s why the Ave Maria, Linda! print by Schimmel art is so beautiful to me. Want another reason to love this red-haired, blue-eyed beauty? She is made up entirely of paper tiles cut from junk mail! Way to take something that annoys me to no end and turn it into something that will last for generations!

I honestly believe that there is no excuse for bare walls. Even if you paint them in the color of your choice, bare walls are…well…uninspiring. I like minimalism as much as the next guy, but if “minimal” translates into “boring,” you can count me out. There are so many ways to spruce them up, and it doesn’t have to be expensive. You can grab a bucket of paint and use a stencil to create a pattern, or print your favorite family picture on photo paper and frame it. You can cut shapes out of scraps of unused gift wrap and use adhesive to put it on the walls. Or you could get a couple of these great, inexpensive posters from The Poster List.

As parents, there are lots of values we want to instill in our children. For my husband and I, a love and respect for nature and a love of learning are high on the list.  Even though there are only a few animals in the “zoo” where we live (it’s really more like a nature trail, even though they call it a zoo), my daughter loves to go there and see the bears, owls and river otters. She was even intrigued by a huge bee hive that the management saw fit to warn vistors about via a big warning sign.  So I guess we’re doing our job.