Artsy Fartsy

I'm always on an endless quest for good art that is affordable. Evidently this is an oxymoron because I just heard a collective chortle from Chelsea (gallery owners totally chortle).

Someday maybe I'll drop a year of my offspring's college tuition on some arranged acrylic but for now I'm just an computer browser window shopper. Yeah, I'm too lazy to actually go to galleries but I do check the dimensions online so I can visualize the scale. That's totally the same thing, right?

Here's a few pieces I've been digging lately. And don't judge, I'm no Gallery Girl.

Jean-Claude Terrier via

I see a person standing in a doorway. I see machinations. I see dead people. OK not that last one.

Lindsay Cowles via

This painting is a departure from Lindsay's typically vibrant color palette, but I love how it looks like an aerial of NYC on a dreary day. Lindsay also will make prints in varying sizes of mostly (if not all) of her paintings. So this one really is relatively affordable- check out her site!

Chad Wys

The spray paint gives this a street art vibe & contrasts the oil paint of the original portrait. There's probably some social commentary in there somewhere, but I don't really feel like analyzing my subconscious right now.

Jose Lerma via

I don't know why, I just do.

Air Is Not Enough, Himitsuhana via

This is a print of a photograph. This chick looks boozy, I dig it.

If you've noticed my taste has been devolving- time to class it up again...

Untitled, Xavi Carbonell via

This painting inspired my entire Living With Style pinterest board for the 1st Dibs contest. I just love the color combinations.

Carlo Van de Roer via

Serenity now. For some reason that circle makes it feel not boring.

El Secreto, Maria Berrio via

This feels so Klimt, doesn't it?

Aaaaaannnnd, just because this is Riot for Design and because I know you can handle it:

Fuck You (That Gun Is Always Loaded), Trey Speegle via

Really, someone ought to start a kickstarter fund for me for this one.  

You know, it's funny. I would be perfectly fine hanging swear words on my wall but I still blush at the thought of nude paintings. What about you- where do you draw the line?

Affordable Art Sources

This post is dedicated to a friend/coworker who has timeless fashion taste but confessed she isn't as home-interiorly blessed.  No sweat!  It happens to everyone, my friend (wink, wink).

We've spent, ahem, decades dressing ourselves and almost as long waxing, spinning, buffing and primping said temples. It's no wonder many of us may have a better handle on how to pull off the drop crotch than the dropcloth. Or how I just know that halter tops make my arms look Mobama hot, but babydoll dresses, no matter how cute, always make me look like Courtney Love post-overdose. We just inherently know our own proportions, how to emphasize the assets and minimize the flaws.

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The same goes for homes, it's just not quite as intuitive. Homes have flaws and features and proportions. Said friend/coworker felt particularly clueless about art.  If furnishings are the pants and tops of your home outfit, art is the accessories.

Claire Basler

Today my internet ambling brought me to French artist Claire Basler's website and I was immediately in awe of her impressionistic, naturalistic artwork.

Her work includes paintings and drawings, as well as textiles and pottery of primarily natural subjects; flowers, grasses, trees and bodies of water.  

Parenting Advice

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Teach your kids to color on walls...

Art Imitating Interiors

I need some art for my apartment- we got none.  After looking around the interwebs for art I liked, I keep gravitating toward paintings and drawings of interiors.  Big Effing Surprise.  I think this works best in contrast- for instance a painting of a very traditional interior in an ultra modern or contemporary room and vice versa.  Or you could recreate one of Kimberly Applegate's compositions- art imitating life imitating art!

I dig these artists big time- what do you think?

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See the rest after the jump!