Wall art ideas

[tobywatches]

We're about to move to a far bigger house and will, over time, look for some art for the walls.
Trouble is I literally have no idea about it.
I was out for a walk yesterday and we spotted Constable's grave in Hampstead. I exclaimed "ah yes, the writer." So we're talking that level of art ignorance!

Now obviously we're not going to be buying an original Constable but I'd love some recommendations of interesting artists I might look at.
My personal taste is subtle wall colours with vibrant pops of colour from the art itself but we will have a few rooms with which we can have differing themes so almost anything goes.
What do you have? Who do you like? Where have you bought from?
It doesn't have to be anyone famous at all. I like local unknowns as much as a Picasso so go for your lives.
Cheers

[Kevin]

If you want originals look at auctions.
You can get original art for the price of good framed print.
There are auctions in every town, lots of sub £500 stuff here for example

https://www.eastbourneauction.com/ca...urrentPageNo=1

Viewing would normally be recommended as photos in an auction catalogue don't always show pictures at their best.


As for prints I have bought quite a few from here framed and unframed.
Depending where you live you can buy unframed which is easy to post in a tube then get them framed locally, Beware, if you are looking at large pieces framing can be expensive

https://artrepublic.com/

Have a browse and see what catches your interest.

Take your time, you are going to be looking at your choices on your wall for a while!

[chrisparker]

Start with the style of your interior. For example if you’ve just bought a 50’s house and internal fixtures are period match your decor to that style, along with colours and art and framing.

I wouldn’t put a modern interior in a traditional country cottage, and then hang a 17thC Oil painting on the wall in an 70’s frame.

Try Pinterest for ideas and nailing your style, then buy pieces that compliment the look, that goes for everything in the room.

If you’ve no intention to style the home and just want stuff to fill wall space try and source things that have meaning to you, a family or pet portrait, a painting of your home town, something from a local artist, a scene from your favourite travels etc.

[RustyBin5]

I like something a little abstract but also with texture and maybe a little 3D. Art doesn’t have to be expensive - just interesting to the eye. We have had lots of positive comments about this idea. Quick pic ....

[demonloop]

Not everyone's cup of tea, but I have a rather large piece of the Berlin Wall hanging in my hall.

Certainly a conversation piece!

[Devonian]

We love light and dark greys as our main colour, with some light blue’s, white and pink, which on their own need something added. So we wanted some vibrant ‘pops’ of colour in our lounge. It’s a large room (22 by 25) with a vaulted ceiling so went for colour. We liked Yvonne Coomber who is Devon based. We commissioned her to do these but she also sells prints. I took these photos just now and the light this morning isn’t great so doesn’t show the paintings in their best light, but the colour up close really pop.

[tobywatches]

If you want originals look at auctions.

https://www.eastbourneauction.com/ca...urrentPageNo=1

https://artrepublic.com/

These are great places to start - many thanks. I never think of auctions - might even find the odd watch there too! Cheers

Start with the style of your interior. For example if you’ve just bought a 50’s house and internal fixtures are period match your decor to that style, along with colours and art and framing.

I wouldn’t put a modern interior in a traditional country cottage, and then hang a 17thC Oil painting on the wall in an 70’s frame.

Try Pinterest for ideas and nailing your style, then buy pieces that compliment the look, that goes for everything in the room.

If you’ve no intention to style the home...

Some great advice here. I'd love to give it some style, rather than clutter it up. Don't really have an eye for these things so hopefully Pinterest/advice like this will help.

I like something a little abstract but also with texture and maybe a little 3D.

Wholeheartedly agree. It doesn't have to be paintings/photos in frames only. I really like the idea of a sculpture type piece like this. Any ideas where to look?

I have a rather large piece of the Berlin Wall hanging in my hall.

Certainly a conversation piece!

Certainly that! History is right up the missus' street. If we could find some sort of royal memorabilia she'd love it.

What a lovely looking room. Very fresh. The place we've bought is pretty much a modern blank canvas inside so we can go in any direction we like. No period features or anything like that, unfortunately, but it does give us the chance to make it our own with no real restrictions.

Keep the ideas coming!

Toby

[boris9]

Paul Oz.


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[draftsmann]

If you want originals look at auctions.
You can get original art for the price of good framed print.
There are auctions in every town, lots of sub £500 stuff here for example

https://www.eastbourneauction.com/ca...urrentPageNo=1

Viewing would normally be recommended as photos in an auction catalogue don't always show pictures at their best.


As for prints I have bought quite a few from here framed and unframed.
Depending where you live you can buy unframed which is easy to post in a tube then get them framed locally, Beware, if you are looking at large pieces framing can be expensive

https://artrepublic.com/

Have a browse and see what catches your interest.

Take your time, you are going to be looking at your choices on your wall for a while!

With respect, the term “print” encompasses a huge range of printmaking techniques, of which examples of the traditional ones most definitely ARE original works of art. I’m referring to prints made using, among other things, lithography, silkscreen, Lino cut and other methods using an inked, engraved plate of various materials.

What you are referring to as “prints” are what galleries often call “art prints”- these are essentially photographic copies of an original work of art. Essentially a photocopied poster.

All that said, yes auctions are very definitely worth looking at, and this of course includes the ubiquitous eBay. I’ve bought quite a bit of art over the years and have picked up some pieces on eBay that I’d like to describe as canny purchases but were really lucky finds.

Also on the “all that said” front, and notwithstanding what I say about posters above, can I suggest looking for vintage art exhibition posters? Examples from the mid 20th century can sometimes be picked up quite inexpensively and are a far better buy than the new “art prints” from galleries.

[tobywatches]

Paul Oz.

WOW! Some of that is right up my street! So much drama and I love the bold colours.
Thank you

[Kevin]

With respect, the term “print” encompasses a huge range of printmaking techniques, of which examples of the traditional ones most definitely ARE original works of art. I’m referring to prints made using, among other things, lithography, silkscreen, Lino cut and other methods using an inked, engraved plate of various materials.

What you are referring to as “prints” are what galleries often call “art prints”- these are essentially photographic copies of an original work of art. Essentially a photocopied poster.

All that said, yes auctions are very definitely worth looking at, and this of course includes the ubiquitous eBay. I’ve bought quite a bit of art over the years and have picked up some pieces on eBay that I’d like to describe as canny purchases but were really lucky finds.

Also on the “all that said” front, and notwithstanding what I say about posters above, can I suggest looking for vintage art exhibition posters? Examples from the mid 20th century can sometimes be picked up quite inexpensively and are a far better buy than the new “art prints” from galleries.

With respect the Op asked for some suggestions, I made some, you are perfectly at liberty to make some of your own.
It is not my thread, please direct your comments to the Op.

[draftsmann]

If some posters were artists...

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/heal...iod-blood-art/

[ViperStripes]

WOW! Some of that is right up my street! So much drama and I love the bold colours.
Thank you

I have 3: the Original Oil Terminator,
This one..https://pauloz.com/portfolio-item/terminator/

an embellished Slimer (prints but hand painted on top of the print)

and Still I Rise print #44..quite like that of the 200 prints I got #44 to match Hamilton’s number.

[Mr.D]

How about some astronomy photos.

Also old maps and charts of your local area can be nice.

Movie posters

Art photographs from Eve Arnold etc

Alain Paillou

https://shop.rmg.co.uk/products/pod1034032

[hogthrob]

Have a browse of these sites. I'm sure you'll find some that you like:


https://www.artfinder.com/ - "Shop original art from independent artists around the world."



https://www.magnoliabox.com "Beautiful prints & canvases that turn your house into a home"

[tertius]

When I was much much younger I rented a room in a house owned by an artist ... through her I got to know an amazing array of (generally) lesser known and, frankly, mostly struggling artists. It really opened my eyes to a world of which I knew nothing and over the next several years built up quite a collection of original works - either bought directly from the artist or at Open Studio events, which used to be very common and hopefully will be again. Additionally I have bought at a variety of places: small galleries, student shows (e.g. the Royal Acadaemy used to have an annual student show, where works for sale) and from a sculpture park in Zimbabwe (Tengenenge, I wonder what that is like now?).

I tend towards landscapes, often slightly abstract. I have works in oil, acrylic, ink, etc. mostly original but a few limited edition prints, and a handful of sculptures.

Here are a few pictures with some notes, sorry about the reflections, I just went round with my phone:

Main wall in the sitting room, either side of the TV:


The image on the left: Seascape by Jackie Day (the artist I shared a house with):


The image on the right, Turtle by Ken Oliver:


Large seascape by Ian Lindsey-Edwards (I bought this after losing a bet with Ian!):


Unusual Bluebird by Paul Norton (made by cutting out and inking silver foil and printing from that):


Two monoprints by Graham Harwood (same plate but inked differently:


Two of a massive tryptych by Jackie Day hung on the stairs (third out of sight on opposite wall):


Collection of small pictures (mainly my photographs, thought the B&W one is by my brother) around a mirror in the hallway, the small one on the left is a beautiful little oil by Ronald Ronaldson, bought from my brother's gallery in Felixstowe (https://www.luminousgallery.uk/):


Have loads more if you are interested, but a final one is a picture I took on my phone and had printed on a large canvas (its about 80cm across):

This is in a bright sunny room and I don't want to risk sun damage to a genuine work.

In short I would say look around at small (preferably local) galleries and keep your eye out for Open Studios events when they are allowed to re-start.

[Bigstam]

I started a similar journey at the beginning of the year and have ended up buying 5 original prints from:

https://www.jealousgallery.com/

Not sure it they are your style but they have a lot pieces on the site. I have got them all framed locally and that cost does rack up but good quality framing is essential. I have got all but one float mounted.

This website is decent too although I haven’t bought from them.

https://www.londonartfair.co.uk/

Cheers

Ross

[Possu]

I try to have things that have some personal significance to me. One of my nicest pieces of art is a piece of turned wood by the TZ resident woodturner EchoSevenNine. I had a big piece of oak that came from a tree that my grandfather planted at his summer home in the 1960’s. A place that holds a lot of memories for four generations of my family now. The oak had to be cut down some years ago and saved some of it for future. Enter TZ and Eddie. I shipped the wood to N.I. and Eddie worked his magic and I could not be happier. One piece is with me, one is with my father and my brother holds the third.



I really love it that the artist comes from TZ. It was good fun to plan it with Eddie. Every aspect of the piece carries a special meaning to me.

You can check out some of Eddie’s work here:
https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...turning-Thread

I know he hasn’t been turning much lately, but you never know.

[IdiotAbroad]

There are some very talented people on Etsy, and also lots of excellent prices compared to art dealers etc.

In fact, one of those talented people is my lovely wife, who started drawing on the iPad during Lockdown1, and has now sold 799 pieces since!
She draws them by hand on the iPad, and doesn't use a software to clone photos etc. Turns out she has quite a knack for it!

Her pieces are all adventure inspired, she does do customs etc but they're mostly poster style. So if you happen to be adventurous/ outdoorsy, do take a look!

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/EpicAdventurePrints

Here are a few of her pieces (all of them are on Etsy at the link above)

[tobywatches]

Thanks to all for the ideas. I suspect I'll be wiling away some hours looking at the suggestions and will keep an eye out for local art galleries and open studios etc.
I've seen things like this before and as a keen skier it's in my mind to get something ski related. These may just be the ticket for one of the rooms!
Cheers.

Her pieces are all adventure inspired, she does do customs etc but they're mostly poster style. So if you happen to be adventurous/ outdoorsy, do take a look!

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/EpicAdventurePrints

Here are a few of her pieces (all of them are on Etsy at the link above)

[tobywatches]

This is really lovely - so good to have a piece of wood that means something to you too!

I try to have things that have some personal significance to me. One of my nicest pieces of art is a piece of turned wood by the TZ resident woodturner EchoSevenNine. I had a big piece of oak that came from a tree that my grandfather planted at his summer home in the 1960’s. A place that holds a lot of memories for four generations of my family now. The oak had to be cut down some years ago and saved some of it for future. Enter TZ and Eddie. I shipped the wood to N.I. and Eddie worked his magic and I could not be happier. One piece is with me, one is with my father and my brother holds the third.



I really love it that the artist comes from TZ. It was good fun to plan it with Eddie. Every aspect of the piece carries a special meaning to me.

You can check out some of Eddie’s work here:
https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...turning-Thread

I know he hasn’t been turning much lately, but you never know.

[boring_sandwich]

A London based artist Gavin Mitchell had a pop up exhibition near where I live just before Christmas that I found interesting. He explained the images were taken from vintage Japanese postcards he found at a car boot sale enlarged and are hand finished with gold leaf and metallic leaf.

https://www.artsper.com/in/contempor...ee-no-speak-no

https://www.artsper.com/in/contempor...4/park-life-ii

I particularly liked 'Park Life II' and 'Hear no See no Speak no' note the title on the magazines!

Will be purchasing something later this year.

[boris9]

WOW! Some of that is right up my street! So much drama and I love the bold colours.
Thank you

It’s really impactful work when hung. We’ve a few pieces around the house now and absolutely love his work.


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