Art on (at) the Wall but please not in this Manner...

When a room is prepared for photographing it is normally "staged" - you would not show a mess in your bedroom to the public - would you? Often enough the newly prepared rooms look though as if no-one ever has lived or will live in it because everything is too tidy, too styled - you would not dare to touch anything at all.

On the other hand who would like to see all the personal stuff of the owner in a house you want to buy? Your own imagination would be spoiled. But I do not want to go into details what to do when you want to sell a home or what you could expect when you want to buy a home. There are enough tips to be found on the Internet or you could even contact a professional home staging company.

Here is an example though where the owner of this room was not well advised regarding placing art as a design element. Somewhere in the HGTV channel I read a comment such as "new artwork can make a world of difference when staging a home to sell".  Now this applies of course to a newly designed room also. But look at this example: the pictures are placed loosely on the headboard of the bed, partially covered by the cushions. This does not look good.

As an alternative I would have chosen a real painting or a large fine art print such as this one, mounted in a nice frame. The original of the artwork I have chosen here, is actually a silk scroll, painted and embroidered and hung on 2 dowels. A picture is shown below.

This is the original silk scroll:

"Panaxia I"
43" x 24", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

and this could be the fine art print that could be produced in any size mounted in a virtual frame:

 ~

Butterflies and Moroccan Style

As far as I can take a peak into this room - I love every little aspect I can can see in this image, the silvery sideboard, the table, the vintage coffeepot, the candleholders and all other accessories which give this room such a personal note, one of a traveller...

And something else you can see in this room that I would have added if this were mine: the silk scroll with the butterflies, called Panaxia. This could be another potential memory if you were travelling to Rhodos, the Greek island.

There - each August - a natural miracle is taking place.

with courtesy of http://www.livingetc.com
click here for the original image source

"In the western side of the island of Rhodes lies the Valley of the Butterflies (Petaloudes). This is one of the most attractive destinations on the island. During August, thousands of butterflies of the genus Panaxia (species Quadripunctaria Poda) overwhelm the valley in order to reproduce. During the rainy period, the Butterflies in the caterpillar stage remain in the Mediterranean thicket feeding on the foliage. As the end of the wet season approaches, towards the end of May, the final stage is concluded and the butterfly in all her perfection makes her appearance in the form recognizable to us all. They move constantly towards areas of highest humidity is greatest, always following the "water ways", as the dry period progresses, they finally arrive at the valley.

Unfortunately, over the last few years the population of the Panaxia has been constantly in decline, due to several factors, one of the most important being the disturbance by visitors. The butterfly has an atrophic peptic system, meaning has no stomach. From May until the mating period (for the males), and until the egg lying period (for the females) they do not eat. They survive from the energy stored from their previous lives as caterpillars. The disturbance of visitors is forcing the butterflies to fly all day, consuming valuable energy. Visitors should not be denied the enjoyment of viewing the butterflies at rest, but it is prohibited to disturb them in any way (hand clapping, whistling etc)." (from Rhodes Guide)

I have seen several documentations about this and I wished I could experience this in reality - it must be pure magic. That's why I created this silk scroll. Check out more details under this link.

"Panaxia I"
43" x 24", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle
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