The perfect Painting on this Wall

When I saw this picture for the first time it occurred to me immediately that I had the perfect painting for this wall. The wall firmly screamed for even more orange colours...

 (original image source: homesolute.com)

The above image is probably only from a showroom but if this vignette were part of your livingroom or a hotel lobby (even more then) I would place this 3-panel silk painting right on this wall. Isn't it made exactly for this place - what do you think?

The painting consists of 3 silk panels which could be hung separately even as each one is a complete image in itself. The semi-surrealistic motif has been inspired by the awsome canyons you can find on the North American continent.

  "Canyon"
(from the Magic Landscapes series) 
40" x 63", Triptych, silk
©Petra Voegtle

I have added some details of this painting to show you the colour hues and textures in close view:

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A wonderful Match

Oh my - the time marches fast - especially around this part of the year where I prefer to spend more time outdoors on my balcony etc. than sitting in front of the computer or at the easel. So I have to apologize that I haven't posted for a while.

Checking through my treasury of collected images I found this one of a room vignette where I love 2 things: the colours and the iron work of the 2 tables. It is such a simple setting but it looks so cozy and harmonious. I would love to sit there, read a nice book and listen to some classical music.

(original image source: www.homesolute.com)

Then I thought a painting was missing on the wall to make this harmony really complete. Nautilus is painted on silk and the colours would complement the colours of the wall beautifully.

The silk painting belongs to the Magic Creatures series and is one of my favourite paintings in general. The use of mother-of-pearl pigments together with the silk paints makes this painting really sparkling in light.

"Nautilus"
(from the Magic Creatures Series)
silk, 40" x 13"
©Petra Voegtle

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Bonjour Tristesse - but not in the Bedroom please!

Please do not get me wrong here - I find this bedroom extremely elegant, stylish and very well designed. All the elements complement each other perfectly. But it looks really depressing. There is something important missing: a piece of colour!

I know - a bedroom should be kept mostly in  "neutral" colours, because it is meant for relaxing, getting a good night sleep, yadayada. But I would not want to sleep in a room with depressing colours such as these. Yes - depressing because that abundance of greys and blacks would rather remind me of a funeral parlour than a bedroom in which I could feel well.

A single piece of bright colour would do the trick: f.e. with this brightly coloured silk scroll, mounted on a simple stretcher frame without the upper and lower part as can be seen in the original scroll (please see below). But check for yourself. It would not change the design of this room but add a tiny bit of life and friendliness, warmth and excitement and keep off depressing feelings...

The original silk scroll was handpainted and additionally quilted with silk thread to add texture and depth.
This kind of scrolls is reminiscent of ancient Chinese or Japanese scroll paintings - their construction yet is completely different and has been developed by myself.

While traditional Japanese and Chinese silk scrolls are made from very thin painted silk, that is glued to paper which again is normally covered by patterned silk, my scrolls consist of 3 layers of fabric and no paper at all.

The middle piece is constructed like a quilt with a layer of very thin batting between the top layer which is the painted silk and the back. Headpiece and footpiece are normally made from silk as well, which has been fused to a thin layer of rayon fabric.

"Desert"
48" x 24", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

Finally top and bottom part of the scroll are sewn with a narrow tube at the end to be able to push a dowel through the fabric which is used for hanging. But as I said already - top and bottom part could also be removed in order to mount the middle piece on a stretcher frame.

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Hanging Art in an unorthodox Manner

First thing I noticed when I saw this photo was the wonderful light in this bedroom.But as usual I missed some art on the wall. As you cannot see in this vignette whether there is more space in the room besides the place  above the bed I decided to suggest to hang a silk painting in a different way than it had been painted for:

Not very often you have the opportunity to hang a realistic/representational motif other than it was meant to hang but in this case I thought it would work. Especially the colours of the silk painting with the sparkling of the mother-of-pearl pigments in the paint would match the light in this bedroom beautifully:

Here is the silk painting in its upright format (from the Magic Creatures series and one of my favourite paintings in general):

"Nautilus"
(from the Magic Creatures Series)
silk, 40" x 13"
©Petra Voegtle

But it wouldn't be me if I had not found another example for hanging this painting horizontally - in one of the next post...

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What Walls are meant for...

A lovely room, extremely spacious, with a gorgeous terrace, a great city view and a large wall. A large wall? Why on earth would one choose two tiny pictures which are even partially hidden or overpowered by lamps?
There is so much art out there that positively cries for a place like this one. I would have had a nice option...

What strikes me most in this room are the warm colours which turn the space into a cozy place. Without being too reminiscent of an old farmhouse the wooden beams add only some accents to a modern environment. And then I would have chosen this artwork for the wall above the bed:

Originally this is a silk scroll, painted and hand beaded with hundreds of small glass beads which sparkle in artificial light. But you could also remove the upper and lower part of this scroll and mounted horizontally in a sophisticated frame as shown in the photo below.

"Sun"
55" x 23", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

Instead of the original silk scroll I can make this scroll available as a fine art print on heavy cotton canvas in my Etsy Shop in nearly any size.

The image part of the silk scroll contains hundreds of tiny glass beads which were hand sewn and which imitate the tiny crystals within an agate geode.
The image has been inspired by real agates and is therefore a kind of blown-up imitation. The clear glass beads will reflect the light the same way as the tiny quartz crystals. The mother-of-pearl pigments in the silk paint heighten the gloss of various light parts in order to imitate the creamy white calcite parts you would find in nearly any agate.

Here are some details of the original silk scroll:

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A Bedrooom with two Alternatives of Fine Art

When I saw this image of a bedroom I immediately thought - oh how could they leave this huge wall above the bed without any art!

Especially in rooms where you have very high ceilings you need to be careful that the ceiling does not "escape" completely. In this case you have a lovely space to fill with something pleasing and reassuring...

My first suggestion would be to hang a silk scroll such as this one above the bed. The filigree pattern more or less repeats the pattern on the wooden ceiling, the colours are warm and fresh at the same time and the modern style fits into the overall scheme:

This silk scroll was inspired by one of the typical sceneries you can find in southeast Asia - rice farmers harvesting their crops. While we as Westerners find those landscapes simply beautiful, especially when the rice is ripe and turns into that golden colour, we often forget that the rice farmers in those countries belong to the poorest people who have no eye for the beauty but rather fight for their pure survival. These are the different perceptions in our lives.

Ricefields is an abstracted image of these landscapes and the embroidered red triangles represent the farmers with their typical wide straw hats. The patterns of the rice crops have been created with dye paint resists in several layers just similar to the batik techniques only that instead of wax a water soluble gel has been used. The decent use of metallic pigments was only for highlighting the rice crop patterns.

"Ricefields"
53" x 27", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

The second alternative is a silk painting from the Minerals series called Spheres.

The original artwork is a silk scroll and is normally hung with two handmade wooden dowels or any other similar device. But this silk scroll could be mounted on a stretcher frame as well without the black silk top and bottom part.
Additionally I can make this scroll available as a fine art print on heavy cotton canvas in my Etsy Shop.

The image part of the silk scroll contains hundreds of tiny glass beads which were hand sewn and which imitate the tiny crystals within an agate geode.
Doesn't the landscape here remind you of a large mystic cave, found beneath the surface of the earth?
When I saw the image of this agate I was fascinated by its spherical quality. It looked as if it were from a landscape of an outer world.

How can this be? The image has been inspired by real agates and is therefore a kind of blown-up imitation. The clear glass beads will reflect the light the same way as the tiny quartz crystals. The mother-of-pearl pigments in the silk paint heighten the gloss of various light parts in order to imitate the creamy white calcite parts you would find in nearly any agate.

 "Spheres"

34" x 34", silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

Here are some details of this scroll:

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An incompatible Composition

What a lovely little cabinet in this hallway! But what did the decorator think when s/he hung that abominable board with those plates above the delicate cabinet - it looks as if it were coming down any minute to strike the little cabinet dead. That board with the plates is much too heavy and needs a different place.

I would certainly hang a fine silk painting mounted in an ornamental gilded frame above this gorgeous cabinet such as this one. Not only do the colours of the painting adulate the fine paintings on the cabinet but it compliments the filigree carvings of the wood much more.

The painting belongs to a series of silk paintings which depict the symbols of ancient cultures.

"Celts"
(from the Magic Symbols Series)
silk, 40" x 13"
©Petra Voegtle

(sold)

There are thousands of magical places on this world and only very few I have seen myself. Stonehenge was one of them at a time - some decades ago - where tourism did not overflow the whole area yet and where they did not request yet astronomical entry fees and where the stones were not fenced from any touch yet. But times change...

Stonehenge has always been a fascinating motif for painters and poets and will remain so as long as it exists. I could not withdraw from its spell myself and so this painting on silk Celts became part of the Magic Symbols series. If you would like to know more about the painting please read here.

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Romantic Bedroom in the Colours of Tuscany

The colours of this cute little bedroom are so lovely and warm and the iron cast bed is so romantic. This is another example that you don't need a big budget to create something beautiful and cozy, just the kind of room you need for a good night sleep and a wonderful place for a guest to feel at home.

The only item I would possibly have an alternative for is the art piece on the wall. It is a bit too dark for my taste. Instead I would hang the silk painting as below which repeats exactly the colours of this room and adds a little bit more mystery and magic to let the dreams fly...

The painting has been painted on silk and belongs to the Magic Landscapes series.

"Dry Land"
(from the Magic Landscapes Series)
40" x 21", silk
©Petra Voegtle

This series is also part of a concept and the theme of this concept is to show the magic that surrounds us everywhere and is recognized easily when we open the eyes. This series explores the magic of landscapes and special places, the moments of awe when we see the miracles that are created by nature rather than human phantasy, the moments of spiritual connection with the past and the future and the moments of transformation through human imagination.

Dry Land is a semi-surrealistic landscape. Inspired by the colours of the desert, which can change completely during a day, this work shows the paradoxa of a landscape that obey the natural laws of nature. While the dune like formations seem to be a solid mass, the surface of the dried river bed  appears  fragile and delicate. But in reality the opposite is true: dunes are the fragile element, ever changing with the wind and the dried river bed has turned into solid earth, hard as stone when the water is all gone.

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A cheerful Bedroom could be too nice

The colours of this bedroom are cheerful - there is no doubt about it. They are reminiscent of lazy sunny summer days spent near a lake with nothing but a natural panorama, serene and soft, no noise that tortures your ear besides the one or other bird that quarrels with his neighbour, a place simply to doze off.

Maybe this is the meaning of a bedroom but sometimes we also spend some time there without sleeping and it would be nice to have something in the room where your thoughts and inspirations could focus on - a piece of art is certainly such a focus.

If this were my room I would add this silk scroll. It is not enervating to disturb the calmness but it sends enough vibes to fill you with dreams of a different world and possibly some inspirations and ideas...

The silk scroll is part of a small series about the workmanship of southeast Asian artists and artisans.
The Weaver belongs to a series which portrays the most striking characteristics of people and cultures of the world. These characteristics should not be reduced to common prejudices but simply reflect an impression through the artist's eye: undoubtedly you can find some of the most beautiful people among Indian people combined with the abilities of outstanding craftmanship and artistry for thousands of years not only in the textile category but in many other areas too.

The means of the portrait is a medium which has been used for hundreds of years in countries such as China and Japan: painted scrolls made from paper or silk but another component has been added to this modern and personal version: quilting. The materials used here are silk top, poly batting, viscose/poly backing; painted, machine quilted with silk.
Additionally the patterns on the top and bottom of this scroll have been hand painted and are reminscent of the batik techniques in Indonesia...

"The Weaver"

65" x 21", hand painted silk scroll
©Petra Voegtle

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A small Bedroom with a spectacular View...

Although I am not so very much a fan of dark rooms I loved this one from the first moment I saw it. I cannot even really explain why. Maybe it's the perfect disposition of this really small room because what you can see from this vignette there does not seem to be much more space available than for the bed itself.

The only downside of this room is the art on the wall, which - for my understanding - is not suitable for a bedroom. Although it perfectly matches the colours of this room (possibly the latter have been chosen because of the art) the figures displayed in this work look a bit creepy, reminiscent of emaciated models which is not really the perfect theme for a good night sleep.

My personal alternative would be this triptych painting on silk Ayutthaya which leads you gently into a world of meditation, dreamlike state - certainly more suitable for a bedroom:

Btw - I am going to make this painting available as fine art print on cotton canvas also, so that it can be used in different sizes. I'll let you know when it is in my Etsy shop.

 "Ayutthaya"

(from the Magic Landscapes Series)

40" x 39", silk triptych

©Petra Voegtle

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No Swirling in the Bedroom please!

What the heck did the interior decorator think when he placed those "panels" on the wall in that mode? It turns the whole room into a swirling movement. This is hardly applicable for any room where you have seating furniture and definitely not applicable for a bedroom. Imagine you enter this room and your glance goes directly towards the wall - you cannot overlook those panels - it will immediately effect your brain and your feeling will be that on a ship when it starts rolling. Not a good feeling when you are going to bed...

Btw - these panels are beautiful and probably handcarved wood. I assume that they are the remnants of a vintage coffered ceiling which have been saved from an old building. But this is not the right place for them to be displayed and certainly not in this way - please!

A bedroom per definition is a private place where people usually sleep for the night or relax during the day. Furthermore "in some jurisdictions there are basic features (such as a closet and a "means of egress") which a room must have in order to be qualify as a bedroom. In many states, such as Alaska, bedrooms are not required to have closets and must instead meet minimum size requirements." (Wikipedia) Funny isn't it?

I wished I had more paintings in a horizontal format which could be hung here but currently I haven't. So this one should only serve as an example. The colours in this room are nicely warm - still they could bear some additional slightly brighter colours to add a bit more serenity to this otherwise lovely room.

The painting I have hung here virtually as an alternative to the panels is a silk painting from the Magic Landscapes series and is called The Valley - inspired by the breathtakingly green valleys of the Hawaiian Islands.

"The Valley"
(from the Magic Landscapes Series)
silk, 21" x 40"
©Petra Voegtle

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