Even in the tiniest Room there is a Place for a Piece of Art!

Yes - that's my credo! And even the tiniest room will look more sophisticated and well taken care of if you place a piece of art that adds some focus. It should not disappear - it should be a bit more prominent.

That's why I would choose something more colourful and prominent than the original images here. Although it contradicts somehow the natural response that you should use something small in a small room it does not always function. You would be surprised what a difference it can make to ignore the rules sometimes...

(original image source getdecorating.com)

"Sari II"

(from the Patterns series)

20" x 15", acrylic on paper

©Petra Voegtle

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Stenciling and Painting - a happy Serendipity

Lately I am experimenting again - with ancient Indian wooden block prints. But sometimes things do not work as they should as in this example. I did a faux marble painting and wanted to use one of my block prints which I have collected the past 20 years or so but then I realized to my horror that after heavy glazing the surface of the painting would not take the paints from the prints - I had to look for a different solution.

As I knew I could paint on the glazing but not print - the idea of stenciling on the painting came into my mind. I have always admired the work of Melanie Royals from the Royal Design Studio. Melanie is not only the company's president and creative director but also one of the most innovative and creative people of the decorative arts, what I have seen from her work.

This said I finally draw and cut some stencils for the painting and could in fact add the graphical element I wanted. Framed virtually in a nice frame I found out that this would be the perfect complement for wall and sofa in the following room vignette:

Below is the image with the original art piece on the wall:

 original image source and with courtesy of 

http://www.livingetc.com

I must admit that the original art piece on the wall looks quite interesting on that textured wall and the colours are a great match but still I find it a bit gloomy. The Grey Marble painting is a more friendly alternative and its patterns complement those of the wall.

And here is the painting itself framed virtually in a nice frame:

"Grey Marble"
(from the Patterns series)
25" x 15", acrylic on paper
©Petra Voegtle

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Saris on the Wall - as Paintings

This is a wonderfully airy hallway - space in abundance, no clutter. There is plenty of room for decoration if you want to do this and I have some suggestions.
My brandnew work would look fabulous on these walls, an eyecatcher in colour and some teasing for the viewer because not everything is as it seems...

If you look at the original setting there is too much blank space in my opinion and a focal object is needed. I don't know why the interior designer placed this chaiselongue in this room as its purpose is not quite clear to me - maybe it is only an extension to the garden/terrace area but even then I miss some additional seats.

The two paintings belong to my brandnew series about Patterns. I painted in various red shades on heavy watercolour paper and finally added block printing with ancient Indian handcarved wooden models from my collection. The graphical elements were highlighted with metallic pigments to evoke a more authentic feeling of those heavily embroidered saris Indian women tend to wear for their weddings.

"Sari I"

(from the Patterns series)

20" x 15", acrylic on paper

©Petra Voegtle

The second sari piece was shadow printed with 2 colours, green and gold, which can be seen in the detail photo.

"Sari II"

(from the Patterns series)

20" x 15", acrylic on paper

©Petra Voegtle

If you would like to know more about this series please check my blog Images and Imagination which is all about art...

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Red and Green - a complementary Composition in the Bedroom

Using complementary colours such as red and green in a room is always a bit tricky. If you choose this system, you might want to select a subtle colour and a dominant colour, to prevent the colors from clashing. In this room the red is very dominant - so we need a subtle green to make this really work. It was tried with a green toile used as a window drape but I think it is not enough. It is a bit off balance.

I have this photo on my computer since a long time and I always thought that I like this room somehow although I find the red walls a bit too prominent. But now I found the right solution with this painting, giving a bit more balance to the red walls and matching exactly the window drapes.

In the original photo a piece of wood carving or cast iron was chosen for decoration above the bed but this added quite a dull element to the room and did not change the imbalance in my opinion:

The painting itself belongs to my new series of paper works on heavy watercolour paper. It is called Green Marble - I painted a faux marble pattern as a basic background and added some hand printing with ancient Indian wooden print blocks from my collection in order to create a graphical element to the painting. Golden metallic pigments were added to create additional highlights to the graphical pattern. 

"Green Marble"
(from the Patterns series)
25" x 15", acrylic on paper
©Petra Voegtle

The nice thing with this painting is that you can hang it how you wish, vertically or horizontally...

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