posted by Charles H. Russo on Jul 31
On Monday I spent probably two hours painstakingly arranging ten framed Japanese woodblock prints, circa 1895-1904 in a perfectly symmetrical arrangement on one wall of the salon (living room). But the result was - bland! Bleah! All one noticed was the symmetry of the arrangement, not the beauty of the prints. My husband came home from London last night and didn’t seem too enthusiastic about the look. But he was happy to see something on the wall, other than nail holes. I’d started this project last Thursday and left the wall blank while I thought about what to do.
So today I took the Japanese woodblock prints down and started over. The photograph above is the result. Not sure if it will remain for long; I am forever switching art around from room to room and place to place. But the person to be blamed for triggering this particular redesign is Victoria of sfgirlbythebay. Recently she posted photos of the latest changes to her apartment. Her wall of prints looked so interesting, I was inspired to switch things around. After all, a girl has to take an occasional break from the computer, never mind those deadlines! A calm environment is a productive one, right?
From top left, a hand-hammered mirror from Jordan; needlepoint flowers from the garden district of Monroe, La., (found on eBay and reframed); a 1940s beaded French flower; an 1897 Japanese woodblock print found at Liberty, London; another Japanese woodblock print from Liberty; French oil painting of a Moroccan woman selling oranges, circa 1870; a trio of Moroccan-inspired collages by Kristen Robinson and an original cover of La Plume magazine, Paris, 1899, designed by Alphonse Mucha. Of course I had to change two other walls in the room to accommodate other art! Hmmm, maybe it’s time to sell some more things…
By the way, Kristen Robinson’s art is featured on the cover of the August issue of Somerset Home! It’s her second magazine cover this year - bravo, Kristen!
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