Whimsical Art
Anyone who wanders my home is probably amused at the art that I have hanging on the walls. Even before I decided to have children, the art I started collecting has had a rather childlike or whimsical theme. I looked at each piece and had an emotional response. Rather than collect art because of just the way it looks or because it matches a room’s coloring, I buy pieces that I like for aesthetic as well as emotional qualities; I like how it makes me feel and what it makes me think of rather than just the visual pleasure. If people think of my pieces as silly or childish, so be it! One of the best things about being an adult is that I can decorate my space in ways that I like rather than how I “should” decorate. My home may not be picture-perfect in the eyes of strangers, but there is love and joy in its upkeep.
I bought this piece from a local artist, Jenn Hales, a few years ago. It’s called “24 Carrot” and is available from her website. The bunnies are trying to figure out how to steal the carrot inside the shop. I find it amusing.
Update (2 July 2014): I wanted to pass along this comment from the artist. “I like to create paintings of scenes and things I couldn’t photograph. And, I also try to sneak a little humor into each piece.”
“The Cow Jumped Over the Moon.” A good friend gave us this wood cut piece after the birth of our daughter. She had bought it many years ago but never found the right place for it in her home. We decided to put it in the hallway right beside our daughter’s room. I like how the blue in the picture matches so nicely with the wall color. It seems to have a softening effect, and seeing it puts me in a nice mental state for putting my daughter to bed. I hope it will help give her the same soothing sense of calm, like its nursery rhyme namesake.
This picture isn’t childish, but it still has an emotional connection for us. We traveled to Iceland when I was six months pregnant with our daughter, and this is one of the areas to which we traveled. Seeing this reminds us of that joyful trip. (There’s a scene from Game of Thrones that almost uses exact shot. That was very fun to see.)
The blocks on the mantle are actually one of the best gifts I ever found for my husband. He’s dreadful to try to buy for, but these amuse him throughout the year. The blocks spell about every holiday you can think of. He started with “Happy Fourth of July” and then rearranged them to this. He does that for every holiday, the sillier the better. I won’t complain if he gets our daughter roped into the silliness. At least she’ll be thinking through words and spelling.
