AbbeyK — On Interior Design

Art by Amy Ross avail at Urban Outfitters

Who said art cannot be affordable? My friend and former client, Amy Ross, has a great piece of art at Urban.

Unfortunately, there's no picture to link to, so you'll just have to click here.

Congrats, Amy for this wonderful business opportunity. I hope you sell tons!

Stephanie Sachs, Maui artist shows in New York

At the end of September, I headed to NYC to attend the gallery opening of my art school buddy, Stephanie Sachs. She showed at Brenda Taylor Gallery on 25th.

Here we are outside her Chelsea opening -- Steph (left), Adam another friend from college (center), and me (right).

Stephanie has been living on Maui since college, and she makes her living as a fine artist. What a great thing it is to live the life you want to have!

Here are pictures of her work. Very layered, subtle, and pretty. Contrary to what they told us in college, pretty is NOT bad. Pretty can be quite lovely. Stephanie's art makes you feel good. How could that be bad? Colors get a bit lost on the screen though. They shimmer and have great depth is in real life.

 

 
More exciting news: Stephanie has another NYC show coming up, a group show in November, at Heidi Cho Gallery on 23rd, so if you are in NY around Thanksgiving, make sure to visit.

See more of Stephanie's work at The Fine Art of Stephanie Sachs. Oh, and buy her work.

Watch AbbeyK on TV.

Hey folks, just a bit of shameless self-promotion here.

Was asked by the folks at the Boston Design Center to spend the day shooting a segment for New England Dream Home. The segment to air on TV starting 6/15 was just posted on their web site and you can view it here or click below.

Happy viewing. And no I don't sign autographs. (tee hee.)

Thanks BDC and Dream House staff for this wonderful opportunity.

Hanging Art

A fun commercial job came a long. One of my clients is renovating office space and wanted some help with the interior. We walked around, decided where art should go, then I selected and ordered at art. com.

Here's Kevin Bird my installer preparing for placement in the lobby seating area.

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Highlights:

To keep it simple and align with the feeling of the building, we choose black frames for each piece of art.

For a modern look, stick to modern art. We chose mostly abstract expressionism, a bit of impressionism (how can you go wrong with a little bit of Vincent Van Gogh?),  graphic photography.

Keep themes safe -- nothing sexual or religious. Some of the Klimt that we liked is a bit suggestive for an office setting don't you think?

To appreciate the art, you need to see the art, so choose locations where there's enough light. Some hallway spots were kind of dark and the commercial lighting threw a glare so we moved some art to a new place where it could be seen

Leave some room for changes. To choose the art, we worked off dimensions and small photocopies, so once the real art came in, we rearranged some of it from our original plan.

Use security mounts. You don't want the art to "walk."

Accessorize with Family Photos

What a better way to fill up empty wall space and personalize your home than with family photos. Printing pictures has never been easier thanks to digital photography. Frames can be found at discout stores such as Target and Home Goods.

My advice? Look to the same tones -- all gold tones, all silver tones, all wood tones or all black. Buy a variety of frames in different styles and sizes to make a display, or find matching frames like we did in some of these images.

Or you can ignore that advice and mix it up and put a jumble of frames on a table.

Really you cannot go wrong, and you don't have to spend too much either.
An affordable designer tip! Now that's a good tip.

Photos with a water theme brighten up this blue bathroom.



















Little bit of wall space? Try little bitty frames.

The Art of Compromise-- Hanging Art

How high to hang art. It's a personal choice that's also to some degree cultural. I've been to Senegal, West Africa, and they often hang photos of beloved or important people, spiritual or other wise, above door ways. This is considered closer to heaven.

For the rest of us westerners, where to hang art, how high to hang art can be a challenge. Compounded when those e living in the home are of vastly different heights.

I have clients where the wife is 5'2" and the husband is 6' 7". By definition, they have different eye levels, but we came up with a compromise: Since it really bothered her when art was higher than her comfort level, it was decided that she'd determine eye level and her husband would chose the art placement -- which art would go on which wall. This worked for them. Other people choose something between what is ideal for each.

Nature Morph, a great new blog

Ever want to know what goes on in an artist's mind? How they get inspiration?
How they prepare for gallery shows?

My client and Friend Amy Ross has a great new blog.

It's called Nature Morph.

Check it out!!!

Amy Ross

My friend and client Amy Ross recently showed at Allston Skirt Gallery in Boston. Below are some pieces she showed.

I love her work. The above are birds she sees outside kitchen window in Cambridge. I'm in love with these birds.

Apartment Therapy did a piece on her.