Today, we are doing a deep dive into collecting art—everything from where we purchase art, framing and how to decide what art pieces will work for your space.
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Show Notes:
Artists mentioned:
What We Do in the Shadows: Vampires
Bridesmaids – food poisoning scene
Galleries we love:
How do you know what type/style of art works for your space?
Go slowly and give it time
Don’t be afraid to move art around your house until it feels right
If you find something that feels right, collect art that fits around it
Don’t buy all your art at once
Have a mixture of high and low art
Go to the library and research different types of art
Follow artists on social media
Where do you buy your art from?
Etsy and eBay
Flea markets and thrift shops
Look around your community
Sign up for email lists of any artist you like
Try the app Artsy
How do you know if a piece is overpriced or not?
Look up other prices by the artist and see if they are consistent.
If it seems too good to be true, then it is.
How do you select the right frames for your art pieces?
Try out a few different ones
Custom framing is a game changer
Find ones you like on Pinterest
How do you hang your art pieces on your walls?
If it’s heavy, use wall anchors
Small nails
Put a string or wire on the back of the frame or have the framing shop add it
What are your favorite art pieces in your home?
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Episode 227 Transcript:
Emma: You’re listening to the A Beautiful Mess podcast, your cozy comfort listen. And today we’re going to do a deep dive into collecting art. Everything from where we purchase it, how to decide what pieces will work for your space, framing, and anything else about collecting art.
Elsie: Yeah, I am so into this. This has definitely been my art collecting year. So it has been so fun. So first of all, I just wanna promise upfront, we’re gonna do a good link in show notes situation this week. So we will link to all of the artists that we mention and all of the places that we buy art. It’ll just be like a nice little link section. If you’re into shopping for art, definitely go there and you don’t have to try to remember anything.
Emma: Yeah, if you’re out jogging or you’re driving your car, don’t try to write anything down. It’ll be in the show notes.
Elsie: Oh, I just imagined like the most horrible wreck of trying to write down an artist’s name.
Emma: I have to write down those Etsy names. No, don’t. Don’t, don’t, don’t. Fine, we’ll link it.
Elsie: So in this episode, we’re going to cover just the basics of starting your own art collection in your home. And to begin with, I just want to acknowledge that collecting any kind of art for your home is so exciting and magical. So when we started off in our twenties, the things I would mainly collect or decorate with were photos that we took ourselves, which is just like, I think it’s a sentimental way to decorate and it’s also really budget-friendly. And then prints, mostly from Etsy. And then the other thing would be like thrifted art and vintage art that was found for a bargain. And there is lots of bargain art in the world. So we’ll talk about all of that. This past year I’ve been in an era where I started to collect some original art from some of my favorite artists and some pieces like, I don’t know, kind of like the sort of stuff you would want to pass down to your kids or like you need t write it on your insurance, like that kind of situation and it has been like really magical, special and it was, it’s kind of a dream come true honestly because I love art, and you know, having a chance to like, collect a few pieces from favorite artists is a very magical experience. So I want to talk all about that, and no matter where you are in life, hopefully, you’ll learn stuff in this episode about decorating your home with art. Cause I honestly think any apartment, home, even a bedroom is better with pieces of art that mean something to you.
Emma: So first up, let’s talk about how do you know what type of style or art is going to work in your space? There’s nothing worse than getting a piece and then kind of moving it all around your home and being like, Oh no, I don’t know if this really works, but I do like it.
Elsie: Yeah. No, art is often not returnable. If you wanted to commission a piece from an artist, which I think is a great way to collect art that fits your space, your colors, your style, that sort of thing. It’s like you need to be really sure about it. You need to put planning into it. So. When we first started collecting art, I did it really slowly. I think that was a key. And I learned really quickly that, and this is different for different people, like you might totally disagree with this, but for me, I did not like the look of mixing my antique and vintage art and my contemporary art. I just don’t like how it looks when it’s all mixed together. So for me, I created like spaces for different collections.
Emma: So kind of different styles. So you’re more contemporary or all in certain areas and more classic oil paintings have certain areas.
Elsie: Yeah. So the contemporary pieces are grouped together or they’re like they kind of have their own spot where it’s just one like the Julie Blackman. You know, it’s just kind of in its own spot by itself. And then I have a couple artists who I really love to collect. Esther Pearl Watson and Creighton Barrett, and they are both kind of like in this little hallway where it’s just them and it just like it may it makes it makes sense together because it’s like a little more bright and colorful and kind of like happy and I don’t know. I mean, it’s contemporary art. It doesn’t flow well with antiques. So, what? I think that that’s a really good thing is just to try slowly and be okay with moving stuff around some of the pieces that I bought for our living room ended up feeling better, like the snake, the snake is by, I think her name’s Paige Barnes Dorsey. I really want one of those. The snake is amazing. And I’m going to link all these artists.
Emma: It’s kind of like a wall sculpture. It’s 3d. It’s not a painting. It’s like an actual 3d snake.
Elsie: It feels to me like it’s maybe plaster or something like that. Um, I really want one. It looks like a ceramic and they’re hand-painted there. Anyway, they’re really special. I bought it for our living room. And then as soon as I put it in there, I just like could tell right away that it didn’t fit the vibe. And I tried it out in my office Where there’s, like, a very moody historic wallpaper, and it was, like, perfect. So I think you have to go very slowly and give it time. And then, I would say, like, as far as choosing what style, I think finding, like, the pieces that feel right in your room and then collecting around them. Like, in our living room, we had a couple of oil portrait paintings, and then I watched Harry Potter after my birthday last year, and I was like, I got obsessed about wanting to have just like, an oil painting-covered area of our home.
That talks to you, obviously. Yes. Yes. Yes. With a gummy, you never know. You never know. What’ll happen? I think collecting slowly. That’s the, the main headline is like, don’t rush it. Don’t try to buy all your art. Even if you have a great budget, don’t buy all your art in one month. Like buy it one piece at a time, one layer at a time, and then add to it. I think that for me, that’s. Like how I’ve felt like I’m like making a collection that’s truly perfect for our space.
Emma: Yeah. And I think too, it can be fun too, this works best for pieces that are smaller, but like when you’re traveling, it can be really fun to get a piece. You know, add to a little, if you have like a little oil painting collection, that’s like in your bathroom or in a hallway or something, because then it’s like, not only a beautiful piece of art, but it’s like, oh yeah, I got that on my trip to Paris with my girlfriends or my family trip to Seaside or whatever, you know.
Elsie: That’s so special. So what about you? Have, how have you picked the style that works best for your home?
Emma: So our house is pretty modern. So almost all of our art is very contemporary or modern or abstract, which I think can kind of go a number of directions. But I think of it as contemporary. The only piece that is very traditional is the family heirloom that I have. We have a portrait of my great grandfather, Karina’s father, Raphael, and it’s in my dining room. And it doesn’t really go with any other art in our house. But we have been thinking about collecting a few more, like, classical oil paintings to go around it that aren’t family heirlooms, just to kind of I’m having the similar thing where I put other paintings by it that are more contemporary and even when the colors go well together or, or it looks nice in the space with the wall color I have in there, it just doesn’t work. It doesn’t totally feel quite right. And even though, I don’t necessarily have as many like oil paintings or like have a love for collecting them quite like you, I do love that one because it’s this family heirloom. It’s my great-grandfather. And so I’m like trying to make him work in the dining room. So I’m like, I think he needs some buddies. I think I’m going to have to collect some, some things to go around him cause nothing’s really working yet. Mm hmm. But other than that, we have a lot of contemporary stuff all throughout the house. We have a lot of florals. We have a lot of abstracts. Many of them are from our mom. I also commissioned a piece from a woman in town, Erin Tyler. My husband, like, is in a co working space with her husband. So we also have some mutual friends. So that’s how I knew about her work. And she did this piece for us that’s like contemporary. It almost looks like a digital quilt, but it’s a painting. And it kind of is like an abstract of a pile of Oscar shoes. Aww. It’s these like very subtle tans. So like in bright light, it almost looks like there’s nothing on the canvas, but it actually has like a whole bunch of different tile pieces. It’s really neat.
Elsie: I love that piece.
Emma: Anyway, it’s in our entryway and I think it looks, it’s, it could go anywhere in the house though because the colors are so like subtle. And yeah, I have some like ones that are like. Pictures of like kind of geodes or rocks and different things like that. I’m definitely still in the collecting mode. You outed me in a past episode. You’re like, and I had this quote where she was like, when I’m 45, this house will look great. And I’m currently 38. And that is kind of how I feel where I’m like, I’m not in a rush. I would like to commission some more pieces. I would like to discover some more artists. I, when I see something beautiful in your house, like I very much want one of those snakes and I know they’re very desirable. So I don’t necessarily think I’m going to get one next month. A lot of times artists will sell out of things or they only have a few at a time. And it’s also kind of special to get it like for your birthday or for anniversary or, you know, so anyway, I’m not in a huge rush, but I’m definitely like moving things around in that phase, collecting more and more. And then we have one hallway. That’s like the hallway. Where all the bedrooms are that I’m filling up with black and white pictures of our family. So it’s not really like an art wall. It’s more of the, the family portrait hallway and it has like Oscar school picture and currently like one ultrasound of our son, our next son,so just lots of things like that. And I’m about to get those maternity portraits, I’m going to hang some of those up. If they’re very private, I might hang them up in our bathroom, we’ll see. So, I don’t know.
Elsie: Yeah, in my bathroom I have, I have the this is like one of my Etsy prints. So I have a whole bunch of like a wall around our bathtub of the, what we do in the shadows, vampires. So at the intro of the TV show, they show paintings of them through the decades and so someone on Etsy made those into prints somehow. And, anyway, everyone, that’s like, definitely my funny art in the house. And then, on our guest room, we have a print, like, above the toilet. Actually, it’s like, paired with a fancy painting from Hunt Slonim. And then below it is a art print. Of the scene from bridesmaids with the food poisoning scene. And I thought it was like the funniest, like bathroom art ever. So I’ll link to that. I’ll link to all of it. But anyway, I think that having like a mixture of high and low is really cool. Like, I love it that like, I have like a fancy painting that was like a budget. And then I have like an art print that was probably like 20 right below it. And I got it custom framed. So whatever.
Emma: Let’s talk about where do you buy art from and what are you looking for when you’re shopping? Okay, so list on your phone. Do you have measurements in your purse? Like I mean, like, how do you know?
Elsie: I do shop by size for the oil Portraits, especially now that our collection is like filling out Then now I’m like shopping for certain spots and I do think it’s good to shop by size. I think that Etsy and eBay are amazing. So I’ll tell you some of my search terms. I do French oil painting, antique oil painting. And then I usually do like oil portrait woman, oil portrait man, oil portrait child, and then I even have an oil portrait dog. So anything like that, those are all good searches. If you want like the more, like the more fifties, like the ones that kind of vibe with like the paint by number style, then search vintage. If you want more the classical, then search antique.
Emma: And if you don’t know it all, maybe head to the library and go to the art painting section and check out a whole bunch of books and see what kind of things you look through them all or go to a museum.
Elsie: I love the Impressionist era paintings. So I have one in my bedroom above our bed that is an Impressionist era painting, but it was like 400 like, and that’s, that’s like a low price for a piece of antique art. You can search the era, you know, the style. There’s also a pretty good case to be made for replicas. I have a couple of replicas in my house. And if it’s a famous artist, then replicas can be like real oil paintings that are just mass-produced. And they’re not worth a lot of money, obviously, but that also means that they’re affordable, like for a couple hundred dollars, you can get one. And I think that’s pretty cool because there’s quite a bit of art that I love that I will not have a budget for in this lifetime. And I think everyone feels that way.
Emma: Or there’s just one and it’s hanging in a famous museum. It will never be in someone’s home, you know?
Elsie: Yeah. So I think replicas are pretty cool, especially if you’re considering getting a print. And maybe the price is like, not that different for a replica and it’s a real painting, just a little more of like a quality finish to it.
Emma: That would be kind of a fun job too. Like, I mean, I’d want to do my own work as well, but it would be kind of fun because I like doing other people’s recipes, you know what I mean? It’s true. I think it would be enjoyable.
Elsie: I will say like a warning, be careful about replicas. Because I ordered one off of eBay and it was like, they paint it after you’ve ordered it. And it was very affordable, like, it was, like, less than a hundred dollars, but it looks so bad, compared, like, it was, like, not close to what the original looks like, so I would probably go for one that, where you can see a picture of, and it’s already been made, and you’re getting that exact one, not That’s it. Buy one where they’re going to like custom do it for you after they get your order, right? I’ll show it to you. You’ll love it. It’s real bad. Well, Etsy, eBay are both amazing. I’ve gotten so much art. I think that the prices, I will say, are all over the map, so choose the budget that’s best for you and kind of stick with it. That’s my tip with collecting antique art because it’s really easy to like, you’ll find pieces in every different budget, you’ll find pieces that are bargain, and then you’ll find pieces that are big investment, and I think you just kind of have to choose ahead of time. Like, I kind of have like a top budget for the antique portraits, and I try to just stick with that, like, whatever. I did have this one where I got really attached to it. I really wanted a white hair lady for our stairway, but anyway. And then flea markets are the greatest. Flea markets and thrift shops, every once in a while you have to be lucky, but I’ve found some really good bargains at those places. So it’s. Very worth it. Usually the prices in my experience are much cheaper than what you find on Etsy and eBay, which is cool.
Emma: Yeah. I’ll also say two other little things is, so one, it’s very cool to just like become a fan of current and contemporary artists. And if you’re like, I don’t even know where to start. You can start on social media, just like start following some painters or sculptors that you see, maybe even a friend who’s into it. And a lot of times artists follow other artists or they’ll reference other artists work, like they’ll be like, Oh, it’s Friday. Here’s some follow Friday people. You know, like there’s like, here’s some other artists that I think are cool. And just immerse yourself in being a fan of art. There’s so much about social media that can be a drag or like that I can be like, don’t spend your time on there. Cause it can suck you in. I actually think it is a great place to learn about people who are currently making art, making sculptures, making all sorts of things. So if you’re like, I want to be a fan of contemporary art, but I don’t know where to start. There’s an idea. If you’re already going to waste your time on there, there’s a great place to be looking for artists and seeing what they’re up to. I agree. And then the other thing I’ll say is, and this depends on your town, but I don’t even live in a big city, there’s a lot of times there’s really interesting art projects going on where you live. This can be at bookstores, at breweries, maybe you have some awesome museums, like artists who are currently working street fairs. And I know that sometimes people will think of that as like, not real art, but I very much disagree. I’ve seen some of the most beautiful things, like at a random bookstore that was having some kind of art show one weekend, and I didn’t even, I’d never heard of them, and all of a sudden I love their work, and I start following them, and then maybe I buy a piece. Like, there’s Just all sorts of interesting things like that. So just keep your eyes open. I guess one thing I would say and like, look around your community. You’d be surprised how much art’s happening and like, there can be some really cool stuff that you might want to collect for your home.
Elsie: I agree. I think Collecting art from your city or your region is a really good way to go. Some of my favorite artists, like we have the Julie Blackman and also her sister, Rosie Winstead had an art show recently. So we got one of those and it’s so cool to collect things from your own community. I think that there’s like a special joy and pride in them. I agree. So, a few more things for collecting contemporary art and where to look. A huge thing is to follow, so Emma mentioned social media, I think following on social media is great, but also make sure that you are signed up for email lists of any artists you like. I think the main way that you can buy original art, cause There are a lot of artists where you have to wait for months or years to find one that, like, when you’re ready to buy and they have one to sell. Most artists don’t have stuff for sale 24/7. So, being on those email lists is a great way to do it, and also the email list of galleries. Okay, and a great way to find galleries is, there’s an app called Artsy, and it’s also a web app, so you can use it either way you want. I love it. I just started using it to follow my favorite artists because it’s sort of like, it’s an app that shows you art from all different galleries in one place. So you don’t have to, because I don’t know every gallery yet, like I’m still like learning so much. So after I’ve bought a piece, then I’ll, like, usually follow the gallery and be on their email list and stuff. But you can start off by just, like, following all your favorite artists, and then individually follow their email list on their websites if you can. And I think that that’s probably, like, the best way. But a couple pieces I found were from the Artsy app when I had a favorite artist, and then, you know, eventually one popped up one day, and I had a chance to get it. I felt so lucky, because Sometimes you, I mean, you really have to wait for a long time for a certain artist.
Emma: Yeah, or they’re putting a few things up and they’re sold out immediately. There’s this gal, it’s wearable stuff, she does fashion, but she just had some dresses go up the other night and she was putting them up at 7 p. m. And that’s my son’s bedtime and in my mind I was like, I’m not going to get one, they’re going to be sold out by the time I finally get my son done. And sure enough, by like 7. 15 they were already sold out and I was like, I gotta get a friend to help me because this is just the time of day where Cannot be on my phone. It is read story time and I want one of these dresses because they’re these beautiful pieces she does, but she’ll only have like 10 or less at a time.
Elsie: No, one of my top favorite artists puts up about one or two paintings a month on her website and she like doesn’t have an email list. She only announces on social media, which is hard with the algorithm. Cause you don’t see it. You’ll see it two days later and you’re like, no, and I’ve never gotten one. And I’m still like someday I will, but it’s so frustrating.
Emma: Yeah. But then when you get it, it’s the feeling of, Got it. Yes. I got a piece.
Elsie: Okay, but yeah, let’s talk about prints for a minute. So, my favorite, I have two favorite print artists who mostly just do prints. One of them was the person I just mentioned, Janet Hill. So it’s like so hard to get an original. I would totally collect the originals. I don’t have the internet sleuthing for it, maybe. So, anyway, I have a ton of her prints when you see my little, like, green bathroom with all the portraits, a lot of those are prints from her, she has an Etsy shop and a website, so we’ll link to her, and then another person I love is Emily Martin, she was an awesome artist. OG Etsy artists like she was I think she was like the top-selling Etsy artists in the early Etsy days But now there’s other places to buy her art. So all and you can only get prints really so I’ll link to those She also has puzzles. They both have puzzles that are really great.
Emma: That’s fun.
Elsie: Yeah, so there’s so many fun ways if there’s an artist who you just like You want to get an original, but it’s just not happening for you. I think it’s still such a good idea to collect prints in the meantime because you still get to enjoy it., It’s still a beautiful thing in your home. And maybe someday keep the dream alive.
Emma: Okay. So next question is more like something that very opinion and just something we hear from people. So maybe it’s something to talk about. We’ll see. But how do you know if a piece is overpriced or not? So just talking about art prices and should I spend my money this way? Or like, is this, Overpriced. Am I even buying it from the original source versus a secondary market? Just anything like that that you might want to tell people about.
Elsie: Okay. So obviously art can get expensive and it’s like an open-ended budget. It’s like getting interested in like a designer bag and at first you find like a small one that’s affordable and you buy it used and then suddenly you’re like looking at these ones that like, it’s a thing that can escalate and it’s super fun. So I would just say, like, I haven’t seen a lot of, like, scammy prices or whatever, I think that sometimes there is, like, a sticker shock, and it’s hard to reconcile the idea that two artists who look similar to you might have very different prices. But artists who sell in galleries almost always have a price that’s consistent across the board for all of their collectors. So it’s usually like the price goes by the square inch, so it’s like the bigger the piece, the bigger the price, which is fair. So yeah, overall I would say, Art prices can be pretty fair. If you want to make sure and like double-check, then definitely look up other pieces by the same artist. That’s the best way to tell, as long as it’s consistent and they’re selling pieces at that price, then that’s a good case that the market value is correct.
Emma: Yeah. And I think the only time I can think of that’s more like a scammy situation Is when we were just talking about how some artists, they only have so many original pieces, they sell out very quickly. So sometimes you’ll see like this secondary market pop up where people have bought the original and presumably are reselling it because they were able to do the internet sleuthing or their son doesn’t go to bed at 7 so they were able to buy it and I wasn’t whatever. And those are moments where you might want to be a little more discerning or do a bit more research and just make sure that it really is the thing you’re wanting and not some kind of replica or rip off or not a real piece, like a lot of times artists will have their signature or kind of like clothes, it’ll have a certain tag, it’ll look a certain way. You just want to look for things like that just in case.
Elsie: Yeah. Fake art is a real thing. And. It’s like having a fake bag. If you know that it’s fake, and you paid a fake price for it, then you’re probably fine with that. And if you didn’t know that, and you paid too much for it, then you’d be very upset, obviously. So, I think if it seems too good to be true, then maybe it is. But yeah, I think most artists keep their prices pretty consistent, and it’s normal that they go up over time like maybe once a year or something like that. So, ideally, when you collect art, then in five or ten years, if that artist is still active and selling, then they’re pieces that are similar to what you’re selling. You collected will be selling for maybe double which is really cool and it makes you makes the case for it being more of an investment. I personally haven’t really researched like art as an investment. I’m not that rich. I don’t know anything about it. I can’t speak to it. But I don’t know, for me, it’s a collection. It’s like a collection that brings joy. And it is nice to know that you could resell it, although it would be slow, if you needed to, in the future. I think that that’s nice with anything you spend money on that it holds its value. But yeah, I personally don’t consider it, like, a part of my investing.
Emma: It’s not for me either. I will say though, it never hurts to talk to wherever you get your home insurance, talk to your agent or however you’ve gotten it, about putting art in your insurance policy, just in case your house was to burn down or if you were to have a burglary. You know, even if you don’t have a piece, you’re like, well I have a piece that was $1,000. Is that really that big of a deal? Well, if you have a few of those throughout your home. Maybe you would want to insure that just in case the collection burnt down or something of that nature. But again, just talk to your insurance agent. They can advise you and tell you how much it would cost to add that to your policy. And maybe it’s not worth it to you, but maybe it is. It probably is. In the event that something were to happen like that.
Elsie: Yeah, that’s some good common sense. Okay, I have to caveat on this hilarious local gem of a story. Oh. You know what I’m going to say? It’s like our proudest local story. Everyone’s going to love this. It’s kind of funny. I don’t know. I think it’s funny. Okay. It’s sad too. It’s sad and funny. So we have a art museum in our town. Springfield art museum. Is that what it’s called? It’s actually great. It’s a great museum for the size of our town. It’s like very a plus plus plus. So seven years ago, somehow, some way someone stole. So there was a collection of seven. Andy Warhol prints that were like the soup cans and they were like the screen printed, like, I guess you kind of call it originals, but you kind of call it a print. It’s hard to say with Warhol’s.
Emma: But they were different soups though.
Elsie: They were real Warhol’s.
Emma: It wasn’t all tomatoes.
Elsie: Yeah. And it was like the pepper pot and you know how he has the different flavors. So there was like a whole wall of them and someone stole like, I think five, Out of the seven in the middle of the night and they never got caught. And I did read that the museum received for their insurance, I think like $750,000. And it’s like one of our local legends. So we always think like who in Springfield has like Andy Warhol’s in their basement. Because you can’t sell them. And I don’t know what you would do with them if it was stolen. I guess you like, I don’t know. People think maybe there’s a market where. People like that they’re stolen, or it’s like a little bit of a thing.
Emma: That’s definitely in the news from time to time. You hear about a rich family that’s bought all this art, and it turns out it was stolen from, you know. And maybe they didn’t know. Maybe they did. Who knows? Yeah. But the Warhols were never found. So, those ones. So. So who has them? Where are the soup cans? Whose basement are they in?
Elsie: But the insurance, the insurance came through. So that’s what reminded me of the story. Okay, so next up, framing.
Emma: Oh yeah. Let’s talk about framing because a frame can really be a big difference on an art piece, I think.
Elsie: I will say until I think maybe two years ago in my whole life, I never got a custom frame. It’s such a game changer.
Emma: Ridiculously recent for me too, I should have started sooner and now I’m like, why was I not framing things? But anyway.
Elsie: It’s such a game changer. I would like, you know, go to the store and buy frames. Right. And then I started, probably about 10 years ago, I started getting into the habit of framing things without glass because it’s just like strictly what works for our photos better for the blog, but it’s not always better in real life. It’s like way better in photos. Kind of way worse that real life just the way it looks.
Emma: It depends on the piece.
Elsie: Yeah. And then last year I saw this person on TikTok or something who had this idea of taking your art prints. And you frame them, you, like, sort of, like, paste it down in the back so that it has to be really secure with, like, Mod Podge or something, and then you gloss over the top with, like, a textured artist medium, and it makes it look more like a real painting in a frame, so you don’t use a mat, you just find a fancy gold frame and use this texture medium, and I did that with almost all the prints in my bathroom, and I think it looks, like, a hundred times better. That’s cool. Yeah, it’s a really affordable hack.
Emma: Honestly, you should make that a blog post or link someone if, if it is a blog post. Okay. You mentioned TikTok, but that’s kind of hard to link, so.
Elsie: I could make it a blog post. It would be very easy to do.
Emma: I don’t even use TikTok on my phone personally, so like, I would want the steps.
Elsie: Okay. And I think I’m going to do that with my vampire paintings. Like, I see them all the time and they’re, they’re still in the glass and they still have the mats. And I just started to feel like it looks like way worse. So I have this, so I do think it’s like a hack to make your prints that, and it could be like a 10 print. Like, even on Etsy, a lot of prints are like 2 and you just download them and print them yourself. But it ends up looking, I think, so much more, like, expensive in heirloom. That’s a good hack. My problem was, I wanted them to blend in with my paintings collection, because a lot of the paintings in that little bathroom are originals, and I wanted the prints because I love Janet Hill. And can’t get the originals. So like had to do the prints, but I wanted them to fit in. So I feel like it like helps a lot with that. If you’re like a gallery wall person. Anyway, okay, so custom framing, I think it’s a game changer. I think try out a couple different styles. So for Emma’s style, she gets the floater frames, and that’s also how I frame my art that I’m making things on canvases, I think, look. It’s an option. I think contemporary art looks really good in floater frames. And for me, like, antique art, I usually go for a fancy gold frame. So any place that does custom framing will have those styles. It doesn’t have to be expensive. The local, the craft store type of places like Michael’s, et cetera, those places have coupons and they have most of the basic styles and I think it’s usually not as expensive as you think it’s going to be.
Emma: Yeah. Especially if you wait for a sale or have a coupon and they usually will have like a wall of like one corner of the frame and you can literally take it off the wall and kind of set it on your piece and look at it a little bit to see if you feel like it’s gonna go well. If you’re nervous because it does cost money. So it is a bummer. I got a couple of pieces done recently and I just, I chose the wrong frame and now I’m going to redo it or paint it.
Elsie: I think you could paint those frames.
Emma: Yeah, I think I will. Cause It would have been so much cheaper if I had just gotten them that color in the first place though, but it doesn’t really matter, but it happens.
Elsie: Yeah, no, it’s a little bit of a skill. It’s a little bit of a learning curve. So save things on Pinterest that you like how the frames look and kind of use that, but I think that, I think just go for it, and choose a consistent framing style, at first I would try out different ones, but then find what works for you, and then, I honestly have used the same styles of frames probably more than 20 times throughout my home, and you would never know, cause no one books that closely, like, it’s, whatever, you know? But I do like if they’re in a collection together, I do like to have a couple different styles instead of all matching frames, personally.
Emma: I’m the same. I tend to do more matching frames for like a photo wall or things like that. I also, I’m not a big, I don’t do a lot of matting. Elsie just mentioned I do a lot of like floater frames, soft for canvas art. But matting is a way too that can kind of really highlight a piece that you have, it can also kind of slightly change the size. So if you have a piece that’s like a little bit smaller than you were hoping for your space and it makes sense to do some matting in a frame, then that can kind of fill it out a little bit more.
Elsie: That’s true. I didn’t mean to put down matting at all. I think that when you’re trying to do a classical style, not as much, but for framing photos and things like that, it looks amazing and you can get huge mats and they look really cool. So you can drastically change the style. I’m pro matte. So I just want to put that in the record.
Emma: It depends. So it can work and it can look bad too. It can look cheesy.
Elsie: It’s like, if you’re trying to make it look like a painting for me, it’s like just the frame, no matte. If you’re trying to make it look modern or like a print or like a gallery wall that matches, I think mattes are great, custom framing is amazing. I also have, since I’ve been framing my own paintings. This month I found out that like the floater frames are not that expensive. The place I’ve used is called, I think it’s called pictureframes. com. It’s not that expensive. It’s like two nails to secure it in there. Once you have it at home, like anyone can do it for real. It is doable.
Emma: I also really like when you get something custom framed, I guess it could be different, different places, but most of the time it’ll end up where it has kind of the paper backing and it has a wire. And that’s what you hang it from. It makes it easier for you to hang it. Like, then if there’s nothing back there, if you’re just left to your own devices. So if you’re like, Oh, I’m nervous about hanging these in my home. I’m not the best. I think getting it custom framed is just going to help you too. So it’s a good move.
Elsie: Yeah, I agree. Woo hoo, framing, framing. It makes such a big difference.
Emma: Okay, and then how do you hang art pieces on your walls? This is a bit of a, really depends, because like how you hang like the sculpted snake on your wall, it’s very different than how you would hang like something that’s hung on a wire already.
Elsie: Okay. So if it’s extremely heavy, then you need to use wall anchors. You just do. But other than that, most art is not extremely heavy. Almost all the art in my home is hung with just small nails, just like a little nail kit, simple. And then as far as like. If the back of your frame doesn’t have a string yet, a wire, you can have those added at the framing shop or you can add them yourself. It’s not that hard to do it yourself. I have done it. At most stores you can get a little kit that has like wire and like the little toothy looking things that you hang with and so you’ll have options. But yeah, I think just being brave and going for it is the thing, like, and I totally get it. I have something right now, it’s a plate wall, where I’m like, oh, what do I do? I’ve never done it. Like, when you’ve never done it, but then you just, if you just try it, almost everything is something you can learn online in two minutes, you know? It’s a beautiful world with the internet, so you can put art all over your walls, I promise. And don’t freak out about, like, if you don’t like how it looks. Just move it. Like, don’t forget about nail holes. I think that that’s like, you can fill them. It’s so easy to fix. You can fix it. I promise you. You can fill them. Just go for it.
Emma: You should always have a little bit of extra wall paint in your house just for any reason. Like, you can bump up against a wall with a piece of furniture. Also if you’re hanging a whole bunch of pieces and you’re trying to get the spacing right, buy some poster board or have some scrap paper and cut out pieces of the things and just tape them up and make sure you like it. That’s an easy way to feel a little more reassurance. And if you have a wall where you move things around fairly often for me. This is only like family photos I will move those around fairly often as we get a new one. I might move something around I will use command strips for a wall like that because It’s just easier and I know that I’m gonna be taking the nails out all the time if I did nails So I will do command strips. If you’re a renter you might want to consider that I think if you do it extremely heavy piece, you’re just gonna need to hang it though but most small, medium, to even semi-large things can be hung with command strips if that’s what you need for your space. Something to do. But I would recommend a level. They’re not that expensive. Get a level. Don’t think your eyeball can just do it. You can’t just get it level.
Elsie: Yeah, okay, and another thing about hanging art, we should probably, like, make a blog post about this, but, like, don’t hang your art super high up. It’s sort of like the thing with the curtains, where people, like, so many people do them wrong, and they don’t know they’re doing it wrong. Art should be eye level, like, almost always. And like reasonable eye level, maybe like if you’re short, maybe it can be a little tiny bit higher. It’s kind of like an old people thing when people like hang their art almost up to the ceiling. It looks so bad. So you hang your curtains, hang your curtains, almost the ceiling, and your art. Everything like that is eye level.
Emma: Yeah. Okay. And then what are some of your favorite art pieces in your home? This is going to be hard for you becasue you have so many.
Elsie: Yeah, no, okay, so as far as, like, the contemporary artists, I’m just trying to collect, like, my favorite artists. You know, like the ones I can afford. I think my very favorite piece I’ll show it to you later is this. I got an Esther Pearl Watson original recently, and it was just like something that I wanted for like 10 years. So it was like very special. And the Julie Blackman was, Emma got it for me last year. I know we’ve talked about it before, but it’s like the biggest piece of art in my home. So it kind of like makes a big statement in that way.
Emma: Yeah, I have a Julie Blackman too. A different one and we just love her work. So it’s very cool. It’s very cool to have a piece. Yeah, it makes me feel cool.
Elsie: It’s very cool And then as far as collecting vintage and antique art, I consider it like very intuitive I think that if You like it, you like it. Like, there’s not more to it than that. Just collect art that you like, and don’t worry about it. If you don’t like it, then just don’t, you know. And then the more you do, the more you’ll develop your own taste for it, and you’ll start to, like, see little things in it, and little nuances that you didn’t see before.
Emma: Okay, anything else we want to say about collecting art?
Elsie: No, I would just say no matter what budget you are on in life, I think that there’s some kind of art. To collect and it makes your home more magical. It’s, it’s a huge way to personalize your space and it brings me so much joy.
Emma: Love looking at other people’s art in their home. Like if I get invited over and I just always like know right away, if I like want to walk around someone’s house, if they have interesting art, it’s very fun. So yeah, you should be one of those people so that I can walk around your house.
Elsie: There’s so many styles. There’s, there’s so much to it. I feel like we’re probably not doing it justice, but that’s just like our getting started episode and it’s a whole world.
Emma: Okay. Now it’s time for a joke or a fact or a meditation with Nova.
Elsie: All right, Nova, what do you have for us this week?
Nova: A joke, but first I just wanted to take the time to say thank you for. All of you who ordered my cookies, I’m so thankful that you’re on the podcast. And so now, let’s have some jokes. What kind of music do all balloons hate? Pop music.
Elsie: That’s a good one.
Nova: Bye.
Emma: Thank you so much for listening. You can submit your questions or other episode ideas at podcast@abeautifulmess.com or you can call our voicemail, which is 417-893-0011. We’ll be back next week with the listener question all about sisters, being sisters, sister addiction episode. And we’re going to do a book report on the courage to be disliked.
A while back you shared some bright, geometric artwork of little girl faces in sun glasses on Instagram. Can you share a link to that artist?