Have you ever DIY-ed something, happily placed it in your home, stepped back and then thought to yourself (or say out loud) a little dejected “Ohh…That’s not exactly what I had envisioned.”
Well it has definitely happened to me. When it does, I tend to leave it for at least a few weeks (or sometimes “months”) to see if it will grow on me. There are times when it does, and other times when it doesn’t. You may remember a certain yellow feature wall I did way back when…I liked where it was going, but not exactly where it was. After leaving it as-is for a couple of months, I finally had my lightbulb moment and decided to stencil a lighter color over top. I am SO happy that I waited it out until the ultimate solution hit me like a ton of bricks, or a quart of paint in this instance.
I was faced with a similar situation when it came to a piece of abstract art that I made a while back. I had a vision of a big expressionistic painting, ala Franz Kline, so I whipped up this lovely work of art:
If you read the original post (find it here), I lamented over the absence of a frame, and in the end I finally admitted to myself that I needed to go ahead and do it. The other issue was that my original piece of art just wasn’t the right proportion for the wall. The height was a-okay, but it definitely needed to be wider.
With my plan of action in mind, I waited until I could save up the moolah for a massive frame shopping spree. It took a bit of time, but I found my instant solution on a recent trip to Ikea (gushed about here). Enter our brand new, oversized Ribba Frame with natural wood finish and a lovely mat to boot, as seen in this loot photo:
I found the perfect moment to get the piece of art done whilst painting a black feature wall in the studio.
I already had black paint out along with a big paint brush, so in between coats on the feature wall, I grabbed a large piece of printmaking paper from my supply, set it on my drafting table and slathered jagged lines of black across it. I didn’t think about it, I just sort of hit it with whatever line I was feeling at the moment. I even decided to add a few splatters of paint this time by watering down the paint and fanning the brush hairs in the direction of the paper.
After letting it dry for a couple of hours, I put it in the Ribba frame and stepped back to evaluate the finished product. I’ll be honest, I was so focused on the black wall during this side project, that I wasn’t really expecting that my somewhat distracted painting would turn out well. But low and behold, I actually love it! Unlike the first painting, I put in some curvy lines and I really love the way it feels. It’s less jagged-and-harsh and more playful-come-look-at-me-and-smile. I know abstract expressionism isn’t for everyone, but it’s one of my favorites and I’m glad I have my very own to display.
Here it is on the feature wall in the living room. I am loving how the mat and wooden frame make the painting stand out and pop against the patterned wall rather than letting it recede into it like the original unframed piece.
To take you back, here’s what the old painting looked like:
And now the new one:
What do you guys think? Is it better? It is worse? Are you indifferent? HATE abstract art? To each his/her own, I say – But I’d love your thoughts.
Have a great weekend – TGIF!!!!!! My sister is coming into town for my bridal shower, which is this Sunday. I am so excited to celebrate my upcoming nuptials with all of the main ladies in my life. What are you guys up to?
P.S. In case you missed it, I posted over on Breathe Magazine’s blog yesterday morning – This time I rehashed my DIY earring organizer. Feel free to check it out by clicking here. Even if you are already familiar with this project, there are a few extra goodies at the end of the post!
