Paintings and interior decorating-

Yesterday a rather lush home decor magazine arrived with the newspaper.... lots of glossy pages of beautiful kitchens, expansive decks, glass-railed stairs and so on. However, there were very few paintings on the walls. In a number of cases, the rooms were verging on the bleak because there were no personal touches. As a contrast, I love the Saturday feature where some well-known personality shows a favourite room in their home and explains where the pieces came from and the personal significance. As an artist, I love to have paintings on the wall- and I can even switch them around for variety.  I have a friend whose great-aunt had a closet with her "extra" paintings and  enjoyed changing them around. Currently, I have the boats at Steveston in the entry hall- but it could change again. Maybe some people are afraid to commit - but a lot of artists  are willing to have people try a painting out. Maybe some people feel the painting has to be really expensive -like Tobias Meyer's rule in the last blog-  but it is more important to have something you enjoy and can relate to.  After looking at those lovely homes with stunning architecture, I thought this statement by the interior decorator Ghislaine Vinas was applicable - "Art is the nods and winks that give a place personality."