Little Brick Houses for You and Me: Wall Decor. . .1 year later. . .

We closed on this place in the middle of August last year and I can't believe that at this time last year we were getting ready to move! The whole process happened really fast!

We filled in holes and repainted all of the walls upstairs. Doing all that work made me alot more hesitant about pounding in more nails and making more holes in the pristine walls. Of course, some decor was displayed but there were still some open spaces on the walls. One major one was the expanse of wall above the couch in the living room. I wanted something better than the old college posters (my roommate will remember the Simpsons poster and the Johnny Cash one as well). For some reason, they didn't seem like the right choice! Neither did the assortment of cheap picture frames I had hung in a grouping in the past, mostly because an assortment of frames would mean an assortment of nails! I wanted to find something that was pretty large in size but was also unique. I didn't want the same things everyone else bought at Target but I wanted it to be affordable like Target! I found alot of fun paintings on websites where little known artists sell their art and there are alot of prints I like, but framing large items is pretty expensive.

When I was studying in Norway I was exposed to some artists that I would have never known about otherwise. Our school was about two blocks from the National Gallery so I visited it a few times and purchased souvenier notecards to send to people at home. I love the art because it depicts nature but not in the cliched "Terry Redlin" way. (No offense, Mr. Reldin, you are a good artist as well).

A sampling:

Harald Sohlberg "Country Road" When we went on a rafting trip 6 hours North of Oslo the farm we stayed at looked like this, with that style of fence.

Harald Sohlberg "Winter Night in Rondane"

Terje Grostad "Enroute"

I love this and sadly I can't remember the artist! I tried to look on google and couldn't remember where I found this! It looks kind of like the work of the artist above? I hope they don't find this and get mad!

Hege Liseth "Once Upon a Time"

Jan Harr "Blue Night". This is my favorite. I sent a card version of it to my mom because it reminded me of the farm. Apparently it isn't very popular though, because I could not find a picture of it online anywhere and this artist is one of more popular ones. I finally found it on this artist's Myspace page! He used it as a cd cover. At least someone agrees with me that it is a nice image.

Eva Harr "The Way Back". The lighting is strange in some of the pictures and I think it is because the lighting is strange in Norway! In the summer it is light all the time and in the middle of the night there is still a lightness in the sky. In the winter it is dark all the time, except, I imagine, a short period of lightness around noon. So maybe they look different for that reason.

Harald Sohlberg "The Blue Bench"
Anyway, this sort of thing is kind of out of my price range right now, because even if I got just a poster it would still have to be framed. I just had to share so others might enjoy Norwegian art!
Instead, we have this!

I actually really like this picture. It was recently given to me by my grandma Phyllis after I mentioned that I had always liked it. It has always been displayed in her house in various rooms throughout the years. If you can't tell, it is a cat. I learned that her sister Gloria brought it back as a souvenir for her from Japan when she lived there in the 60's. It has a date stamped on the back-October 23, 2962. I tried to research it but didn't come up with anything important.
I finally committed to something for the wall above the couch. So it's not a vibrant painting by Jan Harr. . .

I bought it at Gordmans, which is just a small step up from Target. It was the only one there though, so that's good. Hopefully I won't see it in anyone else's house. I really like it, actually. The background almost perfectly matches the paint on the wall, and the little circles are colors that coordinate with the room.

Also, before Michelle and Jason's visit last weekend, I finally hung an assembly of pictures that I have had here since we moved it. I painted the frames last fall and wnated to hang them in the living room but Justin didn't like them so they never got displayed at all and ended up in a closet. Last week I decided enough was enough and got a level and some nails and took care of it myself! They now hang in the guest room.

I'm so proud of how straight I got them! They look off in this picture, but it is from the shadow from the window.