Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Gallery Wall

When I get in a rut about the wanting-a-baby situation, one of the best remedies is making something! Usually that means making cookies, but it's better when it's painting or working on a project. One project that kept me busy for a little while was putting together this little "gallery wall" arrangement in Bryn's room. It was really fun making simple paintings and collages, collecting and painting frames, and putting it all together. It's not my grandest achievement in life, but I think it turned out fun. All the art was free or cheap, and the frames were all from goodwill or I already had them. And nothing beats a free/cheap project! Someone (I can't remeber who. Was it you?) told me a great tip for hanging clusters of frames. You tape a few sheets of wax paper together, then figure out your arrangement on the paper. Then trace the frames onto the wax paper and label which frame goes with each drawn square. Once you determine where you want it on the wall, you tape it to the wall and start hanging your pictures. When all the pictures are hung you just pull the wax paper downward and it rips through the nails and comes out. It was pretty slick. I don't know why I feel the need to highlight each silly little frame, but here goes... I drew the butterfly; my younger brother drew the bird a couple years ago; the map is cut out from an old atlas I bought for $3.00; and the lovely watercolor heart was painted by moi. The happiness quote is from a used book I got for 10 cents; I painted the blue watercolor pattern up top; and the little print on right is a postcard of a Jacqui Larsen painting. I cut the green and blue flower out of paint chips with a razor; the other flower is a little collage I made; and the orange page corresponds to the "happiness" quote from above. It is Charlie Brown playing hide and seek behind a tree. The green painting is just a little random watercolor; I made the little collage on the right from catalog pages; and the bird drawing was done by my little brother. The wood "B" has been about 10 colors now, but it's now reddish; and the bird on the right is another little collage.I painted the flower watercolor; and the orange postcard is of a Peter Everett painting. (Bad picture of that one). My friend Emily gave me the I am a Child of God print, which I really love. And there's also the painting of Spanish Fork, which I mentioned earlier this week.
And that's that. Bryn's once-bare wall is now the other extreme. When you can't paint your white apartment walls, I guess the next best thing is covering them in pictures.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

I LOVE it!! Great job, Laura! And I love that you explained each piece, because I did want to know where every single one of them was from.

Marcus Lane said...

It looks awesome!!

JS said...

I think it looks wonderful! I love all the colors together!

Emily C said...

Stunning! I love your artistic style. Such a fun wall to look at.

Jane Huddleston said...

I love this project! And I love your style. And I love your collages and paintings. I have a watercolor of yours hanging in my house, but I think I need more. If you ever want a project, let me know and I will commission some little paintings/collages from you. :) And I'm going to use your idea and go shopping at goodwill for some frames.

Beautiful job!

Kristy said...

I love it! I am totally going to use the wax paper idea. I'm working on a "gallery wall" of my own and now you have made my life easier. Thanks!

whitney johnson said...

sooooo cute! i've been wanting to do one of those gallery walls, but i'm ashamed to admit i don't have enough art to make one. need to start collecting! yours looks great :)

Joanna said...

I love it! That wax paper idea is so clever! I'm glad you showed close-ups of each frame. And those birds your brother drew are so impressive!

My 4 Gooches said...

Absolutely darling, Laura. You are one of the most creative people I know. Hang in there with the baby situation. You're a very strong girl.

Meghan said...

It looks great! I love it! And, that is such a great idea on how to hang the pictures.

mj said...

I love your wall laura. So cute. and I love that it's so personal with each thing coming from you, your brother or a book etc.