art house

I had taken some photos recently in our house for a little project and thought I would post them here. They highlight some of the art we have in our little house. We have no large walls in our house and all the little wall space we have is pretty full already. I have always liked things hanging salon style so we started hanging our larger and extra pieces in the stairwell. As we get new pieces, the display grows. Many of the pieces are either made by Russ and myself or our friends from grad school. A few of the pieces we bought.

Here are a few pieces close up. The painted square piece at the top middle is by Cara Ober. The two pieces below Cara's are serigraphs from Scott Saw.

We have tried to put as much art as possible in our son Jackson Calder's room. The first piece I ever bought for Jackson was this letterpress print from Green Chair Press. It fits perfectly in his room.

Our mantle is full of stuff from a vintage globe to some vases from Mexico. Here is another little illustration from Russ Horvath (my hubby). Not all the art in our house is on the wall. We have frames all over tables and bookshelves. The peony is from our garden and just sits in a bowl of water. (That was my contribution)


My friend Jen Renninger makes these wonderful illustrations and we have a few of them all over the house. This one is in the hallway right outside our bedroom and is the first thing we see when we walk out of our room. We hung it in a really wide black frame and love the contrast against the yellow wall. In the background you can see a little print in the bathroom by comic artist, Steven Weissman

This is a pretty large piece and we have no other walls so at the moment this piece hangs out in our bedroom. It is called 'Sweet Potato Shower Head' and is an original limited edition print by Mark Mothersbaugh (of Devo fame). Part of the piece included this heavy black mat and frame that it is in. It can be a little overwhelming on a wall but for now it looks okay above our black weathered vintage dresser.

We have a few small pieces in our bathroom. This piece was made by our friend Jay Ryan in the early-90's back when he was roommates and bandmates with my husband. If you are familiar with Jay's work it has evolved quite a bit. It is a funny little piece with a group of naked men so it seemed most fitting in the bathroom.

In a corner of our living room we have this beaten up antique table that houses our meager plant collection. Above it is one of my husband's illustration/collages.

What sort of art do you have in your house? Feel free to post links in the comments.

learning to love you more

For many, the concept of fine art is illusive and confusing. As an art instructor, I have been asked on numerous occasions about the validity of something such as a plain canvas painted a solid blue. There are those who understand this and are able to contextualize their work or the work of others, there are those who are unable to wrap their minds around this, or any other form of art for that matter, and most often there are those stuck somewhere in the middle. Fine art has always towed the line between high-brow elitism and something a bit more palpable for the masses. However, from time to time, opportunities emerge for your 'average joe' to stick their proverbial brush into the art-mix. "Learning to Love You More" is my most recent favorite art obsession.

Learning to Love You More exists as both a web site and series of pieces comprised of work made by the general public in response to assignments given by artists Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher. When one visits the site, one finds a list of over 60 assignments which require participants to either photograph, write, draw, videotape or otherwise document their submissions. The instructions are very specific on the format of the submission but the entries are as varied as the participants themselves. The U.S., Spain, Japan, & Germany are just a few of the locations that LTLYM participants submit from, highlighting the universal nature of the assignments. "Describe your ideal government", "record the sound that is keeping you awake", "draw a scene from a movie that made you cry", & "make the saddest song" are examples of the possible assignments. In addition to entries published on the website, Learning To Love You More exhibitions have popped up all over the world and at venues that include The Whitney Museum in NYC, Rhodes College in Memphis, TN, Aurora Picture Show in Houston, TX, The Seattle Art Museum in Seattle, WA, the Wattis Institute in San Francisco CA, among others. Over 2000 people have participated since LTLYM's inception in 2002.

Visit their site and pick your assignment today! (The above photo is from Assignment #23 "recreate this photograph")