By kitchen art I don't mean the scribbles we stick on the fridge, or our daughter's latest take on Sleeping Beauty's puffed sleeves and pouty lips but real art.
When I was little my parents had a huge oil canvas hanging over our kitchen dining table. It was a painting of an enormous orange hill, with only spindly trees and a bit of scrubby grass to alleviate the baking dryness. At the very top of the hill was a little man, with his arms in the air either waving hello or help. I can see that painting in my mind's eye as if it were yesterday, it is imprinted on my psyche. It is one of those paintings which is happy-sad, because you never really knew whether the man was pleased to be at the top of the hill or frantically trying to be rescued. Like life really.
For this reason, I was determined to have art in our house, art which would become part of our children's life and evoke a time for them many years later. Further, kitchens can be very sterile and art can really humanise the space.
One has to be practical however, I guess a canvas over the stovetop is not very sensible unless you want it to change colour pretty quickly.
You can include a statement piece:
What about a jumble of frames:
Or vintage style:
Or perhaps a perfectly pristine 'Aerin Lauder in the Hamptons' style lithograph:
Or just one gilt framed delight:
In our kitchen we have two paintings, by an artist from Adelaide called Nona Burden. I love their orangey tones and the round bowl. It felt to us like they evoked the feeling of food and sharing.
They may be due for a move, so perhaps I need to start looking out for some new kitchen art so I can still look at a painting when I am musing over a cookbook, and not feel like the kitchen is reproving me to:
What about you? Do you have art in the kitchen? If so, what kind?
Have a happy weekend.
(Images: (1)Tim Evan Cook (2)(3) House and Garden Aust (4) Verandah (5) Apartment Therapy (6) Marie Claire Maison (7) Abigail Ahern (8) Apartment Therapy (9) (10) PCH (11) Hannah Zakari)
6 comments:
Hi there Jane,
Love your images of art in the kitchen...my favourite is the jumble of frames and the ones in your kitchen.
We have just painted our kitchen....haven't changed the kitchen units just painted it. We used to have some American folk art in there but, I'm not sure if I will put any back 'cos they just get really greasy !!!! Please don't think that I don't clean in there, but it just seems that the cooking smells get into everything....perhaps that's English kitchens !!!! I think any art in our house will be kept to the other rooms in the house. XXXX
We definitely have the puffy-sleeved pouty lip original on our fridge! And no walls for anything else unfortunately at the moment. I'm hoping that may change...
HI Jane
Would love to see those puffy sleeved princesses, but meanwhile, strangely.. i like the pink best. It looks great against the crisp white..
I agree about having art.. I like art in every room!!
Have a great weekend xx Julie
I love the subtly rich colours of your two canvases, and I so agree on the importance of art (I'm currently looking for something old Dutch and gold-framed for the bathroom).
Paintings and prints are difficult, aren't they? If you go looking, everything is too sterile or too cutesy and then one day when you're not looking you come across something that you just can't leave behind. Seascapes and windowscapes are my thing at present - like extra windows in the house. And I can't stand tea towels that instruct me.
Your parents' canvas sounds intriguing and wonderful. What a long comment. I'll stop now. Have a good weekend!
Hm, I thought I had left you a comment, because I copied photo number 7 kitchen picture and now it's in my interiorfile here on my pc. I came back to have a look at piture number 1....(copied and done), THANK YOU!!!! ;-)
We have an "art wall" in our kitchen but it only showcases two artists (my lil girl and my 11 year old son)at present!
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