Hello to all creatively inclined beings,
I am excited to be given this opportunity to voice my two cents on Safari’s blog. My hope is that my passion for art and design will shine through even if I would seam to ramble at times. Passion for beautiful things can not be hidden, it cannot be taught, it cannot be subdued. You either have it or you don’t! I found many beautiful things on Safari’s website and I am excited to blog about them here going forward. Other Creative Junkies as myself who may find that my opinion rubs you the wrong way, please feel free to put in a few cents of your own. Now for a little taste of my world view.
Professional Designers, amateur decorators, and everybody in between have probably had an instance where they can relate to the following situation. The room that you have been designing for months finally has the walls painted just the right shade, the furniture complimenting the window shades perfectly, the flooring is simply amazing, and the only thing keeping your room from being design magazine worthy is a bare and empty wall.
Admit it, finding art is one of the most difficult parts of designing! For some reason it is the item that most people save for last when it comes to picking out design elements for a space. Once the room is almost complete, it is very difficult to find a piece that will match with paint on the walls, window treatments, flooring and the rest of the many colors and textures that are already within the room.
Many homeowners will select paint color for their walls as the first element in their design process, while designers will choose a single item as their inspiration. The truth of the matter is that paint comes in thousands of colors. If you still can’t find the perfect shade of fuchsia, then Sherwin Williams would be glad to make up a custom batch for you. Designers on the other hand, realize that rare and unusual pieces are what make a space. A table centerpiece may be the last thing that somebody’s eye may go to when they walk into a room, but it will be all they can see within the room for the rest of the night. Not to mention that interesting works of art make great conversation pieces.
«Black Sea Oblivion» ©, Anastasiy Safari.Establishing the basis for a room design is not easy, but it is very simple to fall in love with art. If you can fall for a piece of art, then you already have a starting point. For example, take Anastasiy Safari’s photograph “Black Sea Oblivion.” If the designer establishes that photograph as the basis for the room design, she has several routes to take; one option is to pick up on the shades of blues and grays in the picture and utilize those colors in the fabric (seating, window treatments, cushions) or wall coverings. The other option is to pick up on the water/nature theme in the photograph. An example of this would be to place a shallow glass bowl on a table filled with smooth, shiny rocks and some peat moss surrounding the stones. If you aren’t worried about kids or pets knocking the bowl over, then fill it with water. This would mimic the 2-D ocean scene in the photograph but in 3-D in your own room. No matter what the theme is in the photograph, the most important thing is that it speaks to you. Once you can ‘hear’ what the art piece is saying to you only then can a beautiful dialogue emerge in your room.
Creatively Yours,
Reggie V.
Only the photos from the opening give me comfort.
