Zatista The premiere source for original art online

Have you ever bought a print?  It’s nice – it fills the empty space on the wall, but after awhile you barely see it hanging there anymore, and it’s sitting a little crooked but you just don’t care. Art is not supposed to be like that! You don’t care because the print is a pale comparison to the original thing.

When you discover that original art is actually attainable, and that anyone can have these amazing objects, you kind of have a “eureka” moment. Remember when you used to think that Olive Garden had the best spaghetti carbonara ever, and then you went on that trip to Italy and WOW, holy crap. You had no idea how delicious real carbonara was supposed to be. OK, maybe you don’t like carbonara, but the point is, until you buy your first piece, you don’t really know what you are missing! (I’ve mixed in some cool art in between my soap-box rants.)

Goat, Hare by Kay Tuttle

1. Prints are evil.
No they aren’t, but let’s face it – you only buy a print because you can’t have the original, right? But the thing is you can. There are so many emerging and established artists out there that create a huge array of incredible work that you CAN have. They aren’t Renaissance masters, but are you excited by the fact that there are thousands of people with the exact same print hanging in their living room? Artists today provide infinitely more interesting choices than what you see picked out for you at the big box stores.

To me, the point of art is that it is something unique, its value is in its intimate and personal nature. Doesn’t buying a mass-produced print seem inherently against what art is about? The problem with prints is it has to be non-offensive in any way to the general public for it to be viable to be mass produced. So it doesn’t leave much room for individuality, quirkiness or personality. What you choose to display on your walls and look at every day is your opportunity to express yourself and have a point of view. I like to think that I don’t see the world the same way as the other 10,000 other people with the same print. I am excited when I can find an artist that has a similar view or aesthetic sense as I do.

2. You don’t have to be uber rich to collect original art.

Asa ni Namida / Morning Tears by Paul Binnie

The old stereotype was that people who could afford original art were so wealthy, they were inventing ways to spend it. The truth is, there is fantastic art out there for $20 or $2,000,000. Reproduction art from Pottery Barn costs $600, I can think of so many original pieces I would rather pick up for that amount. Your experience discovering and finding treasures to hang on your wall can make your life richer. It’s so rewarding to curate your own little art gallery in your home.

Buying art from an artist is a great deal for both you and them, you gain a special piece of art that you love, and the artist gains the ability to continue to spend time creating. There are few artists that can survive on their art alone. Another way that you are contributing to the art world is by being an engaged audience, which is also important. I guess there are artists out there that create for themselves only, but I think the majority feeds off of having others experience and respond to their creative efforts.

Are you convinced?

There are many great places to find art that speaks to you – and online is a really exciting place to get a feel for what you respond to and also purchase from. There are artist blogs/sites, gallery sites with portfolios and online original art retail venues like zatista.com where you can see hundreds of examples of styles and subjects. If you don’t live in a metropolitan area it may also be hard to find a gallery that expresses your style, so the internet is great to explore outside your area. But if you do find a place that appeals to you, stop in! Many cities have Art Walks on the weekend that are fun to browse. Start small, find something that won’t break the bank, but be sure to buy a piece that makes you feel something. You will be amazed at how much personality a mere object can add to your home.

Credits:
Art 1: Viner Studio
Art 2: Kay Tuttle
Art 3: Paul Binnie
Art 4: Bryan Nash Gill
Art 5: Camilla D’ErricoArt
Art 6: Parimal Vaghela

Welcome to Zatista’s new blog, WallSpin, where you’ll find fantastic design ideas for your home, introduce you to some of today’s best and brightest emerging and established artists, as well as provide you with fresh views on discovering and expressing your particular sense of style.

If you like what you see, make sure to spread the news and tell your friends about WallSpin!

If you love reading design magazines like I do, you’ve probably noticed that it seems like some people have a very strong sense of style and know just how to make dramatically sized artwork work in their home. If you don’t have your art legs just yet, or if you’re still honing your sense of style, I’ll give you some pointers plus a very basic formula for sizing art to get you started.

Generally speaking, we don’t want a piece of art to be so big it takes over a room nor do we want small pieces to get lost on a large wall. We want our art to really work in its space. So how do we find a happy medium and figure out the right size art for our wall?

Usually we hang art in two places: blank walls or walls with furniture. If you’re hanging art on a blank wall, you don’t need to measure anything – just think broadly about how the size of the artwork relates to everything else in the room. Do you have a room where big art is competing with big furniture? Do you have a busy room with a lot of furniture where your small photographs just seem to disappear? Or, do you have a spacious room that can afford to be anchored by a big piece of artwork? Before banging any nails, hold up different sizes of art on your blank wall and look for a balance between the art and the other elements in the room.

For the trickier business of hanging art on walls shared with furniture, get out your measuring tape and let’s talk fractions. There is an old rule that art should be 2/3 the size of a wall or the object it relates to. You needn’t follow this rule to a T, but it is a helpful starting place.

For instance, if you are hanging a piece of art (or a grouping of art) over a 48” W sideboard in your dining room, plan for the size of your art (or the overal size of the group of art) to be no smaller than 32” W or up to 48” W, though I suggest not wider than the sideboard itself. Hanging artwork which is smaller than the sideboard can be a bit more dynamic than matching its width perfectly.

If you’re hanging art between two closely positioned windows, don’t hang art that barely fits. Use the 2/3 rule, measure the space, and buy artwork approximately 2/3 of the size of the distance between the windows.

So, indeed it’s true that size matters, but maybe not in the way you were expecting. It’s all about proportion. Art does not have to be big to make an impact. Once you get the hang of thinking about size in these terms, the art will feel like it belongs in its space allowing you to appreciate its inherent elements which grabbed your attention in the first place. You’ll know when it’s working because you’ll walk into a room and either the art will just pop, or the whole room will have a sense of balance that it didn’t have before, and if you’re lucky, both.

Photo: Lisa Pak Design