Today's Tuesday Tip - "A hole in the wall"

One of my new year's resolutions is to be better about keeping up with my blog(s).  I'm just getting around to this but better late than never.  (I'm also trying to lose weight and exercise and you know how that goes.)  Today's tip is about surrounding yourself with beautiful things and overcoming the fear of putting holes in your wall.  Maybe you don't have that fear at all.  My dad instilled it in me when, as a young budding artist, I wanted to tack drawings up in my room.  "NO, NO, NO!" he shouted.  He said I could use tape but what good is that for paintings?  His solution was to hang a 4' x 8' sheet of Upson board on the wall with molly bolts!   (So much for not putting holes in his precious wall.)  Now I was free to tack up drawings, paintings, invitations and miscellaneous inspirational detritus to my heart's content and I did.  As a grown man I have learned that there is nothing you can do to a wall that can't be undone with Spackle or plaster.  My house is a testament to that.  The Victorians would have been impressed with the sheer volume of art hanging in my house - both mine and others. 

 
Still, we all have something too precious to mar.  For me it was my mahogany bar.  I have had an antique brass lion plaque stored away for years.  It is gorgeous, weighs 25 lbs and is perfect for the end of my bar in the studio.  You heard that right - I have a bar in my studio.  One that would be the envy of many an Irish Pub, though alas, no Guinness on tap.  The end panel of the bar was beautiful in its simplicity yet was crying out for the lion.  That meant drilling  holes in it to support the weight of the plaque.  Spackle might fix plaster but glossy wood is another story.  I finally screwed myself up (no pun intended) to do it and I am glad I did.

Moral of the story - Just do it!  Hang that art that has been leaning up against the wall, thrown on a shelf or stuck in the basement.  Surround yourself with beautiful things.  You will feel better for it.  The gallery that I worked for years ago had a saying - "One can live as long without art as with it, but not so well."  Words to live by.

Friday Flashback - "Red Glove"

"Red Glove"  Oil on panel  8" x 12"  1998

Many years ago, a friend came to dinner and causally threw her coat and gloves on a chair by the door.  Later, when it was time for her to leave, she noticed one of her gloves had gone missing.  The fur and leather glove had proved too tempting to one of the resident Siamese that prowled the studio at the time. Most likely China, the kleptomaniac, who was known to go into purse and pocket, box and bag to find treasures, had whisked it away.  After a futile search, my friend shrugged and tossed the remaining glove to her and her companions and said "Have fun."   I painted the glove as a token of thanks for her generosity but somehow we lost touch. The painting hung for years in the dining room with one glove hanging over the frame, the fickle cats having lost all interest in it.  I think we may have found the glove's mate in a lonely corner of the basement when we moved.