The Quest for Wall Art

My home is the place to where I escape at the end of the day. After putting in my allotted time at a job that keeps me overly busy, I relish coming to the place like no other where I can recover from the stress and mentally regroup.

Our style of decor is somewhat eclectic, not at all showy.  Our home feels clean but lived in.  The varying items that grace our walls result from a blend of two separate homes. After my husband passed away I invited my sister, who had become disabled, to move across country to live with me.  She happily obliged. Her decorating tastes are very modern while mine are quite traditional so it was interesting exercise for us to agree on what would be displayed on our walls.  She had sold or given away much of her possessions prior to the move, so I knew the things that she brought with her were extremely important to her and they would be displayed.  Bit by bit some of my things disappeared from the walls to make way for her items.  That was not a problem because none of the items I gave up were of a personal nature.

We moved a few years ago after I accepted a job promotion.  Our new home is southwestern style but we had no decor items that matched the style.  We were given a Navajo rug that now hangs in our entry way.  Everything else is something that one of us had some kind of personal connection to.  Having this eclectic collection works for us.

Currently, there is only one item on the walls of our home that has no personal significance but was bought only to fit a space.  That is a metal sculpture hanging in a niche above our fireplace.  The niche is angled at the bottom so it could not be used as a shelf for display.  We set out upon a quest to find the perfect artwork.  We went to art fairs and art shows.  We visited the famous and not so famous galleries in Santa Fe. We checked out thrift shops and online sites.  Whenever we went out we carried a tape measure so that if by chance we saw something we both liked we could determine if it would fit and then buy it.  It turned into a real problem.  If I am to pay a gallery price for something, we both had to really, really like it and of course it had to be the right size. We saw beautiful pieces.  Since our tastes are so different we did not agree on any one item.  If we both really liked something it ended up being the wrong size or the wrong proportion.  But because this spot was such a focal point in our living room it continued to haunt us.    

Finally one of us saw something in a department store sale flyer that we thought might work. We went shopping. We ended up purchasing a metalwork item, not the one we saw in the flyer, but something else that seemed appropriate. It did not cost nearly as much as we were prepared to spend. Meanwhile, it fills the gaping hole in our home and the need for the perfect piece is not so urgent.  We still are on the look out for that one unique item upon which we can both agree.  Our quest has not ended.

The quest for wall art, just another thread of my life.

Submitted to satisfy the Blogging 101 assignment “Make a Prompt Personal”.  The prompt was Wall to Wall.