If you’ve been following my blog series, 10 Key Home Decorating Tips, you’ve created a decor inspiration board that includes atmosphere and style goals, inspirational tears, and a color palette and plan. With this solid foundation you are ready for Tip #7, which coincides with our entrance into 2020. The new year often inspires us to make life-changing improvements. “Out with the old, in with the new” becomes our motto whether we plan to upgrade our environment or our attitudes. After all, it’s difficult to make progress without a little house cleaning first!



Whether you are moving into a freshly built home or remodeling the one you currently live in, begin by organizing, decluttering and cleaning. When moving, take time to rid yourself of that which no longer serves or pleases you. The more you sell or give away the less you have to transport and reintegrate into your new digs. If remodeling an existing home or space, assess what you can and can’t live without. It’s important to open up space in the room to allow your mind the freedom to visualize and thus create something new.

If you are unsure where to begin I recommend picking up a copy of Feng Shui Your Life, The Quick Guide to Decluttering Your Home and Renewing Your Life. I’ve been enjoying the practical guidance and inspiration it provides and think you will too!



To comment on this post, please visit my blog on 
 

Happy New Year! I just finished uploading new artwork to my website and am pleased to share it with you as the new year gets underway. Here is a look behind the scenes for one new piece called Star Bright.

Patterns

Patterns are everywhere in life. We see patterns in geometry, the cosmos, behaviorally and other areas. I’m particularly intrigued with geometric patterns in nature and certain designs that have transcended cultures and time.



This summer I opened a package for my birthday that had this wonderful brown packing paper in it (the gift was nice too). I began photographing the paper and recognized a pattern that resonated from two memories.

Connections

One was this wasp's nest that I had found on the ground recently and the other was from the Basilica of San Francesco in Siena Italy when I was there in 2014.



The inlaid marble floor was fascinating and the craftsmanship and geometric pattern were mesmerizing. I immediately became obsessed to see if I could create an image through photography that would create an illusion of texture and dimension. The result is the image below titled Star Bright. The contrast of white and black and the hexagons, although not perfect in shape, remind me of our uniqueness as individuals, that we have a place in the pattern of life and we are united in the web of humanity.

Result

Star Bright Look Studio 2019 

Star Bright Look Studio 2019  

I hope 2020 is a great year for you. Stop by the studio and enjoy a glass of champagne to celebrate winter, snow and the New Year! 

To comment on this post, please visit my blog on 

November is the month we begin to think of our most special friends and family gathering during the holidays for food, laughter and gifts to celebrate the season. Making these festivities a success requires planning, and sometimes finding memorable gifts can be a challenge.

Consider giving something unexpected

Art is an extraordinary gift both personal and lasting. Many of my clients have gifted abstract art, both large and small, to family and friends. I’ve had recipients come up to me years later and thank me for the art on their wall. That’s always a nice surprise!

There are several ways you can make this unexpected gift a reality:

• Select the artwork yourself

As a Colorado artist living in the Roaring Fork Valley, access to my studio is convenient and it’s open for you to explore. You can also shop online.

• Let them choose

Determine a dollar amount you would like to spend on your special person and let them choose the art. A Gift Certificate can be applied to a piece that costs more or we can create a piece within a dollar parameter. That’s one ideal aspect of art photography - almost any size can be created.

• Plan a mini-party!

Give a Gift Certificate and then come to my studio for a mini-party during the holiday season. It’s fun for friends and family to bounce ideas off one another while browsing and enjoying a glass of champagne. If a custom piece is desired, the enjoyment will be extended into the New Year when I deliver their artwork to them.

Plan a studio visit, purchase a gift certificate or discuss things further by contacting me here:

~ Click to email
~ Call 

Decks the halls with boughs of art and share the creativity within each of us.

Happy Holidays!
Gayle
 

~ Custom artwork will be delivered after the New Year, within approximately four weeks.
~ Studio visits are by appointment only.

 

Inspiration

Inspiration for my photography comes in all shapes and sizes. Take these old pair of boots for example.



The light was shining on them one day and I was intrigued by the deep cracks that seemed to tell their own story of the journey we each take in life and how time and age leave their mark. Chiseled but not worn out, there’s added character in the wrinkles of time. I was curious to see what story could be captured in a photograph.

Art

The result is the image below, Wild Horses.



The lines across the photo remind me of how the manes of wild horses look when they are running free. I enjoy the surprise of another story that can be told through the lens. It’s one of the delights of the work that I do. 

Context

The next dimension that continues to intrigue me is how flexible abstract art is in different interiors. Each client can create his or her story for the artwork in their own setting as seen below.





It’s fun to think of the conversations that might arise when people who don’t know the story behind Wild Horses see it for the first time.

To comment on this post, please visit my blog on 

Thank you to everyone who pARTied with us Saturday at Art Base’s 23rd annual fundraising event!  It was a fun event as usual and successful, thanks to the support of our community. This year’s pARTy included a cocktail reception, fine wine and dining, live music, as well as an exclusive silent auction and paddle raise for programs. If you haven’t experienced the Art Base auction, it’s unique. Over 100 works by “unseen” Colorado artists, each 10x10”, are auctioned off. Artists’ identities are concealed until the end at a big reveal which is pretty exciting!

The pARTy also included a presentation of the annual Melva Bucksbaum Dedication to the Arts Award, this year honoring Harry Teague and his years of creative architectural design in Basalt and the Roaring Fork Valley.

As an Art Base council member I’m so pleased to say we exceeded our fundraising goal by raising over $200,000! Art Base will use these funds to continue to provide access to the arts for youth and adults via scholarships - requests for which have more than doubled in the last year. 

If you missed the pARTy, an Art Base membership is another way to gain access to specialized events while contributing to the arts. In fact earlier this summer I partnered with John Cottle to host one such event, Art & Architecture, at my home in Basalt. 



John and I led an open discussion that covered, among other things, John’s architectural endeavors to bring soul to new structures and my experience and inspiration creating contemporary works of art from aged objects. My home, a 3-story, circa 1800’s barn relocated from Vermont provided the perfect backdrop for this discussion prompting much curiosity about the juxtaposition of new and old and the use of reclaimed materials in both art and architecture.

     

During the event, my photography studio was open for people to get a behind-the-scenes look at some of the original pieces I photograph as well as a variety of finished works framed and at full scale.





Our busy summer at the ArtBase will not end with the season! Expect the energy to continue into the fall with new exhibitions and, for members only, the next Artist Talk!

To comment on this post, please visit my blog on