23 April, 2013

Peek at a Painting

by Lauren Setum, Allied Member ASID
It often seems that art is an after-thought for many people when it comes to their interior spaces. Today, however, we'll look at why it should be one of the first considerations when thinking about a design scheme. Custom pieces, in particular, can make a space feel extra personal, and I have the art to prove it! I recently collaborated with Los Angeles based artist, Jimmy Danko, on a custom painting for my home. Here's a peek at the process...

Most artists have a style or genre that they focus on. So, keeping his style as an artist in mind, Jimmy and I discussed concepts for my painting. He was intrigued by the idea of incorporating text into the piece. Many conversations/images/design discussions later, we landed on the words 'Drive Until'. Why? Well, I liked the word 'drive' because of how it could be interpreted...an individual can have drive, or one could drive somewhere (i.e. travel, explore). Then we talked about my love for the movie The Sound of Music. If you've seen it, you know there's a song with the lyrics 'climb every mountain until you find your dream'. I suggested, therefore, the phrase 'Drive until you find'. Jimmy, using his artist's intuition, shortened it to the phrase you see on the options above. Oh yeah, and the background came about because I may have sent just a few images of fabrics and wall coverings that I liked...An excerpt from our direct correspondence is below and explains the options above (notice how the artist tailors services since he knows the client personally!)

"Lauren! Ok, attached is my idea for your painting. There's a brief on the first page that kind of explains my idea behind it. As you'll see I steered away from imagery. The piece leans heavily on technique, texture and type. There are a few versions of the same basic composition. Normally I wouldn't include those, but I know you kind of have a vision for your house and I thought one option might resonate more than another with that vision."

Keep reading to see which one I chose...

Teaser photo that I received part-way through the process.

All ready to ship from Jimmy's studio in downtown LA. He builds the crate, complete with the gorilla logo, for every piece he sends out into the world. Pretty cool!

All complete, on the wall in my room!