Art in my Home
Art has always played a big role in my life – in fact I wanted to be a painter in my early life. I attended an art boarding school and majored in painting. I loved nothing more than working late into the night in the paint splattered studio, Nina Simone on the radio – myself as my own model. I would work fast with bold brush strokes heavy with oil paint – intoxicated by the smell of linseed oil and the high of self-expression. When I graduated and attended Parson’s School of Design in NY I majored in furniture design – I got to continue to work with my hands and create things, and I considered it ‘functional sculpture’ in a way. From furniture it was an easy pivot to full interiors – but even as a designer art was no less a part of my life.
I grew up surrounded by art – my parents were big collectors and my education started early. From gallery and museum visits to my childhood home, I was exposed to some big names in art, and plenty of nameless artist too. My mother in particular lead my example – she was a collector of ‘beautiful things’ – and those things were often found at an antique mall in Maine or in a coffee shop cum gallery in Rhode Island. If she responded to something emotionally it could hang or sit next to a David Hockney or George Braque in her home.
For the entirety of my 20’s I lived in the famous/ infamous Chelsea Hotel in NY, which was about 30% hotel and 70% residential apartments. Now reopened as a posh 5 star hotel, for decade upon decade ‘The Chelsea’ as it was known, was the bohemian centre of the universe. Frequented by artists and creatives of every medium (whom – when they were starving artists – were rumoured to have traded artworks for rent). Some of these noteworthy names included the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, Australian Vallie Myers, Jean Michel Basquiat and even Jackson Pollick. With the exception of Myers, none of those artists’ works were on the walls when I lived there, however every single wall (and many ceilings) were adorned in fabulous works by famous and not so famous artists.
In my home now – a humble 2 bedroom palace in Hepburn Springs, I count no less than 134 works of art (and growing if I can find the wall space). My collection comes from all over – from my days in Milan shopping at the fabulous Sunday flea market on the ‘Naviglio’, from seaside markets in the South of France (when it was a short drive from home in Milan), some things come from Aussie opp shops, antique malls in Maine (that I frequented with my mother up until recently), also from my mother’s own collection and from Bluethumb – the Australian online art gallery.
Bluethumb was founded in 2012 and has grown steadily ever since. It is a hub for Australian artists all over the country – emerging and established. I was sceptical at first as I am not normally a ‘sight unseen’ purchaser – especially when it comes to art (I have made too many mistakes in the past), but Bluethumb do a great job of properly representing the works – and even have videos of some pieces shot from different angels, allowing you to get a real feal for the texture of the piece.
The founders of Bluethumb recently asked me to take part in their podcast series called ‘Art in my Home’, where they interview design professionals about exactly that. You can listen to the episode here. In the link you can also check out my guest curation of my favourite pieces on their site.
Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS2cQSQOIy0