*This is a collaborative post.
I love art. I think most people do, am I right? I had a great excuse (not that I really need one) to find new art for our living room recently. We reshuffled some furniture around the house and moved the piano to our living room. We used to have this big, junky shelving unit here we bought 7 years ago, so you can imagine my excitement when I could finally get rid of it. The piano belongs to my husband, although our girls are keen ‘mini pianists’ as well. It has brought personality and sophistication to our living room which is exactly what I was hoping for. I knew straight away that I’d like a big, colourful abstract art above it. I thought about gallery walls and floating shelving too, but in the end it felt important to pick something that is relaxing and inspiring to look at. I didn’t want to clutter the space above the piano. Abstract art seemed like the way to go.
Around the same time I spotted a stunning marbled, one-off print by a Kent based artist, Nat Maks. I fell in love with her colourful prints straight away. If we hadn’t moved the piano, I wouldn’t have been in the search for a new art piece. I contacted Nat to see if she could make me one. I was over the moon when Nat told me that she’d like to collaborate with me and create a custom, one-off art print similar to the one she had on her website. All of her prints are bespoke and hand printed, designed in her studio in Margate, Kent. Nat’s marbled art is made by using an ancient Japanese marbling technique called ‘Suminagashi’. It’s a method where plain paper, water and ink is made to create a pattern. Once the desired pattern is formed, paper is then carefully laid onto the water surface to capture the design. She also creates bespoke mural wallpapers in her Design Studio using the same method. Her work has been featured in some major publications like the Sunday Times Home, Elle Décor, Living Etc, Homes & Gardens etc. I love that all the prints are unique, one-off pieces. Due to the way ‘Suminagashi’ art is created, the same pattern cannot be repeated. You can of course create something similar, with similar patterns and/or colours, but it will never be exactly identical. How cool is that? This is probably why I love Nat’s art even more than any other art that we have at home.
I exchanged quite a few emails with Nat before she created my one-off art piece. She has a great selection of art on her website (which you can purchase), but one print in particular spoke to me. I think it was more about the pattern than the colours, although I loved both. She asked me what kind of patterns and colours I was after. I understood that it’s impossible to create exactly the same print twice, but I thought it actually makes the artwork much more unique and special. After our chat she created 4 different prints that she thought I’d like. Her creations totally blew me away and I had some serious trouble deciding which one was my favourite. I couldn’t decide between two prints and she kindly offered to gift me both. I haven’t framed the second one as the frame hasn’t arrived yet, but I did find a spot for it in our open-plan lounge. I love having a set of two by the way. It feels like they belong to the same collection. I guess they kind of do.
With the obvious blues, greens and whites I named this print ‘Raindrops in the Forest’. It reminds me of the forest in our summer house in Finland. The blues are the raindrops and the white stumps are white birch wood. I can almost smell the scent that is produced after rain by looking at this picture. You know that sweet, grassy smell that is so intoxicating. That’s probably one my favourite childhood memories. Going out just after rain is so invigorating. That’s exactly what I love about art. It brings out emotions and is part of who you are. We often feel drawn to art without knowing why, but there is always an explanation, even if it’s subconscious. I read somewhere that you shouldn’t buy art unless you can talk about it for 15 minutes. I couldn’t agree more. I could talk about art for hours, but I also love hearing what other people think of the art I’ve chosen for our home. My daughter has named this art ‘Vanilla’ as it was the whitest print of the entire collection. I love her insight and perhaps unconsciously that is why I was drawn to it too.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention where the frame is from. Ideally I would have had this framed professionally, but since all the frame shops were (and still are) closed due to covid-19 I had to order one online. Nat recommended the Trieste frame from Habitat and I’m so happy with the quality. It was a bit of hassle getting it delivered (everything is delayed at the moment), but in the end I’m so glad I ordered it. The quality is just superb and I love the deep-set profile that allows the art to stand out. Unfortunately it was slightly smaller than the print (70 cm x 100 cm), so I had to fold the top so it would fit the frame. You could also cut it but I didn’t want to risk it. It looks absolutely perfect and has totally transformed our living room. It complements the piano so well, although I’m not quite done with this room yet. I’m still waiting for few more pieces to arrive and then our living room ‘mini make-over’ will be complete. I can’t wait to share more pictures with you soon, but isn’t it amazing what a huge difference art can make? It can literally lift a space and set the theme for the entire room. I have based all my other ‘new’ purchases around this art. It really has set the tone and I cannot wait for the final finishing touches.
What kind of art do you like? Share some of your favourite artists with me below!
