a number of titles

come to mind for this post---

the ease of addiction - or
I become an art collector - or
decorating the condo redux....

so - while it is somewhat a long story I KNOW I can condense it to "just the facts ma'am..." 

I came home from Florida around the 4th of July holiday after going there to build furniture (see the post: I build furniture part II) and I was pretty happy with my progress but the walls were really bare - I had bought a few cheap posters on line framed in plastic with plexi-glass (wasn't clear online that they were going to be that cheap looking- LOL but you get what you pay for)

I had taken these and hung them in their intended spots and while nothing special they were fine for where they were and the plexi-glass turned out to be a bonus because these posters were to hang on walls that couldn't take a big hanger for heavy weight as behind them were pocket doors.

OK a little aside- we only have two regular doors in our condo- the front door and the door to the guest bathroom.  Everything else is either sliding glass (seven of those) or pocket doors (three or four depending upon how you count.)

So the posters worked out OK and I could see from even that small wall décor how much a difference this makes in the feel of the room.  From there- well - that is the thing... I see now how collecting can become and obsession luckily I can stop (ha ha ha - that's what they all say) because I do only have so much space.

I had been visiting online decorating sites scanning for small objects that I would need in the new condo (especially the kitchen) and on one of the sites I found a category for used art work.  Well I guess I should call it "pre-owned" since you don't really use art work... and began small with a watercolor of beachcombers in the same palate as the Lanai color scheme...

Then I came across a painting I liked of Venice (a good choice for the bedroom) and well then things got on a roll and I found a series of seascapes for the Living/Dining room - which 1. has lots of wall space and 2. really need some perking up as right now it kind of looks like a furniture warehouse.... so I put together (over several weeks of watching what arrived in the vintage art daily post) a grouping of seascapes for the big wall in the LR/DR...

another digression- I have actually collected art for quite some time- when I started to travel I looked for a "souvenir" that I could have as a reminder of the places I have visited and the people I have met along the way (in what is now 70+ countries.)  I didn't start out in watercolors, but soon found that nearly everywhere I went I could find a local artist painting a watercolor of a size I could easily transport home.

so I guess looking at this post so far I can't keep it short - so I will go to some examples - the first a granary in Tunisia near Tataouine...

 

and the souvenir:

then one from Portugal - Phil with the artist and then the painting in our home-

my mother modeling the Venetian Mask I purchased and a photo of it hanging in our powder room -

although it looks nothing like my mother- those are definitely her eyes in the modeling picture and it is kind of strange how much life just the eyes can bring to something-

next New Zealand- a recent trip there (last December) and I found in a brief bathroom stop a painting I wanted in a local gallery - my good luck the artist was the one manning the co-op that day so she knew how much I liked her work... this one was a completely accurate representation of the weather we had near Franz Joseph glacier-

Rome- the Fountain of Trevi- (don't know what hour the artist saw so FEW people there LOL)

Venice- lamp post and looking across the lagoon from Piazza San Marco-

this artist amalgamated two photographs- that's one of the cool things you can do as an artist - just take what you like of the scene and emphasize what you want people to "see"-

the Bridge of Sighs-

Dubrovnik and the man who painted it - where I bought it from him on the wall surrounding the city formerly known as Ragusa-

Valetta Harbor in Malta- and a local style boat on the water- followed by the painting I bought in town in a gallery-

so I actually could go on and on but will leave it at that... with one more photo of the stairway wall where a number of my travel "souvenir" paintings hang-

and I think since this has gone on so long already I will do the Florida acquisitions in another post LOL- see you there!