September 02, 2020

Brushstroke Art

September 02, 2020/ Meryl

Hi friends this week I’m sharing some pretty cool graphic art. I’ve been saving images as inspiration for a while now and I’m itching to create something inspired by these brilliant pieces for the Chalet mantel. Click image for source. Enjoy!

Emily A. Clark

Are you a fan? Do you have any similar art in your home? Please let us know in the comments below! Thanks so much for spending some time here! Have a great week - stay safe and wear your mask!

Til next time!

All Images Belong to Accounts Above.

November 20, 2019

Great Big Canvas helps Everyone "Say No To Empty Walls!"

November 20, 2019/ Meryl

Hey Friends I recently installed some new art in the Chalet and I’m super excited to share it with you. Thank you so much to Great Big Canvas for partnering with me and supporting me on Instagram and here on my blog. *All opinions are my own!

Everyone knows how much I love art and filling the walls of the Chalet with all different kinds. This is exactly why my hashtag is #saynotoemptywalls! Over a little more than a year the Livingroom has gone through a transformation - with a new couch, coffee table and rugs. Originally we had a large scale clock on the wall - I tried to find just the right piece of art for this spot; some of you may recall the cow I had for a bit and sure Bessie was fun but, she was not the design aesthetic I wanted to live with permanently.

So - I was beyond thrilled when Great Big Canvas reached out to me with an invitation to partner with them on some wonderful Artwork for the Chalet!

Immediately I started looking at art by Vincent van Gogh - above are a few of the amazing works I thought about.

Ultimately, I settled on Acacia in Flower - I loved how the greens and blues of the canvas would interact with our vintage mid-century lamp and the rugs. Also, its not a work I was familiar with by Vincent van Gogh and I loved finding something different. My son a huge van Gogh fan chose The Starry Night and Self Portrait With Grey Felt Hat for his room.

Both of these works are a 1.25” deep canvas print with a hard sealed finished back and came pre-installed with hanging hardware. It couldn’t have been easier to hang these up and Liam is overjoyed at having real art in his space.

In prepping to hang Acacia in Flower - I touched up the wall paint and reviewed the hanging instructions - the larger canvases are stretched over wood frames and are shipped with mounting hardware and a hanger system for drywall. I utilized the mounting hardware and added picture hanging wire to secure it onto our plaster walls.

It has never been easier to bring museum quality art into your space. These pieces are all Artist-Grade Canvas - Fade-Resistant Archival Inks Patented - Warp-Resistant Construction and Made in the USA.

Just in time to spruce up your home for the holidays or find a unique gift for that special someone. Great Big Canvas is offering my readers and followers a discount. Use the code CHALET to receive 50% off of all products site wide.

Til next time - Happy Shopping!

September 25, 2019

Always Art

September 25, 2019/ Meryl

Since the Chalet is chockablock full of Art I am often asked for my sources. Now, I won’t go piece by piece through all the rooms… because that is way more than a single post that’s a book unto itself my friends - but, I thought I would pick a few spaces around the Chalet and share where I found them.

The hallway has been curated in various ways. Through thrifting - the Steamship, The Arc de Triomphe, The Chalets and more. I purchased through Retailers - Painting of Camille Monet La Japonaise. The photograph of Central Park was bought on the street in NYC. I’ve been fortunate to acquire works directly from the Artists - Bright Floral by Renee Gibson, Pink Flowers by Anna Nord, Sunset Fog by Leigh Viner. I’ve received delightful gifts - the Bermuda watercolor, the Chalet drawing, the Kings Highway Label a beautiful Irish landscape. And there’s more…pieces I photographed/printed and framed, pieces that belonged to my mother, a photograph of my husbands ancestors farm, a piece my son created.

The Art in the Master is a mix - The Eiffel Tower is by Leigh Viner, The Paris Map a gift, I purchased the wonderful pink Cherry Blossom Grove during a local Art Festival. The bird is one of two paintings that belonged to my Aunt. The small drawing at top right is a post card of a James Abbott McNeill Whistler work The Little Mast I picked up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The other Paris scenes were thrifted in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

This grouping in my sons room is from two places: Society 6 and my brain. Lego Batman and the Dinosaur were brought through the on-line retailer. The clipper ship is a photograph I snapped on my iPhone while shopping - it is actually the carved top of a box. I liked it and since my son didn’t need a box - I turned it into wall art.

The Portrait gallery started with Rembrandt’s painting The Man with the Golden Helmet. It is a canvas my father received for opening a bank account in the 1960’s. It’s an honest to goodness painting my friends - a copy of a master. He has always hung in this spot in the Chalet but, once we painted the hall last spring I needed to decide what this wall would become. I am thrilled every time I walk by this group that includes family photographs, a print of the famous Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer, a modern print of George Washington, a print of an auburn haired young lady my Grandfather gave me and a print of the painting of newsboy Jimmy O’D from the Montclair Art Museum. Nothing here is thrifted.

In the Livingroom is where you’ll find one of my favorite pieces; a collage of blue on the mantel by artist Allison Ford.

You can also see the corner gallery reflected in the mirror. This gallery is made up of mostly thrifted items, I do have another piece in that mix by Leigh Viner a one-of-kind original painting of Hermes store front, the London scene of the Double-Decker bus was purchased on Art.com as was the Empire State Building print, there is a small piece of the York Cathedral Church I purchased through the Etsy site Milras and quite a few pieces were gifts.

The art at the top of the Diningroom wall is by artist Lisa Congdon Birch Forest No. 7. I purchased it years ago through 20x200 this incredible site has been offering affordable art directly from the artists who create it since 2007. Leigh Viner created these beautiful pink flowers and I love how they pop. I thrifted other works or created them myself. A snow scene was a gift from my Mother-In-Law. The Davos print from All Posters.com. My Uncle created the sketch of the tree top view from our neighbors home. Just out of view there is a lovely floral watercolor by artist Erisha - A Thing Created. I also own an amazing modern pointillism by my dear friend and talented artist Ekaterina Ermilkina.

Here’s a list of my thrifting haunts:

New Jersey:

Black Rose Antiques & Collectables - Phillipsburg Mall 1200 Rt 22 East Phillipsburg NJ 08865 - 908.859.6083

Cape May Antique Center - 1228 NJ-109 Cape May NJ 08204 - 609.898.4449

Days of Olde Antique Center - 110 S New York Road Galloway NJ 08205 - 609.652.7011

Hamburg Antique Center - 1 Main Street Hamburg NJ 07419 - 973.823.9700

Lafayette Mill Antique Center - 12 Morris Farm Road Lafayette Township NJ 07848 - 973.383.0065

The Antique Center of Red Bank - 2 locations: building II 195 West Front Street 732.842.3393 / building III 226 West Front Street Red Bank NJ 07701 - 732.842.4336

Tomato Factory Design and Antiques Center - 2 Somerset St Hopewell NJ 08525 - 609.466.9833

Scranberry Coop - 42 Main Street Andover NJ 07821 - 973.786.6414

Valley Vintage - 168 S Valley Road West Orange NJ 07052 - 973.323.1711

Pennsylvania:

the Olde Engine Works Marketplace - 62 N 3rd Street Stroudsburg PA 18360 - 570.421.4340

Pocono Peddlers Village Antique Mall - 246 Stadden Road Tannersville PA 18372 - 570.629.6366

New York :

Gristmill Antiques - 2250 NY-7 Troy NY 12180 - 518.663.5115

Pretty Funny Vintage - 80 S Broadway Tarrytown NY 10591 - 914.631.3368

Happy shopping and remember to #saynotoemptywalls !!!