The Eye of the Beholder
Choosing local art for home decor
By Beth Anne Piehl
Photography by G. Randall Goss
Art history is rampant with stories about impulsive, moody painters who attempted, usually on multiple occasions, to off themselves, kept palettes of lovers and disappointed fathers who wanted to make an impression, not Impressionists.
Northern Michigan’s cadre of creativity doesn’t seem to be quite so turbulent, though local artists are passionate in their own right. Their admired works are the pièces de résistance in many area homes.
“Artwork is supposed to bring about conversation and energy and convey a feeling,” said Liz Ahrens, executive director of the Crooked Tree Arts Center in Petoskey. “The nice thing about Northern Michigan galleries is that often times, it’s their own gallery. They’ve got their collectors and you’re dealing with your neighbors. You’re supporting local artists.”
Crooked Tree’s art gallery displays and sells numerous local artists’ work, from pottery and painting to jewelry and glassworks. Most of the collection evokes a Northern Michigan essence.
“People like to buy local Michigan art. You find that safe harbor,” said Ahrens. “We have a lot of painters in Northern Michigan who paint beautiful scenes — a pot of geraniums, an Adirondack chair, a view from the bluff in Harbor Springs. It’s those comfortable, familiar scenes that many people will buy and take that first jump to put the nail in the wall.”
If Robert and Carol Riesenberger had a little bit more space, they’d probably put another nail in their wall, too. But as it is, their Charlevoix home is already tastefully packed with pieces that reflect their “shabby chic” style.
“The whole place is a piece of art,” said Carol. “We’ve put a lot of time into it.”
The Riesenbergers’ collection includes a number of items produced by Northern Michigan artists such as painters/muralists Meredith Krell and Steve Toornman; Kristin Hurlin whose work is recognizable from American Spoon Foods catalogs; and from their own son, Erik, who lives in California.
The snug home itself is a former caretaker’s cottage at the entrance to the Hidden Valley Association, which Robert leveled and rebuilt into a warm full-time home for the former Birmingham residents.
They moved north a year ago, selling their French Tudor and all its belongings in an estate sale to live near the quiet shores of Nowland Lake. Their decorating tastes, especially when it comes to choosing local artists, flow with the cabin’s layout.
“We pick up things that we like, but we don’t always know the artist,” said Carol. Robert himself is an artist with wood, creating a birch-bark hutch and concrete poured-form countertop in the kitchen, among other touches in the home.
Both agree there are numerous gifted artists across a variety of mediums in the Northern Michigan region, making it easier to decorate with locally produced pieces.
“There are a lot of very talented people here,” said Carol. “But we’ve kind of stopped looking because we don’t have the room.”
“Unless we put it on the ceiling …” added Robert.
As it turns out, the ceiling/sky is the limit when it comes to finding local art to complete a home’s decor. The number of galleries regionwide featuring the talents of area artists continues to grow, with some displaying the works of a particular artist and genre (like Trisha Witty, Pierre Bittar or Mary Hramiec-Hoffman, for example) and others featuring several artists’ productions, like Kühlhaus in Harbor Springs, Crooked Tree and Gallery on Main in Bay Harbor.
Original paintings, etchings, Giclee, sculptures, bronze art and prints, all from well-known local names — Krell, Kevin Barton, Trude Bigelow, Sandy Selden, Trish Morgan, Pietro Vinotti and Paul Varga — compete for attention throughout Gallery on Main.
Art aficionados such as Larissa Flynn, the gallery’s manager, suggest purchasing pieces that speak to personal taste, rather than trying to match something to furniture or paint.
“Just start going into galleries and getting an idea of what you really like,” said Flynn. “Go with an open mind and consider new things … Usually the things you select through your life are going to go together, it’s just going to automatically happen.”
Ahrens said many homeowners often worry about “what their friends are going to say” about an abstract piece, for example, or something unusual that nonetheless speaks tangibly to them.
“What people hang on their wall is typically a big decision for most people,” said Ahrens. “Three-dimensional pieces, like pottery, glass and woodworking, are by far a safer, simpler choice for people to make.”
Perennial favorites amid the hundreds of pieces at Crooked Tree include potters David and June Otis and Russ and Sue Bolt, whose brightly painted pottery is a top-seller.
Ahrens said most galleries will typically allow a customer to bring a piece home — whether it’s a painting, photograph, sculpture — to see if fits space and taste.
And Ahrens had one more piece of advice, which might have suited those earlier, tormented artists well, too: Choose your own path when it comes to art.
“Don’t buy artwork because you think it will increase in value, or that you’re supposed to like it,” she said. “You buy it because you love it.” HL
At the heart of buying art …
Factors to consider when choosing art for the home:
• Genre and personal preference: The piece you found and adore clashes with the style and architecture of your home, or it doesn’t match the color scheme of the room where you want to place it. At the end of the day, the real question is: Which do you enjoy more, the wall color or the piece of art?
• The composition and the room: Certain compositions are best fitted to certain rooms. For instance, in the kitchen, fruits and vegetables, chefs, wine bottles or other food-related art; in the bedroom, think passion, softness, or even botanical, like a large rose; in the bathroom, images that portray cleanliness and freshness.
• Color: Consider the walls, furniture, carpeting, window treatments, trim molding and other room enhancements, noting, however, they can be changed. An art piece with a well-balanced array of color can tie a room together. If a room is empty, choose the art first; allow the art to dictate what kind of furniture you’ll choose instead of vice-versa.
• Space: Say you have a space above your stove that is a foot and a half tall by four feet wide. It might be hard to find one image for this space. Instead, try three images of a similar genre that are smaller. A large wall or room is another challenging space. A grouping of images often works best. Very large prints — 4 by 8 feet and even bigger — can create a dramatic effect. Or, use a single image broken up into several gallery wrapped canvases spaced apart for large areas.
“Art is the means by which we communicate what it feels like to be alive.” Antony Gormley, contemporary English sculptor
