Thursday, June 4, 2015

Today, I Am An Art Critic!

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.......I went to college and received a degree in Fine Art, with minors on Art History and Anthropology.( I soon learned I couldn't make a living at it, but that's another story.) Today I am going to use some of those long dormant learnings and talk about a piece of art I recently acquired. While the title of my blog post mentions being a critic, I actually only have praise.

Let me start with a close-up so we all can see this beauty. It may even look familiar......

Have you seen this before someplace maybe?

For a long time, I have wanted to get one of Mary's photographs. The trouble was I could never pick which one. I am sure you have all seen her beautiful work over on her blog Tales From the Back Road. When she recently posted about how she and her equally talented husband had teamed up to put custom frames around her photos, I knew it was time to jump!

Back in March, Mary had posted about Castle Dome mine. In that post is where I first saw the photograph above. It had instant appeal for me! When I saw she had chosen this shot as one  to put a custom frame on, I figured it was fate! Those little keys attached to the frame were the icing on the cake! I just love all the symbolism you can read into this if you are so inclined. For me, it brought to mind the old saying "When one door closes, another opens....." and in this case you even have the keys to make it happen. It also brought to mind lyrics from an Eagles song, Already Gone, where they sing "So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains, And we never even know we have the key ".  So for me, this piece gives an uplifting message about being in control of your own destiny and that we each hold the key to to our own happiness. I may be reading a lot into a pretty lavender door knob, but that's what several semesters of art history will do to you, even all these years later.

Another thing I love about this photo which you really can't discern from your computer screen, is how perfectly Mary focused on the knob itself. The picture has a very distinctive three dimensional quality to it when you see it in real life. It looks like you could grab that knob!

 The frame is beautifully made and stained. Even the back is nicely finished and comes ready to hang. In my house, I have a room with a southwestern decorating theme, and the colors in this photo matched so well! As you can see in the photo above, the colors in the photo really pop against my wall color! It really turned out to be a perfect match for the whole room.

                                        Even the comforter on the bed is a perfect match....


                                                              The curtains, too!


                                                          The long view..............



Another thing I would like to mention is that the original version Mary and Al had put together was in an 11x14 format which too large for my chosen spot. Mary was happy to do a smaller 8x10 version for me, and Al made another frame. I really appreciated the extra work to make it just right for me.

If you are like me, and have been considering one of these beauties, I wouldn't wait too long! When Mary takes her collection to one of the summer art shows, they will disappear just like that! Snap!

I undertook this post because of how absolutely pleased I am with my print and frame. I told Mary I wanted to blog about it, but she did not ask me to. These are just my own personal observations on something that made me happy!




20 comments:

  1. Taryn, that was wonderful! You have an art degree? That is very cool. Thanks so much for writing such positive praise for the photo, I am so glad you love it. And it looks great in the space you put it in.

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  2. Hi Y’all!

    Even in the post, my Human thought that it was a deep frame and there was wood and a door knob inside the frame! BOL!!! Silly Human!

    I’ve relocated to www.browndogcbr.net. There is a link on http://browndogcbr.blogspot.com .
    Hope y’all come to my new home. I’m still workin’ on it. You need to click the title to find a spot to comment.

    Y’all hurry on by now!
    Hawk aka BrownDog

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  3. So lovely, and so perfect for that room! The doorknob really does look 3D - even in your photo of it. Very cool about having a fine art degree. (Bummer about the not-being-able-to-make-a-living-at-it thing though...)

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  4. Oh Taryn, that is one of my favorite photos of Mary's too and you picked the perfect (also one of my favorites) frame for it!! Getting one of Mary's photo is also on my 'to do' list, but there are so many I love, I just can't decide. And you are right, it fits perfectly in your room.

    Thank you for joining the blog hop!!

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  5. I thought it was 3-diemensional until I read your post. It's really pretty. I have some of Mary's note cards - gave them out to my sisters too - love 'em.

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  6. It is the perfect picture for the perfect spot. Very nice!

    Thanks so much for joining the hop!

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  7. That is great, and you found the perfect setting for it. We have those glass doorknobs throughout our old 1929 house. I love them but didn't think about how gorgeously artful they can look. I think your academic background shines through quite nicely in your photography and your eye for beautiful scenes.

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  9. That's so lovely and fits in pawfectly where you've put it, I luffs it!
    Loves and licky kisses
    Princess Leah xxx

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  10. That is a beautiful piece! Be lost in it often.

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  11. Beautiful wall hanging. Looks very nice in that spot.

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  12. Wow, that is beautiful!!!!!

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  13. Wows, I loves it!!!! very cool! I can see why they don't last long!
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥

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  14. Wonderful post! Love the beauty you share!

    xox
    Tootsie

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  15. I love this piece from Mary and I love that it spoke it to you! That's the sign of a great piece of art!

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  16. I also really love this project that Mary and Al are working on together. And I'm interested to hear that it really is just a photo in the frame. When I first saw this piece on Mary's site, I thought she attached a real doorknob to the photo.

    You have great taste. I can certainly see why you're pleased to own this beautiful piece. And heck, you even got to dust off your art degree. :)

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  17. That really is a work of art, both the photo and the frame. It really finishes off your room beautifully. So cool that you've got a degree in fine art!

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