Housewarming

As a housewarming gift to my parents, I commissioned Anne Harwell over at Annechovie to paint my parents' new home. Custom art is always a great personal gift, but this time it felt particularly appropriate given that my mother has a painting of each one of her previous homes (several of which were painted by my maternal grandmother, an amateur artist herself who was highly skilled at watercolors). A few weeks ago, I sent over to Anne this photograph of my parents' home:

On Friday the finished product arrived at my house. In truth, my feeble attempt at reproducing the painting (this is a photograph of the painting...scanning was a disaster) really doesn't capture its lovely detail and colors, but it will give you an idea of how great a job Anne did. On Sunday, I presented the piece to my parents and they were absolutely thrilled. Thanks so much, Anne, for helping me come up with the perfect housewarming gift! When our new house gets finished, I'm definitely going to get you to paint it for me.

One of the most exciting discovers I've made since stumbling into the blogosphere is the many wonderful artists that I've been able to connect with directly. The world wide web allows the average person an unprecedented amount of access to talent, be it local or international, and the opportunity to purchase unique and beautiful items and works of art at wholesale prices. This greater accessibility of both art and design is truly exciting and signals a democratization of style, which was long overdue in my book. While I would never suggest that interior designers and decorators are unnecessary (quite to the contrary, in fact), I don't believe you should have to hire one just to purchase a piece of furniture, a yard of fabric or a work of art.

{Climbing off my soapbox.} In any case, if you aren't familiar with Anne's work, I highly suggest checking out both her blog and her Etsy store, which features some of her non-custom work. I particularly love her Chair Silhouette Note cards ($16.50/set of 8), which are pretty enough to frame as art on their own:

In addition to houses and some majorly cool chairs, Anne will paint portraits (including dog portraits), landscapes and just about anything else.