artistically inspired

Last week I had dinner at a friend's whose house I had not been to before. Since she's super creative, I figured I'd like her place, but oh boy, I was definitely not prepared for how incredibly inspired I would be by her home!

Her house had a clean, mid-century vibe overlaid with lots and lots of amazing art, much of which she created herself. Everywhere I turned, I was exposed to new and interesting pieces, ranging from prints, etchings, photography, lithographs, paintings, you name it. I loved how she grouped them, too, sometimes unifying different pieces by using the same color frames, other times just letting their difference in size, shape and color create a visual tension that was very pleasing to the eye.

After dreaming about the art-filled vignettes I had encountered that night, I was determined to expand my own art collection. A little hard to do at the moment: because we're having our siding replaced, we've had to pull everything from the walls, just in case the hammering and banging would knock stuff down.

Nevertheless, I was so inspired that I dragged Todd over to NE Alberta this weekend for a little gallery hopping. It was fun to shop around and see how much creativity Portland has to offer.

I came home with two additions to my collection: my favorite is an etching by local artist Misha Capecchi. I picked it up at Ampersand and later that night came across her work on Etsy.

While at Ampersand, I also found this fun vintage print of a boy in a boat:

I love how the photo damage actually adds a bit of mystery. Although it came matted and ready to frame, I think I'll save it for an art project and alter the matte with some pen and ink sketches.

Ampersand has a fun exhibit right now of old photo booth pictures. Definitely worth checking out:

I also did a little shopping on Etsy and will share those treasures as they hit my mail box!