Chapter Two: IMPROVING YOUR HOME AND YOUR LIFE WITH PAINTINGS

Copyright 2004 by Carol Pomeroy

How sad it is to hear the words, "She is keeping the room just as it was." Why? You know without being told that she has suffered a loss. We are happy when we learn the wallpaper is being replaced and draperies changed to a bright color? Why? Now we know she has opened her mind to change, is moving on with life.

That is true in home improvement. Even moving the furniture, adding a new blue teapot to the window sill or pillow to the sofa is a renewal. It satisfies the soul.

I remember my friend Crystal. She was in anguish over a terrible loss of a family member--her grandmother--and a crushing divorce. She leaned back to watch soaps, thin, pale, listless, not caring, depressed. One day she went out and bought a hideous piece of art. It was a scene of a burned out sailing ship, dark, foreboding, masts ripped and torn, three charred supports, a trinity of painful wreckage, sinking. Crystal's friends, seeing it over the fireplace, gasped and a puzzled look. Why did Crystal feel that "this was painted just for her?" Because she identified with the wreck. She was feeling, "That is me at twenty-two" But one day, she reminded herself that she could and would change. Step by step, she did this. Needless to say, the canvas was put out of her life, and new ones added to her collection.

Nina was under such pressure that her eye continually blinked. Her blood pressure was dangerously high. One day she acquired three exquisite yellow roses, some with green backgrounds. Then a lovely gold-framed oval of a "Peace" rose. Next, a spray of pale green roses, then a seascape with deep blue water, and a landscape in the style of the old masters. Nina lifted her eyes to these often. Eventually, she called them her magic pills...

Then there was Anne, a happy and positive person. Anne surrounded herself with paintings by an impressionist who painted scenes of Paris, Carmel-by-the-Sea, San Francisco. Every spring Anne changed her paintings to suit her mood; in winter she brought the outdoors to the inside of her home by the use of paintings.

The point: Be open to change in your surroundings. Like the seasons, refresh yourself. Nothing can do that as well as a new oil original. This will reflect you as you change from one phase of your life, passing on to another. This is the way to collect a variety of lovely and meaningful art treasures that you can change from here to there over the years.

Bryon: "The sky is changed! And what a CHANGE!" BRING THE SKY INDOORS AND CHANGE YOUR SURROUNDINGS WITH FINE ART AS YOU CHANGE!

Chapter Three: CARE OF FINE ART

Copyright 2004 by Carol Pomeroy

Caring for your fine art can be a challenge in my opinion, because environmental enemies abound in the home. When you cook, turn on a hot water faucet, take a shower, turn on the lights, use hot or cold air vents, or light a fire in the fireplace, you are creating a “hostile environment” for your paintings.

A home is not a museum with the atmosphere maintained just right for the oil paintings and watercolors, with temperatures of 70 degrees and a humidity of 50%.

Often the fine art in our homes represents an investment of money and love. For such treasures, we should have a stable climate, and should put up a hard fight against the enemies that would destroy our fine art.

To help control fluctuating temperatures, use thermostats and dehumidifiers and keep the air moving by using fans. Paintings may become brittle if the room is too dry and cold. If the humidity is too high, small brown spots, or foxing, or mildew can ruin paintings. Always hang your oil paintings away from radiators.

Experts agree that over the fireplace is a fine focal point for a painting. However, the heat and soot may be devastating to a fine painting. If you do hang a painting there that you treasure, you may regret it in time.
If you insist on hanging an oil painting over the mantel, check often for soot, smoke, soil and changes in its appearance.

The idea of hanging fine art in the kitchen or bathroom is hard to resist. As in hanging a painting over the fireplace, count the cost of your investment. Grease, steam and acid deposits will form a gummy film on your fine art.

Strong, direct sunlight on a painting can leach the pigment and turn a watercolor or pastel into a faded picture. A pastel can change in weeks. Oil paintings will take longer. Place your fine art where it is not exposed to strong morning or afternoon sun. Pull the shades when the sun is bright.

If you want to illuminate your art, the safest way is with a spot or floodlight three or four feet away from the painting, or track lighting, focused from the ceiling several feet away.

If it is feasible, why not rotate your paintings, provided they are not huge paintings. Now, with modern day technology, you could use your computer to make a plan before moving the actual paintings. Take photographs of them first with a digital camera with a memory card ….. line them up to see what arrangement you like best. This could also be done with just the photographs on a desktop…but is much easier to do on the computer.

Over the years I have found that hanging like with like, such as the same artist’s works, or different artist's paintings with a theme, creates wonderful results. But, sometimes just by moving them, you will find an even better “light” for them. Planning many champagne receptions in my gallery made me more aware of finding just the “right light”, in other words, hanging that special painting in the “best light” shows it off in such a way that you feel even more appreciation for that special painting…or, for that matter, a group of paintings. Another advantage is: Putting them in the best possible light can be a breathtaking change…and will show again the versatility of what you have selected for your collection in yet another way.

Try not to hang a costly painting flat against the wall. Tilt it out from the top and use wedges at the lower corners to push it out to let the air circulate behind it. Also, from time to time check the wires and screw eyes to be sure they are strong and in good shape. A fall to the floor can tear the canvas of an oil painting or shake the pigment off a pastel.

If a valuable oil painting is damaged, take it to a professional restorer. Put it only into the hands of a qualified expert recommended by a museum, university art department or a reputable art gallery. (What about taking it to the gallery or artist who painted it, if possible, for restoration?) Just as you would hate the thought of sending your children or grandchildren into a hostile environment, decide whether the environment where you place your prized paintings will be beneficial or detrimental to their health and longevity.

And, after doing all you can, enjoy your beautiful art. You want them to last a long, long time. Your art treasures are worth the extra effort you put into protecting them.

Chapter Four: THE PERFECT CENTERPIECE

Copyright 2004 by Carol Pomeroy

Think of the last 25 homes you have been privileged to enter. You were invited to see the homes and their personalities were there before you. There were the computers, the collections of glass elephants and perhaps, some seashells.

What was missing in each home?

A centerpiece...

You could not find the keynote for each unique family or business.

Why do we find the lack of a theme in so many homes or offices? It may be because houses are expensive and after a down payment has been raised the interior furnishings must be gradually acquired over the years. The mortgage payment and the needs of the family must come first. However, the family members continue year after year to make improvements. They purchase many items to fill the bare
spots or spend hundreds of dollars to have the walls papered or the color changed.

My suggestion for instant home or office improvement is to study the condition and then take the $400 and use it as a down payment on a keynote theme that fits your family or your office.

Catch the spirit of the family or business under your roof.
Tie it all together with a fine painting. Buy yourself a treasure that you feel was painted just for you. Choose a work of fine value that will be a present for your loved ones that will appreciate and will continue to evoke happy memories.

Buy what?


What you love -- the work of an artist you identify with... Could it the last place you vacationed with your family at the seashore, a special floral you love, or a landscape in the style of the old masters, remembering that, even as the earliest people decorated their walls and attempted through art to make their surroundings beautiful, a reflection of them, so we do today.

How refreshing to lift the eyes and see beauty that carries us beyond the moment. No wonder we enjoy fine paintings.

Artists are the ones that express for us real beauty, even as the poets find the words for us all.

This is first in a series of themes that will be discussed...

This could also be true of a business. What do you sell? What is important to you? Want to make a long-lasting statement and have people remember you?
Every person who steps through your doors would see and remember a breathtaking painting of polar bears.

Can you imagine in your 'minds eye' sitting in a beautiful room with three large white leather sofas in a circle in front of an immense marble fireplace. As you sit there, listing perhaps to someone talk about a new idea for your business, restful music in the background, you glance at the fire occasionally, then you look up at the breathtaking painting of a polar bear family, two polar bear babies are in or near the greenish-blue water. The mother and the father are looking on… For just a moment you are there...

This unique painting is by famous artist Rophar, an artist who is collected by stars, politicians, and many others. Notice the greenish-blue accents in the room, picking up the color of the water. This makes for a special room with a major focal point: The painting.

The greenish-blue color picked up in perhaps pillows on the sofas to tie it in with the painting. Also on one of the tables are exquisite white roses in a silver vase…again tied in with the painting.


Actually this same theme could be used in an office or in a home.

Are you interested in creating just the right centerpiece? Read my next blog.

Chapter Five: CENTERPIECES - Part Two

Copyright 2004 by Carol Pomeroy

Centerpieces - Part Two

Select a subject you enjoy. Many happy hours could be shared at the museum, later art galleries and/or art brokers, to make the appropriate selection for your centerpiece. This is something you will enjoy doing as a family. Or, if it is for your business, you are the one to select a painting you love. After all, this is for you or your family…and you will be looking at it, day after day, year after year… It is important it be just the right one, one that you feel was painted just for you.

What makes you feel great?

The ocean in the day, at night? Calm or rough seas? A beautiful girl in a garden with swans? Children playing with their pets? A landscape showing the redwoods, a winter scene, an autumn scene? Endangered species, such as polar bears? Views of Venice, Paris, San Francisco, Carmel? Happy moments of the past? Boats? Fantasy? Rural America? An exquisite still life? Southwest and western studies of cowboys, indians, mountain men and beautiful women we know and love?

Surround the centerpiece…with furniture, accessories, even the drapes…so that again, the eye goes to the centerpiece. Pick up some of the colors in the painting… The painting could be hung over a fireplace mantle, or on a wall by itself…with the furniture arranged in such a way as to direct attention to the painting.

Just remember, you want people to see your centerpiece as the first thing they notice when they enter the room… It will be outstanding…. Because all of the accessories, everything--even the furniture--dictates that the eye go to the special piece of artwork that you have selected.

Now here is where the artwork comes in…

Focus in one painting. As you enter a room it is the first thing you see, and your furniture should be arranged around that point… To make it stand out.. Even if you have change the color on this wall, making it the only wall with this color. Accessorize with small items, picking up a color or several from this painting.

Your focal point must be seen with the use of some type of lighting, be it track lighting, etc. Go to your electrical store to see what could work in your office and/or home. Mention to them that you want the best possible lighting for your artwork. What do they suggest?


Or, do you have a built-in source of light: a skylight? It can shower a room with sunlight or moonlight...and be most effective.

If you have a thought or question, please send an email to: fineart4you@juno.com.

To be continued....

“Care of Fine Art”

Caring for your fine art can be a challenge in my opinion, because environmental enemies abound in the home. When you cook, turn on a hot water faucet, take a shower, turn on the lights, use hot or cold air vents, or light a fire in the fireplace, you are creating a “hostile environment” for your paintings.

A home is not a museum with the atmosphere maintained just right for the oil paintings and watercolors, with temperatures of 70 degrees and a humidity of 50%.

Often the fine art in our homes represents an investment of money and love. For such treasures, we should have a stable climate, and should put up a hard fight against the enemies that would destroy our fine art.

To help control fluctuating temperatures, use thermostats and dehumidifiers and keep the air moving by using fans. Paintings may become brittle if the room is too dry and cold. If the humidity is too high, small brown spots, or foxing, or mildew can ruin paintings. Always hang your oil paintings away from radiators.

Experts agree that over the fireplace is a fine focal point for a painting. However, the heat and soot may be devastating to a fine painting. If you do hang a painting there that you treasure, you may regret it in time.
If you insist on hanging an oil painting over the mantel, check often for soot, smoke, soil and changes in its appearance.

The idea of hanging fine art in the kitchen or bathroom is hard to resist. As in hanging a painting over the fireplace, count the cost of your investment. Grease, steam and acid deposits will form a gummy film on your fine art.

Strong, direct sunlight on a painting can leach the pigment and turn a watercolor or pastel into a faded picture. A pastel can change in weeks. Oil paintings will take longer. Place your fine art where it is not exposed to strong morning or afternoon sun. Pull the shades when the sun is bright.

If you want to illuminate your art, the safest way is with a spot or floodlight three or four feet away from the painting, or track lighting, focused from the ceiling several feet away.

If it is feasible, why not rotate your paintings, provided they are not huge paintings. Now, with modern day technology, you could use your computer to make a plan before moving the actual paintings. Take photographs of them first with a digital camera with a memory card ….. line them up to see what arrangement you like best. This could also be done with just the photographs on a desktop…but is much easier to do on the computer.

Over the years I have found that hanging like with like, such as the same artist’s works, or different artist's paintings with a theme, creates wonderful results. But, sometimes just by moving them, you will find an even better “light” for them. Planning many champagne receptions in my gallery made me more aware of finding just the “right light”, in other words, hanging that special painting in the “best light” shows it off in such a way that you feel even more appreciation for that special painting…or, for that matter, a group of paintings. Another advantage is: Putting them in the best possible light can be a breathtaking change…and will show again the versatility of what you have selected for your collection in yet another way.

Try not to hang a costly painting flat against the wall. Tilt it out from the top and use wedges at the lower corners to push it out to let the air circulate behind it. Also, from time to time check the wires and screw eyes to be sure they are strong and in good shape. A fall to the floor can tear the canvas of an oil painting or shake the pigment off a pastel.

If a valuable oil painting is damaged, take it to a professional restorer. Put it only into the hands of a qualified expert recommended by a museum, university art department or a reputable art gallery. (What about taking it to the gallery or artist who painted it, if possible, for restoration?) Just as you would hate the thought of sending your children or grandchildren into a hostile environment, decide whether the environment where you place your prized paintings will be beneficial or detrimental to their health and longevity.

And, after doing all you can, enjoy your beautiful art. You want them to last a long, long time. Your art treasures are worth the extra effort you put into protecting them.

To be continued.....

Centerpieces - Part One

Copyright 2004 by Carol Pomeroy

Centerpieces - Part One

First of all, what is a centerpiece or focal point? How can I create one?

It is the very first thing you see when you enter the room… Every room needs a centerpiece - focal point … a theme.

Rooms will seem cluttered without it. With it there is a sense of balance and serenity. In addition, it makes a statement about the business; or about the people who live in a home... That they perhaps recognize the beauty in God's Creation...and have a centerpiece that an artist has created that has touched their heart in some way, hoping it will touch yours as well.

The accessories and furniture are arranged to make the room inviting, arranged that way for the comfort of the ones who spend time in this particular room. Your business associates, clients (or guests if at home) will see your particular 'centerpiece' without a word.





TO BE CONTINUED....