What Surrounds You Inspires You part 2

A visual tour of the art in my bedroom.

Last weekend a friend showed me around their home and I was struck by the clusters of art in the bedroom. I can appreciate minimalism in theory but I prefer to surround myself with artwork I love, like a little inspiration nest! Here are some highlights:

Everything hangs a little crooked. Actually this is above Adam’s dresser. From the top: a painting by Adam (my partner, Adam Ross) , a letterpress print I made at Penland years ago (my first typesetting class and I was learning to set type in curves and circles) and a collage by Hannah Newman.

I bought a lot of art during the pandemic and I do not regret it. Here is a ceramic weaving—I have forgotten the artist’s name! The print is from a calendar, an ongoing exchange with Bryan Kring of Oakland. I send him Keep Writing postcards, he sends me his multi-layer calendar.

A new collaborative collage by me and Adam above a photo of I10 taken by Bruce Q. WIlliams, another impulsive and beloved pandemic purchase.

clockwise from top left: a collage I made for Adam, a photo of my paternal grandparents on their wedding day in 1936, a linoleum print by Adam Ewing, work by the first printmaker I knew who is still Adam’s best friend, Jim Wood, another collage I gave Adam from a body of work I completed in New Orleans in 2019.

Is anything in my house straight? A cluster of work by Jim Wood, a few pieces by Adam and in the center bottom, a postcard by Chris Johns.

Many years ago I received this Mary Oliver poem in the mail annonymously. I typed it onto a piece of paper I made and have carried it around for years.

This rearrangeable set of prints was a gift from Adam, I’ve forgotten the artist. They are photographic prints of montotypes, designed to be arranged and rearranged. The ceramic nest is a relic from art school (one of the only ceramic things I liked that I made.)