4 Ways to Put Personality Into Your Art Collection
How to use your artworks to represent what makes you unique...
1. Your Personal Geography
The places you’ve lived in, or travelled to, can have a huge impact on your life, outlook, and personal tastes. And, often, it can be hard to put into words just how much a particular place has meant to you… whether it was a country you travelled through on your honeymoon, or a city you lived in on the other side of the world, or even the place you live now!
Many of our clients look for landscapes or cityscapes that reflect places that are important to the – and if they find an artist whose style they like, they might even commission a particular location.
We’ve had some wonderful results from artists like David Escarabajal, Colin Brown, and Nigel Cooke, who have their own unique ways of capturing the character and atmosphere of a particular location. Of course many of the works we feature in the gallery are of our home city, Edinburgh, but we always make sure we curate a wonderful selection of international scenes to inspire our clients.
Our favourite examples
Some of our clients have purchased or commissioned artworks of cities that they have lived in over their lives. We have had a few different couples looking for scenes of specific locations - somewhere they lived together, or got engaged - to celebrate a wedding or anniversary. On a couple of memorable occasions, our clients have purchased multiple artworks as their own personally curated set, to represent the different places that have the most importance to them.
2. Symbols and Motifs
You might have a particular object, animal or plant that you gravitate towards no matter the circumstances. Some people have entire collections of items in their homes, all themed around something significant to them… these people are often the ones who are easiest to buy gifts for, as you’ll know you can get pretty much anything with, for example, an owl, or a fern, or a Ferrari, and they’ll be thrilled.
Taking this to the next level, however, means you can bring a piece of art into your home that elevates and celebrates your own personal motif. Animals are a common favourite motif, and artists and photographers like David Yarrow, Kate Rose, and Kirsten Mirrey have proven the favourite choice for many of our clients seeking to bring their favourite animal into their art collection.
Symbols might also be brought in more subtly – like images incorporated into other artworks, like Vichit Nongnual’s use of symbols in his portraiture or Sleek’s use of representational objects…
Our favourite examples
We have many Scottish clients who have either moved to a different country, or who split their time between Edinburgh and elsewhere. These clients often want to take a piece of home with them, and we have had many requests for Scottish animals such as stags or the classic Highland Coo, to create a moment of nostalgia for the client.
3. Show Your Team Colours
Being a die-hard fan of something has been cool for a while – some people might thank the rise of comic book movies for this – and there are some incredibly fun ways to bring your personal fandoms into your art collection.
Some artists use images of celebrity icons, or their creations, in their artworks, such as Fezz's screenprint portraits or Linda Charles’s reimagined movie and album covers. Other artists might provide other ways to show support of your favourite sports team, like Neil Carroll’s Subbuteo football players or Hue Folk’s hilarious ‘book cover’ series.
Our favourite examples
We love it when our clients are unapologetically determined to support their sports teams, even though this can sometimes be divisive! We always make sure we represent opposing teams in our displays, for example getting two artworks to represent both Hibs and Hearts... but it's always fun to see our visitors joking about buying the artwork for their favourite team just to show who has the more dedicated fans.
4. Creating an Atmosphere
While artwork is always very subjective and personal in the way it is experienced by the viewer, there are certain styles and subjects that often have certain automatic associations. You can use these to curate a particular and personal atmosphere in any space.
For example, a realistic still life painting created in the style of an old master, such as Javier Mulio’s work, will feel like a celebration of art history and vintage style… while a large, neo-expressionist portrait in bold colours from Popkapi will give your space a sharply contemporary edge.
Our favourite examples
We get a lot of requests for large format artworks - being in Edinburgh's New Town means we're surrounded by Georgian properties with very high ceilings! However, we love it when a client with a more standard-sized room goes for an extra-large artwork. Finding something that you love, and which has such a big impact on your space, is really taking an art-first approach to your interior design.
If you are looking for the perfect artwork for a particular space in your home, or if you are working on a renovation or interior design project, we would love to hear from you!
Set up an art consultation meeting with one of our team members, either online or by video chat, and we can provide you with specialised selections from our portfolio of artists… so you can find the perfect way to display and celebrate your unique story, personality and preferences into your space.
