Art transforms a room

WORDS: Sam Beau Patrick PHOTOGRAPHY Supplied

As I wax lyrically about art and its capacity to transform a room, I need to reign in my enthusiasm.

Art is powerful.

Art is transformational.

An individual art piece, a showpiece, can transform a room into an energetically charged space.

In this article, I would like to share the excitement I have for art as a form of expression, as a cultural experience, and as an opportunity to convert your house into a home by having a unique piece.

If you are not ‘into art’, as so many are not, don’t panic. Art really is anything you want it to be — from a photo of a spider’s web silhouetted by the morning dew to a commissioned statement piece.

Art really is many different things to different people. It is as vast and as individual as you are.

Personally, I like the post-impressionists, some modern art, and street art.

Artists, themselves, have dedicated their lives to demonstrating that the simplest of things in life can be deemed art from a coast line (Christo) to a string of printed Campbell’s soup labels (Andy Warhol) to a replica digestive systems that burps and farts like a real human cloaca (Belgian conceptualist Wim Delvoye) or a plain strip of paint on a canvas (Rothko)!

So when you want to transform a room, your room, remember this is for you. Of course, if you are purchasing a piece to transform the house for sale, you might choose something more contemporary; otherwise, go with what you like. There is no right or wrong. It is exciting.

If I can inspire any positive action from this article that would be to move away from the familiar, cheap prints you can purchase in furniture places. Sure, they are familiar, but very repetitious and not individual. You see the real excitement with art lies in its ability to be totally individual, distinctive, and about you.

When you work with a commissioned art piece, you and the artist bring together a personalised, unique piece. You can also buy a completed piece, which will be unique.

Finding an artist or art piece you like is part of the fun. Have a look on Instagram or go along the coastal rim to check out galleries. Make a day of it. Art galleries are an enjoyable interlude along any coastal day trip and don’t need to be long and exhaustive, just a bubble out from the world to see the world how artists might.

You will find many boutique, quaint, and even funky art galleries from Sanctuary Cove to Tamborine to Byron Bay.

Here are a few worth checking out in the wider Gold Coast area:

Café DBar

275 Boundary street

Coolangatta QLD

Art Shelter

4 Seaview Street

Kingscliff NSW

Dust Temple and Hinge Gallery

54 Currumbin Creek Road

Currumbin QLD

Urban Paradise Gallery

Cnr Elkhorn and Surfers Paradise Boulevard

Surfers Paradise QLD

Desert Art Centre

Shop 3f 2713 Gold Coast Highway

Broadbeach QLD

Capanart Gallery

100 Long Road

Eagle Heights, Mt Tamborine QLD

Anthea Polson Art

Marina Mirage shopping centre

Seaworld Drive, Main Beach QLD

HOTA (Home of the Arts)

135 Bundall Road

Surfers Paradise QLD

19 Karen Contemporary Art Space

19 Karen Avenue, Mermaid Beach QLD

Coastal Framing and Design

5/25 Industry Drive

South Tweed Heads NSW

Byron School of Art & Project space

112 Dalley Street, Mullimbimby NSW

Pack Gallery Studio

8 Station Street

Bangalow NSW

Barebones Art Space

44 Byron Street

Bangalow

Retrospect Gallery

52 Johnson Street

Byron Bay NSW

Lone Goat Gallery

29 Lawson Street

Byron Bay NSW

Northern Rivers Community Gallery

Cnr Cherry and Crane Streets

Ballina NSW

Lismore Regional Gallery

11 Rurual Street

Lismore NSW

M-Arts Precinct

Cnr Proudfoots Lane and Brisbane Street

Murwillumbah NSW

Samantha Beau

The granddaughter of a well-known Tasmanian artist, Samantha has been drawing her whole life. She has a zest for colour and form and loves creating abstract pieces that elicit a smile in the viewer and feed their imagination. She is currently exploring local landmarks and the migration of whales along the coast. These are two of her recent commissions.

‘Steve’ (McQueen) 3.2m x 2.2m mixed media, oil, acrylic, rust paint on canvas.

‘Playroom’ 2m x 2m oil on canvas.

Insta: samantha_beau_artist

W: www.samanthabeau.com

Jane Hoggard

Energetic experimentation, curiosity of how a wide range of mediums assist in making new multi-layered work and focused bursts of working time summarise how Jane Hoggard makes art. Her work reflects her personality and appreciation of the environment she lives in. Jane’s artwork takes a lighthearted view of animal life, ethereal landscapes, found objects and a sensitive, illustrative view of anything coastal, bird, and botanical and ‘craggy’. Often her subject matter will appear to ‘fly’. Energetic yet sensitive line work dominates her work.

insta: janehoggardcreative

facebook: Jane Hoggard Creative