Today’s post is long overdue! It’s the return of the {mom’s style} feature that I launched last fall, where I share some design inspiration from my uber talented mother. You can read an introduction to my mom and her style here.
I am so excited to show you the ingenious way that my mom took a sculpture and made it a major focal point by simply adding a painting behind it to draw your eye and make it pop.
Several years ago, my parents purchased this horse sculpture at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival for their home in Breckenridge, Colorado. The sculpture itself is beautiful, but sitting a top the display cabinet in their entryway with the beige wall behind it, the sculpture just didn’t make as big of a statement as it could.
My mom wanted to find a way highlight the sculpture, so she decided to create an abstract painting to lean behind the horse. She purchased a large stretched canvas, painted it red with streaks of black to tie in with accent colors in the adjoining kitchen and living room, and then added some splatters of red paint to add texture.
Rather than simply leaning the painted canvas behind the sculpture, she placed the canvas into a black frame to give it even more of a finished feel. She used a staple gun to attach the canvas to the back of the frame.
Once the painting was finished and in its frame, my mom placed it on top of the entry way display cabinet, behind the horse sculpture, and VIOLA!
When you see the before and after photos side by side, you can really appreciate what a huge impact the painting makes!
My mom also used a similar method to frame a smaller horse sculpture within the display cabinet. The brown metal horse was blending right in with the wood of the cabinet, making it nearly invisible. To solve this problem, my mom purchased a smaller stretched canvas and wrapped it in red fabric that she stenciled with the word horse in various fonts.
Creating red backdrops to frame out these two horse sculptures really makes them stand out, and also ties in nicely with other red accents in the entryway and adjoining rooms.
Highlighting these horse sculptures also ties together the eclectic mix of other horse art throughout the entryway, including these great prints by Norman Wyatt Jr.
As much as I love the framed sculptures, I really think that the true stand out of the entry way is this amazing quilt that my mom made.
Look at all of that intricate and detailed stitching in the horses’ manes and tails, as well as the background (known to quilters as thread play or thread painting). She is truly an amazing quilter!
By incorporating a variety of horse art of all different mediums (sculpture, painting, and quilting), my mom managed to pull together a very cohesive entryway that doesn’t feel overly themey. The loose horse theme also continues in the rustic chic powder room just around the corner.
The red accents really brighten up this space and make for a smooth transition between the entry and the living room.
If you have a sculpture that is blending in with it’s surroundings, try adding a simple abstract painting behind it to bring it to life! It’s not only an easy way to make your sculpture a focal point, but also provides an opportunity to add color or tie in an existing accent color.
