What will your Interior Designer Say?

Here is a True Story:

I once was commissioned by a wealthy mother to create a series of portraits of her young daughter. When I visited her home to discuss the project, I was struck by the beautiful (million dollar plus) new custom designed home she has. It was a beautiful design by a prominent architect. Very unusual and very ‘classic’ with ‘timeless’ design elements borrowed from European home designs of previous centuries. It was really a special and very beautiful home. But at the time I saw it, it was almost empty. It was so new, that the client and her Interior Designer had not yet filled it with furnishings. In fact, the client said she was getting all new furniture (mostly antiques from Europe) to decorate the interior. She also told me her interior designer said that: “there should be no family photos in the public spaces.” Unfortunately, this designer had never met me or seen my work before. Because of this dictum by the designer, the client (a very nice and smart woman) said she only wanted small 8 x 10 inch prints to put in an album. She told me there just was not any “room” in the house (a very big house at that) to put up any portraits on the walls. Remember, at the time I saw the house, there was nothing on the walls and almost no furniture at all. No curtains and only a few chairs and tables. One of the “Art” Portraits I made took this as a design element.

Fast forward just two weeks.
When I showed my clients the results of my session with her daughter, and she saw the lovelydetails and expressions that were so touching and truly visible at the Lifesized prints, she was moved. She was close to tears. The portraits are really beautiful. One of them, Anticipation, shows her daughter looking out her mother’s bedroom window and watching the construction of a wonderful child’s playset (swings & slide) being built by workmen.

She asked me to make several of the images Lifesize and Large so they would be displayed on the wall. For two of these, that meant 24 x 36 inches in size.

I asked her how that would fit within the decor scheme her Designer had laid out and she quickly answered:

“I don’t care what the designer says, these are ART!”

Of course, I had to agree.

Steadman’s Opinion:

The previous page was a true story about how a respected Interior Designer felt before she saw my art and portraits. I understand the designer’s perspective. I truly do.

The fact is, many people have many ‘family photos’ and even ‘photo studio’ portraits that do not fit the decor scheme (or color scheme) or style of the design the professional interior designer has worked hard to make.

For example, what designer wants to see typical color photos (e.g. school photos) of people mixed in with the carefully selected 16th century gothic antiques? They just don’t fit the same style. One is “Timeless.” The other is “Dated.”

This what I call “The Design Conflict.”

As a side note, I have been inside some multi-million dollar homes and seen this very thing. The antiques, the exquisite furnishings, the very expensive silk brocade draperies, and all of the custom furniture looks great. Then one sees the collection of silver photo-frames (usually an 8 x 10 or 5 x 7 size) containing typical ‘school photos’ or typical ‘photo-studio’ portraits. Many of these have decorative backgrounds, colorful backgrounds, and plastic props. The impression is that the furnishings of the house came from the most expensive sources (antique stores, art galleries, custom drapers) and yet the photos of the people came from the most inexpensive and common source. High Design meets Low Design. It leads one to question what is valued most by the owner.

So what happens?
Most designers don’t want to see the High End Design they created disturbed by Low End Design full color photos of the client’s family. It is a conflict. So they tell the client to put all the family photos ‘upstairs’ or ‘in the private rooms.’ That is their tactful way of saying the photos themselves look ‘tacky.’ Put bluntly, the photos of the people you love are not ‘good enough’ to be displayed in public spaces in your own home! Imagine that!

How can this be solved?
The solution is easy.

What is the solution if you now have a big beautiful ‘mega-mansion’ and yet all the photos you have ever gotten of your family look like they came from a Wollmart?

Simple Solution: Hire an artist to create “High End Design” portraits (painted or photographed) of you and your family!

Here’s an insight for you.
You could have portraits of you and your family that “Knock the socks off anyone” who sees them in your home. You could have “Extraordinary” and “Stunning” portraits (of any size) that will not only complement your High End Design interior, but also become a very valued and highly appreciated part of the home and your life. In other words, you can have “High End Design” portraits (even small 8 x 10 inch ones or 7 foot tall ones) to match your High End Design interior. How? Simple. Call me. This is what I create for my clients.

You can have portraits that are fitting in style, color, and size. You could have portraits that bring life to a room that looks very beautiful, “but is missing something personal.”

You could have portraits that clearly show that the most important thing in your life is not the material objects like antiques you can buy.

Most importantly, you can show everyone (including your own family members) that the most important things to you are the “priceless” expressions of your children, spouse, or parents.

Your children, your spouse, and your parents (the grandparents) will not take pride in a pillow or lamp you bought to complement your decor. In contrast, imagine how proud they will be when you have an Unforgettable PortraitTM of them on your wall!

It only takes a phone call to get started. Call the number shown above in the red contact box now.

Here is another True Story:

I once was asked by one of the South’s leading interior designers to provide some of my fine art photographs for display in a million-dollar-plus home that was going to be featured in a multi-page design magazine article.

I showed this designer my portfolio. He was taken by the photos of the children.

Note: These photos of the children were “art photos” and I have written permission from my clients (i.e. the children’s parents) to sell the photos as “Art.” Not all of my photos of children are available for purchase. This is carefully managed and only carefully selected images are available for the public to purchase as “Art.”

He picked two.

They were framed and hung on the walls in the master bedroom of the show house.

The owners of the home “loved” the photographs. (I was told this by the magazine and the designers assistant.)

The owners of the home purchased the two framed photographs even though the children were not at all related to them. They liked them that much. That is “Art.”

I am happy to meet with any client and also with their professional Interior Designer in order to understand their design concepts and how and where they foresee putting a portrait I will create for the client.

Leading professional Interior Designers “love” (their word) the work I do with Children, Flowers, Seashells, and other subjects. They have used my photographs as very large framed pieces in several prominent Designer Show-house installations. In some cases, entire walls were filled with my photographs. These installations of my work garnered thousands of “WOWs” from the Show-house visitors. You could have the same “WOW” comments made in your own home. It all starts with a phone call. Call the number shown at left.