Home Is Where Your Art Is

Emily at Chatting At The Sky is hosting a linky party today called Glimpses of Home. The idea is to post images of things in your home that make it feel like “home” to you. Not necessarily the decor itself, but the objects or memories within the home that make your home a haven for your family.

I love our artwork. Many of the pieces have been with us since the beginning of our marriage, and through several moves. For our family, the art we surrounded ourselves with is very meaningful to us. Most of it is original pieces, painted by people we love. Some things have been given to us as gifts. We treasure the thought and friendship behind those gifts more than the gift itself. And everytime we look at those pieces, we are reminded of the friends God has gifted us with. Some of our pieces were done by my little artists at home. These are some of my favorite pieces of art! I would rather have that kind of artwork covering my walls than paintings by those whom the world considers to be masters.

My father-in-law studied art in college. Most of his body of work was completed during those years or the next few years when he was a high school art teacher in Mississippi. This one is a woodcut he did called The Three Singers. It is one of my favorite pieces.

My sister-in-law is also an artist. She studied art at Mississippi State, and she continues her artwork today. She did the piece on the left and the one at the top right. My BittyGirl did the bottom right one when she was two years old. She called it Making a Rainbow. I framed it as soon as it dried, and it has hung in prominence in our home ever since.

These Walter Anderson paintings were given to us as a wedding gift. Well, actually some other things were given to us as gifts, and I promptly returned them in order to get these. Walter Anderson is legendary in Mississippi, where we lived the first eight-ish years of our married life. I had my eye on his alphabet from the time I first registered for wedding gifts. I have the “A” and the “J” because those are the first letters of our names. I have since received the “P”, but I still need to pick up the “M” for our girls. Then I will hang them all together.

This plate was given to us as a wedding gift by our dear friends. I first saw one in her kitchen, and she had received it a wedding gift a few months earlier. When I commented on how much I liked it, my sweet friend said, “Then that’s what I’ll get you for a wedding gift.” I was tickled when I opened it. It hangs on the wall in my kitchen, and it is always a reminder of sweet friendship, as well as being a reminder to display the fruit of the Spirit.

My little artist created another masterpiece for us, this time when she was about six. She did this for our homeschool art show. We studied landscapes in art, and this was her interpretation. It hangs in my bedroom. I love how cheerful it is!

Our artwork might not pass for approval from someone who has a keener eye for art than I do. But we love it, and it is part of the haven we are trying to reate for our family. Goodness knows, when you buy a house with plans of renovating, you need some signs of “home” that make your place comfortable. Our art is one of those comforts.

“Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in His commands… wealth and riches are in his house.” Psalm 112:1 and 3a