Hi Fans.  You may have noticed I haven't updated my blog since the summer of 2016.  I've been battling a serious illness and haven't been able to blog since then.  I just wanted to let you know I'm still taking orders here on my site for Prints and Canvases.  I have some outside help filling orders and I'm always happy to get them.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Thanks for understanding.  I hope to be creating and sharing new art with you in the future.

Carolyn

I've been inspired by the warm summer months to create some new beachy prints...one of my favorite subjects!  I hope you enjoy the new photographs as much as I've enjoyed creating them.  Introducing...

"Palm Tree"

"Taking in the View"

"California"

"Peaceful Evening"

"Balance"

My husband and I moved into a new house a year and a half ago.  I LOVE to decorate and knew exactly what my first project would be.... a gallery wall over the couch in our family room.  I knew I wanted to feature some of my photography and knew it had to include my favorite color.....teal! 

My first step in creating the wall was to buy a gorgeous art print I had been eyeing on Etsy for YEARS.  The painting I'm referring to is in the bottom left...a woman sitting by the sea in her bathing suit.  This print, "Dark Seas" is by the amazing artist, Clare Elsaesser.  I am sooo in love with her ocean-themed art.  If swimming in the ocean is meaningful to you like it is to me, you need to check out her work.

I have a few favorite prints from Clare but this one spoke to me the most.  I have rusty-red hair and so does the girl in this print.  I also loved the darker blue-teal tones of the sea.  Between those two things, I knew it was the perfect piece of art to build the wall around.  Every time I admire this art wall in my home, I like to think it's me sitting by the ocean.  :)

Once I had Clare's print, my goal was to match the lighter teal tones in the sky of her picture to some of my work.  I wanted to include the ocean theme a bit so I figured my seascape print, "I Go to the Sea" would be perfect.  (middle of wall)  My vision for the wall was a minimal, modern style so I thought this simple ocean photograph was a good fit.  To spread the teal color around the wall more, I added my water print, "Wash Over Me" in a smaller frame (bottom) and my nature print, "Ageless Night." (top right) 

Once the teal was taken care of, my next goal was to spread some of that gorgeous coppery color in the girl's hair of Claire's print to other areas of the wall.  I LOVE a warm, copper color along with teal....that combination is sooo beautiful together and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  :)  I decided on my nature prints, "Golden Rays," "Copper" and "Warmth" to bring that warm contrast to the wall.  The copper colors looked so great against my pretty teal wall, yay! 

Before we ever moved into our house I bought the 'happy place' sign from a quaint home decor shop in NJ.  As soon as I spotted that, I knew I could include it in a future gallery wall....especially since the words are teal!  I found the chevron print online, a quick downloadable purchase.

I hope my wall inspires you!  I'm so thrilled with it....it was definitely worth all the effort and planning.  When I'm washing the dishes in the kitchen, I often look over to admire it and realize this new house really IS my happy place.  :)  I plan on showing you more of our home in the future so stay tuned!  I have most of the downstairs done....unfortunately the basement and second floor have white walls, no art, very plain....drives my color-craving eyes crazy!  lol.  Step by step! 

Oh and for those of you who want to know more about my decor....

My wall color is Underseas by Sherwin Williams. (LOVE it)  The pretty orange pillow is a cover I bought recently from the Etsy shop OliviasSmileDecor.  I'm SO happy with that purchase.  I snagged the geometric pillows from Kohls.  The orange throw blanket on our ottoman is from Amazon here....it's so soft and is the perfect orange accent color I wanted for our family room.

If you're working on your own gallery wall and would like to include some of my art, visit my Fine Art Photography Shop for Prints & Canvases.  If you have a question, feel free to contact me.

A few months ago I included this color palette in a coastal decor moodboard here on my blog.  I really love this beachy color scheme inspired by my ocean print, "I Belong to the Sea," so I'm posting it on it's own so you can get a larger view.  I also want to share it with my Pinterest followers so figured posting it here would be a way to do that!  :)  I love creating pretty color palette's inspired by my work.  Click here for more color scheme's based on my photography!

~ Carolyn