apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I think that when art is part of the story of your life, it's all the more meaningful. I have a set of six small engravings of British Army officers in thin black frames. I love them. They are whimsical and remind me of my trip to Charleston, where I picked them up. Long live Lord Bolton and the like!

why don't people make their beds before posting them for the world to see?

I don't quite get why this is ironic. David Dalby was certainly a successful sporting painter, and we should all be so fortunate as to own an original, which, I take it, this is not.

By ironic do you mean kitsch? Keane girls, dogs playing poker, etc? Or just mass-produced reproductions?

Is all representational art ironic? I'm confused.

i love that the bed isn't made. Make your bed on the weekend, when you have time. But this reminds me of my light up religious tchotcki period. You would think swirly glittery dioramas and glow in the dark Virgin Mary's would offend the eyes, but the look was nice. Too bad that whole religious art movement got super played out.

This isn't your grandma's blog, Heather. Make your bed, don't make your bed. Fold your laundry today, don't fold your laundry till next week. Drink a beer straight out of the bottle! Don't forget not to use a coaster, and come eat your dinner when it's not even hot anymore.

I like the story of your painting. I dislike it when people buy things they don't even like just to fill a space (especially expensive "needs" or fads), but like when it grows on them and becomes part of their life, and maybe even sweeter when you can share that story with someone else. It's not a private joke to yourself with no one else who cares whether your painting stays or goes. You both like it and take it with you on your journey together as a reminder.

this is the greatest post in the entire world, because i will be in Austin this weekend and was thinking of what thrift stores to go to. you read my mind! also, i do love ironic art, but too much of it is a bad thing. i have a gold framed light up picture of Jesus (true, the religious thing is played out, but i got it a while ago) that i put in the middle of a bunch of other art that i genuinely love (etsy prints, a Dali print, etc). everytime it catches my eye i giggle.

i don't understand why a foxhunting painting is ironic or ridiculus

I was wondering about the description of this as being ironic myself. I keep hearing the word ironic being applied to t-shirts (the last supper a la Ronald McDonald comes to mind) and I'm puzzled as to what this means.

Sorry, this wasn't supposed to be a post about semantics was it? Now I've become a vocab nazi like the bed-making police.

I like the painting because it makes the owner happy and because it has a story that brings back fond memories for her. I love thrift stores for all the eclectic bits and bobs that you can find.

@chusmabilly Thanks! I'm not a fan of making my bed in the summer. It's close to a billion degrees here in Austin, and all I keep on it are some fabulous organic cotton sheets. I'd love to see photos from your light up religious tchotcki period... that sounds completely rad.

@karenwog Don't miss South Congress or North Loop when you're in town. There are too many good stores there to miss. And I agree, too much of it could definitely be a bad thing. :) Love love love your idea of putting something funny in the middle of other art.

@Heather I hear ya'. Granny blog or not, I'm all for posters who actually like design, can organize their space, and hold the camera straight. Unmade bed, unmade mind.

interesting story and great writing, I just wish the picture would have been taken straight, bed made or not. Good luck Kristin.

I have an 80 year old mother who would launch into a discussion about the size of the picture relative to the bed, the fact that the colors weren't just right, and she would choose not to notice that the bed wasn't made. I have a wall of landscapes that she has never seen which includes flea market purchases, thrift store buys, garage sale stuff, one bought on the street, an old family piece,and a couple of very valuable antique paintings, all mixed together. To make matters worse, they hang on the common wall with the next apartment, the neighbors slam their door, and the pictures are almost never hanging straight. This wall is my best view. I don't care what anyone thinks about it.

I once had a roommate who collected nun figurines and male nude photographs. The last I heard, he had almost 2000 sistahs. I think they finally crowded out the male nudes.

Our homes, in the 21st century, are our refuge, our nest, our safe place. How we choose to put them together reflects our evolution and/or maturity. We don't need to meet others' expectations or conform to rules that were set several generations ago.

Although I can't verbally explain it, I think I get the irony of the picture, and if you love it, I love it.

Sorry I can't add to the info on thrifting in Austin, but I wish I could be there too. Fabulous place.

I think the picture is ironic.

I don't get it. What makes the picture ironic?

The picture isn't ironic. The fact that it hasn't been explained by the owner (or anyone else) is a clear indication of that. The story is a good one, but it's based on a false presumption.

I'm guessing the irony is in the juxtaposition of this old-fashioned work of art which was suited to a British manor house with more modern decor, but we can't see much of the context in which its placed so the irony is not evident.

I guess one has to be really hip to understand why this is ironic and some of us just aren't up to the task. We fail the cool test, I guess.

I think it's corny for young persons to buy an old fart picture. It's a little themey, like it belongs among others of the type in a parlor where sporting gentlemen partake of beverages, lots of plaids and argyles, and maybe a medallion in the ceiling. Bogus yuppies used to love dorking up a room as such, and probably threw out their painting when they were done, and Kristin bought it to hang over her sloppy modern bedding. It's ironic because it appeals to her even though she doesn't really like it or think someone like her would like it.

I happen to like the painting. However, I think "art" for irony's sake is stupid and just one step away from being mass-produced by Urban Outfitters. And for pete's sake, can we not perpetuate the overuse of the term "keeping it real"? It doesn't even make sense in this context! Buying art because you like it is keeping it real. Buying art you don't like that much (but is ironic) in order to fill up a space is not.

Palmetto, I think you meant to say, "messy bed, messy head". It's true because it rhymes!

Purely aesthetic reaction: this post needs some more age on it yet. Crooked photos remind me of every candid shot I've ever seen of teenage girls giving peace signs at Six Flags. The poster is calling this art ironic because she thinks it's cheesy and in bad taste, but a seasoned designophile (or horse enthusiast) knows that a good equestrian painting can totally work un-ironically in heaps of spaces. Irony has been so abused. I love Kristin's enthusiasm, but she may need to develop more of a sense of her own personal style before becoming cub reporter on the subject.

Um, and I'm sorry to be so critical, but Dear World: please stop hyphenating words with portions of "fantastic", unless you are ordering a special on cheeseburgers.

Sorry for the jabs, Kristin. Good effort.

Whoa! Sorry to offend so many of you!

What I was getting at here was that this painting is something unexpected in my apartment, a piece that doesn't fit in with who I am now or what I like, yet it's still around. It's something from a time in my life when, as I said in the post, I had much different taste and was eager to decorate my very first apartment even though I had no money and no idea what I was doing. So keeping it up is a big deal to me. It reminds me of a lot of things, like how I once thought hanging a $6 thrift store painting of a man on a horse instantly made me sophisticated and grown-up.

Everybody has their own Lord Bolton. :)

Gotta love the FAMILY THRIFT on Oltorf & S. Congress, too.

"Camp" or "kitsch" might be a better word than ironic but I like the painting. This is 100 times better than a lame art nouveau print or generic toothless faux modern print.

Ironic or not, it's a cool painting. Most notably because YOU LIKE IT.

In fact, I'm shopping for a horse painting myself. I don't necessarily need Bolton in it too...

kristen :

i loved your last explanation....but not your post....which i guess is ironic.

the misuse of the tag line "ironic art" (i'd go with kitsch or camp also, though even these require more context), the royal we, the false implication that this painting is ridiculous,(of inferior taste), and your initial pejorative, if self-deprecating, tone left me cold.

in contrast, your use of "unexpected", and hashing out your journey (that "time in your life") seems genuine and engaging. this isn't about irony so much as nostalgia, or even animism; you've given this painting a soul, or at least poured alot of yourself into it's place in your home.

you should tone down your cool meter. your original post reads like you're not that far out of college and still writing to please a professor as opposed to the honesty i see in your subsequent comments. more from your heart please.

Wow, I just re-read the post after the last comment, and noticed the use of "we" so much I really thought you were talking about yourself and another person when I commented last week! Ridiculous!

It's even more strange to recall on my earlier comment that I thought Gregory was the author. His name is on the "cover" post and I had to read through some other comments and up again at the post to find out someone named Kristin had written it for her try-outs, and edited my post to acknowledge it right before I submitted.

This is getting really awkward! Why do you have to say "we" and why doesn't the introduction of the post announce pretty loudly that this is a guest post for a try-out for your LA "blog" (even though we all know it's one blog, written by about 20-83 people, none of whom collaborate except "Wes and Kayla").