apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Can't wait for the AT home technology blog - the ipod speaker posting yesterday (still on the
AT screen now) was great.

Hi everyone. Can anyone help me identify the style of some paintings I bought at auction this week? There's a picture of one on my blog (click on my name to got to the relevant post).

They are painted on silk (which I'd say was 'vintage' but not very, very old) and include some lovely, fine brushwork. I love them and would like to find out more about them. I'm just starting week four of the Cure and have learned so much already. Any thoughts on these paintings (which I hope to hang in my living room) would be much appreciated.

Hi Susie--
I don't know what the style of your paintings is called, but a friend brought me a very similar silk painting back from a trip to India a few years ago.

Hi Jen - thank you. Even narrowing it down to a country is good! I thought it might be Indian, but wasn't sure.

They're Islamic miniatures; they could be Indian, or they could be from anywhere across the Islamic world. If you look closely at the figures, their features look more east/central Asian than Indian; though of course it could still be an Indian painting of some sort of cross-cultural exchange? All I know is that miniature painting florished during the Mughal rule in India, though it's an art still practiced today, so your paintings could be very recent. Good luck in figuring out exactly where they're from!

Hobson - thank you. I've just looked up Mughal paintings and the whole subject looks very interesting. I have bookmarked the wikipedia entry to explore later today.

I know the ones I've got aren't antique, but that doesn't matter to me. Now I've just got to work out where to put them. My landing strip table is arriving next week, so maybe one could go above there...

I am really enjoying this whole cure process. I thought it would be a bit of a drag, but it's actually very invigorating. Thanks, Maxwell!

love AT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utftP4dkg7k&eurl=

ion-thanks for the link - liked it - will watch more.

I have some painting questions (pics coming soon!). I have 12 recessed lights in my family room, and I don't want to spend money on new ones if I don't have to. The only thing I don't like about the existing ones is they are black and I'd like them to be white. I was going to buy some spray paint and primer and just paint them myself. My contractor warned me that this is a fire hazard. He seemingly has no reason to lie since there is no money to be made if I got buy replacements at Home Depot. Thoughts?


Also, the brown I chose to paint my built-in shelves is too green. I want to add reddish hints to match it to my stairwell. Is there some kind of wash/treatment I can use to just alter to hue a little bit or should I just go with a whole new paint color?

Thanks, guys!

I belive you can get high-heat paint, but it generally comes in dark "BBQ" colors. You may also consider having them painted at an auto-body shop.

You could try a reddish glaze over the brown, but that's probably more hit-or-miss than getting the roght paint color. How dark a brown? I love Pratt & Lambert's "Loam" which has plummy, cola undertones.

oops... believe and right. Too early for me!

patrick, that is what I'm thinking as far as the glaze is concerned. What type/brand should I get? The current paint is latex semi-gloss.

I think I will just stop being a cheap bastard and buy white recessed light cans.