I’ve been staring at a really blank wall across from my desk for the last 3 months since I repainted my art room/office

It’s not that I don’t have artwork, photos, etc. that I want to go up on the wall. In fact, I’ve got a bunch. But putting them up involved re-spray painting a bunch of the frames, and for some reason I just didn’t feel motivated to do it. But then I realized there are only 3 items I need to complete to get this room checked off the 2013 goal list and I got my shit together.

First up, collecting all the frames and setting them out to get spray painted

I had a bunch of bright green, red, yellow and black frames and for the room redo I was okay with the yellow, but the green, red and black would get a little makeover

Glossy white, glossy gray, matte silver and oil rubbed bronze. After they got painted and dried in the sun I brought them all inside to put the art back in place. Clearly I should have taken notes on what belonged where because my floor looked like a disaster zone

Once I finally figured out what went where I laid things out to get an idea of how to arrange them on the wall

The arrangement I set out was actually too big for the wall, so I did what any responsible person would do and I decided to just wing it as I put things up

It took about 2 hours, some patches (whoopsie, frame don’t go there) and a purchase of one more frame (the only purchase for this project because everything else was already on hand), but in the end, it looks awesome

That’s a huge improvement over this

The view directly from the chair at my desk

Pretty awesome, right? Eeeeee! It’s amazing how much seeing things on the wall make a place feel so much more lived in. I even get excited walking into the room and just see the corner of things

Now for a rundown of what’s on the wall

From top row left to right. First up is an award for my senior thesis I got at Mills. After all the hard work on that project I’m happy to have it 🙂 Next is a paper cut I made of our house, though I stupidly forgot to reverse things after I traced it on carbon paper so it’s backwards, hahaha. I still really like it though, and I find it hilarious that it’s backwards. The painting I made a year+ ago and meant for it to go in the animal room, but I didn’t like it so much with the other 3 so I saved it for another place in the house and now I’m happy I did. Then I’ve got my Phi Beta Kappa award from college and my diploma. After doing horribly at UC Davis I felt really proud of myself for being asked to be part of PBK after I transferred to Mills. And in true younger sibling syndrome, the first thing I thought after I hung up the phone when I got invited was, “Adam was never in Phi Beta Kappa.” (I find that both pathetic and hilarious). Plus doctors have all their diplomas out, why can’t art students?

Top row left to right again. I did that Tupac drawing in a drawing class at Mills. It’s one of my favorite projects still. The converse painting was a gift from my mom. I draw patterns on shoes (Converse and Vans) so my mom thought it was fitting. I really like it 🙂 The little My Little Pony drawing is from my friend’s daughter. We colored it in together and then she finished it and mailed it to me. Tear. I love it 🙂 And the last one is a photo of me my mom took my intern year at the A’s when I was on camera. Right before she took that pic she burst into tears at how proud she was that I was getting to work for the baseball team that I love so much. And lets all ignore the patch I need to paint at the top of it…

And last time, top row left to right. Chris got me a print of my favorite painting The Floor Scrapers by Gustave Caillebotte a few years ago for my birthday, so I was very happy to get that back up on the wall. My brother got my the autographed pic of Eric Byrnes, an A’s outfielder when I was in high school and college that I loved (he was such a hustler). I made the “Everyday” print a year or so ago, just a nice reminder to be happy, productive, curious, positive, etc. each day. The seal pastel drawing was done by my grandmother who committed suicide (sorry if you think that’s TMI, just being honest) when my mom was pregnant with me. She was a great artist and I have several of her drawings, so it’s nice to keep her creative spirit alive. The photo to the right of that is of me and Chris at a race about 2 or 3 years ago. He beat me by like 20 seconds. I was so pissed. The bird painting on the piece of wood was also done by my grandmother. The hanging tile is from a friend of mine. It’s a flying pig that says “Let the Beauty You Love Be What You Do.” I love it. And lastly, the photo is from a digital photography class I took at Mills. The assignment was a series of 3 composite images. This was my favorite

It’s 3 images of me working in the garage (before we redid it, about 2 months after we moved in) that I blended together.

So there you have it, my gallery o’ frames

Now a beautiful sight to see as I procrastinate at my desk and think of things I would like to be doing other than my work… 🙂