This Room, That Art - Teal Totems

Teal Totems

I met a woman named Teal once and my first thought was,
'damn, I bet her parents are cool.' 
Great name, great color. 

Today I bring you two Teal Totems and the rooms that they would compliment.

You can't go wrong with black accents, in my humble opinion that is. The black trim, countertops and baseboard create geometric outlines leading the eye around Luca Nichetto's Stockholm villa. 

Wouldn't this piece be fantastic hung next to the table,
the bright tone bringing together the two spaces?

The jaw dropping drama of all over teal in this cozy
Jill Bradshow Interiors space! 
I can feel the relaxation of that chaise calling to me.

The white light adds a long, lean sculptural element to this Jill Bradshaw room that would nicely compliment a long, lean Teal Totem. 

The Room, That Art - Oak Log Cabin

Oak Log Cabin

I think of my pieces as my children and when looking for a home for my children, I want it to be just right. The room shouldn't overtake the art. It should be not too busy, not too boring, just perfectly suited to sing along together creating a harmonious space. 

That's exactly what I've found in designer Tobias Vernon of 8 Holland Street.

This floor and that abstract piece- were they not created by the interior gods solely to compliment this Oak Log Cabin square?

The color palettes in 8 Holland Street interiors are impeccable! A clean white backdrop that highlights the pop of green dresser, then warmed up with the pillow and textile wall hanging. 

The oak color in the rug nicely picks up the oak thread.  This art, that rug- they just want to be together. I can feel it.

I'm always advocating for monochromatic art styled on a busy wallpaper. It's a hill I'm willing to die on and this space just solidifies my opinions as correct. 

The gold tones in the flowers offer the perfect amount of matchy-matchy with the Oak square. 

This Room, That Art - Charcoal Log Cabin

All black art?
Well, technically—it’s charcoal. This striking Charcoal Log Cabin square is bringing texture and sophistication. And even amidst these expertly designed interiors, it has potential to steal the limelight.

This Room, That Art - Plaid Squares

The algorithm’s been appealing my colorful side and recently served up this bold, brilliant space by @autumnsummerluv. Every shade’s having a party—and somehow, they’re all getting along. My blue Plaid Squares would feel right at home in this vibrant wonderland.

This Room, That Art - Monochrome Loves Wallpaper

I love a bold pattern and a bold patterned wallpaper is even better. But then you have to find art that doesn’t distract. Monochromatic is the answer. It lets the wallpaper shine and gives the eye a place to rest.

Perfect example is this amazing, large scale squiggle line wallpaper used by @kiki_designstudio. The art is large (20”x60”!!) but the tonal blues don’t compete with the busyness of the walls.

I call this piece Ascending Blues and it’s available through art consultant Alice Trahant Phillip’s Artist Marketplace. If you’re in the Atlanta area, Alice can bring this piece to your house so you can try before you buy- what an amazing service!

This Room, That Art - Time to get B R I G H T

This Room, That Art - Feeling Blue

This Room, That Art - Big Pinks

Today, let’s talk about something truly essential—pink!

A color so full of life, it practically hums with happiness.
Pink is bold, pink is playful, pink is a little rebellious in the best way.
It’s the confetti of colors, the exclamation point of decor!

Just look at how these two fiber-wrapped blocks bring
a burst of pink magic into these spaces.
Don’t you think your world could use a bit more of this rosy delight?

This Room, That Art - Italian Summer

The Italian Summer series was inspired by the dreamy hues of vintage Italian beach photography. Created for Liz Lidgett Gallery, these color block pieces capture the sun-soaked joy of seaside escapes—bright, playful, and bursting with la dolce vita!

Like a spritz on a hot day, they add the perfect pop of charm and vibrancy to these beautifully curated spaces.

a color story - R E D

Red’s been my top color for the past couple of years. My favorite color tends to change with my season of life and the past few years have brought red to the

I found an awesome red sweatshirt at Fremont Vintage Mall in 2020. It says ‘Enjoy Skagit Valley’ in the old CocaCola logo style. Skagit County is an agricultural area about an hour north of Seattle. I used to work up there and driving to work through the marshy farmlands and tulip fields was a daily color experience.

I soon added a pair of red sweatpants to my wardrobe so I could go full tilt, head to toe red. Undoubtably this is one of the reasons why my partner tells me I dress like a rapper- a compliment that I accept with great pride.

My affinity for red is so strong that I made my logo a red square. Of course, I went with a square as so much of my work is based on square blocks. Much of my inspiration comes from quilt squares, specifically the log cabin quilt where the red center square signifies the hearth of the home. I love designing new patterns and color stories by starting with a red square and building out from there.

The two artworks above (left, Red Curves by Ellsworth Kelly and right, a close up of Raqqa II by Frank Stella) are two pieces that had great influence on me while searching for my artist voice. Raqqa II has been on display at the NC Museum of Art since I was a child. It’s a massive canvas that used to live at the bottom of a staircase in an area that’s open three stories up. It makes a big, colorful statement in a vast space and I can remember it catching my attention time and time again as a child.

The Ellsworth Kelly piece I came across in 2021 when I visited SFMOMA for my birthday. At that time I had been trying to find just the right form of creative expression for a few years. A lot of my creative journey has been a struggle of editing. I like it all, but have trouble deciding what I really love. I had been attemping to strip away details to find something more streamlined, more targeted, less fanciful and less cluttered. Seeing Ellsworth Kelly’s giant color statements took my breath away. I was struggling with putting together these four and five hue color stories that always turned out to be too much, too busy. These sculptures by Kelly suggested to me that one color might be enough. I started experimenting with single color pieces and fell in love with the idea of creating a large, one color square that can stand alone. Sometimes we need to see things to know they’re possible and for me, simplicity is something that I needed demonstrated.

A couple of other favorite red shots from my reel are the three above. The middle one is an Indonesian ikat textile that I saw at the Seattle Art Museum at their ikat exhibit (another birthday art museum trip, yes you see a pattern there). The other two are street photos from Indonesia where I lived from 2015-2017. I love SE Asian scooter culture. Everyone has a scooter and is unafraid of packing it to the gills with balloons, food, people, etc. I also love kaki limas (small, rolling food carts) especially the tofu ones. This one is round tofu balls that are deep fried and usually come with different fillings. My pick was always tahu isi which is the cabbage filled version.

This being the first of my blog posts on this platform, I’m not sure who will be out there reading this. If you’ve made it this far, I’d be over the moon if you left a comment below. I’d love to know how your impressions of red! Or what you enjoyed about this article or how you found me. Just say hello. I’m listening.