Art for Anniversaries / Annual Search

We have an anniversary coming up in a few weeks, just after my sister’s wedding. It’s the first time Michael and I will be in America for our anniversary – ever! We’ve celebrated every one of our anniversaries in Ireland usually on a chilly day with a picnic on the cliffs or dinner in town. We have no plans this year, but we’re continuing our relatively new tradition of finding a piece of artwork to add to our collection in honor of our annivesary. It’s our favorite invention from anniversary number six – we don’t buy presents for each other (in fact, we never have!) but we choose a piece of original artwork together. 

Last year we ended up with a gorgeous abstract Lola Donoghue painting in greens and greys. It’s already one of our most cherished possessions.

I took it upon myself to start a little searching online for this year’s piece. Michael’s and my tastes in artwork aren’t vastly different, thankfully, although I do tend to lean a little more girly sometimes. And green, I like way too much green for my own good. But one of the fun things for me to do is collect a bunch of options and see what Michael thinks of each. It’s such an interesting experiment!

For my quick online search, I knew right where to start, with Leslie Duke‘s miniature fruit paintings. I follow Leslie on Instagram and I love seeing her painting process through her snaps. She works primarily in oils, so she often scrapes off what she’s done and starts over again, which is a little symbolic of a marriage, no?

In another Instagram rabbit hole, I discovered Sister Golden Shop and their vibrant landscapes. I think the color schemes might be a little girly for Michael’s taste, but you never know! If he nixes these I think I’ll opt for one of their watercolor clutches.  And finally, I discovered these metallic cloud paintings on Little Green Notebook last year and couldn’t believe what a sparkly fun trick it is! Tara Andris paints clouds onto sheets of metal, so the sky looks like it’s glistening. Living in Ireland has made me appreciate cloudy skies (here are a whole bunch of my favorites from last year!) so these would be apropos of our Irish home.

 

We may land on a totally different look altogether, but the search for our anniversary art is nearly as fun as choosing a piece!

Any artists cross your path lately? I love discovering artists that are new to me!