Wallpaper Portraits

Look at this wallpaper, called "Familjen" by Swedish Designer Lisa Bengtsson. It's a wonderfully creative way of combining portraits and design. I've ordered some for my studio, to tack up snapshots of works in progress, but imagine it in a hallway, or powder room..., full of photos or memorabilia.

Decorate with portraits to increase your child's self-esteem

Decorating with portraits can do more than add warmth and beauty to a home, it can actually enhance a child's self-esteem. In her book "The Magic of Encouragement"(Morrow, 1990), psychotherapist Stephanie Marston suggests placing two portraits of a child next to the child's bed. One should show the child cheerfully involved in an activity that they enjoy (for instance, playing a sport or a musical instrument), and the other should show family togetherness (for instance, mother and child looking into each other's eyes). These images of a child being capable and being loved will be "the last thing before they sleep and the first thing they see when they awaken." Images speak louder than words, so these portraits can be a great asset in a child's development.

Creating a Portrait Display Wall

A family portrait wall is a wonderful way to display some of those priceless portraits, but sometimes it's nice to have a little help with the arrangement.

Pottery Barn has downloadable wall arrangement templates to spark your creativity and bring bring your portraits out of the drawers and up where they belong. You can download 5 different templates and instructions on how to hang your portraits (hint - it involves photocopies, brown paper, and painters' tape) at the Pottery Barn website.

Inspiration from the past

A house that's truly a home carries echoes of those who have loved us. This family cherished a black and white, wallet-sized photo of their grandfather, taken at a prize-fight in Casablanca in the 1940s. They commissioned a painting from this tiny photo, and now a wall-sized painting is evidence of their pride in who they are as a family.

And you can have frogs

This little boy just loved frogs, and looked for them everywhere as we took the reference photos for his painting, but sadly, not a frog was in sight.

But, just like magic, by the time is painting was done, not just one frog, but TWO had appeared!

He believes.

Portraits Matter

Portraits Matter

My daughter has no baby pictures. None of the naked newborn on the rug photos, none of the spaghetti-faced toddler pictures, none of the first lost tooth. Her first photo, which she guards with dear life, was taken in an orphanage in Ethiopia. She's wearing a mismatched outfit and holding a sign that says that she's a "girl - 6 years old".

And, so we do portraits together. She dances in the snow in a thrift store party dress, and I paint it. She dresses as a shepherdess with a staff herding her sheep. She sits in a dignified pose as in a beautiful mansion. She dresses as a shepherdess with a staff herding her sheep, and I paint for her. She spins the stories of who she is, and who she can be, and together we capture her beauty. Portraits matter.