Ep. 437: How to Layer Wall Art with Anne Bohne

14:55Kelly Wilkniss:Yeah. It's interesting that the balance of, I guess, fine art versus design and being able to do the two.

15:05Annie Schlecter:Yeah.

15:06Anne Bohne:Well, how has it been kind of diving into the fine art world? And I know it sounds like you paint it and then you kind of text out and then you always paint it. But now that this is, you know, and we carry some of your beautiful pieces. So getting into that world, how has it been? Have you been, you know, for finding inspiration and other artists?

15:25Kelly Wilkniss:How does that go? Oh, I mean, I love painting landscapes, as you mentioned. But I find lots of, are you kind of asking like where I maybe draw some of my inspiration? Yes, where do you get inspiration? Well, with landscapes in particular, I mean, we are very fortunate to just live in a beautiful area of the country. And I grew up in Savannah. I went to college in the mountains of Tennessee. I did a semester abroad in Florence, Italy. And I just, I love being able to paint kind of living things, I guess, landscapes and then the animals. And then I've got a floral in there, too. But with landscapes, it's so easy to find inspiration, I mean, everywhere that you go.

16:21Kelly Wilkniss:And my phone is just full of, you know, kind of random moments of being like, oh, that's really pretty. I think that would translate beautifully into, you know, just taking photos from my phone. But with the landscapes, I really love to be able to take some of the images that I've gathered and try to bring in maybe some colors that are a bit more unexpected. Right now I'm really into like terracotta and umber and warm tones and sap green. So one of the paintings that I have with Ballard right now really showcases some of those colors. But I love also focusing on light and attempting to bring light into the piece.

17:13Kelly Wilkniss:The painting that you all are carrying is, I believe it's called August Pines, maybe.

17:22Annie Schlecter:It's the landscape with the terracotta colors.

17:25Kelly Wilkniss:And that image was taken from my husband and I were driving our children to St. George Island in Florida. And the landscape just looks different there. I mean, they have these beautiful, like, tall, skinny pine trees. And the light that comes through it I just thought was so beautiful. And so that was a quick snapshot from the car. And then I actually also have a friend that lives in the area, and she had some beautiful photos of the area. So that was a bit of a combination of the two. But yeah, when it's landscapes, it just seems very easy to come up with imagery that resonates.

18:10Anne Bohne:Your little series of animals, too, is so cute. Thank you. Your little ducks are so sweet. Oh, thank you. I love the pink background with the ducks and their orange beaks really like pop off the soft pink in the background too.

18:23Kelly Wilkniss:You are speaking of, there's a painting that it's actually in my daughter's bedroom. When I was pregnant with her, I knew, I was like, okay, I feel like I want to have this painting of all of these white ducks just waddling. It seems like a very sweet nursery type thing to add in. But, yeah, that's still in her bedroom now. And I hope it will be something that, like my grandmother, that I can pass on to the next babies in the family.

18:59Annie Schlecter:When you were in school, you mentioned your art show, senior art show. What were the subject matters of that?

19:06Kelly Wilkniss:And that was almost all primarily landscapes. Yeah. I think there were a few more abstracted pieces. But I don't know if you feel this way, Taryn, but I think abstracts are really difficult. I mean, it's— Very difficult. Yes. It's—you're paying such attention to shape and form and color and— Balance, I guess. But you also want for it to seem maybe a bit random. Yeah. So it's, yeah, it can be tricky.

19:39Annie Schlecter:It's, I feel like there are a lot of artistic and I guess sports too, but like it, the goal is to look as effortless and as easy as possible. But in order to do that, it's like incredibly difficult. It's like ballet, right? Like ballet should look like you're floating. Like it's the easiest thing in the world. And then, but like, it's incredibly challenging.

20:00Kelly Wilkniss:Oh, I commend artists that are talented in creating abstract pieces because it takes a lot of patience. And then also there's such emotion behind it. I mean, I personally love abstract art in my own home. It's just I don't create it as much.

20:22Annie Schlecter:Yeah. But even your pieces that you're doing, like there's a real looseness to it.

20:27Anne Bohne:Yeah, like the watercolor dogs, again, I think for most people that would be really hard. Like you were saying, you make it look like an effortless free flow because you forced yourself, a talented artist, to like free flow and it's gorgeous. But yes, I think most people would be like, you know.

20:45Annie Schlecter:Well, watercolor is that same way, right? Like watercolor should look flowing and effortless.

20:52Anne Bohne:You can't force it. Yes, like watercolor is going to move and you have to be okay with it. Yeah.

20:58Kelly Wilkniss:You're going to get what you're going to get. Yeah. And that's kind of freeing too. Yeah. You can't control it.

21:03Anne Bohne:Oh, yeah. I mean, how many times, I feel like when I have worked with people like teaching them that, I'm like, if you keep going over that, it's going to go through the paper. Like you will at some point while you're learning, somehow rub some area so that the paper literally there's a hole and you'll be like, oh, I get it. Can't go back now. Yeah. Yeah.

21:22Annie Schlecter:You have to just embrace what happened. Yeah. Figure out how to, oh my God. And what if you have to duplicate it? Like, oh, you can't, right? You can. I mean, I guess you can.

21:35Anne Bohne:She's like, yeah.

21:36Kelly Wilkniss:So the dogs, I actually, when I was selling them on my own website, they were all originals. And I would try to, I guess, replicate.

21:51Annie Schlecter:Within reason. Within reason.

21:53Kelly Wilkniss:And that's why, I mean, it's kind of nice. We're going to do a print now. Yeah. Okay. I've got it exactly how I want it. And now it's a print. Yes. Yes. Yes. But but yeah, it was it was a sketch that I just kind of had some muscle memory for.

22:10Annie Schlecter:OK, to either of y 'all. I'm just going to ask you about since you both do watercolor, but I've seen I feel like some watercolor artists, they start with the the color. Right. And then they and they add the water or like they're doing both at the same time. But then I've also seen some artists who like put the water down and then like put in the pigment. And I'm like, how does that?

22:34Anne Bohne:Do you know what I'm talking about?

22:36Annie Schlecter:Yes.

22:36Anne Bohne:You know, I know what you're saying. I just want to know because I took I took classes in high school. I took watercolor classes. So I learned from an artist. So I only so the way I do it is the way he taught me. Does that make sense?

22:51Kelly Wilkniss:So I want to know, like, no. And I in terms of the medium, I didn't have any formal training with with watercolor. And so I almost use it a bit more like when I'm doing like a full color painting. Sometimes I feel like I use it very meticulously, almost like I'm using a colored pencil. And, you know, use really small brushes. And there's some, of course, larger areas that have that watery feel to it. But I actually, I like for my acrylic paintings sometimes to feel a bit, I'd like to treat that a bit more like watercolor when you really dilute.

23:30Anne Bohne:Yeah, I was going to say you dilute them down on the canvas.

23:33Kelly Wilkniss:I'll dilute the paint. And sometimes I'll paint on raw canvas rather than a gessoed canvas because you get these great kind of like splotches and movement. and it's a great way to build layers and then refine it on top.

23:53Annie Schlecter:Does it like absorb like a raw canvas? Does it absorb the paint? It absorbs it differently.

24:01Kelly Wilkniss:Yes. When you have a gessoed canvas, it just kind of sits on top.

24:04Annie Schlecter:Right. Which is completely, I mean, that's normal.

24:09Kelly Wilkniss:That has its own. That's normal, yes. But it's almost like you're painting on fabric And so it just bleeds differently when you're painting on raw canvas.

24:20Annie Schlecter:Yeah. Do you, we were talking a couple weeks ago about like doing your own canvases. Like what is that process like? And what kind of scale are you painting in compared to the final prints, right? Because you can order our prints in like a variety of sizes.

24:39Kelly Wilkniss:Oh, Caroline. I am very blessed with a super handy husband. he stretches my canvases for me. I mean, he makes toasters. Yes. Oh my gosh, you all didn't hear this story. Sorry. Yes. I forgot we talked about that off my head. My husband, he went to school for industrial design. And when we were set up on a blind date, we were told like, oh, okay, so she designs textiles and she's an artist. And And my now sister-in-law jumped in and said, my brother-in-law designs toaster ovens. And it was just a match made from there. But anyway. So he's very handy. He's very handy. Yes. Sounds like it. Yes. He no longer does that.

25:25Kelly Wilkniss:He's in tech now. But yeah, so he stretches canvases for me. And he also built this fantastic, it's a piece of furniture that goes the length of my studio that has storage and material storage and completed painting storage. And then at the end of it, he built this drafting table. Amazing. Yes. That's cool. So in terms of stretching canvases, I'll leave that to the pros. Yeah. I'll buy canvases too. Or sometimes it's nice to work on Birchboard. It's another platform that I think is really fun to use. In fact, the Zinnias painting, the floral, was originally painted on a piece of birch board. That's really cool.

26:18Anne Bohne:So how do you frame something like that birch board?

26:22Kelly Wilkniss:I love a floater frame.

26:24Anne Bohne:Okay.

26:25Kelly Wilkniss:I mean, I feel like it's a little bit more of a contemporary way to let the art shine and just give, but it makes it feel very polished to have a frame on there. So floater frames, I tend to lean towards that for almost all of my acrylic paintings, kind of like the one that you all have over here. That's in a floater. Yeah.

26:52Anne Bohne:Yes. Okay. Okay. As somebody who kind of is starting out collecting, I know you kind of give a great tip again to be kind of checking into some schools even for some pieces of art. What are some recommendations you'd give to people as they continue to collect as an artist?

27:08Kelly Wilkniss:Well, okay. First of all, collecting might be intimidating to some. But it's really fun if you can just kind of let loose and, I mean, go to an art gallery. You don't have to buy anything, but just go to an art walk, go to a gallery, see what speaks to you. Because you should have some kind of reaction to a piece that you're, even if it's just like, oh, I want to spend a lot of time with that painting. You know, it's something that I want to have in my home and in my family for a long time. But there are lots of different entry points for being able to collect art. and you could look through galleries.

27:52Kelly Wilkniss:There are emerging artist shows, which are a wonderful way to get to know some new artists and get to have a varied collection of works and maybe get in on some of the works before the artists become very well-known. Then there's also, I think it's a wonderful way to collect art when you have the option to get a print, you know, to get a giclee or a watercolor print. And then lastly, I personally love framing my children's art. And I like having a framer that I have a great partnership with. So when I'll bring something in and say like, you know, my daughter made this butterfly out of a paper plate and I just think it's really sweet.

28:44Kelly Wilkniss:I want to hold onto it for a while. And they're like, oh, we've got the perfect frame for that. So yeah, it's nice to be able to collect various types of art that you can put on your wall to really make it feel like home. Yeah.

29:02Annie Schlecter:I do feel like sometimes people really overthink an art purchase and they're asking, is it good? Sure. It's an investment.

29:12Kelly Wilkniss:I mean, I understand why that that can be intimidating.

29:16Annie Schlecter:Right. But it's like, just buy something, like, do you think it's good? Like, you know, who cares what other people think? Yeah. It doesn't matter what I think.

29:24Kelly Wilkniss:Like, you know, get something that, again, that you want to spend some time with.

29:29Annie Schlecter:Yeah. What about in your own home, do you feel like the art piece needs to reflect the room in terms of like color?

29:40Kelly Wilkniss:No, because I love, I start with pieces that I just, and I collect work from other artists. And if it's something that I like and I want to purchase, there will be a place in your home for it. And feel free to, I move my pieces of art, my collection around the house. So yeah, I don't, And it's, you can either start with an art piece to design around a room. And I think sometimes it's, sometimes it can be the last touch that you put on a room too. But that's the beautiful thing about art is that you can move it. You can, you know.

30:26Anne Bohne:I think most designers do seem to give that as advice. Like sometimes it helps you to re-notice something too. Yes. When it's been like, again, you just walk past it every day and you don't. So if you shift them around sometimes all of a sudden.

30:39Kelly Wilkniss:Yeah. Yeah. It kind of makes your room feel fresh just by, you know, changing out the pillows or changing, moving the art around. Yeah. It's an easy way to do a quick update.

30:50Annie Schlecter:Yeah. Well, what about sizes of art? Because I feel like it's easy to move things around within, depending on the size of the painting, right? Like you may only have a certain couple walls that make sense for one piece, but are there sizes that you feel like are. more universally like like easy to work in um you know the two sizes that uh i continue for

31:21Kelly Wilkniss:um for commissioned pieces that i continue to make again and again just for me personally are 36 by 36 and 36 by 38 uh and those they're big enough to be a statement piece for the room but you can still move it to other locations. But I also love having smaller pieces. In fact, the works that I've collected from other people are mostly on the bookshelves that are in my living room. And I really love collecting. I have a piece by Rachel English. who is, she's an artist out of Texas, and she does these gorgeous cloud paintings. And I love her work. And I've also got a piece by Haley Mitchell. She does these faces that are somewhat abstracted and stylized.

32:22Kelly Wilkniss:And I just think really fun. And then we also have a piece by Teal Duncan, who I was so happy to be able to add that into my collection. That was actually kind of a wild story because right after my husband and I had gotten engaged, I had been following along with her. I'm a fan of hers. And one Christmas, she did like a Christmas giveaway of her work where she said, oh, just, you know, these actually do work sometimes. Post a picture of a painting that you love, and I will be giving away a new painting to a lucky winner. And on Christmas morning, it was my first morning for Christmas with my husband's family.

33:19Kelly Wilkniss:And my sister-in-law looks at the phone. She goes, oh, my gosh, Ann, you just won a painting. And it was really just kind of, I was like, oh, my gosh, are you kidding me? I just got engaged. And, you know, I'm spending Christmas with my husband's family. And now I'm also winning a painting, too. Yes. Yes.

33:37Anne Bohne:It's a good day. Yeah, I never feel like anyone wins those. Congratulations. I don't know any of them.

33:44Annie Schlecter:I stopped playing. I'm like, I don't mean. Exactly. We gave up. We gave up because we didn't win. Keith Entry. You're proof that.

33:50Anne Bohne:Yeah. No, and it's a good reminder to that if you like someone's work and you're following along, again, to try to support them by purchasing their stuff as well. Or winning it for free.

34:03Kelly Wilkniss:Or winning it for free. I mean, well. Well, if they give it, then they'll give it. I mean, it's fair. I mean, she is somebody that I absolutely would purchase. But it was just like, oh, my goodness. It's such a lucky thing. Yeah.

34:16Annie Schlecter:Yeah. What about now? What are you singing in terms of like colors or patterns that you feel like in maybe this back to the textile world that are speaking to you or things that you hadn't considered? or, you know, working with that you're looking at now?

34:43Kelly Wilkniss:We have a creative team that we all meet on things that we're drawn to. And I still keep coming back to antique textiles and embroideries. And as I said earlier, I'm really drawn to some of those muddier colors like terracotta and greens.

35:03Anne Bohne:I know personally it does seem like right now there is this strong trend for these muddier colors, these like muted, muddy, layered colors. Because if we think about the colors that have just been seasonally in, there hasn't been a lot of very clean, crisp colors. I mean, even the lavenders and lilacs have been very – they've been in tons of browns. and I know even myself it's like the terracotta isn't sitting next to us so it does seem to be the colors are definitely like you said very important right now too to make sure you hit

35:45Annie Schlecter:well it seems like I've been thinking about it because it seems like florals have been just so popular and so strong for so many years that I'm I'm curious I guess as to whether we feel like that's changing? Is that fading? Are there new things like, you know, more geometrics that, like paisleys or something that might like kind of come in to like support those florals or take over?

36:13Kelly Wilkniss:Currently, I'm looking for and drawn to, because we do create a lot of florals and And they're beautiful. I mean, I personally love a floral, but I'm also trying to look for things that could be a bit more masculine. Some geometrics. So I'm looking at architectural designs and like the moldings that go along the top of older buildings. And trying to work that into something that can be used to surface design for textile.

36:50Annie Schlecter:Yeah.

36:51Kelly Wilkniss:And I love the look of block printing also. And being able to take just like a little motif and we don't block print, but we do lots of hand pated work. And so it's fun kind of coming up with a little design that were a ditty. For those that don't know what a ditty is, I mean, it's just a small motif that's repeated over and over again. Yeah. But I really like finding those tiny elements, even in antique textiles that you might not notice and say like, oh, let me just pull that tiny element out and tweak it a little bit and kind of give my own spin to it and see how that repeats out. Because it looks completely different once you have it in a repeat.

37:37Yeah.

37:38Annie Schlecter:Well, because like, you know, we probably all love florals, like you said, but like you need those go with patterns, right? Like you need those other supporting things to support it. And yeah, I love a block print for that purpose because the regularity balances the more organic flow of like a floral or something like this where you want like some structure next to it.

38:04Kelly Wilkniss:we're constantly talking about like okay so what what can we create that um maybe could that would be a good go with it almost reads as a solid you know that has some visual interest to it but um yeah but you can pair it with those bolder patterns uh so that's that's something that yeah constantly looking out for i feel like a paint and painting is kind of like that same thing though right like it's like the it's the floral in this situation yes right like it's the

38:34Annie Schlecter:organic big organic thing most of the time and then you maybe have like lamps or accessories or like a furniture piece that go under it that sort of like support it and add the anchor that then like the the art piece sort of creates the focal point from yes yeah yes yeah but from like a trend part i'd say florals are like they're just always oh they're here to stay yes because

39:02Anne Bohne:yeah it's like they flowers are beautiful but they they're always like they always go right

39:10Kelly Wilkniss:again it's natural living things you know that yes that i think resonates with so i think there's

39:17Anne Bohne:like peak moments when things are beautiful is that is the pull to yeah to capture it but you

39:24Annie Schlecter:don't feel like they they have like had a real resurgence recently like yeah i feel like we went

39:29Anne Bohne:through a geometric i feel like yeah i feel like somehow gray and geometric came at the same time a little you are right about that yes and then we came out of that and we've been a lot sort of like on the other side of the coin right i think i think we swung yes we swung the whole other way yeah so i'm sure the swing will happen again well because there was like a there was a period where

39:51Annie Schlecter:I feel like damasks were like really, they were like the bold, you know, like maybe in like the early 2000s, late 90s, like there was a lot of that where it was, you know, it's traditional and it's very bold and it's, it has like some organicness to it, I guess sometimes. But

40:11Kelly Wilkniss:one of my favorite patterns that I painted actually was a damask where elements were taken from a piece of embroidery, and it's watercolored, so it has all of that toning on top of it. I mean, I wonder if, and it was printed on linen in lighter color, so I wonder if maybe the material that it was printed on gave it a bit of freshness. But yeah, you get to see all of that texture and the puddling of the watercolor in the print of the fabric. Yeah. I don't know.

40:47Annie Schlecter:I mean, I don't want to see florals go away because I love them too, but it just has seemed like just a real like dominant. It is interesting how flowers, you know, like chins, for example, was, you know, I feel like we had like the Laura Ashley period and then that's sort of like, OK, take a back seat for a minute and then like, oh, it's back.

41:09Anne Bohne:Oh, yeah. And there are people now who, yeah, down the road will be like, what was that?

41:14Annie Schlecter:And it's in everything, too. Like, you know, fashion and, like, I feel like you can, there's always, like, you know, little calico print, like, Liberty-inspired, like, wrapping paper. And, like, the little, have y 'all seen those, like, I feel like quilted bags, like the Vera Bradley is all back, all, again, like, in little calico floral prints. I didn't see that. Oh, gosh. Well, maybe all of my algorithms are very much towards little girls. Yeah. I get a lot of callicoprints.

41:48Anne Bohne:That might be why. I haven't hit any of those little girls. Maybe it's just my algorithm. Yeah, exactly. Well, we were just listening. My team was just listening to a color presentation on the colors for like fall, winter, 27, 28. And they said, Hunter Green. And I was. It's that. Oh, take me back to the 90s. Yes, it is my and I have said this before in the podcast. My parents house that was built in 1990 had the corner tub, toilet, shower and sinks all that green. All that green. Oh, that that hunter green. The sink itself was the sink. Yeah. OK. The top was white tile, you know, tiled. Yeah.

42:31Annie Schlecter:And don't we all remember how like what toothpaste looks like in that hunter green sink? Oh, my God. Like, oh, you're so true.

42:38Anne Bohne:The toilet, right? I mean, the whole set. The best part is knowing that it came as like a, you know, they're like, and here you go. But anyway, speaking of, again, that research.

42:50Kelly Wilkniss:But that said, I mean, I love Hunter Green. Sure, it can come back in elements and different ways. And I mean, I don't know that we'll be seeing sinks or toilets, but Hunter Green. Yeah, exactly. I'll take it.

43:06Anne Bohne:But it's a. The worst colors. There are. There are worse colors. Of course, they showed it and it was beautiful. But then we like started diving into it, especially once they said the name of it. Like they, you know, they use such beautiful words to describe it. So, you know, and you're like, yes, yes. And then they said Hunter Green. I was like, oh, you lost me. And I'm back. But yes, I mean, just speaking of things resurging. Yeah. But you know what has always stayed, Caroline? What? Your favorite.

43:33Annie Schlecter:Stripes. Oh, yeah. Oh, I love a stripe. stripe yes everyone loves a stripe we always joke oh my gosh we were just looking at a book that we're gonna interview the author and she i mean she is like stripe on stripe on stripe i'm like wow i like stripes but like i didn't i don't i mean i didn't know that i like i she likes them way more than me let's just it is it is the majority of my wardrobe and my children's wardrobe

43:56Kelly Wilkniss:we are oh yes yes we are constantly in stripes do you use them in your home i do yes i think um Okay, well, all right, honestly, living room, I have been peeking at, I'd really love to buy myself some Larkin chairs. And y 'all have some gorgeous stripes right now that are performance grade. And I'm like, oh, okay, well, I think that would be.

44:30Anne Bohne:Yeah, I'm so grateful for performance patterns. Because I feel for a while performance was like it was solid. So there's something I just am so excited.

44:42Annie Schlecter:And unfortunately, I have learned the lesson that even if it's performance, if it's solid and one color. Like you can get it out the stain, but you have to always be getting out the stain. Right. Like if you have if you have some tone and you have some pattern. then it camouflages to where you don't have to like you're not going to see every little we

45:06Anne Bohne:really like to test the limits of our performance sofa right yeah you you're really just in the in

45:12Annie Schlecter:the yeah just trying those out we all are i think we all kind of have kids the same age yeah yeah but but like the pattern adds a adds a little bit more of an insurance policy and it does yes where it's like a solid stripe yeah yeah yeah buy a stripe yeah that's a good well stripes to me are kind of like a denim right like you can kind of put it with anything and it yeah i just don't know if i and they work with lots of other stripes like i would usually do like a stripe in each room but not in bold like four stripes in each room but it looked great it was beautiful um you gotta know what you're doing to do that yeah yeah she's a she's up here and i'm yeah So in terms of color, you feel like the terracottas, greens, ochre.

46:01Kelly Wilkniss:Yeah, yeah. Some of those warmer neutrals. I think we saw gray for a long time.

46:09Anne Bohne:We loved it when it was, I was going to say, we all loved it when it was happening.

46:12Annie Schlecter:So it's not to, when it started, you see too much of, eventually you're like, okay, I'm tired of this. So it's not that there's anything wrong with it. It's just anything in excess, it's like you then kind of want to go away from.

46:27Kelly Wilkniss:And with both painting and textiles, it's a great way to bring in elements of color into your home and find something that feels really fresh to you. So it's, I mean, I love the whole rainbow. So I just kind of when I'm painting, I just work with whatever feels right on my palette that day.

46:52Anne Bohne:And if you're working a lot in nature, again, and being inspired by nature, you're going to get those again, those tones that are muddier as well. Absolutely. Naturally. I want to go and talk about matting because are you in, do you like the kind of pattern mats or do you like a good solid white mat?

47:13Kelly Wilkniss:So I have been known to, I do love a good solid matte, white solid matte. But recently I have been, I've worked with my framing partner. They will cut mattes for me. And then I paint on the matte too. And just, you know, have that be its own piece of art as well. And, you know, paint just like a little border and gouache around it. So I'm for both, you know. Amazing. I'm in the camp of both are great. It just. Yeah.

47:52Annie Schlecter:But only the two of you can do that. That's not true. Well, but like, I can't paint. So how am I going to get it? I can't. Your husband can? Well, I know, but I'm just saying that, like, I feel like that is a level that only, like, the artist can. Or would you ever have a client who would say, like, will you paint me something and paint the mat, too? Like, have you ever done that for someone else? I mean, I have thought that it would be beautiful for people that are framing their wedding invitations.

48:20Kelly Wilkniss:I mean have like a sell just the painted mat as a piece of artwork including elements of the florals that were in their wedding or maybe they maybe they got married on the coast and you can include birds or fish.

48:38Anne Bohne:That's hers. You can't steal that.

48:39Annie Schlecter:I can't steal that. She's got a website. She's fine with me. Just wait. You got to do it before this episode comes out. Just scheming.

48:46Anne Bohne:No, I mean, I did see you had some on your website, and I thought they were so precious. Yeah. I love a good painted mat.

48:56Annie Schlecter:Because it adds like a little bit more of a dimension. It just gets a little pop. Yeah, yeah.

49:02Kelly Wilkniss:At home, I have a photo of my children that I have, the mat has just all of these like decorative florals all the way around the border. And it was a picture of the two of them when we were in the mountains. And they were illegally picking flowers at a garden. But it just kind of felt like a fun little nod to put that in a memory.

49:31Annie Schlecter:I love that for family photos. I've never thought about that. Yeah, that's a great idea. Have you been doing that? I feel like you've been painting mats a little bit.

49:39Anne Bohne:I've done a little bit of painting mats. I've wrapped them in fabric, too. I followed that trend, did a few of those. But, okay, what fabric did you use?

49:49Annie Schlecter:Because I feel like you would have to use something really thin.

49:50Anne Bohne:I did use a ticking.

49:52Annie Schlecter:Yeah. Yeah.

49:53Anne Bohne:Yeah, ticking is pretty.

49:54Kelly Wilkniss:It's hard to get those edges right, too, when you're. Yeah.

49:57Anne Bohne:Yeah, but it's in my personal hallway upstairs. Yeah. Like you said, it's like I'm the only one enjoying it, so if it's not perfect. Yeah, no, or even the wrapped frames. Have you painted the frame themselves? Yes. Oh, my goodness.

50:14Kelly Wilkniss:Yeah, I have.

50:15Anne Bohne:You've done it all.

50:16Kelly Wilkniss:No, I haven't done it personally, but I love the look of it. Yeah, yeah. When it's a patterned mat and then the pattern continues around the frame, too. I mean, how sweet. It's just beautiful.

50:28Annie Schlecter:It seems like a great way to maybe, like, recycle a little bit, right? Where like if you get something from a family member and you're like, this is a great frame, but like.

50:40Kelly Wilkniss:Yeah, but y 'all get comfortable with a DIY. Like, I mean, especially when if you're going to add some pattern to a mat board. I mean. Yeah. Yeah. The investment is low. Yeah. True. True.

50:53Anne Bohne:Very much. You can do that. Yeah, exactly. I think you can do it. That's just math. Yeah.

50:58Annie Schlecter:I have tried to get Will to paint me some lampshades. I love that painted lampshade look. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? Where like. Yeah. Has he done it? Do you want me to do it? Not yet, no.

51:09Anne Bohne:Ian can do it. He'll probably do a better straighter line. One of you can do it for me way faster. I did paint lampshades for my son's room. He needed something in there. And I couldn't find one. And I just was like, I'm going to paint a stripe on it. And I did. It's not perfect.

51:22Annie Schlecter:But I had this idea that I wanted to do basically like a similar pattern to the powder room. Like it's for sconces outside of our powder room. A sort of a little like preview going to the powder room. So I was very specific, of course.

51:40Anne Bohne:I did. For someone's baby room, I did like the wallpaper in the like I copied the wallpaper. Yeah. Onto the lampshade. Because I wanted it to me. Yeah. Yeah. It wasn't that great.

51:50Kelly Wilkniss:I mean, is there any room that is more fun to decorate than a nursery? No. I mean, come on. That is. Yeah.

51:57Annie Schlecter:Well, because they don't have an opinion.

51:59Kelly Wilkniss:I know. It's like you can do whatever you want. It's so true.

52:04Anne Bohne:I mean, I've taken the same approach in my dining room, but I feel like that's not a.

52:09Annie Schlecter:And you can be like more whimsical in a kid's room, right? You can. You can just kind of. I think that's what I felt about the dining room, too, though.

52:16Anne Bohne:That's true. It was like it's a place. It's a special place. in general. I should say in my house, it feels like more special events are in there. So it felt more like... When you walk in the door,

52:28Annie Schlecter:Terrence is painting a mural in her room.

52:30Anne Bohne:Yeah. But I had a little too much fun. Like I didn't want it to feel overly formal.

52:35Kelly Wilkniss:Do you feel like you want to keep adding to it or evolving it? Yeah. Yes. That's the fun of creating something in your own home. Yeah. Yes.

52:46Annie Schlecter:Are you sitting at dinner being like, I need to add a little shade over there? Oh, yeah. Well, because it kind of went in phases.

52:52Anne Bohne:So the first trees need more lemons. And because I filled in more over, you know, like as I went, these leaves are way fuller. And this side needs. Yeah. So, yes.

53:02Kelly Wilkniss:It's a little fertilizer. Yeah.

53:05Anne Bohne:Those trees need some help. Yeah.

53:07Annie Schlecter:It's fall over there. It's summer over there. Yeah. Do you ever feel like at your house, you're like, oh, I need something on this wall. Like, I'm just trying to go paint myself. Yeah. Do you whip them?

53:16Kelly Wilkniss:Oh, I mean, I'm sure you all feel the same way, too. that I constantly want to redecorate my house because, I mean, just as there is a new collection of fabric coming out or if I'm creating a series of paintings that I'm like, oh, you know what, I just really love how this is going. I mean, I am constantly inspired to just redo everything. I can't say that I haven't at home, but there's just there's there's so much good out there.

53:50Anne Bohne:Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's always coming. I think that's the beautiful part to what we do in the space we're in is you're just as you like you said, you start working on something. You're like, well, I really like this, but it doesn't fit in my current space. What if? Yeah. You're always looking for a room back to like finding a fun room to do things. Yeah. Yeah.

54:08Kelly Wilkniss:And nurseries are. Some of my most favorite pieces that I have painted have been commissions for nurseries. It's really sweet. Yes, they're sweet. And you just think about, okay, well, this is going to live in a room where this cherished child is going to grow up. Yeah. It's, I just love it.

54:33Annie Schlecter:I feel like we put more, like, thought and care into nurseries in the way that it, like, you might neglect your living room, right? Because, like, it's fine. It's fine. But then with your nursery, you're like, I want it to be. There's a time stamp on that. I think that's why it works, though, right?

54:51Anne Bohne:It's almost like you have a, you have, in general, the lead up, right? Yeah. In general. And it's small. And you have a due date. Yeah. Right. And so you really are truly working towards in general. Yeah. Like you this room has this one purpose. And here is it's like the data has to be done where, you know, you're never moving into a house. I mean, like the dining room has to be done unless you plan a party. You know, but it's true. Like your bedroom, you're not like, well, no one goes in there but me.

55:17Annie Schlecter:I can do it. Yeah. Yeah. When do you take the time to you're like, it needs to be done by this due date because I'm not going to do anything after. You know what I mean? Like once they're born, it's like I'm going to be occupied.

55:29Kelly Wilkniss:what is the phrase the the cobbler's yes yeah of course yeah i think it's easy to fall prey to that

55:36Annie Schlecter:yeah and thank you so much for coming by your paintings are beautiful

55:42Anne Bohne:oh yes no thank you your work um is just so beautiful and so inspiring and your website is a great you know you have so much of your work on there for people to enjoy um so if they want to go and check it out um thank you or commissions you do commissions as well yes um happy to do

56:02Kelly Wilkniss:them and um it it's a real love of mine to have the ability to be able to paint something that either meant something a place that meant something to someone or um or a subject matter and it's it's just really special to be a part of people's homes yeah and we're grateful yeah Yeah, it's a collection of painted mats coming soon.

56:26Anne Bohne:Oh gosh, coming soon.

56:27Kelly Wilkniss:I know I need to get on that.

56:29Anne Bohne:Well, until then, they can purchase it on our website. They can purchase your other paintings. So we're lucky to have you on there. Thank you so much. Everyone can enjoy your beautiful work. Thank you.

56:40Annie Schlecter:Okay, well, can you tell everyone where they can find you, follow you, and see your work?

56:44Kelly Wilkniss:Yes. So my Instagram is annboniart, and my website is annboniart as well. so you can see my works there. Awesome.

56:56Annie Schlecter:All right, that's our show. And that's our show. You can find all of the show notes on our blog,

57:01Anne Bohne:howtodecorate.com slash podcast. To send in a decorating dilemma, email your questions to podcast.ballarddesigns.net so we can help you with your space.

57:10Annie Schlecter:And of course, be sure to follow us on social media at Ballard Designs. Don't forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode. And please leave us a review.

57:18Kelly Wilkniss:We'd love to hear your feedback. Until next time, happy decorating!