Inspiration

It is good to search for something that inspires us. Something we can take an idea from. Not directly of course. I am not suggesting to copy things, but to take the energy from them. Positive energy. Sometimes it could be a very small detail that stays in our mind and after rethinking can grow into something huge. When it comes to interior decorating, it can bring us a whole new project theme. For some people it could be a taking a trip or reading a book, for others it could be a picture. In my case it was a painting. To be completely truthful it is a reproduction of painting by Gerard ter Borch "The Letter"(1660-2). I found it on garage sale. 

It is a Medici print from T. & R. Annan & Sons (Glasgow).

 

Of course there is an action going on: three women around the table, reading a letter with tension on their faces... But what I really love about this scene is the iron & crystal chandelier above the table and game of fabrics. Blue velvet on the stool, heavy darker shade of velvet covering the table, and greyish whites and blues of the dress with small drop of gold. Everything painted carefully in every detail, that you may almost hear the rustle of the ball gown in its every movement. 
There is something magnificently mysterious in that dark interior and although I prefer more light in my rooms, richness of the fabrics and silver tableware had surprisingly strong impact on me. That is why I have found similar fabric and upholstered little 50s chair. 

Then I put it right in front of that picture and enjoyed the way how they correspond together.

It was simply fun and a pleasure to "smuggle" even very small amount of that extraordinary atmosphere from the painting into my own space. 



Author: Margaret