Choosing Art for Your Home with Amanda Goetze
Get help choosing art for your home with these expert tips from Amanda Goetze of Goetze Art & Design!
I believe a room is unfinished without beautiful, captivating art on the walls. In fact, I’m decidedly in the “no blank walls” fan club. How about you?
Choosing art for your home in many ways is an intuitive process about self-expression. In other words, the art on your walls should reflect you and your family’s personality and history. It should help tell your home’s story and inspire you daily. But the art world is vast and finding and deciding on that perfect bewitching work can be daunting.
Amanda with a newly installed Carroll Cloar Drawing, Photo credit: Ross Creative Group
To help us navigate these selections, I’ve asked Amanda Goetze, an art dealer, to share her expert advice with us Peonies! Amanda curates an on the go art gallery and concierge service, Goetze Art & Design, based out of her home town – Memphis, T.N. where she specializes in matching clients with the right work of art. And I love that she thinks of herself as a matchmaker for art and people!
Raised in a home of collectors, Amanda was surrounded by regional art from a young age. Her mother ensured Amanda’s early exposure by cutting out important art works and placing them on the bottom half of the refrigerator, so she could see them at her level. Talk about foundational!
After completing an art history degree from the University of Richmond, Amanda served as a liaison between members of the U.S. Congress and the Smithsonian Institution, helping them choose pieces for their congressional offices in the Capitol building. She is a supporter of regional, Southern art, and I am always starry eyed over the Carroll Cloars and Mary Singletons she offers.
I’ve asked Amanda to share with us her expert tips on choosing art for your home and give us the benefit of her expert insight!
Amanda’s Tips on Choosing Art for Your Home:
No. 1 My best advice is to collect what speaks to you.
Consider these questions:
Did it grab your attention?
Why does it interest you?
Will it continue to interest you?
Will it grow and evolve with you?
Simply put — buy what you love. Then, find the right space to showcase it.
No. 2 Once you decide on a piece, the next step is to think about where it will be displayed.
Think about the space, the lighting and the proportions of the area.
Is it going to be the superstar in the room?
A focal point?
Is it one of a series or collection?
Or will it be in the background, waiting to be discovered?
This determines where to hang or display it.
No. 3 Don’t shy away from the oversized focal point.
When a piece features a lot of detail, consider hanging it at eye height, so it can be easily examined and truly seen.
No. 4 Sometimes a piece that would not have been your first choice takes on a new life when reframed.
Ida Floreak works hung in Amanda’s home
When Amanda selects works for her own home…
My style and eye continue to evolve and grow, but my process remains the same. When selecting artwork for my home, I collect what grabs my attention and holds it. Fads come and go. As an art dealer, it is important to be informed about what’s going on in the art world, but the latest trend shouldn’t dictate what you surround yourself with.
Ida Floreak is a really wonderful New Orleans-based artist that we feature at Goetze Art & Design. There is always something new to see with her work, so stacking these two pieces here, at eye level in my bedroom, is perfect. I sit on my bed and admire them. I look at their many details and appreciate how she has softly arranged these beautiful, realistic items from nature.
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Amanda has offered us some really important considerations to help choose art that will enliven your home. Thanks Amanda!
For me, I often find the art works that speak to me the most and hit that emotional cord are works that take me on a journey. They either have a very narrative quality that sparks my imagination or they incapsulate a personal memory that guides me to reminisce about a place, event, or person.
Her last tip about not being distracted by the framing is so important too, especially when shopping for art in thrift stores and estate sales. A tacky or glaring mat and frame can really detract from a great work of art, so try to envision the piece on its own and see if that makes a difference!