Does Size Matter? #13
When I was in design school, we were taught that there are factors that separate how men and women perceive the world. If a man and a woman live in the same household, the fact that men are mostly colorblind, and women have a hard time with determining size, it is very important to direct questions to the correct person. Simplify the task at hand. Figure out who can answer with the least amount of stress. I found this to be good advice not only in decision-making when designing a home but for life in general.
One can make a fun game of testing this theory of size and color. When gathering with friends, pull a lady friend aside, point a finger at the sofa, and ask, how wide do you think that sofa is? Color might be harder to test because the questioner as well as the guests might see a different color.
A Color Theory
Mark Rothko, a prominent master abstract expressionist from the 1950s focused his entire career on color. Red and its analogous family of colors that are close to each other on the color wheel, were of particular interest. He created blocks of very thin layers of color creating layer after layer of transparency.
He also varied his textures by using mixes of additives. He would even use organic matter to create a smooth or rough texture. To this day we still do not know exactly how he created his paintings because he kept his formulas secret. I find his work to have been of particular interest because I have always loved the chemistry of fine art painting. It does take days in the layering process, so even though it is enjoyable, I find that I can only include the complex processes in multiple-day teaching workshops versus one-day classes. Art historians reference Mark Rothko often when writing papers on color because it is common knowledge that he worked on the premise that people mostly see color differently, but red can be very, very personal, and unique to the individual. This extraordinary master artist also included the importance of size with the color family mixtures that he used. When asked how far away the viewer should stand to have the best experience of his large paintings, he would give a strange answer. The obvious answer, about a large majority of art in museums
would be to stand back a healthy distance to enjoy the painting. Instead, Rothko would say, stand eighteen inches, from the canvas. The next time you visit a Rothko masterpiece, in a museum, try standing different distances from the painting so that you can judge his advice, yourself. Of course, you don’t want to stand so close that you set off alarms. See the included painting samples using transparent and opaque layers. Also, see the sample painting that has a green single black markdown on the left side of the painting. If this painting was small, it would not have the same impact that it would if it was 60″ high by 40″ wide.
Make A Room Look Larger
It is amazing how size can be used in different ways. An interesting example is when a bathroom is small, the way to make it look more spacious is to use very large tiles instead of small ones in the shower. The large tiles do not overpower the room, as one would suspect, rather they make the room look larger. One reason this works is that with small tiles you have an abundance of repetitive patterns created by the grout lines. It becomes so busy that it diminishes the size of the room. The subconscious mind sees the grout lines first resulting in an unsettled feeling. Many times, the viewer does not know why they feel unbalanced or even dizzy.
The size rule mentioned at the beginning of the articles does not apply to all women. As a women artist, I have found that some forms of painting have aided in expanding the ability to use both the left brain and right brain, equally. Even though I may be in the small percentage of women that can judge size, when I go to replace my kitchen backsplash with tile, I am going to find an experienced tile contractor to be supportive and give his or her advice. A strong knowledge base in conjunction with listening to experts in their field has always been a beneficial formula in completing projects.
I have found that to create balance using art, size has always mattered. Even in a small house, the decision to add at least one large painting has made a huge positive impact to steady the décor of an entire home.
A Multitude of Family Photos
Another question that I am often asked is what to do with different-sized family photos in combination with hanging fine art. Generally, people have a mishmash of odd size photos as well as odd size frames. This is one solution. I stress that in the design of anything there is always more than one good solution. One way that I have used is to pick out the “must-keeps”. In The Villages floor plans, we don’t have a lot of wall space and even less storage. To our advantage, this forces us to downsize the clutter. The next step is to donate all the frames to a charity.
Choose one very simple frame style. Use it consistently, on all the photos that you decided to keep. Group the frames in a grid format. This means to arrange them to make a big rectilinear or square shape. When hung equally, evenly spaced, and close together on the same wall. This idea works on a hallway wall or a guest bedroom wall, rarely on a main wall in the home. Leave the main walls for the impactful big fine art. Choose one very simple frame style. Use it consistently, on all the photos that you decided to keep. Group the frames together in a grid format. This arrangement gives the illusion of one big piece of art.
In conclusion, we have found that SIZE does matter. Knowing how the specific design element called size affects the use of adapting fine art into a home design or how an artist uses size to create a dynamic painting, can be most helpful.