Art & Soul: Whats on your walls?

Oh boy. 

So I live in a town that runs off of nuclear energy.. That means we have a Nuclear plant close by, which also means we have these loud speakers that go off every now and then that say: 

THIS IS JUST A TEST, THERE ARE NO THREATS, THIS IS ONLY A TEST

Followed by the scariest sirens ever. 

This goes on for like 20 mins.

It freaks me out every time. 

Every. single. time. 

This is the stuff apocalyptic nightmares are made of.

Just had to share-- even though it happens like once a month, I still get all worked up. 

Fight or flight is a powerful thing. 

Now onto the point of this post.

I love when other bloggers share their homes in posts, this is also why I love pinterest. 

I am an interior design junkie. 

True story: when R and I go on walks around the apartment complex, I am always looking in the apartments so I can see how people organize their living rooms. R gets really mad at me for doing that, but I know it is all innocent-- if they didn't want me to look they should close the blinds. Sometimes I like to go look at model homes just so I can see how people arrange the space. 

If you know me in real life you will also know that I am CONSTANTLY rearranging my apartment. 

On Tuesday I rearranged the living room. 

I have a problem. 

I've considered interior design as a profession, but I am too much of a recluse to hassle myself like that. 

SO this morning when I saw Caitlin's post on her art work around her house, I thought it was way too good of an idea to pass up... AND this will also be a way for me to share some of my own work that I shamefully have hung on my own walls. (Hey-- why not be your own art gallery?)

I have an entire closet of un-hung art work so trust me, there is more where this came from.

(Disclaimer: I took the pics with the iphone, so please excuse the glares and lame angles.)

My (step)grandmother gave me some sketch pads that she had laying around, and I found some sketches she did herself! Obviously I framed them. Here's one that I think is of Coney Island.

We have it hung in the second bedroom.

I bought this Einstein print in a parking lot-- I bought it so long ago I can not remember the artists name! 

Isn't that awful? But I do know the artist is a HIM out of NY and did the painting in like 20 mins as a live performance.

Of course, an ode to the great Hunter S. Thompson hung by R's desk.

 another ode just for fun. :P
(It's true, I use to smoke. tsk tsk)

I found this painting at one of my grandmothers garage sales. 

She had me convinced for about 2 years that this painting was given to her by some man she met in Spain when she was in college-- but in reality she found it at a thrift store and thought it was interesting. 

I think this is one of my most favorite pieces of artwork. It is the original, it's in an awesome frame.. and I feel some strange connection to the man in the image-- he is on the wall next to my desk.

This was another garage sale find-- its an original ink line drawing.

No information is provided on the location of the drawing.

I bought this recently in La Jolla, California. 

The artist, Karl Meyer, was painting on the sea wall and since these are my favorite colors to use together, so I knew it was mine to take home. This painting has a home on my desk in the living room. 

Of course we have the likeness of Buddha on our walls. 

I have him in the living room and I usually set my yoga mat in front of him so I can remember to breath through those difficult stretches.

This painting hung on the wall of my grandfathers office, when he retired they were just going to throw it out, but it's just too Florida for me to not keep it. This is hung over the couch. 

Rob hates this painting btw. But it makes me happy so... I don't care if he hates it! :P

Okay, so I have an entire wall in my bedroom filled with mini frames that have paintings that are kind of like this. My grandmother is a painter, so I snag up all of her old art work when I can. 

This water color is part of my frame wall in the bedroom. 

Mushrooms are a big deal to R and I-- and these water colors were done by a family friend of his mothers parents. This is probably my second favorite piece in the apartment.

This is also part of the frame wall. 

A happy butterfly. :)

This was gifted to me in Highschool by a girl named Natalie Ryan-- we bonded because her middle name was Ryan. Both of our mothers watched too many Soap Operas in the 80's. 

This is a print of Downtown Orlando.

I've shown this before, this is a print I did of Chicago from the west side.

AND this is a painting I did in High School and it has been in every kitchen of every apartment I have rented since I was 18-- so now it is kind of a tradition. 

I have a couple of other paintings I did on the wall, but I can't get them to photograph well, so I am not going to share them! 

What's on your wall?

Let me know if you share your art too!