Art Lies, Volume 23, Summer 1999 Page: 17
60 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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BIG
by Julie PettitOPPORTUNITIES FOR small SPACES
My husband and I began collecting art shortly after we were married, drawing by Julie Bromberg, which has a light background and a dark
almost five years ago, and immediately discovered our different tastes. frame. Byron likes these two pieces because they're abstracts, but he also
Byron favors abstract art while I lean more toward figurative/narrative. likes another corner grouping of figurative drawings by Gail Siptak,
But when we started collecting, regardless of the style or medium of the Yucha Pak and Liz Conches Allen. I wonder if he likes these because
work, we knew our art had to be a certain size. You see, we live in an old they're all nudes? But I digress. The point is, we group pieces together
Queen Anne cottage with lots of windows and doorways, so we don't that complement each other, whether they are similar in size, subject or
have room for big works. Instead, we've filled our home with what Byron style, or are a series by the same artist.
named "intimate" art. Even in the few instances where we do have wall space, we've still
One of our favorite gallery owners, Kathleen James, jokingly opted to group several pieces instead of buying one large piece. On one
referred to our collection as "souvenir" art because of the size of the of our dining room walls, we have space for one large piece between two
pieces. Very early in our collecting, we admired a Lance Letcher at James sconces, yet we've hung two smaller Karin Broker prints from her "Juggle
Gallery. But it was huge. Silly us, we didn't realize that gallery owners Girl" series. On probably the longest uninterrupted wall in the house,
might have other works by the artist in a drawer (yes, that would explain another dining room wall, we've arranged paintings by Dan Addington,
the gray metal file drawers in the galleries). Byron and I spent the next Dixie Friend Gay, Colin Kennedy, Isabell Scurry Chapman and Gail
hour or so oohing and awing as we viewed numerous small, beautiful Siptak. Because these are all similar in size and painted on wood, they
works on paper by Lance Letcher. We left James Gallery that day complement each other. And because there are a number of smaller
knowing it's okay to ask to see smaller works. And just as importantly, works on the wall, we can feast our eyes on a variety of different art,
we left with a wonderful Lance Letcher piece that now graces one of our instead of staring at the same large piece all the time. Our dinner guests
living room walls. seated across from the grouping also seem to like the variety of art, except
On another living room wall is a Beth Secor piece. The first time we our mothers, who don't appreciate the supple breasts in Dixie Friend
saw Beth's work was several years ago when she was in a group show at Gay's painting.
The Glassell. Of course I liked Beth's work because it's figurative. But the What we've noticed is that there isn't any less detail or thought in a
size was also perfect. I called Beth and commissioned a piece from her. smaller piece than there is in a larger one. We have a magnificent paper
Her work is so narrative and I had a special story about my beloved collage by John Pavlicek. When we bought it from Gremillion Gallery,
grandmother that I wanted Beth to capture visually. She did an incred- Kimberly Gremillion told us that John Pavlicek puts just as much work
ible job and right now, Beth's piece hangs in a small space between two into his small collages as he does his large ones. In fact, some artists, such
living room windows. This wasn't the original spot where I hung Beth's as Kenneth Mazzu, have said "less is more" (that is, less canvas or paper
piece, which brings me to another positive aspect of intimate art: can require more detail and sometimes more work on the part of
it's mobile. r- the artist).
I have a watercolor- " 4 Other artists in our collection include Dan Allison, Terry
and-ink drawing by Brian " ," Andrews, Marilyn Bautista, Penny Cerling, Rachael Hecker,
Andreas in my office (which . Sandi Seltzer Bryant, Richard Stout and Sandra York (gee, I
is also filled with lots of - hope I haven't left anyone out). Three-dimensional pieces inside
small art). The book page is our house are by Judith Freedman, J. Hill, Sharon Smith and
titled, "Selves to Agree." Tracye Wear. And outside is a colorful "yard art" piece by Tracye
Written under the three- Wear. We also maintain a list of artists that we would like to
headed person is "I think own, to which we continually subtract and add names. Byron
th ig." In d te Petir hoshe mhrost...." m r ' a o c gtu
my life would be easier, she thinks we'll eventually run out of wall space, but I can be really
said, if I could just get my " innovative when it comes to finding space for more art. My
selves to agree on some- ' daddy says his house isn't half full of furniture because my
thing." In the Pettit house- " ;: . " mother doesn't have a thing on the ceiling. I haven't suspended
hold, I think it's very handy a piece of art from the ceiling, so maybe Byron's and my house
that we collect small works isn't half full of art.
that can be moved around, The art in our home is mixed with other items we collect, such
as the mood strikes me. On as mission furniture and art pottery. (I also have a collection of
the other hand, Byron L - Barbie dolls and a fabulous shoe collection, but I digress again.)
quietly curses as he constantly fills numerous nail holes and touches up Whether we're buying art, furniture or pottery, it's important to us that
paint caused from moving the art, so maybe Byron and I don't agree that we enjoy the craftsmanship and artistry. The truth is, we're totally in awe
the mobility of small art is a good thing. of visual artists and, frankly my dear, we don't give a damn who created
Since horizontal space between the windows and doorframes is the piece, as long as we both like it. And
limited, we hang pieces vertically, or salon style, on walls. For example, Penny Cerling as long as it's small. Q
we have a small work-on-paper by Terrell James, which is a dark abstract Carbon
Sun Dial Molecule Series, 1999 -Julie Pettit is a collector and freelance
with a light wooden frame. Hanging below this piece is a smaller abstract Pen and ink, oil, transfer on wood -Julie Pettit is a collector and freelance
Pen nd ik, ol, tansfr onwo'19.75" x 20"
writer who lives in Houstons Heights.
ARTLIES SUMMER 1999 17
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Lightman, Victoria H. Art Lies, Volume 23, Summer 1999, periodical, 1999; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth228053/m1/19/?q=%22Bryant%2C+John%22: accessed May 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .