Seeing this in the window of the Oriel Gallery. One of our favourite artists, we have two pieces already and are very tempted by more.
A week and weekend with no rush and nowhere to be.
Handmade knitted cardigans and their wearer.
The trailer for Derry Girls 2.
Finally getting on top of our photos. New albums of old photos are a lovely thing to have.
One of my very first blog posts was about large scale orchids, wherein I opined that it was better to stop myself buying things that might give me a little joy but wouldn’t stay long-term so we could afford the things that would bring possibly a lifetime of joy. This week we decided it was time for another piece of art by Alicja Urbaniak and we purchased a still life with lillies and fruit.
It’s only been hanging in our living room for 24 hours and already we can’t picture our home without it. We can’t stop looking at it, and seeing new details every time. It’s a really way to mark our first year in this house. I had thought about getting a new kitchen, and haven’t ruled that out just yet, but art is always going to spark joy. We’re able to bring it with us wherever we go.
When me and my husband got married, we were lucky enough to be given gifts of money from friends and relatives. Amongst our purchases was a painting from the Oriel Gallery by this artist. We spent a day looking at paintings in different galleries, and this place is a gem of a gallery. We liked one piece by Urbaniak, then came across another that we loved. I mean, it was love at first sight. It was unframed, leaning against a wall in a dark corner of the gallery and even before it was lifted out so we could see it properly we knew we wanted it. I went back two days later to have it framed and to buy it. It has hung in a prominent spot in our home ever since and is a beautiful reminder of our wedding and part of our lives. We’ve bought other pieces since but none come close to how much we love this one. Every time I look at it, I see something new in the painting.
It was what I’d call a large scale orchid and we were in a privileged position to have the ability to buy something so non-essential purely because we loved it. Every day I look at this picture and it stops me from spending money on things that aren’t really orchids, because some day I want to be able to buy another piece of art for our home that brings us the same sort of joy this piece has. It may be a large scale orchid, but it was a bargain when I think how much pleasure it has given us on a daily basis for almost five years.
Orchids on my budget 