House of Cards

by Sabrina C. Mashburn

So you’re moving in to a new place. You budgeted the appropriate funds for furniture, light bulbs and towels, but now that you’re in your new place it seems a little spare. If you were in college, you would probably plaster the walls with posters of Cameron Diaz and Li’l Wayne – but that doesn’t seem right now that you are trying to call yourself an adult. If you were bathing in riches, you might buy some real art and even though you could probably afford to buy matted prints of the art you wish you could buy, but prints are really only appropriate in doctors offices and coffee shops. So what’s a young art lover to do? Make your own.

Now, don’t worry, you won’t need to take up painting. Just use your imagination and any eBay skills you’ve got. One of the most elegant, make-your-own-art ideas I’ve heard in a long time, is making art from vintage tarot and playing card decks. eBay is full of old card decks for sale and you can get them for very little money, especially if they’re missing a card or two. From embellished kings and queens to pin-up girls and fighter jets, cards come in patterns and pictures to suit every taste. Simply pick up a few decks and have them matted under glass in any configuration you choose. They can be placed in neat rows, or splayed out as if they were in a player’s hand. If you want to be even more creative, try matting them yourself between two pieces of glass. You can either sandwich them so you have the back of the cards on one side and the number sides on the other, or stick the cards on either side of a piece of felt or colored paper and sandwich that between the glass. The possibilities and images on cards are practically endless, so have some fun with this!

If you find more images to incorporate into your masterpiece, try a collage. These look better when they are as big as possible and thickly layered with interesting, colorful images. Start by ripping out entire sheets from newspapers and magazines as your first layer, then add individual scenes, letters and shapes, until you think it’s done. When you’re completely sure that you don’t want any more pictures on it, shellac it to add some sheen, texture and protection.

If you want to get a little bit more sculptural, take a hint from Joseph Cornell. Cornell boxes are easy-to-hang sculpture boxes that can turn any household object or tchotske into art. Build a wooden box with no top, or take the lid off of a cigar box, and you have your starting point. Next, find some interesting objects to put in it. Cornell’s most famous boxes, the “Soap Bubble Set,” are very simple boxes containing small champagne glasses with a blue egg or crumpled paper, glass shelving for depth with soap bubble pipes and marbles and a map as a background. You can create any sort of tiny world you want in this little sculpture box, then glue a piece of Plexiglas or thin glass over it and preserve it as art forever. Cornell boxes are also great venues for displaying old action figures you just can’t part with in an ironic, artful way.

No matter how you choose to make your own art, remember that lighting and placement is everything. If you hang your piece too high, it will look diminished and subtlety will be lost. Hang them so that your eye, as you will be the one looking at it the most, is at the center of the painting or box. Lighting is also important, as too much will wash out colors and too little will cast shadows over your art. Try using tiny track lights on the ceiling, one foot away from the wall. Direct the light towards the artworks. The track lighting will not only light your art nicely, but will bathe your new apartment in an even glow.

Once your apartment is adorned with art and soft lighting, have a little cocktail party to show off your new décor. It will be like having your very own gallery opening and best of all, your bed will only be a few steps away when all the compliments and sweet red wine go to your head.