Has Your Art Collection Become a Little . . . Stale?

As Art Collections Age, Excitement can Fade

Acquiring art is an exciting and enriching process. It's thrilling to discover a new work of art that speaks to you and helps enhance the decor of your home. Over the years, you've likely invested a lot of time and spent thousands of dollars building your art collection.

Over time, however, you may begin to feel less excitement about your collection. This can happen for any number of reasons - your tastes may evolve, your interior design may change, or you may move into a completely new home. Whatever the reason, there may come a point where you feel that your art has faded into the background of your day-to-day life.

Before I share ideas about how you can freshen up your collection, allow me to introduce myself; I'm Jason Horejs, owner of Xanadu Gallery, in the arts district downtown Scottsdale. Since 2001 we've specialized in helping art buyers, both locally, and around the world, bring new energy and excitement to their collections. Over the years, I've discovered that with just a little effort, you can revolutionize your collection. Nothing you can do in your home will have as much impact as updating your art.

What can you do to revitalize your art collection?

There are a number of ways you can refresh your art collection to bring new excitement into your home.

You could completely replace your collection with new art.

While having the advantage of giving you a complete new start, replacing your entire collection would be both difficult and costly. More importantly, you probably still love many of the pieces that you've acquired over the years.

A Better Option

Rather than throwing all of your art out and starting over, I would like to suggest that by adding a few new focal pieces, you will breathe new life into art collection. These new pieces don't have to be huge or show-stopping, and they don't have to be expensive. Instead there are three elements that will have the greatest impact

Add Unexpected Artwork

It's likely that over the course of your collecting, you've acquired a lot of similar art. It's natural that when you find something you like, you will collect more of it. Having a collection with a lot of work that is similar in style is a strength - consistency creates cohesion.

The downside to an overly-consistent group of art, however, is that the similarity between works can decrease the impact of each individual piece of art.

Adding a work of art that's in a completely different style or medium will stir things up. This unexpected work of art will stand out because of the contrast, and, even better, your existing art will take on a new life. By emphasizing the contrast, you will be encouraged to explore and examine the differences and your entire collection will have new vitality.

Some collectors are afraid to introduce art that is out of their norm, but I've found that collectors who do, are always satisfied once they have mixed things up a bit.

If you have a collection of traditional landscape paintings, adding an abstract or pop art piece to the mix will have a huge impact. Likewise, if you've always bought contemporary work, adding a small landscape can be the key to stirring things up.

Don't worry if the style of the new work seems a little out of sync with your current decorating - art has the power to stand on its own.

Add Color

Just as mixing in a different style can rejuvenate your collection, adding a spot of color can help punch up your interior design. This technique is especially helpful if the art you've collected tends to be monochromatic or low-contrast.

Just a small splash of color can enliven your space.

Add a Third Dimension

Many art buyers are so focused on their walls that they forget about sculpture. The art on your walls is critical, but well-placed sculpture literally adds a new dimension to your collection.

Sculpture comes in many shapes and sizes. It can be large and free-standing, it can be set on a shelf, table, or pedestal, or it can be wall-mounted.

Some Ideas to Help Spark Your Creativity

At Xanadu Gallery, we specialize in artwork that is out of the norm. We actively seek artists who are creating innovative, colorful art. We've worked with thousands of the collectors to help them bring energy and excitement into their collections.

If you need help bringing your art collection back to life, spend a few moments browsing the artwork below. You'll see that each of the featured artists creates work that will help you meet at least one of the revitalization criteria listed above.

You can acquire these works through our online gallery (just click on the image to see the art on our site) and we'll deliver and install the artwork for free anywhere in metropolitan Phoenix/Scottsdale.

You can also visit our gallery in Scottsdale. Our friendly staff will be happy to answer any questions you might have!

Artwork that Will Mix Up Your Collection

Wall Climbers by Ancizar Marin

You can mix and match these little guys to create your own grouping that will scale your wall. The Climbers are colorful, contemporary and bring dimension and action to your space. At $250 each, these climbers create a lot of impact.

Click to view the climbers. You will need to enter the password "wallclimbers" to view the pricing and order.

Spiritiles by Houston Llew

Every Spiritile represents the story of our indefatigable inner spirit and the enduring bonds we hold with the people we love. From the beginning, Houston sought to epitomize this inspiration through a very specific art form—vitreous enamel. A medium as ancient as Mesopotamia, with glorious historical artworks in royal jewelry, imperial goblets, and emperors’ treasures, enamel is an illustrious medium that Houston cast in a new, radiant form.

Spiritiles can be hung on the wall, or displayed on shelves or tables.

HOUSTON LLEW - SPIRITILES - "223 FAMILY TREE"
$149.00

Peter Skidd

Skidd’s meticulously built indoor/outdoor steel sculpture is crafted using an intense process of plasma cutting, forming, grinding, welding, and painting - producing high-impact, stunning, statement artwork. Calling Arizona home, Peter and his wife, Sarah work with numerous art consultants, designers and private clients to seamlessly create stunning, memorable environments.

PETER SKIDD - "INFINITY I"
Price $2,150.00

PETER SKIDD - "KILTER V"
Regular price $1,050.00

Dave Newman

At first, Prescott, Arizona, artist Dave Newman experimented by printing silk screens on wood and canvas. Soon he began incorporating other collage elements, including found objects that he would discover as he collected antiques and “other weird stuff.” Soon, Newman's unique style emerged, a blend of painting and collage.

Newman feels free to draw inspiration from the pop artists - Warhol, Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns and others, but he has also grown to love the work of a wide variety of other artists. “Van Gogh, Picasso, Maynard Dixon and Basquiat are among my favorites,” says the artist.

DAVE NEWMAN - "MATCHBOOK CHIEF SERIES"
$5,600.00

DAVE NEWMAN - "NATIVE LAND"
$795.00

This is Just a Small Sample

These are just a few of our artists who create work that will refresh your current art collection. To view our entire range of artists, visit https://art.xanadugallery.com/collections

We offer free delivery and installation in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and the surrounding area. Order your artwork today, contact us with any questions, or visit our Scottsdale location.