Bigger is Better

Size matters. Bigger is better.  

I have a still at my counter that I just named the “The Weeping Stool”.

Because every woman who sits in that stool ends up with tears welling up in her eyes. Every single one. 

It’s kind of a test now. I invite a woman over and I invite her to sit in that stool without telling her anything. But sure enough, her eyes will wander to the wall, where my beautiful canvas portraits are hung. And she will stare at the large pink canvas portraying me, and my child when he was about three years old. In this portrait, we both have our eyes closed and I am hugging him. We both have a look of peaceful satisfaction on our faces. It’s the look of love and being loved. It’s a look of knowing.

A few minutes later, sure enough, the woman sitting on the weeping stool will turn to me with Dewey eyes and say “wow that is beautiful”. 

The interesting thing to me is not that it has the power to move people because that image has always moved me, but that I’ve always had that image on my wall. For a very long time, it was an 11 x 14 print in a slightly larger frame. A very typical size that you may print and put in a frame from target or IKEA. Mine was from IKEA. And it was lovely, but it never made anybody weep with emotion. It never got a stool named after it. 

Size matters. Bigger is better. This particular canvas is 40 inches wide by 30 inches tall and framed in walnut. It is modern and warm. It truly is a piece that looks like it came from a gallery, or a museum. The power of this piece is clear to me now. And it’s not only about the image, because that image was on my wall for over 10 years and never had this sort of impact. It’s about the right image on a large fine art canvas can be life changing. 

Why not buy a cheap DIY canvas? Firstly, you can’t see quality online. Proof of that is all the fast fashion you have purchased that just ended up getting donated because it was ill fitting, but the picture online looked great. Looked great in the photo, but when it arrived, it was flimsy and poor quality. Of course you can get it yourself, and you will have that level of quality. The reason to get a proper fine art canvas from a proper boutique photographer is that you are getting high quality. It’s like couture fashion, created stitch by stitch with an innovative design fitted right to you. Quality matters because it contains longevity. 

I have a pair of pants that I spent close to $400 on. I’ve had these pants for over 25 years! They are STILL gorgeous and I wear them often. The quality of the fabric and the craftsmanship is revealed in their lasting beauty. On the flip side, I’ve purchased some cheap knock off versions for $80 to save money but they don’t feel good to wear, and they began falling apart after the first wash, proving to be an actual waste of money. Quality matters.

I had a friend over yesterday who had sat on the weeping chair, eyes brimming and then moved to the other side of the room, still staring at the art, then asked…  “What kind of canvas is that? I bought one recently and it doesn’t look like that.” 

This is what a professional fine art canvas looks like. The quality is felt and noticed. The emotional impact is big when the art is big. Your environment is activated with that frequency. And THAT is the real value. Legacy. 

The view from "The Weeping Stool". 40"x 30" Fine Art Canvas with the Walnut Float Frame.

This is the art on my wall. This is the view from the stool. The impact can not be felt from this iphone image.

XOXO Kristin