It has been proven that art stimulates creativity, happiness and satisfaction. Most of us enjoy art, yet in our busy everyday lives, we rarely find time. We rarely have time to visit galleries and museums. And for most of us, filling our home with art seems difficult too. It can be time consuming and prohibitively expensive to select and purchase art for our homes. But even if we had that time and money, we have limited space for it.
Don’t despair. There are plenty of ways of getting more art into your life without breaking the bank or quitting your job. Here are some of our favorites.
1. Stock up on artbooks
Photo rich artbooks are a great way to enjoy art from your home and, if you’re interested, read up a bit too. Just take 5 minutes after dinner or before bed a couple of days a week to browse, and you’ll be amazed at how much it gives you. Artbooks can be expensive, but you don’t have to buy – Check out a bunch from the library, and rotate.
2. Pause to appreciate beauty
Beauty and art is all around us. Whether it’s artworks hung at your office. the shape of your glass at a restaurant, the colors of doors and window frames or beautifully crafted furniture, we come in contact with new beauty almost every day. Cultivate a habit of pausing to appreciate it, even if it’s just for a few seconds. Comment on it or talk about it with somebody to deepen the impression.
3. Plan for art
How many of last year’s academy award-winning movies have you see? How many of the best music albums of all time have you listened to? How many of the great novels like Moby Dick and Don Quixote have you read? Make a list of artistic works you want to experience a plan to do so. Planning is the first step of doing.
4. Listen to audiobooks on the way to work
So admittedly, picking up a brick like Moby Dick can be intimidating. But why not get the audiobook (there are great apps out there like Audible or Storytel) and listen on it on your commute? You’ll easily churn through a classic a month.
5. Don’t feel you have to spend hours in a museum
Feel you have to walk through the whole museum each time you go, and therefore never find time for it? Instead, become a member of a couple of your favorite ones, so you can visit as often as you like, for as long as you like, without having to pay. You’ll end up going much more, and often for just a short time.
6. Buy a postcard
Noticed the museum gift shop usually sells postcards of most of the famous works in the collection? Next time you visit, buy some. Keep a stack of these masterpiece postcards in your car. When you’re stuck in traffic, pull them out to look at them.
7. Enjoy street art
If you’re lucky enough to live in places like New York, LA or London, your city is virtually a treasure trove of amazing street art. But most big cities have their neighborhoods and odd walls adorned with these beautiful murals. Seek them out on the way to your Sunday brunch and get a taste of one of the most fresh and colorful forms of contemporary art.
8. Turn your TV into a digital canvas
If you own a TV, it probably sits like a black rectangle in your living room for large portions of your day. Why not use it to display art in your home? More and more artists are producing works for digital media now, and a TV makes an excellent canvas for them! With the Kreoz app or other similar services, you can easily select artworks you like for each mood or occasion and project them to your TV for little to now cost. Or you can get the new Samsung Frame TV displayed above.
9. Turn to art on social media
You probably spend hours a week on social media already. So why not allocate some of that to discovering new and exciting art. Instagram is an excellent place for this. Follow some talented artists and art-related hashtags – stay tuned for tips on this in our blog. If you’re feeling adventurous, sites like Behance and Society6 are other great online sources of art.
10. Create your own
Why not move from just consuming to contributing? You may not be the next Rembrandt, but today it’s so easy for anybody to just pick up a tablet or computer, download an app, and start creating. Excellent freemium options include Artflow, Autodesk Sketchbook and Procreate (only iOS). Regardless of the output, you’ll enjoy giving your creative side a chance to play.
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