Art in the home: downtown Des Moines apartment

CB: I prefer a more neutral décor, then adding depth and life to a space through the art. It is especially nice to know the backstory of a piece and to be able to incorporate that into something that resonates with me as well ... to use that story and create my own narrative. What's the story behind the story? Obviously, that's always up for each one's own personal interpretation, and that's the beauty of art.

CB: The main living area of my loft is pretty masculine. Therefore, I wanted my bedroom to have a more relaxing and tranquil environment, a space where I could clear my mind and exhale. Allison’s work is very bold and dynamic but also warm and personable. Almost as if you’ve watched her create the piece. She creates great statement pieces that can stand on their own but don’t overwhelm a space. But like I said before, I have a desire for my artwork to have a story, a meaning. So, I took to Google and checked out Allison's website. With her being an Atlanta based artist, that brought back some good memories for me as my sister and her husband lived in Atlanta's historic Kirkwood neighborhood in the early 2000's. It's a neighborhood that reminds me of a mix of Sherman Hills and the East Village, which is where I live. I then saw her blog post "2019: My Year, My Revolution." Some of her post paralleled my 2019 as it was without a doubt a transitional year for me as well, and I could see the reflection of that post in the artwork. Now, I have no idea what her true intentions were with the pieces, but I took the liberty to create my own interpretation and give them meaning for myself.

CB: Contemporary and abstract pieces speak to me the most. I prefer bolder colors and something that may appear a little off kilter, energy wise … like it grabs you and makes you pause.

CB: Just recently. Most of the “artwork” I’ve owned in the past were just prints. They were just décor that looked nice and filled space. However, they lacked depth. I’ve come to understand the value of having original works especially in regard to the aesthetics, originality, and of course, “the story.” In addition, I’ve gained a newfound respect for the hours, days, months, and sometimes, years, it takes an artist to produce a piece.

LL: What drew you to Elisa Sheehan's artwork?

CB: One word: Kintsugi. It's the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. Rather than try to disguise or conceal the flaws or worse, cast away the broken pottery, this art is about embracing those flaws and taking something that once was broken, putting it back together, and making it even more appealing and meaningful than before. It's a good way to think about ourselves as well, and if any type of art reflects me as a person, it's Kintsugi. However, most Kintsugi pieces are vases, pottery, and ceramics and not necessarily "my style." And then randomly around Christmas time, I saw a Liz Lidgett Gallery post on Instagram featuring one of Elisa's eggshells and I bought it instantly! It was perfect. The colors. The framing. And the fact that an eggshell (something even more fragile than pottery) was used just made it even more special. I've since bought 3 more and created a small grouping (pictured above).