Being an artist’s daughter, I can be quite finicky when it comes to picking out artworks for display. Even in college, I would almost always insist on bringing some of my dad’s original works with me to my dorm room – as sticking up random posters on the wall just seemed wrong somehow.
The same can be said about picking out artwork for baby Nuke’s room.
In fact, just a few weeks ago, I was having brunch with some girlfriends (all expecting!) at the Mondrain Soho, when one of the ladies griped about how, of all things, her hubby seemed to be the most fixated on picking out art for the baby’s room.
Sounds perfectly understandable, I thought.
Though part of their dilemma, as it turned out, was that they didn’t want anything “too child-like,” whatever that means. For me, decorating a nursery was always going to entail a “kiddy” theme. Sure, I wanted some sophisticated accents here and there (A Calder-inspired mobile perhaps? Or some Keith Haring stacking figures maybe), but as far as art goes, I was never going to put up some post-modernist Jasper Johns print or the like (as much as I’d still like to covet one for my living room) – somehow it just wouldn’t go with the theme of the nursery.
… Which begs the question, what would go with the nursery?
In the end – I chose something far more sentimental. You see, the summer when hubby and I started dating, we (okay more like me) had somehow decided that we really *really* wanted to watch the Lion King. I think it had something to do with how much I loved the movie, and the fact that he had never seen it (gasp!). Whatever the case, we ended up looking all over the city, and for some bizarre reason (no doubt attributed to Disney’s “vault-release” business strategy), the only version we could find was this ridiculously expensive collector’s gift set, which came complete with a stack of original portrait drawings by the animators themselves.
Feeling a little guilty that I’d just forced this poor guy to spend an exorbitant amount of money on a Lion King DVD set (something he clearly didn’t want), I touched his arm and said, “well, look at it this way – one day, we can use the original prints for our baby’s room.” I think he might have faintly nodded, no doubt not taking me seriously at all.
Fast forward more than eight years later, and here we are! And thus, what could be better than making this haphazard promise of mine a reality? I must admit, even I couldn’t have predicted or planned this arrangement better myself. As it turned out, the small sketches, rendered in various mediums, fitted perfectly near the entrance of our baby's nursery. I even bought a set of gallery frames from West Elm in different sizes (5x7, 6x8, and 9x11) and colors, and voila! We officially have ourselves some baby-ready art.
I must say – I’m quite pleased with the final results, and thematically they go perfectly with the nursery. Plus, each time I look at these pictures, I can’t help but smile at the memories hubby and I shared years and years ago. For me, that pretty much encapsulates the best gift that art has to offer.
