Good question! Since you asked about how I personally like to find art, I’ll answer with some personal examples. But I’ll try to generalize it into usable concepts, k?
Firstly, note that when I say “art”, I DON’T mean “paintings and prints in frames”, but rather “Awesome things to put on your walls and shelves to make your place Awesome.” Don’t limit yourself to just pretty pictures!
Next, I get the impression that you really want the stuff on your walls to reflect You. It’s good to have some You-reflecting pieces, but it’s unlikely that every little thing in your room or house are going to do that job. It’s much more likely that you’ll have some You things, and some I-Needed-Something-to-Go-Here-that-was-Vintagey-Looking-and-this-was-On-Sale things.
That said, here are a number of ways to get Awesome things, ranging from the most You, to the least You
1) Magpie awesome things from your life This is the most You thing… Did you once meet Awesome Person and get their autograph?? Frame that sucker and put it on the wall! Do you paint miniatures?? Put em in a display case!
Some examples from my life: -When I did SCA (medieval geekery), we would generally frame our awards (hand-painted and calligraphied scrolls) and put them on display -I dated someone who used comic books (in display frames) and his father’s photography as his wall art -In a post above, Kaj mentioned having maps from games on his walls. How Awesome!
2) Make things You don’t have to be an uber-artist to make Awesome things. There are lots of crafty sites on the interwebz that are full of ideas, or even better, you can have your own Ideas. It can be hard to have Ideas, though.
Examples: Most of the things in the pic I linked to in an above post are things I made. The memento board was made from a cork board. The necklace holder was made from pretty nails and wood, and the model rickshaw was made with balsa wood, a hanger, and power tools (I like power tools!)
3) Gifts Gifts are always nice, and when you put gifts on walls, they remind you of that person. Also, if the people in your life enjoy giving thoughtful gifts, they are likely to have thought up much Awesomer Ideas for you, than you would have thought up for yourself.
Examples: I have a print my step-mom gave me above my bed. On the giving side, my brother wants to open a Prohibition-era-style speakeasy-style bar with a faux vintage pharmacy front, so for Christmas I framed a Prohibition-era prescription for whiskey, and a pre-Prohibition-era liquor license for him.
4) Go Basement Diving / Inheriting Your parents, or other relatives are likely to have lots of old stuff in their basements that they have absolutely no use for. Ask permission to go exploring for convertible treasures. Failing any basements to explore, you can always go the thrift store route. If you’re super-lucky, a relative might even have nice things that DON’T need any fixing up. (Note: By “inherited”, I don’t mean “someone died”, but rather “someone passed on things to you”.
Example: In the “accent wall” pic I also posted above, the mirror was an inherited treasure from my mom. The stand was a reclaimed treasure from my brother’s basement. It was pretty junky-looking, but I sanded down the gunk a bit, and gave it a good scrubbing, and now it’s perfect. I considered completely refinishing it, but I actually really like the beat-up look. It definitely needs some touching up, and wood glue on a broken support though!
5) Etsy or the like (in meat space- craft fairs and flea markets) Etsy.com has Awesome Everything. Just type in something you think represents You, and etsy will have a lot of very personalized, handmade items for any interest you have. A bit pricey (so I use it primarily for gifts), since everything is either vintage or handmade, but very Awesome. Other places similar to etsy are craft fairs, flea markets or other online shopping sites (amazon, ebay, whatever)
6) Random stores These places may not have things that are completely You, but they will have Things That Match Your Room, and Can Go On the Blank Wall. The less box-store-y a store is, the more likely you’ll find something interesting. So Target<World Market < that little corner store in the Art District . You might actually find stuff you like, and if not, you can always move it to another wall, or into your own basement (for future generations to dive in).
Etsy.com has Awesome Everything. Just type in something you think represents You, and etsy will have a lot of very personalized, handmade items for any interest you have.
Etsy is also the best place to get something bespoke. If you know exactly what object you need, find someone on Etsy who makes the same general sort of thing, and send them a message that’s like “Hi! I want [exact thing]. Can you make that? How much would it cost?” and they will tell you and if you cough up the money they will make it for you. This is where I get my watches and where I will probably get my earcuffs after I have more basics in my collection and where I got my cloak. It is pretty expensive, so I’m not using this to order designer candy or all my clothes or anything.
Good question! Since you asked about how I personally like to find art, I’ll answer with some personal examples. But I’ll try to generalize it into usable concepts, k?
Firstly, note that when I say “art”, I DON’T mean “paintings and prints in frames”, but rather “Awesome things to put on your walls and shelves to make your place Awesome.” Don’t limit yourself to just pretty pictures!
Next, I get the impression that you really want the stuff on your walls to reflect You. It’s good to have some You-reflecting pieces, but it’s unlikely that every little thing in your room or house are going to do that job. It’s much more likely that you’ll have some You things, and some I-Needed-Something-to-Go-Here-that-was-Vintagey-Looking-and-this-was-On-Sale things.
That said, here are a number of ways to get Awesome things, ranging from the most You, to the least You
1) Magpie awesome things from your life
This is the most You thing… Did you once meet Awesome Person and get their autograph?? Frame that sucker and put it on the wall! Do you paint miniatures?? Put em in a display case!
Some examples from my life:
-When I did SCA (medieval geekery), we would generally frame our awards (hand-painted and calligraphied scrolls) and put them on display
-I dated someone who used comic books (in display frames) and his father’s photography as his wall art
-In a post above, Kaj mentioned having maps from games on his walls. How Awesome!
2) Make things
You don’t have to be an uber-artist to make Awesome things. There are lots of crafty sites on the interwebz that are full of ideas, or even better, you can have your own Ideas. It can be hard to have Ideas, though.
Examples: Most of the things in the pic I linked to in an above post are things I made. The memento board was made from a cork board. The necklace holder was made from pretty nails and wood, and the model rickshaw was made with balsa wood, a hanger, and power tools (I like power tools!)
3) Gifts
Gifts are always nice, and when you put gifts on walls, they remind you of that person. Also, if the people in your life enjoy giving thoughtful gifts, they are likely to have thought up much Awesomer Ideas for you, than you would have thought up for yourself.
Examples: I have a print my step-mom gave me above my bed. On the giving side, my brother wants to open a Prohibition-era-style speakeasy-style bar with a faux vintage pharmacy front, so for Christmas I framed a Prohibition-era prescription for whiskey, and a pre-Prohibition-era liquor license for him.
4) Go Basement Diving / Inheriting
Your parents, or other relatives are likely to have lots of old stuff in their basements that they have absolutely no use for. Ask permission to go exploring for convertible treasures. Failing any basements to explore, you can always go the thrift store route. If you’re super-lucky, a relative might even have nice things that DON’T need any fixing up. (Note: By “inherited”, I don’t mean “someone died”, but rather “someone passed on things to you”.
Example: In the “accent wall” pic I also posted above, the mirror was an inherited treasure from my mom. The stand was a reclaimed treasure from my brother’s basement. It was pretty junky-looking, but I sanded down the gunk a bit, and gave it a good scrubbing, and now it’s perfect. I considered completely refinishing it, but I actually really like the beat-up look. It definitely needs some touching up, and wood glue on a broken support though!
5) Etsy or the like (in meat space- craft fairs and flea markets)
Etsy.com has Awesome Everything. Just type in something you think represents You, and etsy will have a lot of very personalized, handmade items for any interest you have. A bit pricey (so I use it primarily for gifts), since everything is either vintage or handmade, but very Awesome. Other places similar to etsy are craft fairs, flea markets or other online shopping sites (amazon, ebay, whatever)
For example, here is if you type in “Dr Who”.
6) Random stores
These places may not have things that are completely You, but they will have Things That Match Your Room, and Can Go On the Blank Wall. The less box-store-y a store is, the more likely you’ll find something interesting. So Target<World Market < that little corner store in the Art District . You might actually find stuff you like, and if not, you can always move it to another wall, or into your own basement (for future generations to dive in).
Etsy is also the best place to get something bespoke. If you know exactly what object you need, find someone on Etsy who makes the same general sort of thing, and send them a message that’s like “Hi! I want [exact thing]. Can you make that? How much would it cost?” and they will tell you and if you cough up the money they will make it for you. This is where I get my watches and where I will probably get my earcuffs after I have more basics in my collection and where I got my cloak. It is pretty expensive, so I’m not using this to order designer candy or all my clothes or anything.