Jessica's Personal Art

With less than two weeks before Hillary Butler arrives in our studio to teach her abstract painting workshop, we over here at ZIMMERMAN have been in a very artsy mood!  

ZIMMERMAN owner + lead designer, Jessica, is a lover of art.  So much so, that when building her home, she painted every single wall white so the artwork she and her husband have collected would pop off the walls like their very own little gallery.  

Thanks to the oh-so-talented, Whitney Bower, we are able to give you a glimpse inside Jessica's home and the art she treasures.

Now - let's hear from Jessica...

When you walk in the front door of our home, there is a huge white wall.  It called for something grand + special. I purposefully kept the finishes + furniture of our home very simple when it comes to the color palette so the art would really stand out.  When we looked at this huge wall, we knew it called for a huge piece of art - 8' x 5' to be exact.  I knew if I was going to commission someone to do a piece that large, there was only one choice:  my incredibly talented and dear friend Lindsey Meyer.  

The next piece of art you see is in our dining room.  This one is beyond special to me.  It was done by local artist, steve griffith.  I commissioned him to make something extra special that my daughter and I would give my husband, Brian, for his very first Father's Day.  We went to Steve's studio and placed Stella's little feet and tiny hands in paint and then placed them on a piece of acrylic.  There are some places where you see a perfect foot print and then places where she ran her little fingers across the the board.  After Stella's part of this collaboration dried, Steve went to work and painted on top of the dried prints.  I specifically asked Steve for a piece that did not scream "Hey here is my child's footprint!" but instead would look like a piece of abstract art.  in fact, one would probably never notice Stella's prints unless pointed out.  My husband was thrilled with his first Father's Day gift, and it will be a piece of art in our home we will treasure always!

Here  we are  with the artist, steve, working on stella's contribution to the painting...

Next is our kitchen, where we have a hillary butler original.  yes - she's the artist coming to our studio in a couple of weeks to teach her workshop.  i am so excited to learn from her and get to paint a piece of my own.  i love everything about hillary's work.  we spend a ton of time in our kitchen, and her painting brings so much life + joy into this space!

next is our family room (let's be honest, it's the playroom).  this is where all of my daughter's toys are, where our one tv lives, and the room that also houses our washer + dryer.  outside of the kitchen, we spend most of our time here.  

have you ever been asked the question, "besides your family, what would you save if your house were on fire?"

my answer:  i would save this painting.

seven years ago, brian and i backpacked europe. to this day, it's the most special trip i've ever taken. halfway through our one month adventure, we landed in prague and i saw this painting in an art gallery window. i had to have it. the owner spoke zero english.  after about an hour of trying to negotiate a price – including having to go into a nearby restaurant to find someone to translate for me – and the lengths we took to actually get this painting home (that's a long, crazy story for another time), well, it just means so much to me.  it was also our first splurge as a married couple. we ate bread and cheese the remainder of the trip in order to purchase this painting and bring it home. i look at it every single day, and it makes me happy. i'm so glad we have something we can look at everyday to remind us of that special trip.

in our master bathroom we have another very special piece.  brian and i do the traditional anniversary presents every year.  the four year anniversary gift is fruits and flowers.  he called my very dear friend, lindsey meyer, and asked if she would paint something for this OCCASION. she did, and i love it!  

I love photos, but when we built this home, i wanted to keep it as clean + simple as possible. We opted out of placing photographs all over the home and instead chose to put them all on one wall – the wall going up the stairs – to create a large gallery. 

finally, we have another hillary butler orginal.  this little beauty, which was a gift from hillary, lives in my daughter's room. it's the perfect piece to brighten her room!

if you haven't signed up for hillary's workshop we are hosting here at the zimmerman studio yet, there are still a few seats left.  Click here to reserve your spot!