Shopping for Art at HGTV Urban Oasis 2015
Let me tell you how difficult it is to shop for art in Asheville, NC. It is not difficult, at all, to shop for art in Asheville. Well, unless you’re (a) not awake, or (b) trying very hard not to find art.
One of my artist friends, Rob, moved to this amazing mountain city a few months before I signed on to design and decorate the HGTV Urban Oasis 2015. Anxious to find local art to inspire my initial design and decorating plans, I took a trip up to Asheville to visit Rob and get the inside scoop on where to look for art.
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Conveniently enough, there’s a pedestrian neighborhood known as the River Arts District packed with studios where artisans both create and sell their work. Completely unaware of what I’d find, here’s a fish-out-of-water experience on successfully shopping the River Arts District.
In just under two hours, I scored some pretty significantly sized pieces to help kickstart the interior design process for the HGTV Urban Oasis 2015 great room, which features lots of steely blues, rich browns and a strong use of black and white. Well, maybe not lots of steely blues, more like just one, but you get the point.
The Old Crown graffiti silo is one of the most identifiable landmarks for the River North District. It’s off limits for elaborate photo or video shoots. However, it’s an amazing source of inspiration for color, pattern and graphic.
Case in point: I ended up buying this folk art piece titled “Room With a View” from nearby Zapow! Studios, which has the same colors you see in this chunk of graffiti. Coincidence? I think not.
You know how some people take things too seriously and it’s annoying and then when you want them to take something seriously that matters, they fail at doing so? Well, Asheville takes its art seriously and in an awesome way.
Almost every studio or gallery door in the River Arts District is covered in color and and pattern or with elaborate murals, instantly putting you in a good mood even if you decide to, like me, get there two hours before most places open due to lack of planning and research.
After scoring my reclaimed window art in the nearby Grove Arcade neighborhood, I set my sights on Studio 140D, a collective gallery and artist’s workspace packed with understated abstracts, impressionistic pieces and vibrant farmhouse works by painter Patricia Cotterill.
Also, if you’re looking to shop in the River Arts District, it’s good to know that many of the artists work on “by appointment” hours, which they'll be at the studio to show you completed works if you call ahead and schedule a showing with them.
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As you can see from the photograph, I kept myself glued to my iPhone calling every gallery before walking to it, just to make sure someone was there and I wasn’t standing out like that unprepared tourist guy.
One look at Patricia Cotterill’s booth and I was sold on her cow art. In fact, blue and brown officially became my great room palette after discovering this piece. In the far back of Studio 140D you’re likely to find artists hard at work, something that’s enticing due to how much natural light the space gets.
