Cottage Art at Hidden Bluff. August 6, 2024.

Three years later a collection of pastoral wall art is beginning to adorn our walls at Hidden Bluff. It took a while to arrive here, but good things will come if allowed to unfold naturally. Now our walls have tranquil scenes of pastoral harmony in muted shades of dusty pink and sage green featuring herbaceous borders and gardens, run-down thatched cottages smothered in ivy, woodland copses, garden roses riotously growing on cottages, lavender lined paths, gates covered in woodbine, and so much more. One artist rose to the surface for me when searching for art and that is Victorian painter Helen Allingham. She was the woman who immortalized the cozy cottage with her art and helped further embed the love of the English cottage in western culture. Her work is becoming a theme at Hidden Bluff these days.

Allingham’s career was a long one that took place during the Arts and Crafts Movement, a counterculture movement to the industrialization of England. Of course, her work wasn’t an accurate depiction of cottage life in its true historical sense, but deep down inside most people are likely know this and yet love her works anyway as sources of both inspiration and aspiration. Allingham’s paintings were peaceful and nostalgic scenes we long to recreate in our own lives. Our homes may never represent the ivy laden cottages of Surrey or have the famous herbaceous borders of Gertrude’s Munstead Garden, but we can be inspired in our own home arts. Her paintings are like a muse for gracious living, and so I continue to collect prints of these for our decor.

Two highly influential women….

Not surprisingly, Allingham was friends with the famous gardener Gertrude Jekyll as they both lived in Surrey for a while. Jekyll’s influence is still seen today in her classic cottage garden style and herbaceous borders. I am also a big fan of Jekyll who brought both art and color into the garden. One of Allingham’s paintings even features Jekyll’s Munstead garden and herbaceous borders she was so well known for. These two women were big influencers of this period with their work and its effect which continues to live on.

They are comforting pictures for imagined days past and simple country beauty in a cluttered world. Really quite perfect for cottage art when you consider why people love cottages. I have framed them with chunky gold baroque frames- a look I love and again a contrast I love.

Thankfully, I have much more wall space at Hidden Bluff than previous homes allowing us to collect these. I order rolled canvas prints and then frame them myself. I prefer this because sometimes the whole picture doesn’t show up on the stretched canvas if you have the company do it. Most of the frames I got at Hobby Lobby which I love for their chunky baroque style.

And a couple on Amazon here and here. I am sure I will continue to keep collecting these and using this wall space to its fullest! Best, Anna

Have a beautiful day!

*All opinions my own. No monies received from affiliates.