'Every artwork has its own story to tell': How art can make a house a home in Canberra

Whether you’re an avid collector of fine art, an admirer pondering Frida Kahlo or Vincent van Gogh, simply a fan of supporting artists on Etsy or hitting the homewares section of Kmart, art is one of the most potent tools in decorating a space. 

It is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and its appreciation is an individual and subjective journey. Like an old song that takes you back in time or the feeling of catching up with an old friend, art can excite you, take you down memory lane and enlighten a new perspective. 

“Artworks can be very personal; it can advocate a person’s personality and dreams. It has the ability to transform a room into a complete masterpiece,” said Dana Tosolini, an interior designer at Concepts Interior Design.

“It can change how a home feels and can make a world of difference in making a house a home.”

Ms Tosolini, a veteran of Canberra’s interior styling scene, is passionate about dressing properties and guides clients through the sometimes daunting process of picking art.

“Art isn’t always about the expensive pieces, sometimes inexpensive artworks can provide the same pleasure … Once it’s paired with the right furniture, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference,” she said.

“If there are a lot of smaller pieces dotted throughout the home, we’d group them all together to make it look like a bigger piece.”

Ms Tosolini said that artworks also have the power to change the acoustics of a home.

“When you’re styling a home with hard surfaces like tiled floors or Gyprock, acoustics will bounce off each other. Once you add artworks and furniture, anything with texture, depth or softness will soften the acoustics of a home,” she said.

“I personally love a large piece of artwork in a house because it works as a statement. Sometimes, we’d style a property around those larger artworks.”

Caroline Jones has worked as an art specialist for more than two decades, studying and sourcing various pieces in Sydney before relocating to the capital to work as an art specialist at Canberra-based online auction house, Allbids.

“Every artwork has its own story to tell. [They] come from various different sources including downsizers, a donor who has changed their collection and is selling their old pieces, and we also have stock from the ACT Public Trustee and Guardian.”

“People have different stories about why they have particular artworks and why they’re now selling it … and when they do sell it, people from all over the country want to know that story, it can greatly influence that purchasing decision.

“When they do buy an artwork, that story continues.”

Ms Jones has also bought several artworks for her own home and said working at an auction house is an “occupational hazard because every now and then I find myself buying another artwork”, she laughed.

Allbids holds a quarterly online art collection. Its latest one has recently launched and will run until June 16. The collection includes a mix of oil paintings, Aboriginal paintings and a number of unframed pieces.

“These aren’t just ordinary pieces of art. All the best artworks that come through our doors are kept until our quarterly sales,” Ms Jones said.

Ms Jones’ favourite piece in the quarterly collection is an artwork by Raymond Bulambula.

“He’s an artist from up the coast of Arnhem Land, from the Tiwi Islands, who paints in the style of bark painting with the cross-hatching. It’s a beautiful and large piece of art, a statement piece really.”