My son’s room has turned into an art gallery of sorts.  Every time we finish a unit on an artist or illustrator, we select a representative work (in poster form) and find a place for it on the wall (see sidebar).  This room surprises everyone who visits.

It is pretty easy to figure out how to select a poster, purchase it, and install it, but on the off chance somebody is freaked out about the procedure, here is what we do:

• I look for posters at museum websites that are dedicated to the particular artist – the selection is wider and prices are significantly lower than art & poster websites.  I have also been satisfied with Amazon’s poster selection.
• I select six potential posters.  I do a cut and paste from the museum website, presenting all six paintings on one page, and let my son pick the piece he likes best.  I place the order.
• When poster arrives, we let it unfurl for a week or so, then I adhere it to the wall with removable poster tape squares.
• If we decide that we really like a particular poster, a local framer mounts it on foam core board, attaches wood stretcher bars in the back, and affixes a hanging wire.  Very inexpensive compared to traditional framing and the look is cool.

An abrupt switch of topics – last night’s music theme was “trains”:

• Heitor Villa-Lobos’ “The Little Train”.  Controlled, soothing, endearing.
• Patrick Doyle’s “The Steam Engine”, from Emma Thompson’s movie, “Sense and Sensibility”.  A very short piece that brims with sweet optimism.
• Duke Ellington’s, “Take the A Train”.  Awesome every single listening.

Welcome to the best part of my day!

– Jane BH