character profiles

i am so charmed by west elm's collaboration with photo collage artist mike miller. have you seen it? using vintage photographs, this antique dealer and artist reverses the images to create amazing looking silhouettes that i just can not get enough of. you can tell they're from old photos, can't you? they possess a certain timeless feeling that's so authentic, and i think they'd be an incredible grounding force in any room.

my favorite has to be the one above, called simply "friends." i love how you really get a sense of their closeness - their body language makes them really look like friends, doesn't it? i feel like i'm looking at pictures of my grandmother in her nursing days...so nostalgic and lovely. and the cream cutout against the beige background, the graphic black frame - i really think it's masterfully simple.



i could see the "girl" print in a little girl's room, perhaps surrounded by some family photos and some of her very own artwork, and for some reason, i see the "three men" piece fitting in perfectly on a bookshelf or alongside a music library.

i think the way i'd like these best is as a single piece, rather than a collage of them, but that's purely a matter of personal preference, and the pieces are so dynamic (and affordable at $19, $29 and $79) that the possibilities are pretty endless, especially when combined with the artwork you already have.

the collection also includes three pillow covers, if that's more your bag, and they're also fairly priced between $29 and $34. to my mind, these are the modern yin to the nostalgic yang of the framed pieces.

LOVE.

all images from west elm