Interior designers fall in two camps when it comes to art for the spaces they create. Some believe that selecting that final touch is outside their purview; most, however, include art as an essential part of the overall design process, understanding that what adorns the walls creates cohesion and helps define the feel of a room.
Teters Art (www.tetersart.com) eases the path for those in search of contemporary abstract paintings that resonate with the spaces they inhabit. Working with designers and collectors from the New York City SoHo penthouse apartment of Ryan Serhant (the Bravo TV star of Million Dollar Listing) to Boston, Atlanta, Virginia, California and beyond, artist Jerry Teters uses input from his clients to create commissioned paintings that play off the surfaces, colors, furniture design and overall feel of a room. He extrapolates ideas from his existing canvases—texture, composition, feel and palette—and incorporates them into wholly new, original paintings—sophisticated work that stands on its own in any setting but that gains extra meaning from the spaces they were created to enhance.
“Each new painting is an original, however closely it is aligned with an existing painting,” Teters said. “A commission is not a copy, and that’s what makes it exciting for our clients, as well as for us—to see the new pieces that emerge.”
For her client, Ryan Serhant of Million Dollar Listing, Robin Baron envisioned a largely white 5 x 4’ painting. She wanted a feeling of movement and various shades of purples, pinks and lime green to peek through, colors that picked up some of the detail in the living room of the SoHo penthouse apartment she designed for him.
Lisa K • Oil on canvas • 46 x 50″
Lisa Kallander of Charlotte, NC, began the process of commissioning a painting for the space above the fireplace in her new home by looking at the Teters Art website. Then she, Betty and Jerry discussed the size and shape of the canvas that would work best, including whether they envisioned a diptych or even a triptych. Lisa described the colors and referenced features of Jerry’s paintings, including layers of color and texture that create movement and depth. She also sent fabric samples from furniture, color swatches of wall paints and photographs of the setting to help provide context and direction.
Lisa K • Oil on canvas • 46 x 50"
“The result of our conversations and the information I provided is a gorgeous, original painting that reflects my desires for a unique piece that makes a statement in my home,” Kallendar said.
Chartreuse Rising • Oil on canvas • 46 x 60” Commission for Arlene Angard, New York City
For Chartreuse Rising, a commission for interior designer Arlene Angard, Teters used metallic paint and recreated the depth and movement from earlier works, including Burnished Gold and the slightly warmer palette of Burnished Gold I, displayed in a living room designed by Danit Ben-Ari of Boston’s Interior Transformations.
Burnished Gold I • Oil on canvas • 40 x 30″ Interior Transformations
After hanging the painting, Rose, for one of their New York City clients, interior designers Virginia Toledo and Jessica Geller of id810 commissioned a similar painting for their shop, Collections, in Engelwood, NJ.
Rose • Oil on canvas • 36 x 48″ ID 810
Teters Art is also partnering with Barbara Barren of Classic Rug Collection (www.classicrug.com) to create limited edition, made-to-order New Zealand wool rugs based on Jerry’s paintings.
Cornflower; hand-tufted; 4.5 lb. quality; all cut pile; 90% New Zealand wool/10% bamboo silk
Teters also contributes to the annual New York City HousingWorks fundraiser, Design on a Dime. Their 2014 contribution was a painting commissioned by interior designer Tamara Stephenson of Root Cellar Designs, who wrote about the process in her Design & Lifestyle blog, Nest.
“We talked by phone, through email, with photograph exchanges and conversations about what I wanted the art to feel like. I sent along the color schemes, but more importantly, the inspirations surrounding each and every item in my space,” she wrote. “I yearned for my commissioned art to evoke the motion of the sea, yet feel calm at the same time, like the sleepy seaport town in France that I imagine in my head. When the art was delivered to me my heart skipped a beat, and it was more than I desired. Jerry managed to infuse an amazing sense of light onto the canvas, and it is a stunning piece of work!”
Reflections • Oil on canvas • 32 x 36” Commission for interior designer Tamara Stephenson