Hello, world!! It’s been a whole year since our Great Artists! Course launched where kids could have the immersive opportunity to learn about six incredible artists. From the pop art of Andy Warhol to the impressionist paintings of Claude Monet, it’s been so exciting for us to create a place where children can learn about and create their own art while most of the world was closed. Our first week features Frida Kahlo, and I hope those of you who have completed the course love her just as much as I do. (If you haven’t looked into our virtual art classes for kids, here’s a link!)
Frida Kahlo was once described by the father of Surrealism, Andre Beton, as a “ribbon around a bomb.” Talk about a title! Frida was a Mexican painter who lived during the early 20th century, and she is one of the most notable painters of her era. Frida certainly didn’t play by the rules of her day, and didn’t paint by them either. Perhaps that’s why she’s so well-liked now. Much of her art was influenced by the Mexicanidad movement, in which Mexicans resisted the “mindset of cultural inferiority” that circulated at the time by colonial powers. As such, her work was deeply influenced by Mexican culture and folk art, which you know I love.
Color is used heavily in her work to the extent that I picture a color pallet when I think of her work. Add that to the whole nonconformity thing, and I’m interested. Nay–I’m hooked. While there is a lot to say about Frida Kahlo, I’ll try and limit my comments to tips about interior design inspired by the woman and her incredible home, Casa Azul!
Home Decor Inspired by Frida Kahlo
How to use decor like Frida would
Consider Color
Casa Azul is aptly named, as the exterior of the house is painted this fantastic cobalt blue. It’s the kind of blue that if you saw it and weren’t expecting it, you’d whip your head around for a second look and say something profound like, “that house is blue!” Or, perhaps the color puts you speechless! It certainly does that for me. Rather than use a ton of neutrals to ground one pop of color, Kahlo did the opposite in her home and it totally works! She employed blue, citron yellow, kelly green, and terracotta red liberally with just a pinch of neutrals thrown in. The neutrals that are used are all natural. One section of the house has greyish walls because the walls are made of volcanic rock and shells!
For more inspiration on decorating your home with the bright colors of Frida’s hometown, check out my trip to Mexico City here!
Embrace your surroundings
With the use of volcanic rock and seashells, Casa Azul perfectly illustrates how to bring the outside in. This creative yet ancient way of using natural resources works beautifully in juxtaposition to her wild colors and more modern stylings. If you live in a wooded area, use beautiful wood! Same goes for those of you who live in rocky areas or sandy areas or wherever areas! Get outside to get inspired. Another way Frida Kahlo brought the outside in is by adding house plants. She used plants all the time in her paintings, and had plenty to study in her home! Yes, the trick is old as time but never gets old. Bringing in natural elements to balance the color will help you nail Frida Kahlo inspired interior design.
Embracing one’s surroundings goes beyond the literal outside – you should try and bring a bit of your culture and community within your doors. Embracing culture is essential in a Frida Kahlo inspired home. Kahlo has tons of traditional Mexican tiles and Indigenous pottery throughout her house and it gives a sense of identity to both the woman who lived there and the space itself. Frida’s celebration of her heritage is a wonderful thing, but I know many people who feel like they don’t have a heritage to celebrate. That’s just silly! Do a little research on your family, your community, and any other places your family line has been. Then, use interior decorating to remind you of where you and your ancestors have been. That sort of thing is really grounding, and who doesn’t need that right now??
Persevere
So, I intentionally haven’t talked much about the messier parts of Kahlo’s life. She will probably haunt me for watering down her deeply complex life into interior design tips, but hey! We’re keeping her legacy going! Frida Kahlo experienced a lot of tragedy that included abuse, tragic accidents, chronic illness, mental health problems, and infidelity. At eighteen, she was seriously wounded in a bus accident and was laid up in the hospital for months unable to move her body. She knew that this accident would prevent her from studying medicine as she had planned, so she took to painting from her hospital bed. Her mother had a special easel made that she could use in bed, and a mirror was placed above her bed. There she painted a slew of self portraits, pictures of her visitors and view.
In fact, this is one of Frida’s major life events that inspired one of the activities in our Great Artists! course. During week 1, the kids will have a chance to grab a mirror, climb into bed, and see what it feels like to draw a self-portrait exactly the way Frida Kahlo herself started. These kinds of activities are what make history come alive, and teach the children about the lives of artists like Frida in way appropriate for their age.
What Frida did about it
She took inventory of what she could do and what her literal setting allowed, and then did it. Kudos to Frida for transforming a space with limitations into a space where she could create! As an interior design nut, I just love that. In the midst of one of the toughest periods of her life, Frida Kahlo redefined herself as an artist. Rather than allowing herself to be defined by tragedy, she molded it into therapy, self expression, and a new career.
Towards the end of her life, Kahlo was finally receiving widespread recognition for her innovative work. She was to have her first solo exhibition in 1953, but right before the opening night, Frida was put on bedrest for a chronic illness. Rather than miss her big moment, Frida Kahlo had an ambulance deliver her from Casa Azul to the museum on a stretcher. Once in the museum, she was moved to her own four-poster bed that was brought there earlier that day. Much to the surprise of everyone there, she laid in her own bed at her own exhibition opening. You’ve got to love a girl who just won’t quit, much less miss her own party.
In your life & home
If you’re needing a little help translating all of this, check out our Great Artists! Course for kids that includes some wonderful crafts/projects cooked special for you by our Lars team. There you’ll find the perfect Frida Kahlo and Casa Azul inspired pieces to perk up your home. Also, we’ve scoured the internet and have found some wonderful pieces that look like something straight out of her paintings (and wardrobe!)
I hope that by reading about Frida and looking at photographs of her home and work, you feel inspired to play a little, especially if life is hard right now. She’d like that. Let your home be both the subject and object of your playing! (I believe that’s called interior design.)
Fashion Inspired by Frida Kahlo
Accessories
This post is a part of our In the mood for series where we show you how to recreate interior design styles and fashion inspired by people we admire! Click any of the links below to check out the past posts in this series!
Anne of Green Gables, Emma Woodhouse, Iris Apfel, Wes Anderson, the Royal Family, Little Women, Monet, Josef Albers, Alma Thomas, and Alexander Girard
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