ARTWORK - Maps

Last Fall while shopping at Juxtaposition, a stylish little shop in Newport Beach, I came across some beautiful wrapping paper. I am a sucker for lovely, thick paper (and ribbon to boot) so seeing large sheets of paper draped over wooden dowels got my attention. To actually feel the paper is a great selling point to me. Don't you hate it when you are wrapping a gift and it tears at the slightest tug?

But this time, instead of a repeating pattern each sheet had a complete scene of drawings such as the natural history of birds, mammals, the Statue of Liberty, fruits, vegetables, and lo and behold of maps. One sheet was $4. A tad too expensive for one-time use wrapping paper but what deal for a piece of art! And since Juxtaposition is a pricey little shop, I was thrilled to find something clearly in my price range.

So, I bought two sheets of wrapping paper of the familiar maps of Paris and London and patiently waited for Michael's 60 percent framing coupon. Normally I take my artwork to Framer's Workshop in Scottsdale where Chris and Rolf work their magic but since wrapping paper isn't exactly an investment I decided to take a less expensive route.

Michael's did a good job, don't you think? You pretty much can't go wrong when choosing neutral matting and a plain, black frame. So now I have two lovely pieces of art in my family room.