Don't be afraid of collecting rounds...

Sounds funny but so many collectors are confused by round paintings or tondo's as us artists refer to. Rounds or tondo's offer an unique opportunity to add some extra visual interest to a wall, especially to a collection of pieces hanging 'Salon style' - in a large grouping. I particularly enjoy painting on a round as it gives me a chance to play with the composition of the subject matter.

18" round 'Paint the Town Red' with gold trim being enjoyed by collectors at a show opening

My grandmother did needlepoint, and she was incredible at it. She liked framing her floral work in round frames, and I always enjoyed them hanging on her wall. I now have them hanging on my wall along with square and rectangle framed work, the secret is to leave a few inches around the frame of 'white space'. Also, treat your rounds like squares; example, if the round is 12" circumference treat it like a 12" square and add the at least 2" around it to the next piece.

'Salon Style' picture hanging wall featuring rounds, rectangles, squares

The unification of the wall is the theme of petite point and embrodery, some of them are done by my grandmother and some I have collected and been gifted. The floral pieces are anchored visually by the cottages and figures.

Rounds hang well with squares... like my florals hanging at Tinhorn Creek Winery with Molly Gray's square framed birds.

Another suggestion for creating cohesion with art work on the same wall is similar coloured frames... or matting. I like working with tones and keeping frames in a colour tone for a well curated look to the collection of art work. I could have painted all the frames to match in the embrodery collection; but I felt that it visually worked as is. Rounds edge's can be painted to match this esthetic or with a complimentary colour to really draw attention to the unique piece. Hope this assists you in finding a round of mine that will look great with your current art collection!