Painting: Two Hearts for the Asking by Mike Margolis

Exhibition: Summer Brights

Palette: Hot Pink • Aqua • Blue • Sparkle

Vibe: Bold, Joyful, Unapologetically Colorful

Styled With: Pink Dress, ADA Aqua Leather Wrap Belt, Mayana’s Ginkgo Earrings in Green, Britta Ambauen’s Favorite Chain, Woven Tote, Orchid & Ash’s Hippie Soul Ritual Spray

 

Some paintings whisper. Two Hearts for the Asking arrives with the volume turned all the way up. You have no choice but to feel really happy with this painting in the room.

Created by local artist, Mike Margolis, this large-format acrylic is an exuberant tangle of color, pattern, movement, and unexpected detail. Everyday in the gallery, we get lost in this painting, finding new little details, textures and colors we never noticed before.

1. Start bold:

To style it, we began with a vivid pink dress that immediately captured the painting’s bold, joyful energy.

2. From there, follow the artwork’s color trail:

An aqua leather wrap belt brought in one of the painting’s cooler tones while giving the dress a little structure.

3. Add more color:

Mayana’s hand-beaded ginkgo earrings in Peacock Green added another layer of color, with subtle variations in the beads that echo the shifting shades throughout the canvas. Huge visual impact!

4. Add some sparkle:

For a touch of light, we added Britta Ambauen’s Favorite Chain in gold. Each circular link is half-hammered to catch the light, with a tiny Herkimer diamond dangling below. It adds sparkle without competing with everything already happening around it.

5. Now, more color:

A turquoise handwoven tote with multicolored stripes, carries the palette beyond the dress and makes the entire look feel collected rather than overly coordinated.

6. Let’s finish with a scent:

Style is more than what we see. We finished with Orchid & Ash’s Hippie Soul ritual spray. Bright, free-spirited, and a little playful, it gives the look one final invisible layer.

The result is unapologetically colorful, spirited, and full of movement, just like the painting that inspired it.