Review:Gallery Direct Fine Art Plus The Sentimental Story Behind Our Artwork

I am a lover of beautiful things. Whether they be sparkly, colorful, or even simple in nature, I try and find beauty in everything around me. I love the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and love leisurely exploring the Rotunda and just taking in all of the breathtaking artwork that is there to behold. But fine art is not something I ever dreamed I could hope to display in my own home. That's why I was so excited to get the opportunity to work with Gallery Direct. Gallery Direct is a fabulous company that offers professional, gallery quality art to the public for bargain prices. They offer thousands of well-known images by the greats like Van Gogh, Da Vinci, and Monet, as well as myriads of lesser known images and prints.

The wonderful thing about Gallery Direct, besides their vast selection, is the fact that they offer so many options for display. You can choose several mediums, such as Canvas, (gallery wrapped or framed) Paper, Acrylic, Aluminum, Mirror art, and even stunning artwork on Wood! That's right! Each of their stunning images can be customized any way you want to create a one of a kind piece of artwork that fits your individual style and living space perfectly. You can even upload your own photos for an heirloom quality treasure that can be passed down from generation to generation!

When selecting my piece of artwork for review, my husband and I literally spent hours scouring the thousands of images available at Gallery Direct. We looked at fine art from the masters as well as beautiful work from lesser known artists. But we were waiting for something to speak to us. This happened to occur when we stumbled upon one of the many, many stock images, by an artist unknown. It is simply titled "Ghost on Porch in a Storm". From the website's description, this is actually taken from a photograph of an old, abandoned, supposedly haunted farmhouse. Is the ghost an actual paranormal photo? Who knows? But we both found the image hauntingly beautiful, in an odd way. Perhaps it is the ominous sky and the way the light plays through the storm clouds...Or maybe it's the desolate feel of the structure. After studying the image for awhile, we realized it was something far more sentimental than that.

When we received our artwork from Gallery Direct, we noticed immediately the superior quality of this piece. It came to us beautifully and securely packaged, and was definitely shipped with the utmost care. We also noticed the crisp, clear detail depicted in this image. The colors were vibrant, and the details of the image were painstakingly accurate, just as they appeared in the photo we selected on the Gallery Direct website. We chose a Large Framed Canvas, and it came ready to hang. The frame is sturdy and absolutely gorgeous. It was obvious that the folks at Gallery Direct are experts in the craft of providing fine gallery quality artwork that is suitable for even the fanciest of settings and made to last a lifetime.

Before I tell the story behind why we ultimately made such an odd choice in artwork, take a look at the beautiful detail of the image.

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I just love the realistic look of the ominous sky in this piece.

Although this may seem a peculiar choice of artwork when we could have chosen Starry Night or something more traditionally beautiful, we had a good reason for selecting this piece of artwork to display in our home. You remember I said this piece "spoke" to us? After pondering over the image for what seemed like an eternity, we realized why this image was absolutely perfect.

You see, this image depicting a sad presence on the porch of a dilapidated old farmhouse was one we have seen before. My husband has seen it many, many times. (Sans ghost, of course.) My husband's beloved grandfather was the owner of a large and rather successful lumber company. On one of their tree farms stood an abandoned farm house that was once the home of a large family back in the late 1800's-early 1900's. This house looks much like the house depicted in this piece of art, as you will see. I don't know the story of the family, but about 150 yards from this house, in the middle of the woods, are two graves. Both graves were for young girls. One died at the age of 7 or so, while the other was just an infant. Times were different back then, and it was a common occurrence to lose a child.  The house has recently been demolished, but for years this was a house that time forgot, sitting in the middle of the woods on Dan's grandfather's tree farm. It had a sad, lonely feeling to it, and we were always fascinated by this structure. Inside the house were old possessions of its inhabitants like an old wagon wheel and even pottery.We wondered about the people who made their lives there and what their story was.

Dan's grandparents have since passed on, but the tree farm remains in the family and is visited by members of the family as often as possible, as a way to remember the man who founded this amazing and kind family. Seeing this piece of artwork and displaying it in our home is a sort of tribute to Dan's grandfather and the hard work he did his whole life to provide for his family. This image is hauntingly beautiful, and serves as a reminder to never forget our roots and those who came before. In a way, it's also a tribute to the mystery family who lived in the old farmhouse as well, whoever they were.

Here of some photos from the REAL farmhouse at Trail's End Farm, taken during our last visit to the property. (And before my husband finally cut his hair!) Notice the eery similarities to our artwork from Gallery Direct.

My husband at Trail's End Farm

The graves of 2 young girls in the middle of the woods.

Here is the actual farmhouse, sitting in the overgrown forest. I imagine it once looked quite similar to the canvas print.

Inside the old house.

Another view.

I guess the important thing we learned while shopping for our artwork from Gallery Direct is that artwork is completely subjective. What one finds beautiful, another may not. It's all about what resonates with the the person beholding the artwork. Art can come in so many forms, even that of an old, forgotten farmhouse. Sometimes art is sentimental. Sometimes it's just pretty. But all artwork is priceless, as it can bring back memories and invoke emotions we never knew existed.

Overall, I am absolutely thrilled with my artwork from Gallery Direct. This online art supplier offers superior quality, highly customizable art that is made to last for generations. With Gallery Direct, anyone can own fine art of their very own! I know we will treasure our artwork from Gallery Direct, and are proud to display this beautiful piece. I am sure it will be a conversation starter for years to come. But it will also be an image my babies will look at in wonder as we tell them all about their Grandpa G. and his legacy that lives on in them. We will tell them all about his life, his passions, the good he did, and even about the old, spooky house that stood in the middle of the family tree farm. Thanks to Gallery Direct, this is a memory that can live on, even though the old house no longer stands.

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You can check out THOUSANDS of available fine art prints on the Gallery Direct website.

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***Disclosure: I received a complimentary product to facilitate my review. No other compensation was provided, and all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.***