One figure crossing a shoreline lit by the final gold of the day. Built, more than anything else we make, for the wall at the top of a staircase.
- Edition
- 1 of 99
- Sizes
- 15 × 20″ – 48 × 64″
- Frames
- Oak, White, Black, None
- From
- $62
The hardest wall in the house
Stairwells defeat most people. The wall is tall, you see it from three different heights as you climb, and standard-size art hung at standard height looks stranded halfway up a lot of empty plaster.
What the wall actually needs is something with vertical travel — an image whose composition runs up and down rather than side to side, so your eye moves with you as you climb. Almost nothing in a normal print shop is built that way.
This is. The shoreline recedes upward into gold, the figure sits low, and there's distance built into the frame rather than pasted across it.
Where it goes
Size and frame
This is the piece where going large is not optional. 42 × 56″ or 48 × 64″ for a stairwell — anything smaller reads as a postcard on a big wall. 30 × 40″ is the minimum for a standard hallway.
A rough rule for a tall wall: the piece should occupy at least half the wall's height. Two-thirds is better. Nobody has ever complained that their stairwell art was too big.
Oak, or unframed. The image is warm gold and oak continues it; unframed keeps the shoreline running to the wall. Full sizing arithmetic in the size guide.
Hangs beside
Last LightThe same idea, quieter. Two of these up a staircase works.
Burning CoastMore saturated, same temperature.
Cliffside BlueCool counterpoint if you want two on the same flight.Questions
How high do I hang it in a stairwell?
Not at 57″ from the floor — that rule is for flat walls. On a staircase, position it so the centre is around eye level when you're standing halfway up the flight.
Can I hang two up the stairs?
Yes, and it usually looks better than one. Stagger them to follow the rake of the stairs rather than lining them up level.
Is the figure important?
It's the only thing in the frame with a definite size, so it's doing all the work. Cover it and the piece becomes an abstract of colour.
Warm or cool for a stairwell?
Warm, almost always — stairwells tend to be poorly lit and cold. More on temperature in the coastal guide.