Choosing art to add to a collection

The simplest rule for choosing art is to find pieces that speak to you and that you love but they can also make sense with your decor and other art.
Paying attention to a theme, color palette and /or mood can help you pin down something that you will love for many years.

In my son's room I wanted to create a gallery wall with a theme. I had inherited block prints and a portrait by my grandmother and another antique portrait. It did not quite fill the wall so I created a few abstract portraits and commissioned another of my son, from a favorite baby picture.

I purchased several paintings through Etsy shortly after buying my current house.
One of my favorites is this abstract by Linda Montfort.

It was the start of my art collection by choice. The colors and exuberance spoke to me and made sense with some of the still life paintings that are by my grandmother.

I think it can be helpful to allow your thinking to go beyond theme and color. For instance, abstracts don't have to be hung alongside abstracts and warm tones need not be in the company of only more warm.
I purposefully choose items that are decidedly feminine in mood for my formal living room. The blush walls and ladylike ivory fabrics were the base decor and art (as well as accessories) must fit within the same feel but without necessarily conforming to a set of colors.
I also bought this little painting on Etsy.

Conversely, my adjacent dining room is very masculine and I combined family silhouettes with my collections of antique fox hunt prints and gentlemen.

The choices for my daughter's room were definitely color and mood driven.

Ellen Levine Dodd

Sally Kelly landscape

It tells an interesting story of the owner, when inherited or vintage pieces are combined with the new, as layer of decor with meaning.