Love the Space You Are In!

Nothing is more peculiar to your sensibilities than someone else’s wild passion for a particular piece of art while you find it boring--or even distasteful. Why, if one person just drools over a Picasso, another would sell it at a garage sale, [if ignorant of the value of course.] Just sit in any art museum for a few hours and watch people’s faces as they pass by various types of art and you can read the most obvious expressions. They are instant, easily deciphered, incredibly unpredictable, and very lively. 

Even children tend to take in art in very specific ways, regardless of their age. When my son was three, I took him to the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, and noticed how very serious his expression was as he took in a wide range of pieces. He seemed to be a big fan of impressionism, a little unimpressed with any still life, but when we passed a Mondrian, I will never forget his surprising remark to me, “Mom that’s not art at all.”  

Agree or not, art is definitely a very personal thing and it either moves a person to a comfortable place or fails to impress. There is a very specific reason for this and that is that all aspects of a person’s taste are unique and complex.  The passion for the things a person loves to have around and that reflect that person’s style, taste, demeanor and more, comes not only from one’s rearing and education but from deep inside each person’s soul.  

Test out the theory on your own sometime. If you go into someone’s home and they tend to dismiss their furniture or art in their surroundings, ask that person why he or she thinks it’s so disagreeable, and you will hear comments like, “I really liked this table and chair set when I bought it, but look at my dining room; it’s so boring—it’s just brown and white and I have no idea how to change it. I tried some dried flowers to give it color, but they looked cheap.” Another person might say, “I have no taste; everyone has always told me that, so I guess it’s true.” Well it’s not true, it’s just a taste that has not been elicited. 

In some instances, people’s interior designs are inadequate because they don’t have the time or the money to construct the right environment for themselves. Hence, the popularity of many furniture stores that sell full room ensembles. And even those are short lived successes, for people tire of the prearranged settings, often wondering why they no longer like something that they spent so much money on. The reason for this is because much more personal effort must be invested to reflect the uniqueness of a person’s soul and make them feel truly at home.  

With a little help, that deep down love of certain colors or a particular design can be elicited and a person’s surrounding can then be easily repaired and really excite the inner spirit each time he or she enters a room. As art and design are explained further, you will learn how to accomplish what you want within your own environment, be it a home, office, or building.  

ADLJM   Page 6   8/29/2008 © Laura Joyce Moriarty