Living With Art

Learning to look at art is the beginning of a lifelong love affair. I mean, really looking at art and finding some kind of connection. Seeing and being open to feeling requires a shift of consciousness, patience, and an open mind. That’s what artists expect you to do—to find meaning, understanding, and feeling in their work. Some art will resonate profoundly. You will know because you will first have an emotional reaction or respond with a comment. And still, looking at other artwork and having no opinion or reaction is okay too. It simply means you don’t have a personal experience relatable to what you are viewing. Take landscape paintings for instance. Most everyone can look at a landscape painting and either have an idea of a place where it may have inspired the painter or you may think the landscape looks like something you’ve experienced personally in your travels or from growing up, as in your childhood home.

What we see in life and nature may only be a filter and not what is really there. It has been said that what an artist creates has taught people to find what is really there in life and nature. Oscar Wilde suggested although there has been fog in London for centuries, one notices the beauty and wonder of the fog because “poets and painters have taught the loveliness of such effects…They did not exist till Art had invented them.”

One of my favorite things to do for my clients is find them art. My work allows me to see many different homes and art collections and I am reminded daily of the impact art can have in our lives and in a space. Art to me is essential. It is the jewelry of a home and the last crowning touch that solidifies the design of any room. So naturally finding the perfect piece of art for a specific place in a client’s home is rewarding and oh so satisfying. But I am also reminded how art is often absent from many spaces I style and redesign. I’m always surprised and slightly disappointed when there isn’t any art or enough art to complete a room’s design. I find this predicament fascinating, not from a problem-solving aspect, but rather from a question of why people live without art. Art to some people is simply a snapshot of a sunset from their honeymoon or romantic vacation. A souvenir of sorts. Art to other people is inspirational quotes printed on large canvases or painted on rough-hewn boards. And although these forms of expression undoubtedly have meaning and a connection with personal experience they are created with a universal appeal for consumer consumption.

How I Choose Art

When I am shopping for art I look for pieces that are original (one of a kind) or limited (set number of pieces). I look for a story in the art – what is the art telling me? More importantly I am looking for the artist’s ability to create something extraordinary – yes, I am critiquing the art. I’m studying the art and asking myself “does this artist have exceptional talent and ability?” Sometimes I’m completely immersed in the vision of color or scale of a piece of art. Other times, I am drawn to art that makes me feel, think, associate, and fantasize. I’m drawn to art that makes me excited, uncomfortable, or makes me feel alive. Sometimes I find something so exquisite and delicate that I wonder how it could have survived only for me to appreciate it now. Those are the magical moments when you find something so lovely or spectacular and it’s staring right back at you. It can take my breath away. That’s the experience I’m always looking for.

I’m reminded of a pair of pencil drawings I recently found depicting a nude female in two different poses. She (the subject matter) was so beautifully drawn. Soft, demure, perfect anatomical proportions. I was so taken by the drawings I wanted to know more. The drawings were signed and dated 1885. Neither drawings were framed to protect the faded delicate paper and I wondered how I came to be the caretaker of this artist’s precious and vulnerable possession? I began to think about the artist. What was she like? Who were her friends? What kind of life did she live? Was she happy (at this point I’m completely emotionally committed)? Was she cared for? Did she ever find love? I very much hope so. Soon I feel as if I know this person and the artwork has new meaning for me. I have a connection I didn’t have before. A personal investment of care, love, and protection.

My friend Beth recommended a book to me recently by John O’Donohue titled Beauty: The Invisible Embrace (rediscovering the true sources of compassion, serenity, and hope). She said “you must read this, it’s exactly how you think when you are styling homes and spaces for your client’s.” Naturally I was compelled to learn more so I ordered the book that same day and received it a few days later. The first page instantly jumped out at me.

“The human soul is hungry for beauty; we seek it everywhere—in landscape, music, art, clothes, furniture, gardening, companionship, love, religion, and in ourselves. When we experience the Beautiful, there is a sense of homecoming.”

He continues to suggest how this notion of the Beautiful isn’t naïve or romantic but rather a necessity!

“The Beautiful offers us an invitation to order, coherence, and unity. When these needs are met, the soul feels at home in the world”.

Wow, so powerful. I think that’s why art is so important, and music, and design, and companionship and everything else the writer is suggesting. I can speak from experience that art fills my heart and soul with feelings and stories and memories. Art makes me feel whole because it reminds me who I am and where I’ve been and where I hope to go (emotionally) in my lifetime. Helping people realize the Beautiful in their everyday life is what it is all about. There is Beautiful all around us. Learning to see, I mean really seeing, is the beginning of a love affair with life.

This post was originally written for Art in Bloom 2019 at Mia