| Art and Feng Shui
 All art communicates a
                        message and whether it is overt, like a Normal Rockwell
                        painting, or covert, like a Kandinsky, art affects how
                        we act, interact and react. Before you hang a picture, consider if
                        its message will help or harm your life. In the middle
                        of winter, when many of us are forced to spend far more
                        time indoors than we would like, the paintings on our
                        walls influence us mightily. Artwork is content expressed in color,
                        line and form. Have you ever thought about why things in
                        nature are colored the way they are? Why the sky is
                        blue, the grass green and most blossoms are red, etc. It
                        is reasonable to assume that nature as expressed in the
                        overt physical world depicts its message through color. Blue, the color of the sky, captures
                        the mystery of the self. Blue, the color with the
                        shortest wavelength, does not reach out and embrace.
                        Rather, it stays close in and, in that sense, feels cold
                        and withholding. Blue communicates mystery, the unknowns
                        of self. Blue provides us with a feeling of more space
                        surrounding us than do other colors. Blue focuses us
                        inward and stops us from interacting. Red, the color of blood and the most
                        common color of tropical flowers, reaches out and
                        captures attention. This is evident in any stadium when
                        we look far across to the other side and see those
                        wearing red in sharper focus than the rest of the
                        spectators. Red stimulates and inspires us to action. Yellow illuminates and brings into
                        focus just like our perception of the sun. Yellow helps
                        us clarify and fosters optimism. Green, the color of chlorophyll,
                        promotes growth and life in vegetation and affects us in
                        the same way. Green makes us feel alive and stimulated. Purple, the color not seen readily in
                        our visible spectrum, underscores the unknown. Those who
                        love purple are often teens looking to uncover all the
                        concealed elements of life and those who have an
                        interest in spiritual work, or transcending this
                        corporal world. Purple releases us from the mundane and
                        validates a sense of wonder. Artwork also communicates by telling a
                        story. A painting of a storm- tossed sea in a bedroom
                        might provide the impetus to refrain from healing a
                        rocky relationship. A proclivity for collecting pictures
                        of solitary people might reflect a person who is a
                        reluctant participant or unsuccessful in a partnership.
                        A client of mine had a picture of a man standing upside
                        down on a bicycle madly pedaling which he hung in a
                        prominent place in his living room. No wonder he felt
                        that all the relationships he wished for were
                        unattainable. Would an abstract picture in a dining room
                        be serene or agitating? A family is likely to argue more
                        when a picture promotes frenzy rather than tranquillity. View your artwork as if their messages
                        are as important as their visual appeal and then decide
                        if these messages are appropriate for the areas in which
                        they reside. Nancilee Wydra is
                        the most published American author on feng shui. Her
                        last two books are "Feng Shui Goes to the
                        Office" March 2000 and "Feng Shui for
                        Children's Spaces," November 2000. She teaches
                        nationwide professional certification classes (www.windwater.com)
                        and has a free Website
                        with 100 answers to the most frequently asked feng shui
                        questions, (www.EfengshuiUSA.com).
                        She can be reached at 1-888-488-FSIA
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