Decorating Diaries: The Big Orange Wall

My friend asked me to do my best "Vanna" impersonationCheck out my beautiful piece of art!

Ever since March of 2010 when I painted our hallway orange , Blair and I have faced daily the big, blank orange wall that is directly outside our bedroom. We have trucked in thousands of dollars of art, holding each piece up to the wall, looking for that perfect fit. 

Nothing worked. The problem is that it's a BIG wall, but we can't hang anything with big images because there's no way to back up enough to get an overall view. I don't like fussy, little busy art so we just left the wall blank, resolving each January that this would be the year we finally got serious and put up the collage of family photographs we kept saying we would. 

Thank God we're procrastinators. Otherwise I may not have entered a raffle to win the PERFECT piece of art for this wall. The Creative Center of Greensboro raffled off a painting done by four of artists who have studios there. The video shows them working on it. 

What fascinates me is that the minute I saw a picture of the completed painting on Facebook, I looked at it and said, "That painting is mine." Not "I hope I win it," or "Wow, that would look great it in the house," but just a rock solid knowingness that the painting was mine. I bought $20 worth of raffle tickets knowing--knowing--my name would be pulled. I had a calm certainty about it and when my friend Melody called to tell me my name was drawn I was thrilled (jumping up and down the hallway thrilled) but not at all surprised. 

I rarely if ever feel such certainty and I don't know what it is about this painting that spoke so strongly to me but everything about it has clicked. I brought it home and yes, it is the PERFECT fit for the space. The colors are stunning and compliment the other art we have hanging and even Blair--who's not always the biggest fan of abstract art--instantly loved it. This painting just FITS in our home and lives. 

Now when I wake up in the morning and glance out in the hallway, I see this amazing piece of art that reminds me not only of the beautiful people who created it, but of the absolute knowingness that surrounded me when I saw it.

I believe if I open myself up and listen more, I can find that sort of certainty in other areas of my life. This knowingness just hit me unexpectedly, which is why I think it burst in on me before I had time to entertain all the "Oh, I never win raffles and what are the chances of my name being pulled and well I guess I can enter and just hope for the best" thoughts that might typically fill my head and chase away the certainty of the moment. 

I got a lot for my twenty bucks. 

Did I mention I luuuuuv this painting??

Cheers,

Dena