This Artist's Way to Painting & Feng Shui

I am often accused of running in too many directions in my business, and life. If you're a creative person, you understand. Being scattered, you know? Sort of an artist/ADD complex. How do you choose just one thing to focus upon? Even when I gave classes, I taught art classes, feng shui, decorating. I could never narrow it down into one area. I've struggled for years with this - running around in circles, from project to project. Then, my wonderful niece, a PR person for BET, said, "you have to just choose ONE thing and go with it. Then move on to the next."

So when I created my website, I focused on my painting and named it Mural Makers. That's what I do. I paint murals. Then I started this whole social marketing thing online - twitter, facebook - the list grows every day. And my user name is always Mural Maker. I was proud of myself. I finally focused on one thing.

But wait a minute . . . maybe I could add tools and tips to my website so people could create their own murals and decorative art. After all, I used to teach in person. Why not online? Still fits the 'muralmaker' tag. Okay, still focused, just a little more latitude. And, shoot, there are so many kinds of paints, tools, techniques out there - all I need to do is create a wonderful site with great projects for people to do themselves. I'm on the right track and I'm focused.

What's that? Uh-oh. There's a little voice in the back of my mind that is talking, louder, louder, now it's shouting - "What about feng shui? People are interested in feng shui." No, stop! That's a long ways away from decorating with paint. And there's way too much to feng shui. It's about energy, elements, yin/yang, decluttering, safety, comfort and . . . wait for it . . . creative expression. OMG! How could I have missed the obvious connection for all these years?

I've always kept my art in a separate category from feng shui. My art, painting murals, was something I was hired to do. I love it; I'm relatively good at it; I can truthfully say 'I'm an artist.' Then feng shui is something I read about, talk about, teach, and even practice somewhat - that creative ADD thing keeps me spinning in my own home. (WARNING - if you're the slightest bit OCD or have perfectionistic tendencies, feng shui can make you a bit loopy and overwhelmed. Not to mention what it does to those who live with you. There's the disclaimer.) Feng shui, because of its asian roots, also has a "mystical" ring to it. I couldn't see how DIYers who want to decorate with paint would embrace these principles.

Yet, here it was, staring me in the face - a connection between my art and one of my passions. Could I really expand my business a little more without losing focus? Or was I fragmenting again.

There are three primary tenets (IMHO) for good feng shui 1) safety, 2) comfort, and 3) creative self-expression. Safety and comfort are basically self-explanatory. If you're tripping over a piece of furniture every time you walk into a room - not so good feng shui. If you absolutely hate the color of your bedspread - uncomfortable. Not good feng shui. But self-expression? Ah ha! Now, that's something I know about. You do too! Everything you've brought into your home is a part of your self-expression, whether you've realized it or not. And every time you look at those objects, they elicit a vibrational response from you, whether you know it or not. So how about making a conscious choice to add color and style to your home, utilizing the medium of paint and the principles of feng shui?

Sound interesting? I hope so. Do you have to know feng shui to decorate with paint? Of course not. And do you have to use paint to balance your home with feng shui? Nope. But you can use both, if you choose. My focus now is to offer as much information, projects and tips on decorative painting I can come up with, and, include the language of feng shui so you understand how energy flows in your home.

Let me know what you think. Ask questions. Give comments. Either here or Facebook or Twitter. Questions help me focus. Maybe, just maybe, with your help, I can really move ahead in just one direction.