Have you ever walked into a space full of natural sunlight, a flow to the room that just felt tranquil and soft? Have you experienced walking into a space that is crowded, cramped, and just overall uncomfortable?
The concept of Feng Shui originates from poetry about the connectedness of humans with our environments. Chances are you have experienced environments that make you feel easy going and ones that make you feel unsettled. It is no surprise that we are affected by our surroundings.
Art transforms a space immediately. However, we can utilize the power of Feng Shui to help us cultivate the space of our dreams. There are many facets of Feng Shui to consider, such as color, size, material, subject, and directionality. We won't cover all of those today, but enough to develop a sense of understanding for choosing the perfect artwork for you and your home!
You have to love it!
This piece of work is coming into your home. Regardless of any Feng Shui advice, if you don't love your new artwork, then the space is going to feel like a drag.
Elements of the Piece
The Elements of Feng Shui are Metal, Fire, Earth, Water, and Wood. These come from Taoist traditions and are ideally in balance throughout your home to create the best sense of flow. This is a basic overlay of those elements from The Spruce:
Earth
- Qualities: Grounded, self-care, stable
- Shape: Flat, square
- Colors: Brown, orange, yellow
- Season: Transitions between the seasons
- Areas: Wellness, knowledge, partnerships
Metal
- Qualities: Efficient, precise, beauty
- Shape: Circular, spherical
- Colors: White, metallics
- Season: Autumn
- Areas: Helpful people, children
Water
- Qualities: Downward, flowing, shifting
- Shape: Wavy, curvy
- Colors: Black
- Season: Winter
- Area: Career
Wood
- Qualities: Expansive, vitality, upward
- Shape: Columnar, rectangular
- Colors: Green, blues
- Season: Spring
- Areas: Family, wealth
Fire
- Qualities: Passion, illuminating, brilliant
- Shape: Triangle, pointy
- Colors: Red
- Season: Summer
- Area: Fame
Combine and Balance what you need!
Many paintings combine lots of different colors and elements, so choose what you may need to strengthen or bring into balance.
This piece by Anita Lewis combines fire, water, and metal. It brings passion to your family and career. "This Chinese astrology animal sign is used in feng shui as a symbol of power, strength, success, and conquest. The horse can deliver you to victory and success. Choose a horse in a galloping pose (victory horse) to represent moving toward a goal. Place this symbol in the south (fame and recognition) sector or the north (career) sector of your home or office." (Love to Know)
The piece above by Tanvi Pathare also embodies these same elements!
This piece by Howard Friedland embodies Water, Wood, and Earth. It has the ocean, the trees, and the golden hues of the home. This may help you to feel expansive in your career and relationships, as well as abundant in your health.
The Symbolism Matters!
Having a photo of a mountain above your office will create a feeling of stability in your career. Having the same photo in your bedroom may create a feeling of groundedness in your relationship. It could also feel like too much stubbornness is added if your room is full of earth energy.
Waterfalls symbolize prosperity and an abundance of wealth! They also symbolize a positive flow of energy, as this water element is in motion. It may bring too much chaos to a space if you have a lot of water energy already. It may also cancel out any fire element that you have, but could increase the sense of familial love with elements of wood.
People in paintings can be tricky. If you are wanting to cultivate friendship and love, paintings of more than one person can be excellent. People in the painting that look sad may create a sad or lonely atmosphere. It all depends on how you see the person's expression and if that is a reflection of how you want to be or how you want to feel.
