West Meets East©

By Caroline Patrick

The Power of Feng Shui Art

What type of art images have you chosen for the walls of your home? What subjects do you consider appealing? As a Feng Shui consultant/practitioner, I find most homes don't consider artwork important to their personnel physical, spiritual or environmental vitality. Using a visual imagery is a powerful way to change any space.

His Holiness Grandmaster Professor Lin Yun, respected and highly regarded leading authority on Feng Shui, gave guidance in a workshop on how to awaken compassion in ourselves and in our leaders, and be of service to others. His answer was simple but with the mastery of seeing beyond the current problems facing the world. "We must stay in touch with one another, using our skills to awaken the population. We must use our Feng Shui knowledge to uplift the Ch'i for everyone. The use of COLOR will add vitality, and may be especially helpful now." Using color theories and other transcendental methods were mentioned along with wondrous art created by Professor Catherine Woo of San Diego State.

The gateway to my understanding of COLOR and its effects on the mind, body and soul began as a child. My father was a very gifted artist and provided me with my own oil paints at six years old, mainly to keep me out of his supplies. Using the environment as my guide, I would live in the gardens of our home, examining the flowers, trees, animals and sky and capturing them on panels of paper and canvas in a primitive fashion.

Much later I taught the same medium for individuals and colleges, learning that with each stroke of COLOR and SHAPE came a unique feeling. Over the years I studied herbs, their vibrations, colors, shapes and energies. Then Feng Shui entered my life, and the puzzle of life's aspects and the passion of art blended. "Of course they are all related!" I realized. "They are one."

Each home or business is decorated with art, and each section or Qua of the building is just asking for a visual transcendental enhancements. What an easy way to change old habits or reinforce new ones with a constant visual image. I could fill a book with positive and negative stories reflecting the home's energy patterns created by the visual artwork in living and working spaces that I have witnessed during a consultation. As a consultant, please pay attention to murals and the subject matter of art in the home and office. Use the correct Elements for the associated Gua when decorating a space. Here are a few tips to include for your client when choosing COLORS and decor. Pictures of lonely women and arrow slashes of color in a Partnership corner or through out a living space will only promote loneliness and anger.

Whether you are using Black Sect Feng Shui, Compass, Form School or other recognized methods of Feng Shui, the Bagua, or the eight-sided octagonal shaped template, is used to find the "Mouth of Ch'i." Now the Elements fall into place as the building or landscape is "mapped." WOOD, FIRE, METAL, EARTH and EARTH appear on your drawing or in your mind's eye. Each of the five Elements has a COLOR, body part, a shape and energy.

The energy of WOOD is expansion and growth. Use a painting or mural with lush green plants, trees or forest to give the Family sector a boost. I have provided murals or paintings of bamboo for my clients' homes to bring the family closer together. The flexibility and the strength of this plant make it a good choice for promoting communication between the generations. Column shapes can be used in Wood Element art images.

FIRE, or the energy of expansion, is lacking in many homes, and the occupants find it hard to finish projects as the "light" in their lives is dulled by the darkness. Cone-shaped mountains, pictures of animals, race cars or a painting of vibrant red flowers will activate this area. Brighten up the images with lighting above the paintings or photos. Use reds to enliven your FAME.

EARTH stabilizes the home and physical health of the individuals in the house. I have seen fish tanks, fountains and huge artwork with a water theme "drowning" and "washing away" the Earth sections of homes and corporations. Partnership rooms and the center of a building can be eroded by this conflicting cycle. Square objects or Earth scenes, herbal pictures, matted in yellow and Earth tones can ease physical ailments.

METAL Ch'i is contracting, and round is the shape used in this area of Children and Creativity. White and pastels are used to enhance this Gua. Use metal paints to empower your paintings if you are an artist.

When entering the doorway of the WATER Gua, look around the room or the Water section of a room and see what type of artwork is enhancing this space. Water Ch'i is the energy of maximum concentration and stillness. Dark blue or black can be used to encourage the Career to flow your way. Use a gentle flowing picture of water in this zone.

I hope this guide for understanding the energies, their vibrations and COLOR used in artwork will empower consultants and clients choices when awakening the Ch'i in their environment. I invite you to my website to see examples of my 5 Element Series. Each piece is made in a sacred and transcendental way and manifested with the Power Of Ch'i.