"Sunflowers" Welcome Me Home

Last night (husband) Randy and I hung our first piece of art (my painting, "Sunflowers") in our still-under-renovation house we closed on July 15. That's a little over three months ago ... for any of you counting. For three months, all I had to look at on the walls were patched over shades of paint transitioning from old owners to new owners (us). I've been unhappy. (Changed from miserable since) I know that there are so many things worse than blank walls and life in boxes waiting to be unpacked. There's been no sign of life here, especially not my own. We've had no time to relax and enjoy our new surroundings. Home wasn't home.

But now, with "Sunflowers" in place, I have one corner of the house -- a hallway seen from the family room couch -- that's smiling at me and welcoming me home. It changes my whole attitude about the house. While the kitchen still shows signs of renovations and unsettledness, I cooked a pot roast and egg noodles there ... then ate with Randy, and (daughter) Sarah at the kitchen table ... with a view of my corner. The kitchen felt like mine. The countertops seemed shinier. I was anxious to enjoy just being home.

I know I have other corners to clean up. Many. But I also now know the rewards. Having art around me, including and maybe especially my own, is really important to my state of mind. We were "camping out" in a house before. Now we're on the path to living in our home.

The power of art.

"Sunflowers" is the first of a series of large-scale still lifes set up by my dad. It features a number of family heirlooms and an antique book that coincidentally was open to a chapter on the "Secret of Making Things Turn Up." The philosophy of the author dovetails that of my dad and my own. That you make "luck" or at least your ability to take advantage of some. This painting hung in the front hallway of our previous home ... and made me smile every time I passed it. Nice. Take a look at it and other still lifes ... including other paintings of sunflowers in the gallery section of my web site.

And since I've been painting yesterday and today ... at home ... there will be another post today.

"Sunflowers", oil on linen, 30"h x 30"w, copyright Jill Banks 2005.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435