Feng Shui & Art – A Conversation with Carole Hyder

Posted in Art, Color, Featured Artists, Feng Shui, Home Design, Interior Design, Residential Design, Uncategorized on April 6, 2015

By Julie Ann Segal

The way Art enhances Feng Shui is easy to identify in a space. Art is the soul of a room. It gives it energy and life. But how does the practice of Feng Shui influence Art?

In a recent conversation with International Feng Shui expert and artist Carole Hyder, I brought this question up. Recently taken to painting, as I’ve rediscovered it, we talked about our process, and how the practice of Feng Shui is such a part of what we do.

JS: Tell me about your art, and how being a painter relates to Feng Shui.

CH: I wouldn’t have taken to painting like I have if I didn’t already do Feng Shui. It felt like it was so out of my realm, but the truth is that it was so much a part of who I am and what I do anyway in work. Like going into a space, you know it has potential but you’re not exactly sure what. With painting you start with a blank canvas and it starts to emerge. Like design, it evolves. When finished, it may not be exactly what you had in mind, but it might be better – you see how all the elements complement each other.

JS: And Feng Shui relates to the process being intentional – the changes you make need to be grounded in that.

CH: In my experience, anytime there’s a remodel project – there are a couple ways to do it. One way is to blast through on a weekend; by Monday it’s done. Another way to do it, which I’ve found to be more thoughtful, is to do one step, then come back to it. Set it aside and live with it first. Maybe those curtains aren’t going to work…or in a painting, I don’t like what I did with that flower…

JS: It is so important to take a step back and get a feel for things. For clients, we pull the design together and show options. But before we order anything, we might make a few changes to perfect it.

CH: It’s harder to get your intention and energy into something that’s going full out. When you do it in phases you have a chance to feel it out. Your intention can inform something – maybe there’s another way to do it. As with painting, you try different techniques until you really feel it.

JS: That’s so true. When I paint, I have to go in between thinking about what I’m doing, and totally letting go and feeling. My paintings turn out better when I just feel, but I still have to think about it; it’s walking a fine line. I have a whole new perspective on painting now doing it after Feng Shui.

CH: Like with Feng Shui, when you’re intentional about the process, you can regroup, go back, change it – which may take longer, but you get a better result.

Read more about Carole here, or see her work in the Virtual Art Gallery