I’ve been in my new home office for about seven months now. It has great new furniture, a custom California Closet for office supplies and everything else, and was painted a color that was inspired by our most recent international adventure, Italy. (You can read more here.)

The big wall above the Ferrari-red wing couch called for something dramatic. And preferably sunflower-y since that is my favorite flower, and of course the flower of Tuscany, the place that has inspired my entire office decor. I found a neat painting in an art gallery in Snohomish, but it was the wrong red and not a sunflower at all. It is difficult to shop for art when you 1) are color blind, and 2) live with someone with an artistic background and heritage. It can be intimidating.

I told my husband (the art “critic”) that it might take a couple of years to find the right piece. And I was prepared to wait. Waiting is part of my new persona. I would rather do without altogether than having something not right. That’s the criteria I used to get rid of so much stuff when moving from our old farmhouse a mile away to our modern townhouse in High Point. Scan Design of course was the answer for almost everything that’s in our new house. And is where we had obtained the only furniture we brought with us from the old house.

His solution, and he was in cahoots with his father, I call him Ron-dad, was to commission his sister, Kimry Jelen, another family artist (and horse trainer, there will be a PBS special on her soon) to paint a piece for the wall. It would be the right size, the right colors, and it would be sunflowers.

Of course I didn’t find this out until it was unveiled at Xmas. She was here over Thanksgiving scoping the room out – and the bold and bright Wing Couch dominating my office.

The painting arrived just last week. We still need to frame it – we are considering a metal frame to match the rest of the hardware in the room (and throughout the house). I couldn’t be more happy with what she has produced, just for me and my space. Now I just wish my desk, which is inside of an armoire, faced the same direction so I could stare at all day!

Thanks Kimry! You did a fantastic job and I couldn’t love it more!

Now I have to get rid of that floor lamp. Or find a matching shade. Steve! Better get shopping.

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