It Doesn’t Have to Match: How to Choose Art That Feels Like Home

You don’t always know why a piece speaks to you. You just know you want to live with it.

Maybe you see it in a gallery, maybe it stops you mid-scroll—but something shifts. You linger. Your chest tightens just a little. It’s not logical. It’s personal. And maybe for a second, you talk yourself out of it—because it doesn’t match anything or because it’s not the “right time.”

But you keep thinking about it.

What Caught My Eye

I remember the first time that happened to me. I was teaching Spanish at a local parochial school, attending a year-end fundraising gala with the usual dressy clothes, tiny desserts, and silent auction tables. I wasn’t painting yet—not seriously, anyway—but I was rather proud of the sunflower I painted at a staff “paint and sip” that year.

Then I saw it: a pen and ink sketch of the Pell Bridge in Newport. Boats underneath. Gulls wheeling overhead. The sea drawn in soft lines that somehow felt like movement. It was simple, but something in it hit me hard.

I was in the middle of falling in love. I was planning my wedding, making a home in a state I never expected to live in—let alone love.

But that drawing looked like Rhode Island to me. And more than that, it looked like us. The place I met him. The place where I learned to love him.

I didn’t overanalyze it. I just wrote down my bid.
And when I won, I carried it home with both hands and hung it up in the apartment where we started our life together.

Why It Matters

That’s what art can do. It captures a moment your words can’t.

But when it comes time to choose, most people freeze.
What if it’s the wrong one?
What if it doesn’t last?
What if it doesn’t “go”?

Here’s the secret: the art you love for years doesn’t have to match your throw pillows. (After all, don’t you like to change out your pillows every so often anyway?) Art has to match you—your memory, your mood, your season. The pieces that stay with you are the ones that say something real. They meet you where you are, and sometimes, they walk with you into what’s next.

The best art doesn’t blend in. It anchors you—to your story, your season, your self.

So how do you choose the right piece?

Start with what moves you. Notice what holds your gaze.
If a piece stirs something in your chest—don’t dismiss it. That reaction means something. That’s where the relationship begins.

Then:

Let the piece take up space.
Let contrast become conversation.
Let presence outweigh perfection.
Let yourself collect with heart, not hesitation.
And trust your gut. It knows.

From the Studio

Right now, I’m sketching again—clouds, sea, coffee cups, slow things. I spent Memorial Day in Jamestown with my kids and a sketchbook in hand and came home windblown and inspired. I’ve also started exploring a new series in a palette I’m not used to—brighter yellows, the kind I normally avoid. But there’s something in them I can’t ignore this time. I think the series will be called Daylight.

If This Hits Home

If there’s a piece in my current collection that already feels like it belongs with you—don’t wait. You can see what’s available anytime. Sometimes the piece chooses you long before you choose it. Check out the collection below to bring your piece home.

Tell Me

I’d love to know—what’s one thing in your home that you chose with your heart, not your head? Tell me your story.