The Haunting of Martha

The walls of our home have to be the busiest you've ever seen.  Here at Pendragon Hold, a blank piece of wall is an invitation to put something on it.  If I wanted to drive Martha Stewart stark raving mad, I'd invite her to dinner.  We have calendars, a Beatles shrine of art posters, various as-sundry works of art (the term "art" being questionable, in some cases, I know), Native American artifacts, bulletin boards, base relief pottery plagues, some of my late Mother's paintings and sketches……..you name it, we probably have an example of it fighting for it's share of wall space.

Yes, most of the nice, tidy suburban homes I have visited couldn't be more stark in comparison.  One entire will host a tiny little painting by some artist everybody should know but nobody does, costing as much as a good used car.  Another wall might host a very tasteful mirror, not purchased at Wally World or Big Lots, but at The World Market if the inhabitants are (in their minds) value conscious.  You know they are REALLY rocking if there is framed music concert art print from 1967 you know they are too damned young to have personally gone to.  However, the theme is the same; tasteful minimalism, perhaps to be cycled through and disposed of every 9 months when the owners get bored and think their walls need "freshening up".  The end product is a house that does not say anything to a visitor about the hosts other than………perhaps tasteful restraint.  Total control.  Adventure and the personal whim totally buried beneath what the neighbors might think.

Those of you living in these houses might take affront to this observation.  Please don't.  If the above rocks your world, then by all means enjoy it.  To each his own.  But for the Gods sake, people, if you own it, then OWN it!  Make it your own, design class down at the Y be damned!  Give yourself and your visitors a genuine visual experience that says "This is me, take it or leave it, enjoy your screwdriver."  Walls were meant to peek out from behind what your life has been all about over the years, assuring you that it's there for you if you need to put a fist thru it.  They will never take it personally.  What, a little sheetrock?  We can get down with that!

This is Alex Pendragon, this is Pendragon Hold, and you invited to dinner anytime you get bored with safety of blank sheetrock.