I had a wall painted Ultraviolet. The wall in my living room. The wall for my private exposition. You should see it one day. Well, I had 3 walls painted and Raymond did this for me. Raymond is a handyman with his own business, and Raymond and I had a nice chat.

I follow Panteon’s color advice a little bit. Panteon is a worldwide authority on colors. And every year they proclaim ‘the color of the year’. A few years back, I think it was 2015, Panteon proclaimed Marsala as the color of the year and I had my house painted in Marsala and Tudor cream. Because it was a new color the painter had a hard time finding the right mix. I think the year after it was Rose quarts pink, I so love this color, and then the next year it was pale jeans blue. I didn’t do much with the pale blue, last year it was a greenery green. I did a wall in my living room with green. This year Panteon proclaimed Ultraviolet as the color of the year. I instantly fell in love with this color. I recently found a really good therapist and her treatment room has different shades of purple and it relaxes me and takes me back to the room of my childhood.

My father once painted my room purple and lilac, somewhere in the sixties or the beginning of the seventies. Maybe it was in fashion then. The wall between my room and the living room was made of wood, and a part of it was some kind of foam board. Often times, lying in my bed sometime after 7, bedtime, I could hear my parents talk or argue. I think the carpet was made of some kind of rope. It was hard and maybe cold, rough. I remember the meter cupboard, the closet I could hide in when we were playing hide and seek, a door with frosted glass, a windowsill, the window looking out on the houses across the street, the balcony, small and scary and of course I remember sleeping with my little brother in that same purple room. I don’t consciously remember a lot of smells of my room, maybe the smell of old burlap or an old deep blue satin quilt. I do not have a strong sense of smell. My sister does. She smells the things I see. I am more of a visual person. Although I am sniffing Ylang ylang essential oil right now which I got from my therapist with the purple treatment room.

I had a boyfriend in kindergarten. His name was Michel. He was blond and skinny and he was my first boyfriend. I remember a pair of shorts with Jarratels. I thought he was sooo cute. I was friends with his twin sister. I have a picture somewhere. We would play together on the playground during the break and Michel and I would hold hands when we were standing in line to go back into the classroom and my heart would pound so loud, I thought the whole neighborhood could hear it. I also played at their house sometimes. I don’t know if I would remember the way to their house now but I remember they had free spirited parents, the kind that let their children totally free, I don’t remember if they were hippies but they had monkeys in the living room. Two baby monkeys. That was so cool. Now, of course I know that that was just awful, monkey’s in a cage, I mean. But when I walked into their living room as a 5 year old I thought I was entering a different world. I don’t know how long I was friends with the twins but I am pretty sure that in kindergarten this was one of the most exciting experiences.

So Raymond painted the wall last January and this is where the color ultraviolet takes me. I researched the color to find out what it means in this phase of my life and I dived into Color psychology, which is fascinating. I am looking for the color purple/ultraviolet in clothing and in semi-precious stones, like the amethyst. I found one, of course and buried it in the ground in my backyard for a day or so, to have it cleansed and charged. A bit of a silly thing but fun. My paintings look really cool on my ultraviolet wall.