Paintings and art are everywhere. Every nook and cranny makes some sort of artistic statement. Art even lives in my bathrooms, where I'm very careful not to let humidity build up. I don't know. I just can't help it. I must have art. I crave new acquisitions. Money (and politics) is the only thing that stands between my purchase of the Museum of Modern Art. Otherwise, that big box would be mine!

The other day, I was walking through the hallway outside my bedroom. In this particular area, I have quite a few paintings standing on the floor leaning against walls. You know, that whole casual, hip (okay and sometimes pretentious) way of displaying art. I've made a promise to myself that when people look at these paintings, I will never say anything like, "Oh, yes I picked those up when I was in Sri Lanka last year!" Gag us all.

Anyway, while I was combing through these paintings, I noticed two 25" by 25" abstract pieces by Portland, Oregon artist Joseph Kucinski. Joseph rocks. Think DeKooning and Pollock and you've got his style. I decided at that moment that I had to hang these pieces. "But where?" I thought. "The walls are completely covered!"

Of course, I could've resorted to my usual trick of just rotating paintings. I could've just removed two paintings from a wall somewhere and replaced them with the Kucinski pieces. However, I didn't want to do that this time. Hmm. This would be very tough. I put the paintings back down and tried to forget about my dilemma or perhaps I should say, privilege.

Later on that evening, I walked into my bedroom and ... BAM! There they were! Two empty spaces on the wall above the nightstands on either side of my bed! Right above my bed, like a headboard, hangs a large, abstract diptych on canvas. Elijah Aaron is the artist. It's a great piece. It's green with specks of color throughout and thick, black edges at the bottom. It's edgy. I thought that this piece was enough for one wall, but after hanging the Kucinski paintings on either side of the bed, I realized that they all complement one another. You can NEVER have enough paintings on your walls.

I've tried the whole "less is more" thing and you know what? Who am I trying to impress? Have you ever seen the interiors of some of these residential buildings designed by famous architects? I would feel more comfortable inside a walk-in freezer. Are you kidding me? The whole, tasteful, minimal thing is dreary and sterile to me. God bless the architects, but do real people with real life experiences actually live like that? I actually consider myself fairly disciplined (despite my art habit), but to live like that requires the discipline of an ice cube. Even an ice cube melts!

There's this great line in Woody Allen's, "Manhattan Murder Mystery" where Allen and Diane Keaton play husband and wife. At one point, one of the characters says something like (paraphrasing), "We have the rest of our lives to be conservative, let's just have some fun!" I thought about that line when I decided to hang the Kucinski pieces. It was life imitating art imitating life.

We have the rest of our lives to be tasteful. Why not just go for it? Looking at those paintings now, illuminated from below by the lamps on either nightstand, I can't believe that I didn't hang anything in those spaces sooner. Subconsciously, I always felt that those spaces needed to be filled, anyway. That's what I get for trying to be "tasteful." Most of the time, more is just more. It's not necessarily better (unless it's money, of course). However, in this case, more actually is better. Now, I feel much more comfortable in my own bedroom.

As for the folks who think "less is more," they've got bigger problems. They're recovering from heart attacks right now.