Clearing the Energy in your Home

An extremely important aspect to feng shui is clearing the space.  Energy can linger in a home or office, and some of it may not be wanted!

There are several ways to go about this (see books by Denise Lynn and Karen Kingston), but, as usual in feng shui, a little goes a long way.

1.  Clean.   Yep, put on the yellow gloves and give the house a good scrubbing.  Cleaning the home is akin to cleaning the spirit, and who doesn't need that?!  Hiring a housekeeper works too but have them get into the corners!

2.  Clear the clutter.  I feel like I say this in every feng shui post I write, but, truthfully, I cannot say it enough.  If you have items that you do not love or use in your home (you know -- that vase your aunt gave you for your 26th birthday; the coat you got on sale that you've never worn; the armoire that has been in the family way too long), then it needs a new home!  Keeping so-so objects in your environment tells the Universe that you want a so-so life.  When you get rid of the so-so, you make room for the amazing.

3.  Open the door and windows.  There's nothing like fresh air (especially delicious fall fresh air) to get the energy moving in a home.

Jack Wild/Getty images

4.  Ritualize it.  Turn on your favorite beautiful, upbeat, or inspiring music.  Dance like you mean it.  Say prayers out loud.  Ask the angels to come in and help clear the space.  Tell the house you love it.  Ask the old energy to move on or transmute or purify or get the heck out.  And invite the good stuff in!

painting by Marius Michel-George

5.  Smudge.  As you are "ritualizing it," I suggest some tools.  White sage is one of my favorites.  It gets the job done.  Simply light it and woft the smoke around (aka smudging), setting intentions as you go.  (You may want to carry a tray to catch the ash.)  Sage is and was used in Native American rituals and is considered quite sacred.

from Incense Warehouse

Be sure to "thank" the sage when you are done.  If the sage smell isn't your favorite, you can also use frankincense or camphor.  Even spritzers with essential oils of your choice will work (lemon is good), and if you are super sensitive to smell, sprinkling salt water around is another option.  However, some places need more powerful solutions than these last suggestions.

If you're moving into a new place, or you and your ex have just had a fight, or you've just been in a funk, clearing your space is a must!  It's the quickest way to improvement, and it works.  It helps to do it from time to time anyway, but especially in those transition or tricky times.

Happy clearing!

Homewood's Change of Scenery

Anyone who lives in Birmingham can agree with me here:  the weather has been STELLAR!  To celebrate yet another sunny, perfect–temperature day, I called up a friend to meet me for an early dinner at my favorite local Mexican place: Pinches Tacos. 

If you haven’t been to Pinches Tacos in Homewood, quite frankly, you’re out of the loop.   If you like easy, casual dining and consistent, fresh fare (not to mention great vegetarian choices), then you like Pinches. The atmosphere manages to walk that nearly-impossible line of being simultaneously kid-friendly yet cool.  There is even a mural inside the building by the “You are Beautiful” artists.  Oh, and did I mention the outdoor seating?  There’s a nifty little patio made for this amazing fall weather.  And it's super-easy on the wallet.  I like Pinches so much, I go just about once a week.  This is not at all in character, but I do it.  I highly recommend the ”regular” veggie burrito.  It never fails.  I’m addicted.  I get it every time.  Again, not in character.

Therefore, you can imagine how strange a feeling it was to be driving down Oxmoor Road yesterday and then almost miss the turn!  How many times have I taken that turn?  I’m serious.  I had to do a triple take!  My brain shot off neurons that shouted something along the lines of:  “Is this it?  Wait?  No.  There’s Pinches.  That’s it.  That’s the patio.  But what?  Where are the…?  WHAT?  Wait a minute…”

What my brain was looking for without realizing it was a dense row – a canopy, if you will – of large, gorgeous shade trees that lined 19th Street S at the corner of Oxmoor. 

You know the saying, “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.”  Well, these trees, across the street from Pinches, were G-O-N-E.  Yesterday was Tuesday.  I had just been there on Friday night!  I KNOW they were there.  Right?  Was I imagining this?  I mean, unless I’m crazy, those trees were big! 

What stands there now is a long green temporary fence.  Behind that fence is an impressively large construction site.  

Here’s a picture:

I discovered that seven large trees were taken from the site on Monday.   Seven!!!   To get an idea of this, imagine if your back yard had seven trees that had been growing there since, oh, 1960.  That’s over 50 years ago.  And then you woke up one morning, and they were gone.  The only difference here is that the trees pretty much lined the street.  One would think this made them city property.  But…I guess not.  Arlington Properties, who is building an apartment complex at the site, owns the land, and therefore owned the trees.  Therefore, it was their right to cut them down -- affecting all of Homewood with it. 

Supposedly, the trees were removed because the roots were quite large.  I understand this.  Roots on large trees can cause problems.  This is why it is so important for the “right tree” to be planted in the “right place” in a city environment.  Yet I still find this cause to be “curious.”  I intend to research the reason for these trees’ removals.  After all, when you remove a gorgeous tree that has been living for at least forty years, you are taking away forty years of beauty, shade, and oxygen, as well as homes for birds and other fair creatures.  Multiply this times seven, and it’s impact is hardly recoverable, at least not in an adult's lifetime.  In the least, the citizens of Birmingham need a thorough explanation of why these trees were killed, and what Arlington Properties is going to do to make it up to us.  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEWFLASH: After writing this piece, I decided to glance on Google Maps to see what the canopy looked like before the bulldozers came in.  I hope you are as shocked as I am.  I'm wondering if I am way off with the "seven" count.  What do you think?

Pinches is the round-like protrusion on the white-ish building on the right.  The trees lining the street were the ones cut down on Monday.  THINK:  anywhere you see green on this photo would appear as red dirt (aka construction site) by a helicopter-cam today.  

Now check this out -- I panned out to see a bigger view of SoHo.  Wow.  Seems like this no-green is a trend in the business district.  Not good. 

That expanse of trees in the lower right hand corner is now GONE.  

How to Clean Out Your Closet

As  a feng shui consultant, I rarely enter a home where I don’t give the following tip:

Clear Your Clutter.

Alas, as a naturally disorganized person myself, I find this feat challenging at best.  Lucky for my clients, I have complete empathy.  Yet after all my years of studying feng shui and putting it to practice for myself and others, clutter-clearing is hands-down the number one thing a person can do create miracles in his or her life.  I’m talking miracles.

{Stay tuned for the Why? on Clutter Clearing...}  

This past week, we had a few rainy days here in Birmingham, and with the change in weather (it’s finally cooling down a bit), I decided to tackle my clothes.   

Because, lately, every time I go to my closet – and I’m talking just to go over to the grocery store – I struggle with what to throw on.  This is a problem, as my closet is packed full of clothes.   

Funny, because I felt like I had just cleaned it all out.  After all, it wasn't long ago that I was wearing all maternity clothes, and I've moved in the past year, so yes, I've tossed some stuff along the way.  Goes to show, however, that clearing clutter is a process.  After all, we are always accumulating things, so it's really about maintenance, isn't it?

So what was all this stuff in my closet???  This stuff that I didn't even want to wear???  

If you are like me, you have a few favorites from fifteen years ago.  And, if you are like me, you have not worn them but four times in the past ten of those years. 

For example:

Betsy Johnson LBD.  Very cute.  I have had some fun times in this little number.  So how to know whether to keep or give?  After all, it’s an LBD.  They always are in style, right?  And it’s designer.  And I’ve had it for soooo loooong.

And how about this fun tunic that I bought in Urban Outfitters in Austin in 1998?  Hot pink is a favorite of mine to wear.  I seem to get a fair amount of positive attention in this one.  But every time I go to put it on (which is probably twice a year), I say “Naaahhh.” 


And then there's the BCBG wrap dress in brown:

When I bought it, it said "feminine class."  When I put it on, it says, "Blah."  

So what gives?  How do you know what to keep (things really do come back in style) and what to say ba-bye too? 

I’ll tell you!

What I was inspired to do – and I’m telling you, I had to get brutal – was to write down every piece of clothing I owned, try that piece on, then rate it.

Yes, I rated my clothes.

I know what you may be thinking.  I have too much time on my hands.  Or that I'm excessively anal retentive.  Both of those could not be farther from the truth.  But, being a single mom, juggling freelance jobs among a zillion other things, I’ve become pretty good at the time management thing.  I have found that when you take the time to make a big pot of soup at the beginning of the week, it saves you time during the week.  Same goes with streamlining your closet – put in the time now, it will save you those evenings of trying on four outfits and then just settling with one that you don’t like that much anyway.  Trust me.  I’m not patient with this sort of stuff.  For me to be doing it should be telling you something. 

Here’s how it went:

I started with the dresses.  I tried them all on, making sure I had shoes to match.  The system went like this:

4 stars – I felt 100% in it!  It fit great, it was my color, and it’s in style. 

3 stars – Cute but not killer.  Not a knock-out, but definitely a keeper.

2 stars – Didn’t fit, not a great color on me, reminded me of an ex-boyfriend or a not-fun time in my life, looked cheap or out of style and not cute enough to save for another season.

1 star – Just bad.

Occasionally, I was between and 2 and a 3, so I invented 2.5 stars.  It’s a little bit of a cheat, so try not to do it if you try this at home.  Basically, those items are still in a smallish pile.  I need a second opinion on those.  (On the opinion thing: be sure you get someone who knows your style and who loves you and wants you to look beautiful.  Hate to say it, but girls can be catty, and you never know when someone’s telling you it looks awful because she wants it!)

The 4 stars went back in the closet.

The 3 stars went back in the closet.

The 1 Stars went in a pile on the floor along with the 2 stars.  These items (I don’t care how long I’ve had it, or how badly I wanted it to fit) were outta there. 

Oh, and during this process if there was something I needed to buy – shoes, belt, certain jewelry – to take it to the next level, I’d write that down next to the item.  This is VERY important as we move onto….

Pants and tops.  I tend to buy in pieces rather than entire outfits (despite my mother’s instructions), and this had gotten me in trouble.  The beauty of having pieces is that you can find sudden inspiration in pairing a top with an unexpected bottom, the day of, and to me, this is part of the fun of getting dressed.  It’s not just putting on clothes – it becomes creative expression in those moments.  But my closet had gotten to the point where I couldn’t even see what I had so that nothing inspired me because it was hidden behind a bunch of 2 stars. 

For example, I bought this precious pink jacket by Theory (one of my favs) a few months ago.

 I'm proud to say that I found it second-hand at Crossroads in Santa Monica, and I just had to have it.  (The $15 price tag may have helped!)  However, I haven’t worn it because I didn’t have a shirt to go underneath – so I thought! 

Can you believe that I actually have a lacy little tank in the exact same pink!

How did I miss this?!

I'll tell you how.  Buried.  Under 2 starses.  

I had a BIG pile of giveaways.  It feels GREAT.  Putting my clothes back in my closet – the keepers – was a reward in itself. 

The next step:  Finding the gaps in the wardrobe.  Like I said, I have tons of pieces, so in order for me to be able to keep some of these cute items that I never wear, I have to find something to go with them to make them a complete outfit.  One thing I have discovered:  shoes make the season.  You can wear something from 1940 or 2001 in year 2011 but only if you have the shoes of the day to bring it up to today’s fashion.  Accessories count for a lot too. 

Here’s my personal must–haves for Fall 2011.

1.  A gold chain-link belt  (to drape on my hips for some of the A-line looks that are passé)

2.  Tight short skirt  (to wear with some of my looser tops)

2.  Thick tights in several colors (to wear with the short skirts and to give a boring outfit some umph) Note:  NOT leggings – unfortunately, leggings are on the out, unless they look like tights

3.  Clunky shoes (to modernize anything)
These are 7 For All Mankind:

4.  Short black wedge boots (because I’m obsessed with boots)
These are Donna Karan: 

Final step:

Before I shop, I search.  A favorite place to visit is the Lucky Magazine website.  I click on Street Style for wearable things first.  I take note of what looks I like.  Of course, I’ll browse the designer sections.  I found myself loving the shorts look with fun shoes, and I realized I definitely need more red in my closet just because, for me, red is an instant burst of fun. 

My final inspiration in my “home shopping,” was this photo.

When I saw it, I thought, THIS IS IT.   Isabel Marant's design.  This is the kind of look I adore.  Although I don’t see myself wearing this exact thing in Birmingham, it's what it evokes that I love.  Basically, it's got attitude.  It's bold, modern, fun, playful, yet sexy.  

Which reminds me -- one more must-have:

5.  Amazing fringe boots.

Skin Food Report....

I was putting off the follow-up blog to the skin care regime, because 1. I find it sort of boring, and 2.  I was afraid I wasn’t going to give you very good news.

BUT THEN – My dear friend whom I haven’t seen since January made the comment of comments – “Katie, your skin looks really good.”

O.  

M.

G.

Just when I was about to relay to you-all that I’m not estatic about the Weleda Skin Food, I get this beloved compliment.  So maybe it is working better than I thought. 

Pros:

• It smells good.
• It’s definitely moisturizing.
• It’s all-natural.
• It’s affordable.
• It’s easy.
• It smells really good.
• It’s gives a dewy effect.
• It’s European.

Cons:

• It’s thick.
• It’s not a miracle wrinkle-fixer (i.e. my friend is still singing botox’s praises to me – unabashedly too.)
• Some people translate “dewy” as “greasy.” 
• It very rarely, occasionally causes a tiny breakout, mostly if I’ve been lazy about cleansing my face.

So there’s my report:  I am not totally freaked-out in love with Skin Food.  But I’d rather be putting nature on my face than rat poison (euphemism: botox) IN my face!  And with winter around the corner and its skin-drying tendencies, I’ll stick with this until someone can sell me on something else.  

NEWSFLASH: Mobile Bay polluted?

I sat down with the intention of following up on my oh-so-exciting skin care adventure, but after a quick check on Facebook, I cannot sit silent, knowing what I know.

I grew up in Mobile, Alabama.  One of the finest things about that town is that it sits smack on a gorgeous bay.

There are also rivers with its wildlife and mystique. 

And all of it opens up into the beautiful Gulf of Mexico...

...where there really is some of the whitest, powder-soft sand on this entire globe. 

Probably the best thing about growing up in Mobile were the summers.  Yes, they were one hundred degrees.  Yes, there were mosquitoes.  But those summers “over the bay” and “at the gulf” are imprinted into my very being.  Waterskiing, warm nights on the wharf, Jubilees, 360s on Waverunners, sleeping on screened-in porches, and yes, never buying a bathing suit with white in it, because after being in the bay, it’d be a deep beige. 

Growing up in Mobile really is the stuff of stories.  "Idyllic" is the word that comes to mind.  After living in many a land-locked town and many a too-busy city, I know now how ridiculously fortunate I was that Boston Whalers were our vehicles at age 13 and dropping a ski at age 10 was the norm. 

But then I glimpse Facebook, and I’m reminded.  We can love it, we can enjoy it, but really it’s not ours.   

Let me explain.  (And I must give TreePeople, the non-profit environmental organization where I used to work, props for this, as I learned it while there.  Thanks, Peeps.)

Mobilians live in what is called a watershed.  Think: gravity.  Think:  all the rivers that are connecting to the bay which then connects to the gulf make a watershed.  And all the creeks and streams that lead into these rivers.  And all the streets with their gutters that lead into the creeks and streams. 

Here's a picture that depicts the watershed for Mobile Bay.

In Los Angeles, they have cute little plaques over the storm drains (aka, the “holes” in the curbs in our streets) with dolphins on them to remind people that we live in a watershed and must do our best to protect our watershed.

What happens when it rains is that the Earth is getting a good cleansing.  In the old days when trash didn’t exist, rain would fill the creeks and flow into the rivers and flow into the bays and oceans where clouds would accumulate and then the whole cycle would start over again.  Nice and clean…and natural.

What is happening today is obviously a different story.  Here’s what I saw on Facebook today that sparked this blog:

These days, our precious water isn't ours.  It belongs to Styrofoam.  It belongs to BP’s gushing oil.  It belongs to anyone who throws a beer can, not only out of their boats, but also out on the street, say, in Birmingham, Alabama.

A disgusting disgrace.  This is embarrassing, disheartening, and sickening to me.  Mobile’s most valuable asset is being treated as a garbage dump.  Let me say it again:  Most Valuable Asset… Garbage Dump.

And who’s to blame?   Rednecks who toss their McDonald wrappers into the water?  Maybe a garbage truck took a wrong turn into the river!  Or, oh, I know, Wal-mart already had too many Styrofoam cups on their shelves, so they had a big party, and they forgot to bring the garbage bags. 

Uh.  No.  Have you ever let a piece of plastic fall on the street and not pick it up?  Have you ever bought a drink out of a Styrofoam cup?  Have you ever sat there and watched someone else litter without saying anything to them?

This may seem extreme to some of you, but it’s not.  We have a major TRASH crisis on our hands on this planet. 

My mind flashes to Wall-E, the Pixar movie, that gives a strong message about this.   And if we don’t start doing something about it N-O-W, we are literally going to be swimming in it.  Oh, wait.  That’s already happening. 

I feel a need to be clearer.  Stay with me here.

Say a trash can, waiting on a curb, accidentally gets dumped over in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  Say no one bothered to clean it up before one of our afternoon showers comes through.  What happens to the trash?  It flows into the gutters with the rest of the rain.  Then it makes its way into the storm drains.  The storm drains need to be there, as pavement does not allow water to permeate, and the water has to flow somewhere, or it will flow into our houses.  So all the water and the trash goes into the storm drain which leads to the nearest river which eventually leads to Mobile Bay or the Gulf of Mexico.  So, not only is Dog River getting pollution from the folks who live or play there, but it’s getting it from the entire state and beyond! 

Okay, so the trash can example is just to give you a mental picture.  Try this one:  Think of how many people there are in the state.  How many of them litter?  Probably quite a few because our education system here is not the best and research shows that educated people litter less.  Therefore, there are a lot of people littering.  And say all those people litter just one day that week.  Just one item.  But how many people are doing it?  Adds up.  I’d say it was equal to a whole lot of trash cans dumped over, wouldn’t you? 

Sad to say it, but Mobile’s at the end of all that litter.  Well, almost.  Actually, there is no end.  The Gulf and then the ocean is the end.  But that’s a whole other (very-linked) issue.

Because this is what it looks like in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific -- right now!   It's called the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and the main culprit is plastic.

[A friend, Anna Cummins, and her husband, Marcus Eriksen, have taken this issue on in its entirety.] 

The point is, y’all, it’s up to us.  It’s up to the people of Mobile, the ones teaching their five-year-olds to ski, the ones having a gin and tonic on the wharf, the ones bringing back the biggest catch of the rodeo, to take care of this situation. 

It starts with personal responsibility.  When you drive a gas-guzzling SUV or when you don't carpool, you are telling the oil companies it’s okay to keep drilling without giving a damn on how it affects our waters.  When you buy a stack of Styrofoam cups or cases of plastic water bottles, you are risking years and years and years of the trash that came from one little drink sitting in our landfills or floating on our rivers or doing who-knows-what to our oceans.  When you throw a cigarette butt out your window in Auburn, you are basically using our gorgeous beaches as an ashtray. 

I know there is a general consensus among a lot of folks that think that little actions don’t make a difference.  But they do!  If everyone did the little actions, it adds up to a lot.

Isn’t a river full of litter proof of that?   Isn't an OCEAN full of litter proof of that?  Aren't landfills after landfill after landfill proof of that?

It CAN be turned around.  I know so many people that love and cherish our waters.  If all of those people began to really take care of it, nothing would get in the way.  If there is one thing Mobilians have, it’s passion.  Passion plus educating yourselves plus speaking up and caring could just do the trick.  No, it will do the trick. 

And when you’re having that gin and tonic on the wharf as the sun goes down, knowing that you did all that you could do to protect the bay or the Gulf for this generation and the generations to come, that cocktail, my friends, will taste all the better. 

Here is a good article I found from WKRG News on how you can help.  And check out Mobile Baykeeper for volunteer opportunities. 

For my Angeleno friends, here is what TreePeople is doing in LA in regards to the watershed.  Also check out Heal the Bay.  Or call Anna!  She lives there!

Please post comments if you care to elaborate further, and give people tips on how they can contribute.  What other organizations are out there?  What else are people doing?  What do you think?????

This is a vast topic, and discussion is one step in the right direction! 

Katie Interviews Katie

I get asked so many questions about feng shui that I decided to, well, interview myself, on the topic for a hopefully interesting FAQ of sorts.

Here it goes:

Interviewer Katie (IK): Katie, someone once told me that feng shui was like “psychic decorating”?  Would you agree with that?

Katie Feng Shui (KFS): (laughs)  That actually isn’t too far from the truth.  Basically, your space -- like, your home or office -- represents you, so when I go and assess a space, I can sort of read it. 

IK: So, if you came to my house, you could tell me if I was going to win the lottery?  Or move to some exotic location, like, Zimbabwa?

KFS: Well, there would be clues as to whether you are good with finances, whether your money situation is stable or unstable, whether you are attracted to exotic locations, and perhaps need or want a big move. 

IK: So you’re not able to tell me my future or anything like that?

KFS: Okay, it goes like this.  When a client calls, I tell them I need the floorplan of their home and pictures (if it’s a distance consultation) and their Three Objectives.  The objectives are things that they want to improve in their life, such as their finances, their health, the relationships at work or in their family, their career, or even their reputation. 

IK: Love life?

KFS: A very popular one.

IK: Not surprised.  Okay, so then what?  How does one get a love life after calling you?

KFS: When I go to their home (or talk to them on the phone if it’s a distance consultation), we hone in on the areas that they want to improve.  See, by that time, I have looked at their floorplan and done an assessment using the Bagua map.  

IK: A map?  

KFS:  Yep.  The ancient feng shui dudes created it.  Thousands of years ago, they were more in tune with things like energy of a space, and they realized that the way the energy moved in a space represented different areas of one’s life.

IK:  So there is a map that can tell me which parts of my home reflect which parts of my life.  Does this really work?  I mean, it seems so weird.   It's kind of saying, your home is a map to your life.  That's just kind of -- 

KFS:  Look, I pride myself on keeping integrity in all that I do.  So, yes, I've put it to practice a zillion times, because honestly, I didn't believe it myself when I first started out and I had to see for myself.  Believe me, there were amazing, crazy, can't-deny-it results in some capacity or another every time!

IK:  Because of a map invented by some Chinese people thousands of years ago?  

KFS: And other things, like the elements and chi and yin and yang.  The map is based on the I Ching.

IK: The E what?

KFS:  Never mind.  Next interview.  Maybe.

IK: So Love.

KFS: Yes. Love.  So I find where their Romance/Love/Marriage section is in their home.  When I see the pictures, I can tell what sort of vibe they are putting out to the Universe.  For example, if my client is a single woman, and she has a huge painting of a woman looking very solemn and alone, I know that she needs a little help romantically.  I suggest she take it down immediately, which she usually gladly does, and then I tell her she needs some artwork that suggests love and romance.  A happy couple.  Two doves.  That sort of thing.

IK: Okay, so she had a pic of a single woman, when she needs pics of couples.  What if the client is in a relationship and having trouble?

KFS: Same thing.  Things in pairs in this section.  I make sure there is nothing so-called blocking the potential for a happy relationship, such as a closet full of dirty shoes, or that sort of thing.

IK: So no dirty laundry in the Romance section.

KFS: And no tools.  It makes Relationships seem like work.

IK: But what if the laundry room is there?  Or the tool shed?

KFS: Then I give “cures” for those things, but it’s a little more complex in those instances, so it’d have to be specific to the home and client.  But there is always a cure.

IK: You mean, like putting up a dragon statue or something?

KFS: Only if the client is into dragon statues.  It doesn’t have to be Chinese décor to work.  I rarely suggest Chinese décor, because we are in the West, and most people have Western décor.  If the client doesn’t like what I am suggesting, then it’s not a good cure, so we find something else.  And it would have to be two dragon statues in the Love section.  Remember, pairs?  And only if that person wanted a fiery, passionate, mystical sort of relationship. 

IK: So doves may be better.

KFS: Depends on who you are.  But generally, yes.

IK: Cool!  Okay, thanks, Katie! 

KFS: My pleasure.  I hope you got some insight.

IK: Well, since I'm you, I really knew all of this stuff anyway.

KFS:  Yeah, okay.  

IK: You know, we were doing this for fun, to educate people.

KFS:  Yeah, I know that.  It was my idea.  And I think we should stop now. 

IK:  Okay.

KFS:  Ok.  

IK:  Bye.

KFS:  Stop.

IK:  Bye!  For real.  Bye.  

My Latest

Doing the Miracle Paintings for St. Paul's Church in Mobile has put me in the mood to "branch out" into other subjects.  And what better subject than trees?   And birch trees have such a beautiful mystique.

I knew I wanted something aqua blue with hints of deep green and gold.  My initial vision was a more pastel version of what became the end product, but during the process, I became so focued on making sure the contrast was intense, so the pastel idea was dropped.

The painting is 4 feet by 2 feet, and it's about 2.5 inches thick, so no frame.  I'll call it Birch in Blue.

(Please excuse the iPhone photography!  I'll post a better pic later.)