Montreal-born Jane Chapman, a former creative director and lover of the arts, lives an active life in Toronto, Canada, with her husband. Her guiding forces are curiosity and an open heart and mind.
I’ve always had a deep love for art in all its forms, whether it’s a gallery masterpiece, a street performance, or the urban canvases that adorn city walls.
However, my favorite way of engaging with art is when I’m wandering through cities with my husband and friends, discovering new murals. There’s something about stumbling upon these vibrant, larger-than-life images that feel like a personal discovery, as if the art was waiting for me to find it.
But what makes these encounters even more delightful is something I can only describe as a bit of magic that happens almost every time. As I stand before a mural for the first time, I often realize that the colors and patterns of the clothes I’m wearing at that moment perfectly coordinate with the mural behind me.
I’m talking about matching hues, textures, and even shapes, as though the mural was painted specifically for me or, at the very least as if my outfit was part of the artistic composition. I don’t plan this. I don’t even consciously try to match. It’s just something that happens, time and time again, in the most unexpected places.
There’s no premeditated wardrobe selection before I head out to explore. No suitcase of clothing choices that I bring with me to fake a “match” (as some skeptics have humorously suggested). It’s purely spontaneous, and that’s what makes it so much fun.
I can’t explain it. It’s one of those little quirks of life that I’ve learned to appreciate, though I’m often left wondering about the cosmic forces that might be at play. It feels like I’m in sync with the world, or perhaps the mural itself, in a way that is both curious and comforting.
Over the last fifteen years, this phenomenon has occurred all over the world—Miami, New York City, Montreal, Toronto, and other cities. Each time, the experience is just as surprising and magical. In some instances, the mural is vibrant and chaotic, with bold brushstrokes that echo the colors of my outfit. In others, the match is subtler, like a pattern that mirrors the prints I’m wearing or a soft gradient that aligns perfectly with my clothing’s tones.
The murals, often created by local artists, seem to be responding to me in a way that I never anticipated, creating a connection between myself, the art, and the city around me.
A dear friend, who was captivated by this quirky series of coincidences, even went so far as to compile these “mural matches” into a book as a gift for me. It’s a lovely collection of moments, a tangible reminder of the serendipity that has followed me through my urban explorations. Each photo is a snapshot of those unplanned encounters, frozen in time as if to say, “Yes, this moment was meant to be.”
Over time, what began as spontaneous matching evolved into something else entirely. I started to play with the idea of interacting with the murals in more creative ways, an approach I like to call “mural messing.” Rather than simply standing still in front of a mural, I began to engage with the art—gesturing as if I were part of the scene or even adding my own interpretation to the image.
It’s a playful evolution of the original idea, and it’s something I plan to explore further, but that’s a story for another day. For now, I’m content to continue my urban meanderings and let the murals surprise me, one colorful, perfectly matched wall at a time.
READ MORE > Her Story, Rambler Cafe Blog
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