The lady with the purple hat

She usually sits in our heavily windowed "sunroom," staring out at the neighbors.

She's somewhat attractive, really, with a big purple hat and interesting eyes. Her nose is a bit large, but you tend not to notice ... at least at first.

That's because there are other distractions.

She's naked.

At least from the waist up. You can't tell below that.

Okay, she's not real. But she has upset our Midwestern sensibilities nonetheless. After all, what do you do with a painting of a naked lady? And a robust painting to boot, since it measures 36 x 48 inches? In a smallish room, that's like a drive-in movie screen turned on its end.

It's not easily discarded. Meghan, who painted it in art class, brought it home last year when she emptied her college apartment. It had been sitting back in the sunroom since.

But Meghan recently was home, which is why it became a fresh issue. (She was here for a friend's bachelorette party.) She grabbed it out of the sunroom and brought it to the front of the house, to the wall of the main hallway by the front door, suggesting that's where it belonged. And if not there, then at least over the couch in the living room.

It's nicely done. Meghan is a good artist. And it's not like you don't see these kinds of paintings out and about -- in, say, museums.

But context is everything. It's one thing to see naked women in gold-leaf frames, painted by the Masters, especially if you're armed with a fat museum catalog that explains the significance and symbolism of the work.

It's another to keep your eyes averted while trying to read your book in the rocking chair by the fireplace.

You know, if the nose just wasn't so darn big ...