art!

so… have i ever mentioned on this blog that i would like to start a (very slowly acquired) collection of art by real artists? (i.e. not posters of famous paintings or stuff i make myself — which may or not be considered “art”) i came to this idea about two years ago on the way home from our church’s annual women’s retreat. we stopped in a small town on the way home and found ourselves in an intimate art gallery where i was admiring many of the pieces in the “oh, that’s cool, but i’ll never be able to afford it” kind of way when i found a piece that i really liked and whose price tag was less than $50. i remember staring at it for the longest time and thinking, “i just love that one and i can actually afford it! but where would it go in my house? it doesn’t really fit the “retro-modern” style i’m trying to acheive. oh well. but this proves that there is art out there that i can fit in my budget. maybe i should consider starting my own collection.” later that day, i got home and couldn’t get the artwork out of my head. i looked up the gallery online, found the artist and sent the website to my mom to show her his cool art. as time went on, i found myself still occasionally looking at the artist’s website or thinking about that shop, but assumed that the item had been priced to move and that there was no way it would still be there.

this weekend, the in-laws are visiting and i thought i’d take them out to this small town where they could enjoy the antiques and art galleries. the weather was beautiful as we walked down the sidewalks full of art galleries and antiques shops. i made sure to stop in at that same gallery and i was astounded to see that same small art piece on the wall. i asked the proprietor if the artist had made several copies of the work. he looked at me, a bit confused, so i explained that i had seen the piece a few years ago when i was in the store before and surely, this was one of many that he had made if it was still around and for sale. the proprietor said, no, this was probably still the same one. it had been in the shop for awhile and he couldn’t understand why it hadn’t sold yet because he too thought it was a great piece and an even better price. the artist isn’t even making this style of art anymore. i knew immediately that it had been there waiting for me to come back and buy it and i apologized for taking so long. so i have now officially started my collection. it will consist of pieces that speak particularly to me (and are hopefully acceptable to mr. happy stuff*) and i will assume that no matter what the “style” of art, they will fit in our home. my goal is to purchase art directly from the artist or from small dealers, with a preference for originals or at least small runs of prints.

here is a detail of my first art acquisition, by thomas cabezas (click to see the whole thing and with better lighting). it’s already been hung.

*in case you’re curious, i showed mr. h-s the art i’d bought today when we got home and i asked him if he liked it. he said, “it’s fine.” and i pressed, “you’re sure it’s not too goofy for you?” and he said, “no, you’re goofy, but the art is just fine.” (i think he actually likes it!)