Collect Beautiful Art

Mom

I grew up on a sewing machine and was quilting and knitting in grade school.  My mother's grandmother and aunts made sure that mom was well trained in making beautiful things.  Her wedding handkerchief, made by my great grandmother, is more lace than cloth.  My mother herself was an accomplished knitter and founded the Jersey Shore knitting guild. She taught in a local knitting shop and at many conventions.  I remember the first quilt she ever made.  We didn't have much money, but dad made her a set of quilting frames.  In our basement she stretched out a quilt top made of old floral curtains, with a burnt orange backing and proceeded to quilt it by hand.  My brothers and I would keep her company and were drawn in to place a few stitches if we showed the least bit of interest.  She called it her "84 Hour Quilt"...because that's how many hours it took her to quilt it.  It was on their bed for as many years as I can remember. Well that was the beginning of a life long venture in making and giving away beautiful quilts.  If mom was sitting, her hands were always busy.  

Laces made by my great grandmother, great aunt and mother

I quilt for my grand babies. I quilt mostly to carry on the traditions of my mother and great grand mother, but I prefer to design the quilt much more than the actual quilting.  My love is paint and I credit my mother for my artistic eye and my father for inviting me to paint with him in his office when I was a young girl.  In his last years, he still would invite me to paint with him...when I would finish my painting, he would beckon me to his easel and say..."great Al, now finish mine!" 

Being an artist and having  parents who were constantly creating, our home now is filled with personal and beautiful art.  Even if most of the original paintings on the walls are mine or my dad's, there are also photos, personal affects and hand-made items made by those glorious men and women who came before me. 

I was saddened the other day when a designer suggested that people download free prints off of the internet for their homes.  Mostly, because I am an artist and I think original art is worth collecting.  If I want a print,  I'd rather collect a print from a museum where I saw the original, crediting the master artist and helping the museum provide beauty to everyone...or I would rather purchase one from an artist who makes them from original paintings.  I could spend my life in a museum.  You can't see texture, the colors, or the soul of the painting, unless you are in front of the original.  

We have built two homes in our life and when we chose a plumbing or light fixture that we wanted to last for decades, we bought the one that was beautiful and had a life time guarantee.  We knew that it would cost more, but that we would be looking at it and using it everyday.  Original art should be collected in a similar way.  Is it a piece that you won't tire of and that you will see everyday and say, I'm glad I chose that one?  How does it make you feel?  Does it bring you joy whenever you see it?  

I have a collector that has bought many small paintings from me.  Last year when I had my collector's sale, I suggested that collector's could pay over 3 months if they found a larger painting that they loved.  This sweet lady asked if a painting of a local train station that I painted from a plein air sketch a few years ago, when my husband was fishing there, was still for sale?  She lived in the historic town. She had wanted it for so long, but it was more than she could pay at once.  For all of the smaller paintings she purchased from me, (and I am grateful that they have brought her joy!) she could have bought it twice.  We made an arrangement and now the painting is hers!  If you find a piece of art that you love, contact the artist and see if she or he, will hold it for you while you work it out.  I selected some beautiful prints from a collage artist who lives in Spain. I almost deleted my cart when I saw the shipping.  I contacted her and she estimated the true cost and said she would gladly refund any overpayment which she did.

This blog post is not meant to be a marketing ploy to sell you paintings.  It's about valuing things that will bring us joy, valuing artists, and  creating beautiful spaces in our homes.  I once had a man contact me about a painting that was in a museum exhibit in Columbus...but he wasn't sure if his friend would love it as much as he did?  He decided it was too personal and didn't purchase the painting.  I have often wondered since then, why we are so afraid to be personal?  Wouldn't his friend have loved it because he chose it especially with her in mind?  I think she would have thought it was not only a beautiful painting but a beautiful intention as well.  Let's choose to be personal, to surround ourselves with memories of those we love and to create new memories.

February musings.  

Love to all!

Alice