PERMISSION GRANTED
When Morris and I threw in together, he didn't want anyone's art but mine in our home. Now that was a dilemma!
I had to sneak in Madeleine O'Connell's pomegranates in the gold frame that showed off their little red shine to a tee. Would he notice them tucked into that perfect space next to the kitchen window? Ask me to take them down? Them's fightin' words! But as fortune would have it, Morris softened over time and came to trust my judgment in the work of others. Thank God too, because an artist needs other artists to inspire him. It's like air or water or a great chunk of crème brulè ice cream.
Another dilemma is one I am sure you have yourself. How do we decide to buy good art? We travel and eat out, we buy patio furniture, football tickets and pet toys. So why is it so dang tough to justify buying good art?
In Taos last year I ended a week of trucking my portfolio around with the pleasure of eying the competition. Stepping into Parks Gallery, I bent to read the tiniest of notes on the door, but the words "step down please" hit my brain too late and I fell into the building - saving myself from a tile floor belly flop by a death grip on the doorknob. Still, my body and the door took flight like a wrecking ball as I swung smack into the first painting on the wall.
"Oh my goodness, I am so terribly sorry!" said the owner on the run when she heard my gulping for air and the bang of the door against the wall. But while the breath was knocked out of me, the gulp was for the artwork my head almost destroyed. It was stunning. And I bought it.
So while I still wrestle with justifying art buys, I know - like you - an emotional link to art seems to be the prime factor in pushing us beyond the limits of price and that "do I need it?" whine inside our minds. Good art takes you places each time you pass it. It is never tiresome. It reflects you - who you are and what you say to other people. Its benefits surpass the hesitation of buying, but you only know it once you have had it for a time, and the nagging slowly fades and leaves you be.
Just know it's ok to buy art!!