collecting art
a worthwhile investment
It’s been awhile since I’ve emailed! In case you need a reminder, here is a little about me.
Thank you so much for reading.
I started my art collection in 2020, when we got those pandemic bonus checks. Whenever I get a significant sum of money (not often enough!), I always try to spend at least some of it on a concrete thing that I want, so that I can point to the thing and know where my money went. My favorite thing to spend money on is clothes, but in 2020, we were going nowhere and I was pregnant (that did not stop me from shopping though, let’s be honest), but I had money to spend! So, I started looking at art.
At first it felt sort of insane to spend more than one hundred dollars on a painting. I could get a print for so much less! I am a public school teacher and at the time, my husband was nannying an eight-year-old boy in between law jobs! But then I thought about how much I spend on tattoos (too much), and the price of original art started to make sense. I don’t like debt and have listened to way too much Dave Ramsey (yes, I know he is problematic! But who else has a call-in show like his?!), so I either save and buy outright OR I ask for a payment plan and pay installments over a few months, then the painting is shipped to me when it is fully paid off (we called this layaway when I was little).
Here are some of my favorite pieces…
I purchased this after seeing some of the artist’s work at Partly, one of my favorite shops in Portland. I kept thinking I had damaged the corner somehow and had to look at my reference photo about ten times before I realized that it just wasn’t painted in the corner. I love it.
The painting on the left was my first big purchase — I found Aremy on Instagram and made an appointment to tour her studio and select a piece to buy. I loved the experience. I am not sure how I found Sarah de Noyo, but when I saw this piece it reminded me of the only place I could go during the summer of 2020 and feel totally free: the nude beach on Sauvie Island.
This picture does not do this painting justice. Our bedroom gets the least amount of light in the whole house, which is a blessing most of the time but not when it comes to photos. This was another Covid piece — the post card reminded me of travel daydreams during lockdown.
I often say my two biggest indulgences are framing and tailoring. I wanted to get these two prints up on the wall as soon as possible, but didn’t have it in me to put them in cheap frames, so my husband helped me configure this magnet solution on the wall. Kind of reminds me of a chic upgrade from sticking tacks through tape on the back of my dorm posters in college.
I did splurge and spend [redacted] on framing this self-portrait by my son. We have no framed pictures of our family in our house except this and one 5 x 5 engagement photo in our kitchen. I know that’s probably weird, but I like it. Ari has since created another masterpiece we are eager to frame once Blick has another framing sale.
I found Adam McCauley through Kate Lindello, who has exquisite taste herself. This is probably my favorite painting in my collection. It’s three canvases connected — they’re uneven, the alphabet is unfinished, it’s so weird and fun to look at.
This is my true collection — still life paintings (with one print from Paris!). My sister got me started here with the oil painting and the bowl of oranges on the green checked tablecloth. She is a very talented watercolorist and gives me an original painting for Christmas every few years. My biggest splurge to date is the Jess Ackerman painting with the oranges in the blue bowl and red coffee mug. I won the Maxine McCrann painting right above it in an Instagram giveaway (dreams do come true!) and even though it doesn’t feature oranges, I’m in love with it. My friend Sandy and her sister helped me grab the vintage painting of the oranges under a banker’s lamp from a vintage store in the Twin Cities, and then Sandy sent me her own watercolor that I had framed with a purple mat as a nod to our alma mater. I always keep my eye out to add to this wall, but I’m in no rush.
I brought home gouache paints a few years ago as an attempt to get into painting myself, but my husband really took off with them. He started showing and selling his work, but I asked him not to make a print of this so I could keep it to myself. He lovingly obliged.
I’ll stop here for now though I have a bit more to share. My secret goal is to become the kooky aunt with the good art and have all of my nieces, nephews, and children put post-it notes behind what they eventually want to take home one day. Which would you snag? Please tell me about the treasured art in your home!
So jealous of your new Maxine McCrann piece. That is all.
I think all of your art looks so cool! I am trying to get into buying art but I’ve found that I have expensive tastes lol lol lol.
No but why are you so cool?