The Other Half

“It’s kind of nice to see how the other half live.”  

That was one of my aunts. We had probably driven by a mansion or been out  to a fancy restaurant. It could have been all of my aunts.  My grandfather was a dirt farmer.  That is what I’ve heard him called.  He didn’t actually farm dirt, I know. He grew things in dirt.  And he was dirt poor. 

My mother, the youngest of 10, was the first baby to be born in a hospital. She never saw a dentist until she was in her teens and her family qualified for government help.  Probably they would have qualified all along if there had been government help.

So it is not that uncommon for my aunts and uncles to pine away what it would be like to be rich and be able to buy luxury homes and expensive cars--or at least cars that didn’t have to be fixed in your driveway with chewing gum and string--oh, wait, that was my dad who fixed our cars in our driveway with chewing gum and string...I’m from a family of 10 too--all of which were born inside the walls of a hospital I’m happy to say. Look how far we have come up in the world.

Now you might be wondering what this has to do with art. And I’d ask, how many of you have an original painting hanging on your wall?  Go ahead, comment below. I’ll wait.  

And no, I’m not talking about an original watercolor painting on copy paper from your kindergartener or your grandchildren. I’m talking about an original painting from someone who has made creating art not only their passion, but their income.

If you have an original painting on your wall, you must be one of the “other half” --the wealthy.  But I bet you aren’t.  I mean, chances are, if you are reading this, you are my Facebook friend. And I’m pretty sure I’m not Facebook friends with extremely wealthy people.  If you have an original painting on your walls, you probably just know somethings that other people don’t.  

For instance, original paintings glow. Their paint is magical.  I mean they don’t and won’t grant you any wishes, but they are amazing. Prints of the same painting can’t compare. I did a whole blog post on this. Catch it HERE.

You probably also know that you don’t have to be a millionaire to own original paintings. There are several working artists who will sell you an original painting much lower than a million dollars.  In fact you know that lots of artists sell their original paintings for less than a trip to Disney Land. You can even find excellent artists that sell their small original paintings for less than your cell phone bill. Original paintings are a bargain especially when you factor in the creative energy, time and the thousand...ok maybe just hundreds of dollars artists spend at art stores every month. The rest of us? We believed Masterpiece (the board game). You know, the game that taught us that an entry level painting was bought for $50,000 minimum. I know a lot of artists who will sell their paintings happily for less than $50,000. Masterpiece lied.  

And of course you know that owning original art and displaying it proudly in your home, gives you and your guests something else to talk about than the weather when the conversation lags. You know that you can talk about the artist and how you found him/her. You can share what drew you to the artwork.  You can talk about your favorite colors and shapes in the painting. You can share with your guests the magic of seeing an original painting in person.  And maybe, just maybe the awe your guests feel on seeing the artwork, might just rub off onto you and they will see the magic in you too. And let's be honest, with COVID winding down, your social skills might be lagging and you are counting on that conversation boost the next time you have friends over.

The rest of us, we don’t know this.  We still think that original artwork is for those people--the “other half” who have money.  And the truth is, we are missing out.

But if you like my artwork, and you’d like to experience how the “other half” live, I have some original paintings for sale on my website. You can find them HERE. If you don’t find anything you like, there is more coming. Sign up for my email list HERE and you’ll be one of the first people to know when my 2021 Alien Exhibit will go live. And if you are not quite ready for experiencing how the other half live, you can buy postcards, prints, notebooks, and sketchbooks and a puzzle or two HERE.