Monday, October 24, 2011

5 Unusual Reasons to Buy Art


Art By Shona McFarlane
Some 22 years back I was on my way to my weekly sculpture class in Wellington, NZ when from the car window I saw a painting in the front window of a local Gallery.  It was a large, free flowing and colourful work by a NZ painter Shona McFarlane who had a personality as vibrant as her paintings.  I decided right then that I would buy it.  What also appealed was that it showed the view of the valley where I lived and was very soon to leave.

Fire on Second Ave, Ottawa, Nov 1999
Fast forward to November 1999.  I am living in Ottawa, Canada and my house has just burned down in the largest fire in the city in 34 years.  My new town house of under a year old is almost completely destroyed along with 12 other homes.
What was left of my front entrance

The house was a crime scene for a few days but then we were able to walk through a few areas to see if anything could be saved. There on the wall was the painting, covered in smoke but still in one piece.  Days later I took to it with detergent, water and a soft scrubbing brush and because it was acrylic it came up like new. 
Our house was rebuilt within a year and with this painting on the wall it felt like home again.

This got me thinking about different reasons to own art and so here are 5 of mine.

1   Unlike clothing and most everything else, it doesn't wear out.

2   It will stay with you through difficult times and give you joy.

3   It will still fit in 10 years.

4   Art adds real personality and uniqueness to your home and reflects who you are.

5   When you look at the art you will remember when and why you chose it and who you were with and it will remind you of the unique path you have taken in your journey through life.

I'm sure you will have your own reasons to buy original art and I would love to hear them.

Keyboard Paintings


6 comments:

Deborah Younglao, Silk Painter said...

Gosh Susanne, that fire - what an horrible experience! I'm so glad you came out of it OK and were able to rescue your painting. I would never have thought that a painting could survive something like that. I guess it was just meant to be yours forever!

Those are great reasons to buy art - I think you've got it covered!

Susanne said...

Yes it was amazing that it survived Deborah but we actually got quite a few things out including our photo albums which were the only things that I really cared about. Photos are irreplaceable whereas everything else you can go and buy again.

Carol A. McIntyre said...

Susanne; I cannot imagine surviving a fire and your story is inspirational. I also LOVE the reasons to buy art because they are so true and I had not thought of them before. Hopefully, it is okay that I 'steal' your idea and expand upon it....??

Thank you!

Susanne said...

Of course you can use my "5 reasons to buy art" Carol and expand upon it. I would love to see what you write so please send me a link when you do.

Donna Iona Drozda said...

Fire has always been the biggest fear for me...so much so thatmy parents had the fire department come into our home and install big metal alarms in my childhood home to help assuage my terror in the night...this was in the 50's waaaay before the advent of home smoke detectors.

Soooooo...your story really moves me...
I'm so happy to read the way that you turn the experience into a thought provoking opportunity for your readers....your list of five is excellent.

Powerful post...thank you.

Susanne said...

It was 12 years ago yesterday Donna however we very rarely think about it. The fact that no one was hurt made a big difference and we were both away when it happened which was good. I think to have stood outside and watched it burn would have been awful. Fire is such a scary thing and I can understand why, as a child, you were so scared of it.

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