Recent Purchases

Recently, I decided to invest in art. There are all sorts of gadgets and doohickeys I can buy, but art is so much more lasting and satisfying. It makes me happy to surround myself with things I like to look at.

I just bought these two gorgeous paintings from Robert Chunn. They are small paintings, about 5 x 7. The fact that I found these paintings at all illustrates what I love about the internet. (Hunker down, this is going to be a Link-O-Rama.) I was reading one of my favorite blogs, dooce, and Heather (as if we are on a first name basis) mentioned purchasing a piece by Ben Schlitter on etsy, which is an artist's sales site. I took a look at Ben's stuff, which is really neat and modern and cartoony, and then I cruised around and came across this guy, who lives in Sonoma and paints a painting each day.

Kris had a link on his blog to a blog of the artist who painted my paintings. I loved the colors and the composition and the use of ordinary objects. He was offering these two on ebay, so I clicked on another link and now I'm the proud owner of two original pieces of art. At least I will be, when the paint dries enough to wrap them in bubble wrap and ship them.

The internet facilitated a journey of discovery that led me to find something that another person in some other place created. Something that is so unique and so new that the paint isn't even dry yet. I will have these paintings for a very long time, in fact, they will most likely outlive me. A technology that is so impersonal and distant has not only enabled an artist to connect with me, but it has allowed me to share this with one to four other people (you know who you are) and that is really cool.