So I've been trying to manufacture some colorful clutter in my little basement abode lately. Which means going to flea markets and thrift stores around New York, keeping an eye out for interesting art work. Paintings, prints, stuff in frames. It sounded easy. I thought it would be.
But then I realized.
People want MONEY for their art!
Like a lot. Not twenty bucks, which is what I wrongly assumed the going rate was for a framed print or a canvassed painting. The worst part is, I assumed I would find some cool shitty art that just happened to strike a meaningful chord. NOPE. Shitty art is shitty and it only truly succeeds in striking a shitty chord.
I went to a flea market in Chelsea yesterday that was RIFE with prints and paintings and the good stuff. I found a painting of a ship and a painting of Don Quixote, both of which I would have bought if the going price on both hadn't been fifty bucks (literally five bucks shy of what I actually had on me). The stuff I could have afforded was either moth eaten or just really really ugly.
Right now I'm sitting in Think Coffee (this cafe near NYU that is hip, artsy and no doubt environmentally conscious). There is art ALL over this place, and some of them have price tags. A quick glance over my shoulder informed me that for only $300 I could be the proud owner of a black and white series of animal sketches.
Recently, I've been thinking about amassing a series of my own paintings. (That's right! I paint now!) If I could get together like 20 little guache pieces (of harmless kitschy subjects like "dogs and their owners") I could totally set up a table in Union Square. If I charge $30 for each painting (i.e. what people actually WANT to spend on a harmless piece of art) I might make some money.
Sometimes I get too high-falutingly bohemian for my own good. The day I set up an art table in Union Square is the day I start working on my dreadlocks. (Something I've always secretly considered...)
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5 comments:
Could you use a small black and white photograph by an old Arizona photographer? You told me once which one you wanted, but I can't remember and if you emailed me I could print it out and remember. Kimberly has been waiting for one she wants for about a year, but it is one of the hardest to print and I haven't gotten it right yet. Maybe you would luck out and I'd have a copy already printed. Let me know.
By the way, you've learned a very important lesson about the world of art. Love ya.
damn, I knew I should hve bought you one of those Don Quoite Paintings when I was in Spain. They were hella cheap. hook me up with your adress I'll try to make you some art. :)
-Carol
you still live on second street?
are you ever going to up date this thing again?
update please... plus you ahve been in a lot of my dreams lately... ever since you said I was in yours... I think I still might be slightly hetero-gay for you....
-C
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