Artist Melinda Goes on An Adventure: Part One

I haven't gone far. In fact, this adventure I'm about to share is from right here in little ole Tucson, the Old Pueblo as it's often called. About a month ago, Mr. Artyfice and I visited a local gallery to see their current exhibit. There we saw a Jim Waid painting that we admired very much. It was small. It was affordable. When I say affordable, I mean in a Tucson kind of way. The gallery has offered its patrons purchase plans in the past which meant that the lowly middle class collector could pay any amount over time (yes, even $10 per month, without interest) until the artwork was paid in full. A great deal, indeed. We liked the painting so much that we spoke to one of the gallery owners who dropped us like hot potatoes when a photographer for a publication arrived, but we left one of my business cards saying how much we liked it and we requested a call back. Soon, one of the owners called, left a message, and referred to my "small" card. Later, the other gallery owner called and left a message too. This time referring to my "little carte de visite." It occurred to me that if I were a well known artist, or perhaps a male artist or reviewer with a newspaper, neither of these adjectives would have accompanied the reference to my card--with such deliberation. It put me off the whole idea of purchasing...and we've bought from this gallery before! I went home and looked at my old catalog of Waid's work and decided to experiment. This is the result.

  (18" x 24," oil on cradled art board) I figured that, dang it, I could paint something for myself in a similar fashion. Hmmm. It started something. It's pretty difficult to get art into a gallery. Now I'm seeing that it's almost as difficult to get the artwork out. Galleries can't afford to be too snobbish, especially when they can't even remember a previous customer or recognize an eager, present buyer. Gee, and aren't galleries struggling in this economy?! More soon...