50% off sale on paintings

i have stood many a time in pier one or target, or many other retail stores, staring at a canvas print or glass-framed picture wondering if i should purchase it.  the prices at pier one and target are pretty good, not to mention any additional sales and coupons.  they have great buyers and often the words-only pieces or artwork speak to me.  and so i vacillate (cause that’s what i do about buying stuff…ask especially linda or carol about my buying history or, of course, david.)  the thing i know is – i can always return it.  pier one or target won’t take it personally, and then they can put it back into the mass-produced inventory knowing someone else will buy it.

many many years ago i stood in a gallery staring at a piece of sculpture.  it completely spoke to me.  it is a figure bowing and was sculpted by duke kruse, the father of 20, our dear friend.  i did not have any extra money at the time but this piece was wrapping itself around my heart.  i wasn’t sure what to do.  i ended up splurging and purchasing it.  i have never looked back.  this figure graces my studio and i see it every day.  every day i know that duke’s hands shaped this clay, duke’s heart designed this, duke’s artistry lives on in my studio.  i always always feel good looking at this, touching it, watching it grow as i grow.

although i own some mass-produced pieces and love them, with exception (like the mass-produced beautiful print i own that an artist friend of mine drew and lettered) i don’t think that physically touching a mass-produced piece connect me to a real person like The Bow does.  or like the paintings in our home that david painted.  or the little clay house or the beautiful vase that jay made me a few years ago.  or all the pieces of The Girl and The Boy childhood art still out.  not that it’s always necessary, but there’s something about real.

david’s paintings are on a big sale right now.  50% off.  we want them to be in homes where they resonate with the people living there, where they will grow with the family and where they will be touched.  sometimes that’s not an easy decision to make – to purchase a painting; there are always other bills or things to spend money on.

it is for this reason -even-more-budget-friendly- we are also creating products, although not mass-produced, that represent each of the days of our studio melange, our weekly assortment of cartoons, designs, photographs, paintings, words, songs….products that have secondary practical uses like mugs, cards, tote bags, throw pillows, and yes, the leggings facebook seems to want to feature with my blog posts, overriding the actual primary purpose of these posts and products- a little teeny message in your day in this chaotic world.  we offer these with as much sincerity as our original pieces; we hope those of you who have ordered products can feel our good wishes.

the thing i can tell you about these real paintings, though, is how they make me feel.  the brushstrokes are tactile, the color right under your fingertips, the heart obvious.