Another Purchase

I can't seem to help myself when it comes to buying art. It doesn't matter whether I have the money or not, when something draws my eye and speaks to my heart, that's it. I really, really tried to avoid buying this small oil study of a nude. I really did. I walked away from the artist's studio and told myself I couldn't afford it. I walked through all the other studios, visiting friends among the artists and making new ones, and yet in the back of my mind that entire time was this one piece. I told myself if it was still there when I was done schmoozing and being ADD Art Girl for the day, then I'd buy it. If it had been sold by then, then it wasn't meant to be. I thought of little else for the rest of the day. When the day was done, I wandered back to that studio. There were a lot of little red dots on her works, but this one was hanging there, utterly dot-free, and so I kept my word to myself and bought the piece. I told myself I couldn't afford it as I took it down from the wall and handed the canvas to the artist. I told myself I shouldn't be doing this as I handed the cash to her too. I told myself that this was bad, very bad, as she handed me back my new painting, securely wrapped in brown paper. I spent the ride home trying to justify the purchase of yet another piece of art. And then when I got home, unwrapped it and gazed at what was now mine, I knew that nothing else mattered. Because it's art and art is all I have.

Patience Epstein, Untitled