$5 to $5,000

I have a tragic love/hate relationship with art fairs. I love to go and just be absorb such talent and beauty and the quiet magic of creation. I hate the sticker shock I always have when I fall in love with a particular piece and discover there is no way in hell my paltry paycheck can support an art habit. I found a piece today at an art show that I would have lugged out to the car in a heartbeat if I had a spare $2,500 lying around to blow on something fairly frivolous. It was a gigantic photo painting, probably over two feet wide and nearly four feet high. It was a photo, but during the printing process it was printed on an actual canvas so it looked painted. The frame was meticulously selected and complimented the art beautifully. The resulting effect was incredible. Anyway, the photo was of a circle of standing stones in Ireland right at the moment between dusk and night when the veil of nighttime begins to spead and the sky is a deep purple, casting objects in dark shadow with barely a hint of color. The stones were sharp black images against a purple sky, the horizon lined with the deep orange, red and yellow ribbons of a fading sunset. It took my breath away.

I guess there's a reason why places like Garden Ridge, Target and the World Market carry a sundry collection of inexpensive, yet oh so common, pieces of art. I shouldn't complain, I suppose, I have several very original, absolutely gorgeous pieces from my sister, Aunty Wonderful. I chose the colors for my family room exclusively to match the colors in one of her paintings. And every time I visit, I somehow manage to beg another painting out of her. I tried to swipe one during my last visit up there, but she wouldn't let me sneak out of the door with anything other than already approved art tucked under my arm. I covet at least three of the works rotting away, unseen, unappreciated, in her closet right now, and those works are far better than some of the ones I saw with $2,000+ price tags at the art show/fair today.