During the opening I spent quite a bit of time talking with a really nice woman named Drew. She is the lucky gal who came in just as I put a mini quiche in my mouth and even laughed at my silly joke about it. She and her husband own one of my paintings, and I met them at the opening last year as well. Drew was very complimentary about the colors in the work in this show and seemed to especially like this piece:
I didn't think much more about it, because, well, that's what happens at openings, you get a lot of admiration and compliments. Visitors are usually drawn to a few pieces in particular. And then they leave without buying the piece they so admired. And I totally understand this by the way. I love to talk to artists about their work also and sometimes just viewing a piece can have a profound effect on me, but for whatever reason, I don't feel like I need to have the piece. Sometimes I do, not certainly not always.
Anyway, I digress. A bit later in the evening, Glenn was talking to my husband. They seemed a bit louder than usual and Doug kept looking at me and laughing. I thought maybe I had something showing or spinach in my teeth, but then he left the room without saying anything. Glenn motioned me over, pointed to the beautiful glass vase next to the above painting and asked if I thought it looked good there, or something along those lines. I looked and could see, behind the vase, the label for the painting with a big, juicy red dot on it! Holy cow!!
After I finished swooning, Glenn gave me the scoop. Drew's husband had decided to buy the painting for her birthday, which is this Friday. He knew she liked it and she didn't know he bought it for her. Her husband then joined us and we chatted about it for a bit. Drew, who had been waiting upstairs to leave, came down to fetch her husband and Glenn immediately did a little hop to his left to block her view of the big red dot on the label, while we all chatted a bit more. As we said our goodbyes, Drew's husband gave me the high sign not to say anything about the painting, which was really cute. They left without her suspecting a thing. (at least I hope she didn't)
Besides the fact that I am extremely happy to have sold this piece, my biggest yet (48x60!), this was such a sweet gesture from a husband to his wife and I am honored that my work just so happened to be the gift.
5 comments:
What a great birthday present!
Super painting--it's similar to "Color Fields"--the painting I recently bought at your show at the Enderlin. (Although much larger!)
I've found great spots for your paintings and I really love them.
Brian
Congratulations, Tracy!
And what a wonderful story to go with such a momentous sale.
I've been following all your wonderful success this summer, so congrats on it all. I have to admit to some stabs of envy, but I get over them quickly because your work is so beautiful and it's all well-deserved.
I don't know if you keep up with my blog or not, but I'm currently moving into a new (bigger) studio space! So exciting! I want to put up some of those picture rails that you use in your studio for letting paintings dry, and I was wondering: where did you get them/how did you make them? Any other canvas/panel storage tips would be much appreciated too.
-Angela
How sweet. And also how fun that you got to be a part of that moment.
Hi Angela, Don't worry about the envy, I am totally envious of other artists! Especially those that have those who are better, cooler, skinnier and sell more! Putting the envy to use as motivation is the real key. Like today I am completly envious of your new studio. In fact, I don't think I want to tell you where to get picture rails.
Just kidding. I got mine at Pottery Barn, and I know that several other kinds of home decor stores and catalogs have them as well. I suggest getting ones that have a little lip in the front so that the large pieces won't slide off. Mine don't have that and I had to rig op a "stop." For easy storage you could build a pallet to set on the floor with some dividers to lean the paintings on. I have seen how to's around the internet, try a google search.
Good luck!
Thanks Meno. I hope it is a nice surprise for her. And that my husband takes note:)
What a lovely story!
Post a Comment