Why I Love Art

Art is so relative. There are great works of art that are loved by many, and we can view them and respect them without necessarily knowing why, exactly, we love them. The Mona Lisa, Petite Fleurs, The David.

For me, choosing art is very personal. It's not as much about design, or use of color, space. It's something else entirely. I know the minute I see something if I love it or don't. I have all sorts of art in my house. Old framed paintings from the late 1800s that were my maternal grandparent's pieces that I think came from Italy. Black and white photographs of loved ones in garage sale frames, including a photo of an unknown (rather than taking it out and just using the frame) mother and her kids.  Beautiful photographs taken by my friend, Nelson Chan, and my boyfriend, Ward Vogt. Drawings that my son did, in gilded ornate frames around the house. And my wall of collected images, that make no sense except that all of the frames are silver or gold painted wood. One is small, about 2" x 3" that I got at a second hand store for $2. Many are from garage sales. A handful are expensive pieces from artists I discovered in my travels.

Most recently, I fell madly in love with a piece of art called, "The house was very beautiful/ la casa era molto bella" by Katy Keuter. It actually had these words painted on it, "The house was very beautiful / la casa era molto bella. I had never seen such a beautiful view before / non avevo visto mai prima d'ora un panorama cosi bello." I loved it, but couldn't figure out where to put it, and so I waited. And waited. And then the painting sold. I was devastated. After that, I kept returning to the artist's etsy store, looking at other paintings. I kept getting hung up on a few that I loved (I love them all), and couldn't make a decision. I realized that I needed to just go with my heart, and pick the painting that most captured me. Here it is: 

As it is sold (to me), I don't think the listing will still show. But here is what the painter wrote about it (beautiful):

"deciding to stay" (an original painting) by Katy Keuter

"This painting changed so many times. The first layer was 'express yourself' painted across the canvas. The next layer was my little dog, Cubana, running next to a house. The third layer was an angel with golden wings that slowly turned into a big white flower. Finally this woman with some wrinkles and little bits of color in her hair showed up and decided to stay."

Currently, the painting is on it's way from Italy (yay, Italia!) and I am just so excited to get it. In the process of hunting, I've been writing back and forth to the artist and I just love her, which makes the painting all the more valuable to me. You need to check out her store. She sells paintings, and little bags and a great belt. She also sells a scarf called "red plaid i love you so (a quilted scarf)" that I love so very much (esp. the photo, which is heartwarming).   Click here to see her shop: kt40