Remora (and her Ornate Eagle Rays)

I purchased a painting today. I've found various artists on the internet whose work I love. This specific one, Kelly McKernan, I found on flickr when looking at artwork and I fell in love with her work. It's very inspiring. I told myself that one day I'd buy something from her. Yesterday on facebook she posted that she was selling one of her paintings.


It was one I saw a while back and really loved. So I decided to buy it!

I had a delightful conversation with her over e-mail about supporting artists and the importance of a sense of community among artists. I agree with her thoughts on the importance of a sense of community. I used to be a part of various music scenes, and with most of them it seemed more like bands and musicians were competing with each other rather than helping each other out in any way. I didn't understand it.

I was talking about how with a lot of people, their greed creates this double standard where they want people to support them monetarily but they don't want to give their money to anyone else to support them. I, on the other hand, feel that I can't expect anyone to pay for my work if I'm not willing to pay for anyone else's.

I told my mother about my purchase. I knew she wasn't going to approve. She didn't say so, but she obviously thought it was a waste of money. I could tell by the way she was acting. She asked me what the painting was of, as if that would be a factor in making up her mind about whether or not it was worth purchasing. It confuses me how she can think it's a waste of money considering the fact that all three of her children are artists. How are my siblings and I going to make a living if people aren't paying for the work we do? I suppose she thinks it's okay for people to pay us for the work we do, but that we shouldn't pay other people for the work they do. She probably hasn't thought of it like that though. It really devalues parental support when it's so biased. If my parents had another set of children and my siblings and I had a different set of parents, they wouldn't approve of their children paying for the art my siblings and I create.

Anyway, I feel really good about my purchase and am looking forward to being able to hang that beautiful painting on my wall and look at it any time I want. I've been interested in starting a modest art collection, and this will be the first piece in my collection. :)