June 24, 2004 (Thursday)
Buying work from the artist's studio....
Yesterday afternoon, I visited an artist's studio to pick up one of his paintings, then in the evening another artist came over to my studio to get a painting from me. My home and studio are full of art - mostly paintings and photographs. Some I bought from the artists, some were purchased from a gallery, and some were obtained through barter.

My visit to David Steinhardt's studio was a wonderful and enlightening experience. I had been coveting one of his larger paintings for some time, when I hit on the idea of the "layaway retainer" system of creative financing. Which means that whenever I had a successful show, or sold a few paintings, I would give him some cash to put toward my credit for a painting. Not a specific painting - just my choice of whatever paintings were available, within my price range, at whatever time I chose to use my credit. Last year he boosted my credit by commissioning me to do a couple of small paintings for him.

So finally the day arrived for me to go pick out a painting. He offered me a cup of tea and set up a director's chair in front of a well-lit wall that was prepared with hanging hardware. Then he proceeded to pull paintings out of the racks, one by one; hang a painting on the wall in front of me; and step back to allow me as much time as I needed for contemplation. He stood slightly behind me, and was available for questions, but there was no pressure to talk about each one. Mostly, I just said "OK" when I was ready to see the next one. I narrowed it down to four pieces and asked him to take those out back so that I could see them in natural light. It was a tough call, but I chose one, and then immediately felt a possessive surge of confidence that this was undeniably the best painting in the studio. Now I have to find somewhere to hang it. My place already looks like Gertrude Stein's apartment, so this will be a real challenge.

		It was a fabulous way to look at art, and it made me rethink my own routine for visitors to my studio. When I have a client coming over to look at work, I clean the place up and then hang as much of the new work as I can. Most of the paintings end up in the hall, some in the living room, some elsewhere. When the client arrives, I give them a quick tour of the whole place and then let them wander as they wish, while I attempt that awkward balance between giving them enough space for contemplation and being available for questions and conversation. But now I'm thinking it might be better to pick the best spot for art, put the client in front of it, and move the art in and out...
27 rue de Fleurus (Gertrude and Alice's place)
I wish I could say I gave Mark Grim and his wife Carol that treatment when they arrived at my studio to pick up a painting shortly after I returned from David's. But then, Mark was not here to decide on a piece, he had already given me a deposit on a painting he picked out of my most recent show, and I had the work wrapped and ready to go. We talked briefly about artists buying work from other artists. Most of us do, but I know a few who don't, and I've always wondered how you could justify asking other people to spend money on art, when you don't do it yourself.