Last night's opening for "Oil and Water" saw a good turnout for a varied show - varied in subject, media, sizes and styles. I was pleased to see a red dot (sold) on my painting of the Eva but I don't know who bought it. Once, at a talk, I was asked if I regretted selling a painting - "letting it go", so to speak. I answered - and still feel- that for me it is completing the creative circle. I get enjoyment from the idea, working it out and creating the painting. Then, when it is completed, to have someone else enjoy it adds to my enjoyment. I can see, if you are an amateur, that you might want to keep what you see as your "best" work if you afraid you won't be able to make one as good again. But, for me, it is the process that is important and I love to think of other people enjoying the "product". When I know the name of the person who has bought a painting, I like to send a thank-you note and tell the owner a little bit about how the painting came to be. In California, it is the law that artists are to be told who the buyer is. Here, it varies, with privacy laws sometimes used as the explanation of why the artist is not told who has their painting. Some of the nicest things I have been told about my paintings are from their owners who have said things like "I enjoy it every time I go through the entry hall." to "Every time I look at it, I see something else." That's the best payment of all!
