Every picture tells a story

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY
     Everyone loves a good story. And everyone loves a good picture. From the hand print of baby Johnny stuck to the fridge to the framed ‘painting’ hanging on top of your settee, every picture tells a story. Of course, the picture with Johnny’s handprint does not need any artistic merit. What matters in that particular case is the pride Johnny's mummy and daddy feel when someone comes to visit and notices the ‘painting’. And with good reason too. After all you never know what that painting could be the start of, do you?
     But what about the picture decorating your living room wall? The one that’s there covering that important space behind your sofa? Is it just hanging there because that’s what everyone does with that particular space in their house? Of course there's nothing wrong with that, if all you want is to fill a space on your wall that is. These days you can go to a lot of shops and for two Euros you can have a 'print' hanging in any wall of any room in your house.
     What puzzles me is this. Most people will pay a fortune for the precise piece of furniture they always wanted. They will even fork out a decent sum of money for the 'right' vase or ornament to sit on or with that furniture. But when it comes to a painting, many times it becomes a different issue and all that seems to matter is 'Does the frame fit in with the decor'!
    Now I am a professional artist, and as such I do believe that it's a matter of attitude. The issue is that a lot of people still think of paintings, prints and anything hanging on the wall as just that; something in a frame to cover a space on the wall. So even if you have an original Van Gogh, it will only get hung if it’s in the right frame, that is the one that matches the wardrobe.
       But let us consider a few things to, hopefully, change a few people’s perception towards this general viewpoint. You spent months, even years, making sure you live in the the right environment, that is making your  house a home. You choose your neighbourhood carefully. You go to a hundred different shops to select your furniture. Room by room, the style, colour and shape of everything you posess has to be perfect. You purchase all the relevant magazines to see what is beautiful, trendy and really ‘you’ and then try your utmost to have everything in your home just so.
     So why stop doing that when it comes to what you will hang on your walls? Why not buy a painting with the same attitude as when you bought the rest of your belongings? After all, what becomes more precious with the passing of time than a painting? Most things you now have in your home will devalue in no time, but a good painting will always go up in value.That’s why, when you go to a relaible Art Gallery, one of the things you expect them to say to you is the word ‘Investment’. Because when you purchase a good painting from a decent well known artist the value of that painting will most likely go up in time.
     So buying a painting as an investment is an incentive in itself. But more than that, as with Johnny’s painting, although for a different reason, it is also something to show off with pride. It will make your home feel special. It will tell everyone something about yourself! And you don’t have to spend a small fortune to possess a good work of art. And you will find that once you have an ‘original’ hanging on your wall, it won’t be just a one off, but the start of a ‘collection’. For me, and I’m not only talking as a professional artist here, it is better to have one good piece of art, than lots of ‘wall-space coverings’ with no meaning at all.
     Let that ‘picture’ tell the story that you are a person with exquisite taste and a good sense of what is truly valuable and aesthetically pleasing, making your home that little bit more special than it already was. Remember if that picture says a thousand words, they are mostly about you.