Do You Remember the First Time?

Do you remember the first time when you saw a piece of original art and you could not stop looking at it? How it captured your attention, then your curiosity, then your heart? And finally, your wallet? Do you remember why you felt that way about it? Do you still feel that way?

My first time was in the year 2000. The event happened during a trip to Vancouver BC. I was traveling with a friend that had collected original art for many years and knew a lot about it. I knew nothing about art except that it fascinated me. Especially contemporary abstract art. However, I didn’t yet understand why I was drawn to it.

After hiking, biking, eating and drinking, we ventured out to art galleries. Many art galleries. As we walked through my visual senses were on fire. The different styles were fascinating. Some were loud and in your face, others mysterious and open to different interpretations. Still others quiet yet powerful. The palettes were all over the place. Colors bold, quiet, opaque and translucent. Shapes and marks of all sizes somehow became more then the sum of their parts. Emotions filled me as different pieces compelled me to linger. Admiration for the vision that imagined them and the hands that created them was constant.

At first I asked my friend “What do you think about this work of art?” A question I never received a direct answer on. Instead, “What do you see in it?” And “How does it make you feel?” As a beginner I found these questions enormously difficult to answer, but I continued to ask myself those questions. The longer I lingered with any one piece, the more I could think about what I was “feeling”. This was very different then just “looking”. The former caused me to relax and allow the emotions and sometimes memories to crystalize in my mind and try to sort it out. I learned that the paintings that made me feel something, in turn made me want to stay with it. That’s when I added the question “Could I imagine living with this painting for a very long time?” Maybe even forever?

I didn’t buy that first day nor the next but I dreamed about it each night. And by the third day, I pulled the trigger. I bought my first piece of original art, in fact a pair by the artist Sheila Norgate. They still hang in my home . I still love living with them. Over the years, depending on what was going on in my life, I even found myself talking to them. Because that’s what you do in a good marriage. A topic for another day.

lori

I contacted Sheila Norgate and was delighted to see that she continues to create compelling visual and performance art. Please take a look https://sheilanorgate.com . And don’t miss her TEDx talk at https://sheilanorgate.com/tedx/ .