There are three prints hanging on the walls of the den I am sitting in as I write this. All are limited editions purchased directly from the artist.

On my left is a winter scene. Five teenagers playing hockey on a frozen pond. Most of the painting is shades of white snow and ice. There are a few green evergreens, a couple fence posts and, of course, the hockey players, wearing sweaters, blue jeans and regular old gloves.
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In front of me is a fun, minimalist, depiction of Minnehaha Falls. The water is drawn as various shades of blue ribbons cascading down from just under the walking bridge over Minnehaha creek. The “splash” at the bottom is drawn as symmetrical curls and large drop shapes.

On my right is a print of a photo taken on Lake Superior during an intense October storm of a huge wave crashing against a cliff just south of Tettegouche state park. The intensity is amazing and terrifying.

There are more prints and even a couple originals decorating our walls throughout the house. Outside there are a couple whirligigs, a large iron peace sign, several mobiles, several other random pieces of art in the gardens and hanging in the trees.

Someday our daughters will have to figure out what to do with them. I doubt they will be actually valuable. We did not spend a lot on any of the pieces of art. For the record, framing the prints cost more than the prints. They are all here for our enjoyment, not as an investment.

As we have said hundreds of times, if you want to enjoy art you need to support the artists by buying some art. It is fun to walk through an art fair but it is a lot more fun to walk through an art fair with the intention of bringing one or more pieces of art home with you.

The pond hockey print was purchased from the artist at a pre-Christmas craft fair at Roseville Arena. It was years ago and I don’t remember the details. Maybe it was a present from Linda, however, in the back of my head I think I discussed with the artist how we both had spent part of our youth skating on a pond behind the houses we grew up in.

The Minnehaha Falls print was purchased at the Loring Park Art Fair. The artist is an art teacher and she used an iPad. She told me she used the iPad because her paints and brushes were in her school which was locked up during the early days of the pandemic. She had brought her kids to Minnehaha Park because they were going stir crazy and figured it was a good opportunity to learn to paint with an iPad.

The photo of the huge wave crashing against the cliff was displayed at Tettegouche state park along with some other photos by the photographer. I talked to the park staff person about how cool the photos being displayed were. She gave me the link to the artist’s website. He had many wonderful photos to choose from but the one that caught my eye was the one which made me feel I was standing in the middle of a huge storm, witnessing the raw, savage power of an October blizzard on Lake Superior. I bought a copy. I had a very nice email exchange with the artist about where and when the photo was taken.

The decision to buy a particular piece of art is sometimes a little serendipitous. We weren’t looking for something like this but, by golly, one of us and often both of us are moved enough by the piece that we want to own it.

Sometimes, maybe most often, we sort of have an idea of what we are looking for. It would be nice to have a nice bowl to put cashews in when we have people over. That spot over the chair could use a fun picture. The fountain needs something like a statue of a leaping frog by it.

When we buy art, we talk about how it makes us feel. Is that a feeling we would like to have in our home? Is it enough of a feeling to justify the cost? Are there other choices which would be better? Not all of the art brings a smile to my face, but all of them cause me to feel something.

Most of the time we talk with the artist about the piece and often a little bit about them. Where they are from, what influences them, and often we tell them a little bit about us. Purchasing art is a business transaction but it is also an opportunity to interact with someone passionate about life and art.

I’ve walked past all the art in and around our home hundreds of times. Mostly I just pass them by without thought or emotion. However, periodically one catches my eye and I feel myself emotionally react. Sometimes a slight smile, sometimes it is a deeper emotion. Always, it reminds me that life is more than just being alive.

God knows I am not an expert on art. I do not have an artistic bone in my body. From the time I was old enough to try, I couldn’t even stay inside the lines in a coloring book. I was a business analyst because my brain is wired to think in logical steps. Which is not to say I do not enjoy art. I really enjoy art.

The whirligigs spinning in the breeze look cool and are an amazing feat of engineering. The young couple who made them do less farming now. Between online sales and the art fairs, they said, life is good. They looked happy.

The closer you look the more you see.