The countdown to ArtWalk is less than a week. In 6 days, I will share a booth with my super talented studio mate, Carol Faber-Peake at Livermore’s annual ArtWalk. I’ve been busy making new paintings, figuring out what items to bring, contemplating the booth experience and figuring out the fees for the various items.

All this got me thinking, “Why buy art?” Yes, there’s a personal motivation behind that question; I’d love to quit my day job and just focus on doing art. For this to be realized, I’d need to have others buy my art, plain and simple. I know that one day, I will reach my goal and luckily, I am enjoying my art journey. I love the time I spend in my studio and love noodling around. I could go on and on about why I do art, but my question was “why should we buy art?”

The two questions are linked in may ways. Artists tend to brush, sketch, draw, and pour their heart and soul into their work. There’s really no better feeling than seeing a painting come out in the way you wanted it to go. I can vouch for feeling elated after a successful day in the studio. Owning a piece is also owning that good feeling!

Here’s some other good reasons to buy original art:

• Paintings are unique, one of a kind experiences, versus mass market prints. One of my neighbors had the same print in their living room that we had in our bathroom. I took ours down shortly after I discovered this. My hope is to create a unique home experience. I slowly started getting rid of my mass market items and replaced them with original art.
• Original art gives you the opportunity to have a deeper discussion with others about the piece and what drew you to that work. 
• An original work of art reflects, enhances and sometimes even magnifies the personality of the individual who owns it.
• Investment possibilities – while there are no guarantees, original artwork often retains its value or will increase its value over time.

Why do you buy art?