Of Art And Shoes

Today I did something unusual for me: I spent the whole day shopping. And by shopping I mean "attempting to find stuff to buy." Shopping has never been my most enjoyable pastime but I told myself that I really needed to buy:

1. Artwork and decoration for my office (whose walls are woefully bare and annoying my co-workers - OK Gerry - immensely).
2. Some new clothes, especially shoes which are ugly and unclean from waitering.

I decided to take Jobina with me as I've decided after reading His Needs, Her Needs that I ought to take my mate's preferences for what I wear into consideration. Also she has better taste then I do.

Anyway, I got new shoes and it was very efficient. I walked in, spent 4 minutes looking at shoes, got the girl to bring me my size, walked around in them, bought them. Total time spent: about 12 minutes. Buying new jeans took a bit longer (went to two stores, bought from the second after a little fashion show for Jobina). Art though is a different matter.

I've been looking for office art for several months. I see some art I don't like, lots of art that's good, but not much art that I absolutely love. The few pieces that I do really like seem prohibitively expensive (perhaps I do have some taste afterall!). I finally decided that I would just get some cheap, decent art showing the outdoors and be done with it. But whenever I try to buy it I can't. I just don't love it enough.

Today I did find something that I kind of like, at Urban Barn of all places. I was surprised that I would even take a second look at it, but something about them made me ponder. It is contemporary art by Rodney White. I would best describe it as a whimsical fusion of early 20th century advertising imagery and positive psychology. Here is an example of one of his pieces that caught my eye (imagine them being quite a bit larger, about 3 feet by 3 feet) :


And here's another one I liked:


Also, what would you think if you saw this in a counseling office?


Check out more of Rodney's work here. This kind of artwork is a lot different then I was looking for, yet I liked it. (By the way, art is quite subjective and I won't be offended if you don't like it yourself). Alas, though I liked the pieces, I decided they were just too expensive. Jobina asked me if I was disappointed and maybe I am a little. You find something you kind of like, that maybe you could even love (the kind of art that you would be proud to have in your home) and you can't afford it. Sigh. Shopping is in so many ways oppressive! Anyway, my quest for art continues . . . and my deadline for procuring it is this weekend . . .