Friday, January 9, 2009

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 . . .

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loved all the work you had pictures of here! I would totally buy that stuff too! There are so many ways you could go decorating wise with art like that.

Hope you find what you're looking for!

Leanne said...

Love the art! Have you tried Etsy.com for affordable art? There is a ton of selection, so you'll have to do some wading through it, but the price range is great, and you get to support an artist directly.

Mark said...

Man, I couldn't believe how exhausted I was after yesterday! It's such hard work spending other people's money...and watching jean fashion shows...and getting Starbucks...

I love those pictures too. You forgot to mention the quest for the clock though and the great one we found at Bombay...which you should still buy, in my humble opinion.

Anonymous said...

Hey Mark,
my cousin is an artist, and she does good outdoor scenes. I'll contact her and let you know if you're interested.
Eric

Jobina said...

Oops Mark, I commented as you...sorry!

Jay Boaz said...

Have you tried looking on usedwinnipeg.com or Kijiji?

Mark said...

Yes, I did Jay. Unfortunately there wasn't much I liked and what I did . . . was expensive. Yesterday I went out and bought some cheap art and a few other things and Jobina and I are going over to the office today to see what fits and what doesn't. Definitely not a fun process when you have a budget!

Jay Boaz said...

If you're looking for outdoorsy stuff I have something in my basement you may or may not like; I bought it at a garage sale but Sarah didn't like it. It's a woodlands/lake scene; I can send you a picture of it if you like.

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