Do You Have Sofa Art?

MOST PEOPLE BUY SOFA ART BECAUSE IT’S EASY.

You are re-furnishing your digs. You decide on the main colors of your scheme. The wall, upholstery and rugs are well planned. You shop at umpteen stores to find the right sofa for the space. You are exhausted from the HUNT. You breathe a sigh of relief that the biggest part is over.  

Now for the wall treatment…..

You will look for a mass-reproduction print from Target, or other instant decor store that will match the ‘perfect’ sofa but the art lacks any emotional response. It has no other value other than filling a wall space and it looks okay.  

The mass-produced print has minimal or no experiential impact on you. It is benign and becomes almost non-existent as time goes on.

Most people do not know how to actually look at original art. so they don’t appreciate it . 

The average person does not see the value of original art. 

Listen! Original art was painted because it had meaning to the artist. It was an expression of something they valued and wanted to share it with others who could relate to their experience. 

It is a friendship of sorts. The work Is NOT meant to be a mass-produced picture to fill a space. It is meant to bring pleasure or an emotion every time you looked at it.

2018 Magical Berry Road by M.Gegerson, watercolor, 22x28

Magical Berry Road’ emotionally links me with my experience of living in the country. I still feel the emotion of joy. From the image I can remember what it was like to ride my horse through those woods and see the sunset through the trees. I am THERE in it, but not actually. 

This painting is a way for me to go back in time, when I can’t really go back. It is a tangible way for me to experience the memory. For that moment, I am in THE ZONE.  Ah, pleasure!

Visual memory is more than an image on canvas!  It is a priceless gift of God to help us feel alive.

A friend spent hours looking for the perfect rug that matched her living room furniture. Yet she used less time to fill the wall above it with a repro because it was expendable.  Finding original art that moves you, takes more of your time. It is worth the experience of the ‘hunt’ because it opens you up to things you hadn’t thought of for ages. It has the power to connect you to your life and the layers under the surface.

People don’t throw out original art because they sense its intrinsic value. 

Even if they decide to toss it out, someone will definitely find it in the dumpster and hang on their wall because it is an original work.  I wonder how many people discovered they had a treasured painting that was hidden in the attic or hall closet. On Antiques Road Show, I am always amazed at the value of a painting that some relative bequeathed to them. They never imagined they had valuable art. 

Original art always has value.

2020- SUNSET#4, by Marsh Gegerson, Acrylic, 8×8″Gallery Canvas

Recently, I painted a series of small sunsets because they took my breath away. When I look at them, I experience the same emotion as when I first saw the saw the sky filled with those luscious colors.

I needed to paint them so that I would experience them again once it was gone.

Try to value the art and the artist that makes them.

They have spent hours, even months, sometimes years producing a painting until the artist senses the unity of all the art elements. Nothing seems off balance. It is passes the artist’s critical eye and is complete and ready for you to buy and enjoy forever.

You can never know its value as time goes on. Vincent Van Gogh only sold ONE painting in his lifetime and that was to his brother, Theo, because he felt sorry for Vincent. Now they are priceless.

Point Taken?