Collectors . . . they are the ones who first see your artwork, fall in love with it, and keep buying your work and adding it to their homes/collections.
Today, on Thanksgiving, I am thankful for the things we sometimes take for granted like family, friends, good health etc but I am also very thankful for the many collectors of my artwork - for without them, I still wouldn't be painting!!!!
I have many collectors, both private and public, Bay Area Medical Center and Wausau Aspirus Hospital are two of the bigger public collections and many private collections, which I better not mention names without asking first, however, I will tell you one is in a privately owned home on Mackinac Island. A beautiful 3 story home constructed 2-3 years ago with a large collection of my paintings that revolve around geraniums and the island etc. I've had the joy of spending some time on the Island for many years and always love to visit our friends that own this home.
The second other big collector lives in Marinette and recently commissioned me to do another painting and when I was dropping it off I got a 'tour' of her beautiful home - unbelievable, actually, and I was humbled to see my artwork tastefully collected and displayed in practically every room! She was what I call "a silent collector" - always buying a new piece or 2 or 3 every year for many years until she amassed a wonderful amount of artwork-without me even realizing how much she actually had bought over the years.
As an artist, you paint - a lot! - and often if your not really organized like I'm not - you don't 'photograph' every painting that you ever did. So as I was walking through this beautiful house it brought back memories of all the 'stages' and 'travels' I had been through in my art career thus far. Some, I look back and didn't like as much as others, but some paintings brought back memories of carefree summer days/vacation days/or just plain simple things. A set of 4 8 x 8" acrylic paintings had been collected from my trip to portugal/france a couple years ago and as I 'toured' the beautiful home it brought back wonderful memories of all the travels I've been so fortunate to have.
And then there are my friends that inspired me and collected my work from the beginning - who now live in Cedarburg, and then there's this one and then there's this other one and then there's this sweet girl who lives in Menominee and all she wanted for her 21st birthday was one of my paintings and the list goes on and on - so THANK YOU to all!
O.K. so the picture's are: a great little village in Portugal from my vacation and a picture of a bike parked for winter on Mackinac Island (which is a wonderful time to visit!)