We love art. Our paintings are the first thing we unpack when we move house. We bought art when we couldn’t afford it and we bought it when we could. Some of it has increased in value and some of it probably hasn’t but we don’t really care because we have no plans to sell it. We just love it, that’s all.

I bought this painting of a little French car directly from the artist for my husband’s birthday.

My grandma painted and even sold a couple of pieces of her work. She took me into small galleries and art shows when I was little, so I was lucky enough to grow up understanding the difference between mass produced prints (or mechanical reproductions) and original art. My husband loved art when I met him and had an art dealer friend, Hank, who helped increase our art education and our collection.

When I first met my husband, Alan, we were living in different states. He had a job and I didn’t. Hank invited me to work at his antique print gallery once I moved, and taught me how to frame, market, and sell art. I also learned all about hand-colored lithographs and old maps. It was a happy time.

Long after I left my job at Hank’s, Alan and I walked into his gallery which had expanded to include Australian Aboriginal art. Our hearts were in our mouths, because we were planning to buy the most expensive painting either of us could imagine owning. It was quite big 3′ x 5′. We walked out owning that painting and another much larger one by the same artist. It cost us my husband’s entire paycheck for the show he had just been working on. I was so worried we’d done something stupid, I wanted to throw up. We’ve lived with those two paintings all these years and they are like old friends, moving from house to house and even moving countries with us. They have also been a very good investment…but when it comes down to it, we buy what we love.

Much-loved garage sale finds.

The good news is that you don’t need to spend your entire paycheck to invest in art. When we first moved to the U.S., we bought some small canvases at garage sales for around $40 each. We love these paintings as much as we love our big ones. We try to buy original art instead of souvenirs when we travel and we buy it for our wedding anniversaries too. It makes our home into a unique place and I love that our children are growing up surrounded by dynamic and interesting art. It gives us a view where there wasn’t one and brings the very essence of the artist into our day to day lives. It also feels good to be a supporter of the arts!

This year’s anniversary present to ourselves – a modern abstract by a San Francisco artist.

Just remember, if you buy a mechanical reproduction (and this includes giclees), they are unlikely to ever be worth more than you paid for them, in fact they will probably be worth less. We have some fun photographic reproductions on our walls too, it’s all good as long as you know what you’re buying and don’t get talked into thinking you’re buying something you’re not.

You can find a good overview on understanding the buying of art here.