7th wedding anniversary

Every year for our anniversary, my husband and I find a piece of art to buy to commerate the event. It all started when we were trying to spend the money left over from our wedding gifts, having already bought/received all the china, sheets, towels, vases, electronics, and appliances we could possibly use in this lifetime. Looking around, from in between the towers of boxes, I realized the only thing our apartment lacked was something really nice on the walls. I think at that time we had a Tin-Tin poster that my husband loved and had kept from his childhood room (bear in mind that this was his former batchelor pad. Yeah, no better way to lure in the ladies than professing yourself a comic book fanatic...), a watercoler I had painted in high school with broken glass in the frame, and a few old (and kind of scary) theatre bill type things that his stepmom had found in the attic. It was pretty dire. So he agreed that a painting would be a good idea and we went off to wander through the galleries on rue de Seine. I found a painter I loved at the Galerie d'Europe, Pietropolli, and let B pick the painting he liked best from the series. Naturally, he picked the one tableau that I didn't particularly like, but that is the nature of compromise, right?

The next year on our first anniversary, I found another painting I loved at the same gallery by a painter called Charel. It is sort of gloomy, foggy view of a river winding through a flat landscape. There is something really mesmerizing about it and we hung that in our bedroom for ages.


And so it went. I think the next year we were in Montreal and found a sketch of a woman. In 2002, I got a giant print from an internet place called Artcadia in the UK, after having visited their shop in Spitalfields, London (http://www.artcadia.co.uk/). Its funny that it is the one piece of art that isn't actually unique, in that its just a print from a computerized image I found in their catalogue, but it is the one piece that everyone is always asking about. Admittedly, its huge, so it does impress.

In 2003, we bought a gorgeaus vase of Murano glass at the Musée de Beaux Arts at the Louvre from the the artist Christina Baraldi. She had had an exhibition, which we missed so I only was able to see the few vases that were still for sale in the shop. Probably its better it happened like that or I would never have been able to choose one to buy.

In 2004, I was pregant and B was freaking out about money so we did a very low key purchase and I found a really nice painting of a couple dancing at the Carré des Artistes in Lyon. There is now one in Paris on rue St.Andre des Arts. I just looked at the painting and I can't see the name of the painter. Normally, I keep a card attached to the back with any info I have on the artist. I think the card must have fallen and gotten lost because there is nothing there. I'm a bit upset about that. Anyways, let's see.


In 2005, after Ella was born, we got two photo prints on metal at the Foire d'Art Contemporain at the Bastille from an artist named Bradenback. There is a really fantastic print of trees in the distance hanging in our bedroom. The way the light shines off the metal, it looks like the sun is rising behine them and all you can see is their silouettes.
Which brings us to 2006. I think that this year we are going to have a drawing or painting done of Ella by an artist called Rosy Lamb (http://www.rosylamb.com/index.php). A friend of mine told me that she had had a sculpture done of their baby. The artist was exhibiting at the Jardins de Luxembourg and I really was excited about going and seeing her work before deciding for sure to have this done. Unfortunately, since we extended our vacation in the States, I missed the show entirely. I checked the prices and they are the top of our budget but I definitely think its the type of thing that I will really treasure forever and so absolutely worth the price. So the next step is to give her a call and set up a meeting. B thinks its a pretty good idea, although he would really prefer a sculpture and those are definitely out of our budget. Its slow work, but eventually we are going to have a really nice sized collection of original artwork. Even better, most things in it will have some special meaning for us. I sometimes think it would be nice to be able to ask from some pretty piece of jewelry for our anniversary, but now that would be breaking the tradition of buying the art. Its terrible how these decisions can sneak up and bite you in the ass, isn't it?

Which brings us to 2006. I think that this year we are going to have a drawing or painting done of Ella by an artist called Rosy Lamb (http://www.rosylamb.com/index.php). A friend of mine told me that she had had a sculpture done of their baby. The artist was exhibiting at the Jardins de Luxembourg and I really was excited about going and seeing her work before deciding for sure to have this done. Unfortunately, since we extended our vacation in the States, I missed the show entirely. I checked the prices and they are the top of our budget but I definitely think its the type of thing that I will really treasure forever and so absolutely worth the price. So the next step is to give her a call and set up a meeting. B thinks its a pretty good idea, although he would really prefer a sculpture and those are definitely out of our budget. Its slow work, but eventually we are going to have a really nice sized collection of original artwork. Even better, most things in it will have some special meaning for us. I sometimes think it would be nice to be able to ask from some pretty piece of jewelry for our anniversary, but now that would be breaking the tradition of buying the art. Its terrible how these decisions can sneak up and bite you in the ass, isn't it?