Art-Saving in our thrift stores

Last year I was in Goodwill buying a shirt. A painting caught my eye. It was an abstract painting in varying hues of orange, sunset colors really. After staring at it for awhile, I saw that it was really a painting of a butterfly. I smiled because the art transformed right before my eyes, as long as I was willing to see it in a different way. Of course, the concept of transformation, change is often represented in a butterfly and, perhaps, that's why the artist chose it as a motif. I was moved by the painting because it depicted chyrsalis and the burnt orange made me sigh.

The painting was $50, which was something that wasn't in my budget. I was there for a $5 shirt, not a painting. My pragmatic side kicked in and I decided to think about it. When I returned to Goodwill, I discovered that the staff had placed several pictures on top of the painting. The corners of the pictures dented the canvas, ruining it. Management took notice and repriced the piece at $9.99.

I didn't buy it. I left angry. I felt like a beautiful person had been defaced and I was mad at myself for not buying it when I had the chance. In the last year, I'd "saved" several pieces of art from thriftstores. Below are some of them.






This piece I'm particularly proud of saving. It's by Linda Smith. Her website here. Her work sits in Madonna's private collection. Ironically, I e-mailed her about this piece and we have mutual friends. I plan to attend a group show that she's a part of in June.