My Life in Ruins Part 5---The Worth of Art

I love art. Well, I love art that appeals to me. I know nothing about art. I visited a few art museums while I was in Australia, and it basically made no sense to me.
But I like to find random paintings and whatnot. I was super excited to find a bunch of original paintings at Salvation Army one night. One day, I am going to have to live in a house with a lot of wall space so that I have room for all of the art that I have. I guess I could just have the walls of my tiny home covered with art. That would work :~)
Anyway, on that topic, I was near the Acropolis today, and there was an artist there with a variety of his paintings. There was one that I really liked, but I was debating because of the price. It was actually pretty fairly priced for a piece of art, but bear in mind, a lot of the art I own came from Salvation Army or garage sales, and therefore, has been really inexpensive. I looked at it for a little while, and almost walked away, but knew it was something I wanted. So I bought it.

The artist was so happy to sell me the painting. He excitedly offered to write my name on the back in Greek, then wrote the date as well. He was explaining the different bird paintings, and how one kind cost more because the birds were more plump, and it takes so much more work to get the rounded shape. He talked about the type of paint used.

Then a woman came from the apartments behind him, and started talking to me about what a spectacular painter he is, and how good it was that I was buying a painting from him. She told me about her apartment, and that she is happy with a small apartment, because she wanted a view of the "eternal beauty" (meaning the Acropolis, which is directly in front of her apartment). I said that I was jealous of her view, and she said it was ok, because I am a person who has to keep moving around. I thought that was an interesting way to look at it. You can handle a place with a ho-hum view or whatever when you know that you won't be there long. But when you plan to remain somewhere, you want beauty, and a place that will bring you joy.

I walked away with my painting, thinking that I got so much more for my money than just a painting (though I love the painting, and would have been happy with just it). Those random experiences that you don't expect are what make life fun.