How It Starts

I was having coffee with a new friend who was telling me about a reality show in which a woman flew to Colombia to purchase emeralds that she could have cut and made into earrings. The woman on the show was a "gem hunter" who spent her time thinking about stones and negotiating with gem brokers. The gem hunter was about to spend an obscene amount of money, and I didn't understand. I didn't understand:

1. Why didn't she just go to the local jewelry store for emerald earrings?

2. How did she have the disposable income to blow on raw emeralds and their refinement into wearable earrings?

3. Why would she spend that disposable income on something so ridiculous?

"Who spends their money on something like that?!" I cried. The thought was incredulous. And I totally judged her - this person I'd never met who was on a show I'd never seen.

"I mean, if I had that kind of money...I can't even imagine spending it on something so frivolous," I said. "I can't even imagine what I would spend it on."

And then the blue meerkat came to mind.

Brother to the red penguins at 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville, KY.

"Never mind," I said. "I know exactly what I'd spend it on."

I'd spend it on art.

I would surround myself with pieces that delighted me in some way.

I'd build a collection that moved me, that mattered to me, for one or a number of reasons - usually involving intellectual stimulation and delight.

I don't have the gem hunter's kind of money. Therefore, I'm building my art collection virtually. I'm collecting pieces and examining works (and theories and art history, etc.) HERE.

Welcome to my online art collection, carefully curated from Columbus, Ohio, which is where I live and work and play.

Not all of the art featured here will be by local artists, but Columbus is where I attend the majority of gallery showings and museum exhibits. I'll go out of town sometimes, too.

I'd be spending some money on these pieces. Maybe one day, I really will.