Why should I buy art for my home? Is art important? 

This seems to be the place to start… why?

Why buy art? Why have an art collection in your home? 

I grew up with an amazing single mom in a home we rented and a focus on the importance of hard work and getting an education. Believe you me- there was no budget for buying original artwork! At the time my mom was teaching children’s folk art classes out of our home and had a full wood shop in the garage (pretty badass now that I think about it). Folk Art in the 90’s in the “crafts for kids” world was all about making something with function. As a family business we were creating classes to make santa paper towel holders, front yard witches for Halloween, nautical doormats and more! It is here in the chaos of Christmas classes and kit making that I learned to paint and to see how many steps went into making a decorative object. It was also here that I saw art as something with a function and boy was I in for a rude awakening heading off to art school! 

After high school, I started my contemporary art education and realized that '“real art” should really never have a function and if it did then it better be ironic and a social commentary. I felt very outside of the “art world” as I was never going to be a buyer of art in this high level sphere and really didn’t see myself as an ironic and moody contemporary artist. Years later I set out to become a professional artist and realized I going to have to actually become an entrepreneur- they certainly did not tell me that in art school!

My art career has been a journey and I have always found sales difficult and speaking about my own work. A few years back I realized that if I wanted to sell my art, I would need to start buying art to see what that felt like. I couldn’t expect other people to buy original art from me if I didn’t buy it myself. This was a game changer that helped me gain confidence in selling and buying art which later even led me to buy art for others!

Building my art collection over the last seven years has been a learning and unlearning process. It has helped me conquer my negative voice in my head as an artist that being an artist is selfish, art has no function, and that I wasn’t an art buyer myself.

Turns out art is important and putting a little aside each month to buy art from artists I admire and adore has been one of my greatest joys of my life. 

My art collection has taught me: 

1. To have pride in my home and take care of where I live. 

2. To bring objects and art into my home that have stories, makers and values. Not identical copies from big box stores. 

3. To get to know artists in my community and all over the world by supporting their work and them. 

4. To have much more interesting dinner parties as people ask me about different art on my walls. 

5. To travel with eyes open to support local artists wherever I am and bring back a moment from the trip for my walls. 

6. To support womxn artists all over the world. 

7. Art is important and anyone can buy art!

I am now a proud buyer of art and a proud artist. I see the power that art has in making a home a home. The art I own is a mix of originals, prints, objects and mementoes of my life and I have done this over time with a very small budget. And you can too!

xo jamie

PS: I created a whole class all about hanging art in your home. Here is a preview to get your excited!

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