Art is your Legacy (5 benefits of collecting art)

Shortly after Mother’s Day, I got a phone call from a stranger. 

He had received one of the postcards I had sent out to art collectors to celebrate spring had arrived at his home. I addressed the postcard to his wife who had purchased some of my original artwork.

My heart sank when he told me she had passed away.

“I’m so sorry. I will take her name off my list,” I apologized, feeling horrible that I had unknowingly caused him pain.

But to my surprise, he thanked me for sending the postcard. He explained that receiving the postcard brightened his day and it almost felt like it was a gift from his late wife. He asked to remain on my mailing list, so he could continue to receive my postcards and said he may consider collecting more art from me in the future. You can see the art she collected in the picture below.

"Spring Blossoms" by Miriam Schulman (art collected by the late Elizabeth Deaux)→ canvas prints are available HERE

You see, his wife was an avid collector of original art during her lifetime and all the art decorating their home comforted her husband after she had passed. She had collected a triptych of three oil paintings, called Spring Blossoms. Although the original is now part of their private collection, canvas prints are available HERE.

Art is part of her legacy.

A Grandmother’s Art is her Legacy

My husband’s grandmother was also an artist.

When she passed the adult grandchildren divided up their favorite paintings. Each one held special meaning to them  that stoked a warm memory of when their grandmother painted it. Although she wasn’t a professional artist, her art played an important role in the family’s memories of her and the farm that she painted. If she ever thought she wasn’t good enough to paint, her family would beg to differ based simply on the memories she gave them and the place of honor they bestowed to her artwork in their homes.

My husband chose a gentle watercolor of children looking out a window at a flock of birds. The children are painted very loosely, not in a formal portrait manner. But each time he looks at the painting, which now hangs in our bedroom, he is brought back to his childhood memories on the farm.

Art is part of her legacy.

5 Benefits of Collecting Art

Whether you collect the artwork of others, create your own or a bit of both, art becomes a piece of you and your family’s personal history. It’s a part of your life here and now, and it becomes a legacy when you’re gone.

collect Sunflower Art

1. Art is your legacy

It helps piece together what you love. Your personality. What you value. Your footprint on this earth.

Here are some of the others reasons to collect art...

Collect musical art from Schulmanart.com

2. Art makes us feel good

There’s no doubt that one of my favorite reasons to collect art is how it makes you feel. From delight to excitement, nostalgia to love and relaxation to pride, the important thing about the artwork you surround yourself with is your interaction with it—how it makes you feel. 

 

3. Art reflects your values

Pieces of art resonate differently for each of us. The art you purchase and decorate your home with forms a tapestry of your personal style and tastes. It can help people understand what you value.

4. Be a patron of the arts

You don’t have to spend millions on a Picasso to be a patron of the arts. The art you invest in today becomes your family's cultural legacy tomorrow. You make a real difference when you support the arts, because you make future paintings possible.

5. Join the art community

You build connections among like-minded people when you take art classes, follow artists and visit galleries. Your art tribe becomes a welcome place for social interaction between fellow art-lovers and collectors. I witness this every day as I watch the nourishing and supportive interaction in our Facebook groups among those enrolled in my art classes at The Inspiration Place.

Art is powerful. Whether you create original works or surround yourself with the work of others...art is part of your legacy.

PS would you like to be on the list to get one of my  free postcards in the mail?   All you have to do is sign up for my email list to get one next  time they go out.

What do you think? 

Do you have art that brings you back to a special person, time or place?