Feb 4, 2009

Georgia on my Mind

OK, this is not a tribute to Ray Charles... This is about the strange places we find ourselves and why we buy art... Are you hooked yet?


While sailing along the coast of the Black Sea in the summer of 2004, we had a chance to travel inland to the beautiful city of Tbilisi, Georgia. This part of the world has had its' fair share of trials and tribulations but through it all it has maintained a rich and diverse community of talented artists. While walking the streets of Tbilisi we stumbled upon this man on the street. His paintings were leaning against light poles and fire hydrants, sitting on top of cabbage crates and storage boxes. He was sound asleep and completely unaware of the world around him.

We managed to work up the nerve to wake him and after a few minutes of deliberation we settled on a painting we thought would, one day, look very lovely hanging in our kitchen. We paid the man the equivalent of 40 US dollars and happily took our treasure away and back to our sailboat.

This painting (oil on burlap, stretched on a hand made frame), hung in our forward locker in a canvas bag for the next 4.5 years while we made our way around Turkey and then eventually through the Mediterranean Sea, across the Atlantic Ocean and back to the United States.

Some 8500 miles and five years later, this painting finally went to the art shop to be framed. I picked up the picture today and am completely delighted with the results. Looking at it now, it's not the best painting we've ever purchased but it so perfectly
represents the artist it's almost like having the man here. Where ever you are now - here's wishing you many more years of a happy life - painting, sleeping, or doing anything that brings you the most happiness...




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3 COMMENTS - Click here to leave YOURS!:

Anna Lefler said...

Love it! Art should always have a story or adventure associated with it...

Sailing around the Med - wow! What a fabulous way to live!

Thanks for stopping by my blog and becoming a follower - I really appreciate that...

Take care and have a great day!

:^) Anna

Live, Love, Laugh, Write! said...

Wow - what an incredibly cool story!

Justabeachkat said...

Love love love it! The painting and the story behind it.

Hugs!
Kat

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