On our cruise in June we had four days at sea. Sea days are really what you make them. I was content to sit and read for the first three days. And there are tons of activities. Of course some of them aren't set up for tons of people, like the bean bag toss. But there was lots of trivia. On our last couple of days at sea we began to run out of things to do. We noticed that the trivia was recycled and started getting the same questions. We were bored enough that we went to Arts and Crafts. And we went shopping. There are only two stores. I bought some sunglasses, they were half off, which was unexpected and awesome. Of course at the moment I have absolutely no idea where they are. Rob got a watch. It's solar powered. It's a Citizen watch just like mine.
So on the last day at sea we had exhausted our list of activities to participate in, shopped more than enough, and I had finished all my books. So we went to the on board art auction. I thought it would be nice for the free champagne and to look around. And we did. And we found some we liked and inquired and got prices. And this is real artwork, like it comes with appraisals and such.
Rob being an artist has mentioned before that he would like to invest in art. In 2008 when we were in Santa Fe, we bought a tiny clay pot with its authentication. That was our first investment. So we picked a painting we liked. It was a landscape. It reminded us of the South of France. So it was put in the sale. Now because there are many pieces and not so many people only artwork that people show an interest in and a few favorites of the auctioneer are actually up for bid. As an aside, the other piece I liked was a vintage Peter Max painting that made me think of The Yellow Submarine and was listed at $12,000, Rob and I are in agreement that we are not going to take on debt for art because wheat kind of investment would that be. And that is definitely over our budget. I am going to have him paint me a replica someday though.
So our painting went up for sale and we got it for what is a reasonable price as it will probably be appraised for a few hundred more than we paid. And then the next paining comes up. It is a mountain village by the sea. Same artist, and they were clearly meant to go together. The auctioneer asks if I want the set, I look at Rob and the auctioneer asks Rob how much he would pay for it. Rob throws out an incredibly low number that is not quite accepted but close. So what the auctioneer does is lower the price of the first (that we already had) raised the price of the second, and the total is just below what we would have paid with Rob's incredibly low offer. So we kind of accidently bought to paintings.
The art is shipped and takes 8 - 10 weeks to arrive, I'm guessing because of appraisal paperwork etc. I had kind of forgotten about them. Until Thursday when Rob sent me a text, the paintings had arrived and would I please come pick them up after my test and take a cab home. So I did. Two big boxes with our grown-up art work. It's an investment. We are not collectors. We have three pieces that we bought together, not to mention the original art by friends and colleagues that Rob has acquired over the years.
The only problem. Where are we going to hang them?
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