just.a.phase?

My husband recently said I'm in a "museum phase".  What he means by that is I'm currently fascinated with art and museums and art heists and paintings stolen by the Nazis in the 1940s and people who buy pictures at flee markets because they like the frame the picture is in, only to have the picture appraised and find out it's a Renoir.

Can you honestly think of much more exciting than that?  Thinking you've got a frame worth 30 bucks, only to find the painting it's holding is worth thousands?  And I have to say, if I ran into that issue, I absolutely could not sell the painting.  Because I'm in a museum phase.

The truth is I do follow the Guggenheim on twitter as well as the Cincinnati Art Museum.  My daughter spent part of her birthday at the latter this summer.  It's free.  As in no charge.  And they have some pretty decent stuff there.

Cincinnati Art Museum

If I recall correctly, my husband said the "museum phase" comment while I was looking at Architectural Digest magazine.  Which I do like to look at periodically.  Because it's a periodical.  [a bit of library humor there]

Anyway.......I believe working at an art museum would be a lot of fun.  And interesting.  I remember the art history class I took in college.  I actually enjoyed it. I've always wanted to be a good artist.  Like as in able to draw or paint at a whim and it look nice.  And I've always enjoyed making things; crafty things like jewelry and greeting cards and wreaths.

For quite some time, I think I tried to suppress that part of me, at least partially.  I told myself it was much more important to spend my time [doing good] and [helping others] than creating pretty things [or, my interpretation of pretty things].  So, I placed some guilt on my conscious, and maybe even tried to be a version of myself I'm not.  

But lately I've come to realize it's okay to be crafty.  It's okay to create.  It's even okay if the only person who likes what I create is me.  And it's also okay if I'm able to sell some of my creations at The Bazzaar or on Etsy or someplace else.  It doesn't mean I'm into stuff that doesn't matter.

I've liked Psalm 90:17 for some time.  A few years back I framed it along with some local postcards [yes, I was being artsy].  But I came across a different version of the scripture this week:

 May the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us: prosper the work of our hands; prosper our handiwork.

Prosper our handiwork.  I like that.   It's like a little confirmation from God that what I design.craft.create can be a blessing.

I'm über [can I get away with using that word?] excited that this Friday night is Gallery Hop here in our city.  My husband and I are going. So, I'll be mostly surrounded by folks who are also either in a museum phase, or are permanently immersed in artsi-ness.  [yay!]