You never know until you ask. Even though I live in New York City, I never get sick of staring at the skyline. Or the buildings. Or the scenery. And much like the city itself my apartment is an exercise in vertical living, with 14 foot ceilings and a cathedral leaded glass window that refracts sunlight in ways romantic and spiritual. When it comes to decorating my apartment black and white NYC-inspired art has been my modus operandi. Is it a little silly to see the city when I live in the city? Maybe, but I’m relatively low to the ground and the truth is those picturesque views I crave are $$$ too expensive for me in rent. The main room in my apartment, adorned with city art. Lately I’d been thinking about adding another pop of color. This converged with my desire to own a local artist’s piece. I work in Soho, where talented vendors line every street with their art, jewelry and products. West Broadway and Prince St in particular are like walking through an outdoor museum. Except you can actually buy the art. I saw the Chrysler Building print at the top of this post from nearly a block away — how could you miss that bright pop of yellow? With such high ceilings I was looking for an art piece 5-6 feet in height to match the pieces I already own. That print fit the bill. The artist had several landmarks to choose from: the Empire State Building on black (too dark for my taste); the Statue of Liberty on navy (tempting); the Flatiron Building on dark brown (already represented in my apt). But this Chrysler Building print was clearly top choice. Vibrant yellow! A good pop against my earth tone color scheme, it would be like the sun I barely see. I flagged the artist to talk price. This is where being on a budget comes in handy. Spendthrift me would have paid practically any price. Budgeted me could not. When the artist told me the piece was $900 I nearly cried. My budget was $250 — we were way off. Not wanting to offend him, I explained that was way over my budget and asked if he had any similar pieces. He did, another version of the Chrysler Building on red. It was shorter than the yellow version at about 5 feet tall and had a different treatment. Like the yellow it was a photo screened on giant canvas, with a light plaster effect on top. This red version had gold mixed in which gave the building a trophy-like appearance. I liked the yellow background better but this red version was pretty cool too. The price of the red? $700. When I said that was too much he asked me to offer him something. I politely explained to the artist that was a few hundred dollars over my budget and I didn’t want to offend him by lowballing him for his art. He asked what that budget was so I was honest: $250. We both laughed. Yes, we were far apart. The artist asked me if I could do $500 for the red (no) and then $400 (no). Knowing this was going nowhere, I thanked the artist for his time and started walking away. If those prints were still there in October I could swing it. But not this month. Before I got too far, the artist called me back. He said he really wanted to sell something so he was willing to do the red print for $250. I was in disbelief! I must have asked him if he was sure 3 or 4 times. But he was and before long I’d purchased a beautiful piece of art right on-budget. He told me he could tell I would enjoy the piece and that was the best advertisement an artist could get. I heartily agreed. On a sad day for NYC this was a happy memory to make. Can’t wait to put this piece up on my wall.

You never know until you ask.

Even though I live in New York City, I never get sick of staring at the skyline. Or the buildings. Or the scenery. And much like the city itself my apartment is an exercise in vertical living, with 14 foot ceilings and a cathedral leaded glass window that refracts sunlight in ways romantic and spiritual. When it comes to decorating my apartment black and white NYC-inspired art has been my modus operandi. Is it a little silly to see the city when I live in the city? Maybe, but I’m relatively low to the ground and the truth is those picturesque views I crave are $$$ too expensive for me in rent.

2009-06-19 004

The main room in my apartment, adorned with city art.

Lately I’d been thinking about adding another pop of color. This converged with my desire to own a local artist’s piece. I work in Soho, where talented vendors line every street with their art, jewelry and products. West Broadway and Prince St in particular are like walking through an outdoor museum. Except you can actually buy the art.

I saw the Chrysler Building print at the top of this post from nearly a block away — how could you miss that bright pop of yellow? With such high ceilings I was looking for an art piece 5-6 feet in height to match the pieces I already own. That print fit the bill. The artist had several landmarks to choose from: the Empire State Building on black (too dark for my taste); the Statue of Liberty on navy (tempting); the Flatiron Building on dark brown (already represented in my apt). But this Chrysler Building print was clearly top choice. Vibrant yellow! A good pop against my earth tone color scheme, it would be like the sun I barely see.

I flagged the artist to talk price. This is where being on a budget comes in handy. Spendthrift me would have paid practically any price. Budgeted me could not. When the artist told me the piece was $900 I nearly cried. My budget was $250 — we were way off. Not wanting to offend him, I explained that was way over my budget and asked if he had any similar pieces. He did, another version of the Chrysler Building on red.

IMG_6042

It was shorter than the yellow version at about 5 feet tall and had a different treatment. Like the yellow it was a photo screened on giant canvas, with a light plaster effect on top. This red version had gold mixed in which gave the building a trophy-like appearance. I liked the yellow background better but this red version was pretty cool too.

The price of the red? $700. When I said that was too much he asked me to offer him something. I politely explained to the artist that was a few hundred dollars over my budget and I didn’t want to offend him by lowballing him for his art. He asked what that budget was so I was honest: $250. We both laughed. Yes, we were far apart. The artist asked me if I could do $500 for the red (no) and then $400 (no). Knowing this was going nowhere, I thanked the artist for his time and started walking away. If those prints were still there in October I could swing it. But not this month.

Before I got too far, the artist called me back. He said he really wanted to sell something so he was willing to do the red print for $250. I was in disbelief! I must have asked him if he was sure 3 or 4 times. But he was and before long I’d purchased a beautiful piece of art right on-budget. He told me he could tell I would enjoy the piece and that was the best advertisement an artist could get. I heartily agreed. On a sad day for NYC this was a happy memory to make.

Can’t wait to put this piece up on my wall.