Funky Doodles at the Baggage Check

When I was at the airport waiting for my flight home, I was poking around the curbside check in area at Continental. I spied these boxes stacked on the desk. There were drawings on them, so I snapped a bunch of pictures.

"Making relish come true like I make dreams come true"

"Get him Mordecai, he killed my nephew"

"Shoot boy"

"Pedo bear needs love too"

"Never cry over spilled milk!"

"Imagination is key"

"Muffin Buster"

"My word!"

"It's tea time"

Obviously, the baggage handlers at this station have some free time on their hands. The pictures were an amusing beginning to an otherwise looooong day of traveling.

Park West at Sea

I have written about Park West Gallery before. I have purchased art from them at local auctions and on cruise ships. They have the largest collection of art for sale in the world.

The cruise ship auctions are a lot of fun. There's free Champagne and they always give away free prints to the more "colorful" bidders. I once bid a piece of art up to 2 million dollars (at the urging of the auctioneer-he wanted to draw a crowd) and was given a free print for being a good sport.

On our honeymoon we bought some beach themed prints by Lucelle Raad. They go well with our casual look in the living room.

Every month Park West Gallery features an artist. This month it's Arkady Ostritski, a Russian born artist who emigrated to Israel when the walls came down. He paints street scenes and is partial to France. One of his paintings is pictured below.

You can find his work for sale at Park West Gallery or on a cruise ship near you!

Picot at Park West

This is a painting by Jean-Claude Picot. He paints landscapes and still lifes in bright, almost gaudy colors. We have two pieces of his work in our home and I love them. They truly liven up the rooms they're in!

We got our Picot paintings from Park West Gallery. They are the world's largest art dealer and they run auctions 3 or 4 times a year in our area. Park West Gallery also runs art auctions on cruise ships, which is where we bought our first Picot.

Going to a Park West Gallery art auction is fun and it's free. They have them regularly in most major US cities. Usually, a Park West Gallery auction is at some fancy hotel-they always give out free champagne too. I guess they figure tipsy people will bid higher!

My favorite thing about a Park West Gallery auction is the auction guide book. It's a glossy book of all the pieces of art offered for sale at the auction and it's a work of art in itself. If you're looking for something fun to do, try to find a Park West Gallery auction in your area.

Park West Gallery

I do lots of posts. When I saw an opportunity to do a post for Park West Gallery, I jumped at it. The reason is I have been purchasing art from Park West Gallery for 15 years!

I like to go on cruises and Park West Gallery conducts "Art Auctions" on the cruises I've taken. You can usually get a free print or two at these cruise auctions as well. We've also attended local auctions, usually held at a fine hotel. There's always free champagne at these auctions so we get liquored up and buy fine art!

The pricing and selection at Park West Gallery is immense. They have original works by Dali, Picasso, Mouly, Peter Max and so much more. The original works are a bit out of my price range now, but I enjoy looking at rare works of art. I have purchased many seriolithographs (limited run prints that are touched up by the artists, signed and numbered) from Park West Gallery and they hang in nearly every room in our house.

The value you can get at a Park West Gallery auction is incredible. I have bought several pieces for less than what I could have purchased them from the artist directly. While I don't necessarily buy art as an investment, every piece I have bought from Park West Gallery has appreciated in value at a higher rate than the stock or real estate markets!

Every few months, we receive a full color auction catalog from Park West Gallery which announces the next local auction. These catalogs are chock full of photos of the art that will be up for auction and they are a work of art in themselves. We usually keep them with our magazines and I enjoy flipping through them.

If you like art (or champagne), I'd suggest going to the next local Park West Gallery auction in your area. At the very least you'll enjoy a fun evening looking at fine art-you might even come home with a rare treasure for your home.