Wait

I only really started delving into Etsy recently, and I imagine it could become very dangerous for somebody like me. There's so much beautiful stuff there, and many of the prices are temptingly within reach - it would be easy to get into trouble. But the flip side is that if one can maintain one's discipline, it's a great outlet for finding affordable art.

I have a lot of paintings that belonged to my parents, and while I love them and feel honored to own them, sometimes they feel a bit age-inappropriate for my current life, and for awhile now I've been wanting to add some things I chose myself to our walls.

This gorgeous little painting I bought on a recent Etsy spree just arrived in the mail, and I love it so much. The color palette, the beautiful retro lady, those Margaret Kilgallen-esque scallops along the top border. I have a weakness for fur-collared coats, too. The lady is a Soviet spy, and is fittingly rendered on a page from a Gorky play, in Russian.

I love the mood of this piece, its glamour and mystery. When I look at it I catch my breath for a second, as though, no matter how humdrum and ordinary the day may seem, something portentious might be about to happen. "Wait --"

The artist is Annie Galvin, a.k.a. Wexford Girl. I found my way to her online shop after admiring this cool painting of Sutro Tower.

While I was shopping, I also picked out this painting, "Linden," as a gift for a friend. It's part of the artist's "paint chip girls" series, in which a cut-out from a paint color sample is collaged into each picture. I think the names of paint colors can be so evocative (did anyone else ever want to be the person who names lipstick and nail polish colors?) and love the way these mini portraits play on that.