I've been an artist and writer all my life.

As a young Irish Catholic, the first image on my bedroom wall was one of the Virgin Mary that my father's mother gave me. From that point on, I don't remember a time when I didn't have art around me -- from grade school assignments to the paint-by-number kits my uncle and grandmother gave me on which I used to paint my own scenes. (And, I always signed them Picasso Young. Imagine!)

As an adult, my taste and my budget grew. That's when I began collecting posters and limited edition prints. From there, I moved on to simple water colors and oil paintings that I could pick up for a song at

• yard sales,
• flea markets and
• other very special places

At one point in my mid-twenties, my special collecting haunt was in Northern Vermont at a rickety old place called, The Bargain Barn. (I'm told all that's left is the falling down barn and the sign.) I was working as a managing editor for a group of newspapers and had very few friends, let alone people interested in art. On my days off, I wandered the countryside and managed to find all kinds of wonderful collectibles from old washboard and handcarved birds to a rusty old iron. I was thrilled when I found two, lovely framed watercolors at an estate sale in Chelsea, VT.

When I finally returned to Boston and was able to visit my old "friends" at the Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, all the small nooks and crannies at Harvard, and too many more to name, you can imagine how excited I was. I mention them because when you find a museum you like and feel comfortable in, you start to imagine the paintings as friends and the rooms they are housed in are your special places. It develops your taste. And, there are many free or low cost lectures and workshops you can attend to learn more. HINT: Don't forget to make friends with the guards in each room. Most of them have been there for years and are as knowledgeable as the curators.

Another fun, and inexpensive way, to learn about art is to check out where the art openings are going to be held during the coming week at your local art galleries, libraries and smaller museums. You'll have great conversations with new and interesting people. And, of course, there's the art. Some of it you'll love, some of it you won't -- but it's another no cost way to develop your taste in art.

Fortunately for me, I come from a big family and as luck would have it one sister introduced me to several graphic designers who opened the art world to me. I had the most wonderful time for a while running an avant garde gallery for emerging artists who might never have had a shot at being shown anywhere in Boston. It opened my eyes to how difficult it is to make a living. My artist friends worked at everything from framing to carpentry, waitressing, cleaning houses, and making crafty items to keep themselves in paint, canvas and other materials.

During the process, I used my PR, advertising and marketing skills to help promote artists some of whom have national and international careers today. Most importantly they gave me paintings, drawings and sculptures for helping them. Plus they encouraged me to pursue my own interests in photography and art by telling me about private instructors and I started doing more and more work.

Today, I paint, sculpt, do printmaking with a special water-based method, and take photographs nearly every day to document my world. Of course, I still collect the work of my fellow artists.

I encourage you to look through all the listings of self-representing artists on eBay because there truly is something for every taste and every budget. Begin collecting whatever strikes.

When you aren't on the computer, get out to a street fair or find an opening at a local gallery.  Check out the yard sale down the street. Find a frame on eBay and hang your five-year-old niece's drawing as if it here a Picasso. Or, how about taking one of your own photographs and playing with it on a computer program?

Happy collecting and learning about art,

Kate Hannon, The Meadowview Collections

P.S. For those of you who have sent me emails, I'm beginning to feel better and will get back to the studio soon. Honest to goodness, one of these days you will see products listed on my site. In the meantime, buy from my friends.



P.S. The painting at the top is Sunflower Petal by Paul Crimi, my studio partner, at the Codman Building in Rockland, Massachusetts. The Abstract painting behind me is one of mine.