"Death" - Cameron Stewart

Cameron Stewart
"Death"
2020
9" x 12"
Pencil on paper

So, a while back I missed out on a great Gary Frank piece. In my rebound from missing out on that (don't lie, you do it too) I saw this piece in someone else's CAF gallery. I reached out, but it wasn't for sale and I couldn't blow the owner out of the water with a silly offer. I manage to snag a much cheaper Cameron Stewart Death piece, but I can't get this one (or the Frank one) out of my head.

Flash forward over a year. The Gary Frank piece pops up for sale from a dealer for a chunk more than it last went for. Can I afford it? No. Is it hanging on the wall in my living room directly across from my chair because I can't stop looking at it? Yes. A few months go by, and I see that the owner of this piece is listing some really great stuff to raise funds for a purchase. So, I reach out. Not for sale. So, I go as high as I figure I can and he's still not interested. That's it. I'm done. I'm never getting this piece.

At this point in my collecting career, I know that I only do things in one or two year spurts. I teach high school English, so I don't make much money. I can never really take the next step in collecting and move up a level. It's not that I get bored with what I can get, it's just that I hit a point where I am content with what I have. So, when the owner of this piece said there wasn't a deal to be made, I was pretty ok with just wrapping up this phase of collecting for now.

And then he messaged me back.

And now this piece is on its way to the frame shop and I have to make room on the wall next to the Frank piece. I love this hobby.