This is the painting I bought at the art fundraiser I attended last Sunday. It’s an oil painted called “For the Camera” by a local artist. I plan on contacting him before I publish his name, just in case he’s shy. I apologize to the Visual Gods for the horrible photo.

This piece spoke to me. Funny, sweet, and weird. I kept circling it at the auction until my nephew confirmed that it was totally me.

I love it. See, there’s a tiny polar bear! I really like the mystery of the picture — is that a priest, standing there so proudly? Did he just create the taxidermy of his life, or has he trained his little orphan bear to dance? Or is it a Russian grandma with a sculpture? Is there a totally malevolent undertone to the whole thing?

When I contact the artist, I don’t know if I’m going to ask for any answers.

And I must say that when I went to the gallery to purchase and acquire the painting, the staff there was so, so nice. The head of the space and I talked, and she copped to the fact that the party got a little disorganized. She admitted that she even forgot to announce that a hefty portion of all the proceeds went to a high-school art program!

Now I feel a little bad about bitching about the experience. Because, well, I said before: now I got a tiny polar bear!