Art can not only be a solace to us in our old age, but a way to pay for our care, and lessen the financial burden on our loved ones.

I am reminded about a story that a friend recently told me about his paternal grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s:

Every time he visits, she notices him looking at one of her paintings: fishermen rowing back to shore from a distant sunset. 

She asks him if he likes it. He says yes. She gifts it to him.

A few days later, she forgets ever having painted it, comes across the reference photo in her studio, and sits down to paint it again.

Then the next time he visits: deja vu. 

But he doesn’t want to make her feel bad about her memory lapse, so he doesn’t say anything and just accepts it and thanks her like it’s the first time he’s receiving it.

Sometimes when he isn’t able to visit, she gifts it to someone else. Or sells it to her collectors. 

So now my friend has five versions of the same painting - almost like variations on a theme. It’s fascinating to observe the little differences between them, as well as what remains the same through the iterations.

He hopes his grandmother will have many more years to paint and grace the family with her presence. When the inevitable happens, and she passes away to a better place, he plans to run her memorial service as a solo show of her works.

His hope is that everybody who has a version of that special painting - family, friends, collectors, will bring it with them to the memorial, as a way to honor and remember her.

Proceeds from the event will be donated to Alzheimer’s research, so that maybe somewhere, someday, it will save a grandmother, grandfather…

I thought this was a heartwarming account from the autumn of another artist’s life, so I wanted to share it with you.

She might forget names, she might forget events, and on bad days she might even forget family members, but somehow she never seems to forget her love of painting.

And the sales of her art, to decades-long collectors in particular, go a long way to paying for her medical and nursing expenses. But much more importantly:

They afford her the dignity of paying for her care herself.

They give her hope, and a sense of accomplishment to hold onto, while everything else erodes, slips away…

To know that her art is still sold. Collected. Sought after.

I think as artists we could also use that encouragement…

To be sold. Collected. Sought after.

But how do we build that base of collectors?

Today, one of the best ways is to sell our art and build our “tribe” online.

That's why I'm running a workshop on Monday, November 18 at 12 PM EST called Selling Art Online (it’s free).

My hope is that you’ll walk out of this training knowing exactly what it takes to make a sale online and how some of the top artists are doing it today so that you can start generating sales and build a base of collectors in the next 12 months.

>>> You can register for the workshop here (just click the link, no opt in required) <<<

Best,

Brainard