Marriage and Art

All through our marriage we have collected art. It is hard to know why we started or even why we did it. It just seemed the right thing to do. Luckily we moved to The Netherlands after 7 years of marriage and the art buying climate there was very supportive and friendly. The Dutch government had a program where you could purchase art and they would pay immediately to the gallery and the artist. You would pay the government back the full amount, but with NO interest. You could choose to pay the money up to three years, so it made it easy to buy art, especially on a tight budget.
The first piece of art we bought was a sculpture by an English lady who worked and lived in Amsterdam: Maggi Giles. It was a "map" tower of the world, showing the oceans at the bottom and the trip to what she called The Perfect Planet. It was filled with upward energy and very strong colors. Since then, we have become close friends with Maggi and her partner, Mieke Hille, a professional art photographer. Maggi's works are in many museums in the world, but now she has "retired" from making sculptures because of poor health. Maggi has a funny sense of humor and she is a wonderful cook, having created Mr. Piggy, the chef, and famous for her lunches, including decorated menus.
In 1976, for our 15th wedding anniversary, we commissioned Maggi to make us a set of dinnerware. She told us that she would make it, but on the condition that we used it and not displayed it. It would, of course, be unique and in her style. We agreed.
The original bill from 1 March 1976 shows the pieces and prices of the dinner set, which we now display in a glass case (sorry Maggi) and use for special parties.
This beautiful piece(s) of art inspire us and give us joy and happiness. Since then, we have had the luck to buy many more pieces of Maggi's work, and, in fact, she has "forced" us to get others. She would telephone and say, "I want you to have this piece. Please buy it." Or, she would give us something special, like a mirror and, for Judy, a set of tomatoes (her favorite).