[wet work]

I don't consider myself an avid collector but I've managed to gather a few pieces that I really like and have been good investments as well. One of my best friends is an art dealer (mostly music stuff) and he's hooked me up with some stuff that's appreciated nicely, mostly by giving me rock bottom prices on some prints that were near the end of their run.

I have an original pen and ink by Jerry Garcia-- one of only 2 he did in an asian style. A book just came out recently that my friend submitted my piece to be in (a couple of his are in it) and the lady chose the other one in this style, kind of a bummer as it probably would've increased it's value but oh well. I could sell it for a decent sum but I'm not planning on it.

I also have an original pen and ink by Aldous Huxley that's pretty cool. Don't really know how much that one's worth, but I picked it up for less than 1k. It's kind of a cool piece, a simple landscape-- it's aged well and has a nice sepia tone now. I bought it from his psychiatrist's son and it was an X-mas present to her in 1946. There's a nice little handwritten note attached as well.

Another cool piece I have is a nude drawing(original) by Alex Grey, one of my favorite artists. He's incredibly talented and I definitely plan on getting something else by him that's more reflective of his style, he paints these amazing psychedelic pieces. He and his wife are very cool and she invited me to his studio, when I bought that piece, to have a look around and maybe get something else. Check out his website, incredible stuff.

My friend is a retailer for Vladimir Kush, another amazingly talented psychedelic/surrealist. He's hooked me up with several prints by him that have appreciated a ton. I got a few prints that were about to sellout (he doesn't do multiple runs) for anywhere from 750-1300, and I've seen them selling on ebay for about 15k each. That was just luck and happening to know someone. He basically dropped those in my lap. Plus I really love the guys work, so I'm real pleased about that whole situation. I ended up commissioning an original by him, pen and ink (I can't really touch his oil prices), but the way it went down was pretty cool. I sent him a photo of my daughters and said if these inspire you in any way, have at it and I'll take whatever you do. He ended doing an incredible drawing of an Amarylis with 2 girls kind of inside the roots of the plant--just a sick piece. If you check out his stuff on his site you can't help but see how talented he is. His line work with the pen is unreal. I paid like 5k for that and when i went down to Maui to meet him last fall his gallery manager said I could probably get like 20k for it if I wanted to sell. No way that's happening though, as it's for my kids.

I have a bunch of other stuff that I've managed to collect over the years. Some awesome Stanley Mouse stuff, and other things off in that direction. My advice, like most people will tell you is to just buy what you like. That's what I do, any appreciation is just a bonus. I have no plans to sell anything I have.