Home Is Where the Art Isstring(24) "Home Is Where the Art Is"

By Ivan and Beth Misner

"The Chess Match"

“The Chess Match”

"Rain Pillar"

“Rain Pillar”

What a turbulent two years we (Ivan and Beth) have been through. You know those times when things are moving so fast you feel like you are riding on a runaway horse and all you can do is hold on and pray he doesn’t take a sharp right turn? That has been us for the past little while.  We bought a small condo in Texas as our primary residence and moved some of our belongings there. We put our house in Claremont on the market, but left most of our things there, so it would show well. We did not stay in the house when we returned to California for work, preferring to keep it ready at all times to be viewed by prospective buyers. We hit the road for work and were gone literally more than we were home, so we didn’t really get to settle in to our Texas condo and “nest.”

When we moved our belongings out of the Claremont house, most of our things went to the Texas condo and some things went into storage in Texas, waiting for the day when we are traveling less and feel ready to have a house again (sigh).  Although we have a place to live, we both felt like we didn’t have a “home.”

Tree

“Beauty’s Privilege”

And then the artwork we had chosen from Claremont arrived at our condo in Austin.  As we started unpacking the paintings (some created by our very own talented daughter, Ashley Misner) and statues − familiar beloved friends − choosing where they would be displayed, a thought came to us: Home is where the art is!

We have some of our pieces in place in our Austin condo now. Just walking in the front door brings a smile and a sense of belonging as we see The Chess Match, Beauty’s Privilege, Rain Pillar and Wednesday on the Coral Sea, pieces we have collected together over many years and from many different travels.

For us, anyway, home IS where the art is.