On a recent trip to Las Vegas, Ray and I managed to avoid blowing money on the casinos, but with about an hour to go before heading to the airport, they got us! Checking out the canal shops at the Venetian we found an art gallery featuring two artists. (”we found an art gallery” is a dangerous phrase these days )

I was first attracted to the gallery because of the show for Tom Everhart who has done modern pieces using Peanuts characters. Stephanie and I did a mini road trip up to Santa Rosa to see a Tom Everhart show actually at the Charles Schulz museum. It was neat to see a lot of original works by Everhart.

We turned the corner and were introduced to the works of Todd Goldman. His paintings are colorful, funny and I burst out laughing within five seconds of entering the room. It was pretty shocking that we actually bought a painting so quickly. Normally this is a much more research and soul searching (and bank account searching) experience for us.

We were sold already on how much we liked the painting, but there were a few extra factors that really excited us. The painting is actually one in a new series of Lithographs being made. Having the original behind a poster is pretty cool. He also has a new animated series called “The Stupid Factory” coming out at some point featuring Trendy Wendy (the figure on the left).

Whether all of this increases the value of the painting or not, I still smile every time I see it, so it is well worth it. The problem is always that even if it does well, could I part with it to cash in?