First of all, I’m a delight. Second: “…I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.” – JFK, November 29, 1962
In October of last year (2024), upon the return from a small trip away, my husband asked me to come talk to him outside our house–and to leave my phone inside. Jokingly I said, “What, you afraid that Two Guys From Quantico Pizza will show up?” He just gave me this look and asked me to walk outside again.
These are not our exact words, but as close as I can remember them – as that day kinda lives rent free in my brain.
Him: “So you know that painting hanging on the wall of our living room.”
Me: “Yep, I know that one.”
Him: “Well, I was thinking how we need some resources to do repairs on our house, so I looked up the artist who painted it.”
Me: “Awesome! Is it worth something?”
Him: “Well, I’m not sure you are ready to hear this, but this is what I learned…”
He bought the painting at a store called Randalls in the early 1980s. At the time he was doing construction work in the Houston area, and he would see it every time he purchased groceries. “It was captivating, and somehow I knew it would be important in the future. I saved my money, then walked in one day and purchased it,” he said tentatively.
At this point my heart was racing a little bit. Was the artist someone super famous that I didn’t know about? I mean the provenance was already captivating, so I asked if he still had the receipt. He didn’t, but still…the story was pretty interesting so far, and I was anxious to hear more.
Him: “So I looked up the artist, and they are still living. After a bit of sleuthing I found their email and wrote to them.” (keeping things gender neutral because past experiences have shown me that the internet has eyes)
Me: “Oh yeah, and what did they say?”
Him: “That it’s their work, and they can verify that they put their fingerprint on the paper for verification.”
Me: “Okay, this is all really, really good, and will help us when contacting appraisers and such.”
Him: “Yeah, but maybe we should just get rid of it at a donation store or something.”
Me: “Why? It’s just a painting of an animal on a knoll.”
Him: “Yeah, well, I think there might be more to it than just a nice painting of a mythical animal…let me tell you about the artist and their tie to an event in Dallas, Texas in the 60s…”
Not to sound all conspiratorial, and also this is not a “hook” to get all y’all to keep reading/viewing my work. When we, as a family, decided to tell the story of how this painting was a touchstone for our lives together, my content was taken down from TikTok, Bluesky, the Metaverse, and was throttled on the place formerly known as Twitter. This was shocking to me due to the amount of deep dives into obscure things that were literally the bread and butter of those sites. I mean there were viral videos in the same vein as the artist of the painting. Also, nothing shared was in violation of anyone’s terms. In fact I lead with the story of how this painting felt like a “sign” when my husband and I began dating. (more on that at a later time)
It was just history, a bit of, “well isn’t this a coincidence,” and a lot of, “Hey, we are trying to help the family have some more resources, so we are thinking of selling this painting by [artist’s name], and would love if you could share our story.”
We have a ballpark figure for what this painting might be worth, and have reached out to a few art professionals on how to put it up for sale. It’s just, when we share its provenance (which is very important, btw), things get a little bit wonky.
Another thing for y’all to know is that I didn’t come back to my creative life just to push this story for likes/shares. In the long ago days I was a professional photographer (award winning), and a published poet (also award winning). Alongside that I was a professional “weird lady down the street,” working in the field of health, spirituality, and advocacy (think science based holistic work that was an anathema to gimmicky MLM “wellness” influencers). Toss in the fact that I’ve been “online” since my teens, watching it go from anything goes chat rooms to ID verification. Know that even with VPNs, routing around the world, hiring the world’s greatest hackers, and placing magical talismans around your server — all your work are belong to “us,” with all the digital information camping out in the wires.
What I’m trying to say here is this – it would be helpful for my family if we can sell this painting. Trying to do so made my work get throttled by the all seeing eye of whoever is in charge. Can I use this painting to help promote my stuff? Of course. At the same time it would be nice to just have my work do well on its own. Does it feel like I’m between the devil and the deep blue sea with all of it?
Yes.
Could my family and I see all this as more than what it really is?
Also yes.
It’s just that here in 2025, life seems a little more urgent…and I’m worn out with trying to sit nicely in the corner when there are stories to be told. Rumi suggested that we “be notorious,” so that’s my goal. I contain multitudes, have no idea what I’m doing half the time, and have been so very safe for far too long.
Hopefully this has been as vague as the bots like, but my guess is that it’s going to be throttled yet again. The more this happens the less my content will show up in your feed. Guess that’s just the breaks these days, ‘eh?
Thanks for reading – part 3 will come out tomorrow (hopefully).
Much love,
~ KEU
Currently listening to: Life in a Northern Town by Dream Academy
Currently Reading: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
Kim Upton 