6/12/2024

“Student or professional?”

I frequent this small art supply store by my place

It’s in between abandoned suites with bared up windows

You have to ring a bell to be let in

I love the way art supply stores smell

It’s kinda how I love the smells of home depot and book stores

You could leave me all day in any of these places

They turn down the volume…

My restless hands needed to exhaust some energy

I begin to walk up and down the isles

Admiring all the tools and options one can use to tell a story

So much of it, I’ve never used

The owner walks up to greet me

She smiles and asks, “student or professional?”

I shook my head confused, “neither”

She kept smiling and waiting for my answer

For me to pick one, so then I say, “Just student grade paint is fine”

The longer she smiles at me, the more I think she might be trying to upsell me

But I decide to humor her, “Ok, professional”

Before I could finish responding she’s leading the way to the back of the store behind a counter

The wall is covered with Golden, Liquitex, Winsor and Newton

The professional grade stuff

All brands have the student stuff and then there’s this stuff

I can’t help but get excited at how many shades she has

There’s like 20 different shades of grey

I never buy pricy stuff

The student stuff works just fine

But, I felt a little impulsive

I grab two tubes

She scans them and says, “Good, 20% discount for the professional”

I laugh and shake my head

Then she hands me the tubes, still smiling at me

“Good customer…. You’r always a calm shopper. Good eyes and hands….Professional.”

I thank her with a nod and accept I’m not winning this argument

She’s never seen my work and could be very well upselling me

But I couldn’t help but think of all the things I consider myself a student in

I push back on the idea of being a professional in anything

Now that art is back in my life

I don’t think I ever want to lose it again

I think I would like to do something more with it