You might not think that being an artist and working part-time at an art center would be a funny job. However, there are a few chuckles involved with the job.

One of my favorites occurred a few years ago during a Members Show when I came into the art center to find an artist standing in the gallery and moaning "Oh, no! My painting sold!" Now, most artists are extremely happy if they sell a painting. I was a little puzzled that this artist was upset over being several hundred dollars richer.

It turned out that she had painted a large watercolor of the Ohio State campus and decided to put it in the show. Because the picture had sentimental value to her, she didn't really want to sell it. However, she didn't think the picture would really appeal to anyone else. So, being sure no one would want to buy it, just for fun she put what she thought was an exorbitantly high price on it. And surprise! The painting sold. Now whenever we see an unusually high price on an artwork we joke that the artist really doesn't want to sell it.

The Wassenberg Art Center staff and volunteers assist the Fair Board each year by taking in entries for the Van Wert County Fair fine arts display. One of the most important rules for this display is that all the work should be original - in other words, not copied from anyone else's work, made from a kit or a pattern, etc. Therefore, the Fair exhibit features a lot of very fine original art over which the artists have labored long and hard, and Fair visitors always seem to appreciate this.

Well - maybe not always. One year I was "sitting" the display and noticed a gentleman looking very closely at each piece of artwork. He slowly made his way around the exhibit and then came up to me and asked "How many of these pictures are paint-by-number?"

Because it's logical for artists to paint their surroundings, many pictures painted in northwest Ohio feature fields, farm buildings and old barns. Some years ago a very talented artist, a dignified lady who preferred more avant-garde pictures, was helping to take in entries for the fine arts display at the Fair. Not surprisingly, the entries included lots of rural subjects. As this lady looked over the most recent entries, she sighed, "Oh, no - not ANOTHER d**n barn!"

About 20 years ago I took a watercolor class at the art center. The instructor was a short, burly, fellow with shaggy hair and a rough beard, wearing jeans and a flannel shirt. He looked like the stereotypical "starving artist." He was a talented artist and teacher who had recently moved to the Van Wert area from out west. He was just getting established in a teaching position in Fort Wayne, and taught art classes on the side to supplement his meager income. Like all good teachers, this gentleman wanted to challenge his students to do their best possible work. Therefore, he worked diligently to point out areas where they could improve their technique. He spent quite a bit of time with one of the art center members who liked to emphasize parts of her work with a strong line around objects. The instructor told her over and over, "Don't outline! Outlining weakens your work!"

Our "starving artist" instructor eventually moved east and became a professor of art at a university. Over the years his technique has evolved into a very strong, unique and expressive style, and now he is nationally famous and quite rich. His long hair is tied back in a ponytail, his beard is neatly trimmed, he has a diamond earring, and he wears designer suits. His work has appeared in many, many art magazines, and my friend and I always laugh when we see it - because the artist who kept telling her NOT to outline now outlines everything in his paintings!

Tags: funny