I had nearly forgotten about the Art Print Exchange, so when I spotted this box when I got home, I had no idea what it was.

I open the tube and find a great Miro print with a note from my secret santa. My secret santa thinks it looks like a dancing dog. Now every time I look at it I see a dancing dog too. Thank you secret santa!

I got into this kind of artwork by accident. I worked at a hotel years ago that had once held some artwork by Joan Miro, Alexander Calder, & Jim Davis back in the 40's & 50's. All the artwork had been moved away to art museums by the time I worked there, but I was always interested in the history of the old building. I went to see some of the artwork at the museum but I just thought it was weird.

A few years later I was given a painting from someone who had visited Haiti. It was a weird pastel painting of people that looked like eggs by a guy named Casimir. I hung it up even though I thought it was hideous. Eventually it grew on me and now I love it. After I moved to Phoenix, I started to take more interest in Frank Lloyd Wright because of his old studio here and his architecture around the city. Reading up on him, I found out that he was really influenced by modernist art and also helped to influence it. Over time I started to pick up on some of the common themes like the geometric shapes, lines and colors, but it's still experimental. I've started thinking of doing some stenciling and glass work myself just to see what I can come up with.

My secret santa totally nailed it. This is getting a nice frame and going up on my wall. Thank you secret santa!