patronage

When I was in fourth grade Maggie Ross's dad [not Bob Ross, sorry] would come and teach us about art, artists, and art history. One of the many things we learned, and one of the few things I can remember along with the fact that Van Gogh cut his ear off because of a woman, was that it was common for artists to be sponsored by popes, monarchs and the aristocracy. During long days at the office while attempting to encourage brain function through stimulation of the creative juices, I wander to various fashion blogs, knitting sites, and flickr pages. In one such wandering this morning I started thinking about patronage of the arts and what a shame it is that such practices have, aside from politics, gone by the wayside. I would love it if someone would pay me to knit, pay me to be creatively inspired. I know it is possible to do these things without some exorbitantly wealthy benefactor, but then it lacks a certain romanticism. And, along with spending my days engrossed in creative pursuits, it is the romanticism that attracts me.