The paintings are getting expensive...

"The paintings are getting expensive," my friends say to me. And the way they say it feels a bit accusatory. As if the words "you slimy, money-sucking bastard" would have been appended were they less polite people.

And yes, they are, I suppose, getting expensive. $18,000 is more than most people are willing to pay for art. Or are able. I just got this email:

Dear Geoffrey,
Last week I was able to see your work on TV, but I missed your name and could find nothing on line.
Today you were again mentioned on TV and luckily I was at home where I could rewind the program to get your name.
FINALLY!! I have found a way to reach you.
I am nearly 70 years old, not rich.
I majored in art, then finally became a Jungian analyst.

I love your work!!!
How can I get one?
Please tell me how and I will find a way to pay for it.
It need not be large.

For the record, I'm more of a Freudian guy (Lucian) than a Jungian guy, but I'm not holding that against this lovely soul. And between you and me, I'm gonna set her up just fine.

But it got me thinking. And then it hit me. The big idea. A grande idéia (Portuguese, fyi). It would be this:

You, dear reader, may commission an annotated portrait for $1,800.

You won't get a 4'x5' publicly annotated piece like "The Screaming Pope." What you will get is a work on paper, roughly 18" x 22", suitable for framing (as they might say were this an ad for something like Popeil's Pocket Fisherman). It will be a pen and ink, plus some color, of the subject of your choice (provided I think I can do it justice). It will also annotated. The annotations will be composed by me, a wide circle of my friends and associates, and you and your friends, if you so desire. The annotations will be collected and inscribed by me over the course of a couple of weeks. The effect will be very much in keeping with the spirit of the big ones, just at a more manageable size and price.

I'm going to do ten of these things at this price. First come, first served.