I wrote a blog last month about my idea of why Nick, a beautiful young man with cerebral palsy, decided to purchase my painting, called Cassandra.  You can read my story here, if you like, but the truth is I didn’t ask Nick why he actually wanted this painting?  And yes, I am ashamed I didn’t ask him. I was so into writing my version that it didn’t occur at the time to ask, which was pretty unfair to Nick. How much more beautiful could my blog have been if I had simply asked him why he wanted to buy my painting. Gracious as he is, he understood. 

Then I realized something about myself: I rarely ask collectors why they want to buy my work. I’m just so happy that they want to. Why rock the boat, right? God bless Nick, who in our continuing emails finally asked me, “do you want to know the real reason why I bought her?” Of course I did. I always want to know why a person buys my work. 

Then I realized something even more disturbing. The reason I don’t ask why isn’t because I’m not interested. It’s because I am afraid to ask such a personal question.  I’m afraid I will trample on their reasons and quite frankly I’m afraid I will talk them out of wanting to buy my work. So, I’ve kept my mouth shut. When I consider all the beauty and depth I’ve missed out on throughout my career, because of fear, it makes me very sad. 

This painting made me cry, it is so profound

Not only do I miss out on knowing what drives my collectors, which might be nice to know (hello!). But it also limits the bond that can happen when people talk about the Elephant in the room. The WHY is always the Elephant in the room. Why someone wants to own a Maniscalco original is usually deeply personal and revealing.  And there are a million reasons why someone might want to own a Maniscalco. 

Fortunately, I got to hear Nick’s reason. Nick said, “to me it is a woman who just died, floating above the earth. She is on her journey to heaven, to ”the light,” and she is blessing the earth before she gets her wings. Like me some day.” 

I must tell you, his WHY left me speechless. It is so sad and inspiring, all at the same time. It is so much more poignant and powerful than anything I could have made up, because it was the real reason. The expression “truth is stranger than fiction,” says it all. We are often afraid of what we will learn when we ask the all-important why.

Nick Cerrato Uses his body as his brush.

Another thing you need to know about Nick, if you didn’t know it already, is that he is also an established artist, with an exhibition at Public Works running until July 11. I stayed with each of his paintings there for a good long while this past Saturday. They are magnificent. There’s no other word. I’ve written extensively about what I call the un-self-conscious line, as elusive and unobtainable.  Nick, due to his physical constraints, can achieve this quality in his work, something Picasso and Pollack could never achieve. Look deeply into his work and you will see what I mean. 

His real reason for wanting Cassandra has led to our collaborating on a work of art together.  I’m very excited to report that we are planning a very special painting that will require both our special abilities to create.  We start next week. I don’t know if what we produce together will be successful or not. And of course, that gets into the definition of success. But all I know is that he and I will be there for each other when we faulter in this adventure. We are going to attempt to tell his very powerful creation story, if we can pull it off.  Please say a little prayer about our collaboration. It is uncharted territory for both of us. 

And, like me, learn not to be afraid to ask why. For instance, I will be more inclined because of this experience, to ask you why you might want a portrait of your children, your parents, your spouse, your dog? I might guess the reason is because you love them very much. But I have a feeling the real reason is much more beautiful than anything I might imagine. I hope you will hit reply and tell me why you would want a portrait of your special someone. Or I hope you will tell me why you bought a certain painting of mine or share with me why a particular work of mine moves, touches and inspires you. And finally, please forgive me for being too afraid to ask why, when I had the chance.