When we became art collectors

I have been a fan of folk art for a long time. Several years ago, I noticed around pieces around town and the region that were painted by an artist named Lamar Sorrento. I finally got curious enough to Google him and found his website. There's lots of great art for sale there that Andrew and I spent some time admiring and considering acquiring. Then we contemplated the fact that he takes orders. We started daydreaming about getting our piece painted with the subject of our choosing. We ran through several ideas before Andrew suggested the North Mississippi All-Stars. As soon as he said it, I knew that would be perfect. They are our favorite band, and they're steeped in the Memphis music scene, a favorite subject of Mr. Sorrento's. So Andrew sent him an email and proposed this idea. He responded and asked us to send him a couple of pictures to get a sense of what we were looking for. We found a couple on the interwebs and sent those in. We were then told to hang cool, that he painted fast, and we would get our painting soon. We had commissioned a piece of art! I felt so highfalutin! About 2 weeks later, he sent us a picture of the painting and asked us what we thought. We were both delighted beyond words. We got to go to his residence a couple days later and pick up our painting. It was even more awesome in person. I got a little fangirl tongue-tied around this much-admired artist, but he was quite gracious. We got out of there before I embarrassed myself and headed straight home to hang our art on the wall. I love it and love being a nascent art collector.