I was wandering through the Riverview Station building in the River Arts District, looking in…read moreparticular for a couple of artists whose work I'd stumbled upon on the website. I went the wrong way, though, and ended up near the Art Garden. As I was turning around to come back, Galen emerged excitedly from his studio with another artist, and as they parted ways Galen enthusiastically invited me to his studio. It was so much fun to talk with the artist about their work! I'm not at all educated about art, and I can't speak about it in any kind of sophisticated or technical way, but I found his work incredibly interesting and very beautiful. He talked to me about one of the commissioned pieces he was working on--in fact, it was for the artist he'd been speaking with when he invited me in. He described how it originated, the "seed" the other artist had given him to create the painting (row, row, row your boat), and how he'd taken it from there. Galen uses words in his art sometimes, and this particular piece has strains from that nursery rhyme painted into it. It would be interesting to know how much of the words remain in the final piece, and how much fades into the background as the painting evolves. Galen had a new piece he'd finished that was simply stunning. I wish I had the $2,300 or so to buy it myself. I'm going to be bugging him for sure about a reproduction. As it was, I couldn't decide between three reproductions he had available, and he said he'd tell me a bit about each of them to help aid in my decision making. In the end I chose one that had some personal elements for him in it, as part of the mountains in the piece represent where he was born. I loved it anyway, but that made it extra special! As I was leaving he was inviting others in to chat and see his work. He's really such a fun guy to hang around and have a chat with, and really made me feel excited to buy my first piece of art!