First, I went to the Denver Art Museum, which I knew that I’d enjoy right away. Two weeks later, I drove to Sixteenth Street Mall with my dad, thinking that’s where the annual German Christmas market would be held. Turns out, it’d been moved to Civic Center park, which was about a half-mile away from where I’d successfully parallel-parked. 

Since I didn’t want to repark the Xterra, I decided to brave the construction and rampant homelessness (and open drug-use) that have taken over Sixteenth Street mall, just to go to an overcrowded and equally underwhelming Christmas market with my dad. At least the goulash and perogies were delicious, though I'm not sure if they were worth the walk. 

Then, just a couple weekends ago, I drove myself and my mom to Santa Fe Arts District, where there was ample parking, clean and safe streets, and plenty of art galleries to peruse. In fact, nearly every art gallery was open on that frigid Saturday afternoon, though my mom and I only had a couple hours to spare. 

We first wandered into the art gallery closest to where we’d parked: the D’art Gallery on the corner of 9th avenue and Santa Fe drive. There, a long-exposure photographer was showing off his works. My mom was interested in them, and while I thought the technique was interesting, I was less so. So, we crossed the street and checked out the next nearest art gallery that was open: the Colorado Access gallery, which featured art from students of nearby schools. 

Again, I wasn’t all that interested in the art, nor was my mom. Just a few minutes after walking into that gallery, we left, and headed up the street to another open art gallery: the Grace Gallery. Finally, we discovered some art that actually caught my attention. In fact, right towards the front of the store, I noticed some beautiful nature photography. And it was expensive, too! 8X8 metal prints were going for around $70 bucks, and regular unframed photo prints were going for $30 bucks a piece. 

I mention this because I’ve thought about selling my art for years, but never took the leap of faith. Meanwhile, I was stood staring at photography that looked a lot like mine, most of which was selling for hundreds of dollars. 

“Maybe I should try submitting my art to a gallery sooner than later…” I silently thought as I turned to check out the rest of the gallery, when I ran into the photographer himself. 

“Hello!” he introduced himself (though I forgot his name).

“Hello!” I answered back.