The adopter, Jeanne Brasile, writes:

When I first heard about FAAN, I thought "What artist would just want give away their art to a total stranger - and why?!?" But since I was totally intrigued by the concept, I logged onto the website and checked out what was available for adoption. After looking at a number of pieces, I came across Michelle's "Red Slit". I was immediately taken. Even seeing this in a small thumbnail, I had a visceral reaction to this wildly sensual and dangerous looking photograph.

I think I was attracted to both the lushness of color and the subject matter. As I mentioned to Michelle, I am usually not attracted to anything so symmetrical - I prefer the tension that asymmetry provides to a work. Michelle astutely noted that this work, although it is symmetrical, is loaded with tension of another sort. I think that is another dimension of my infatuation with "Red Slit"

I contacted Michelle and we had a few e-mail conversations before she invited me to her studio in Brooklyn. We spoke for some time about her art and she shared her portfolio with me. Then she asked me about myself. I didn't feel like I was being interrogated, but I know she wanted to make sure her photograph was going to a good home with someone who would appreciate it.

Although "Red Slit" was lying against a wall just a few feet away from where we spoke in her studio, I was so into our conversation, I didn't really look at my prospective adoption until the end my of visit. When I finally got to look at it closely, I was blown away. The large-scale, the glossy finish, the detail...just amazing!

The visit ended with Michelle agreeing to let me adopt "Red Slit". I was so psyched! So
I came back the following week to pick the piece up at her studio. I just picked it up last night so I haven't hung it yet, but it
is going to be hung this weekend, in my bedroom. Incidentally, Michelle's edition of the same piece hangs in her bedroom too. How cool!

Now that I know more about Michelle's art through her website and our discussions, I plan on staying in touch and getting out to her future shows. So now, I guess I understand why artists choose to use FAAN. It's a great way for artists to cultivate collectors and for both artists and art fans to connect on a more personal level. YAY for us both!

The artist, michelle handelman, writes:

“It is both alluring and dangerous looking at the same time.”
These were Jeanne’s words and they moved me because I knew instantly she got it.

Let me be honest here and say that when I originally signed up for FAAN I was a bit confused and thought that my artworks would be going on indefinite loan, not on permanent vacation, so when I realized that this adoption process was forever I had to reevaluate who and what I was willing to work with…afterall, these are by children, bastards as they may be, yet conceived with the most beautiful of all messy intentions.

“Red Slit” is one of my favorite pieces and as Jeanne mentioned, it hangs in my bedroom, I sleep with it every night. So I wanted to make sure that it would be loved…really passionately loved in it’s new home because it seemed to me that since I was communicating with it on a daily basis, and now this other person would be communicating with it on a daily basis, then that meant that the two of us would also be communicating with each other on a daily basis…and I’m very picky about who I communicate with every day!

But when I got an email from “beastiecurator” I knew I had found my match.

The moment we met I instantly liked Jeanne and I’m thrilled that she will have a piece of the “Cannibal Garden” in her home. So often when works are sold from the gallery you never get a feel for the buyers excitement, and so as an artist you remain unchanged by the event (other than the fact that it changes your bank account so you can pay off some credit cards which is always a good thing!) but with FAAN the excitement is the commodity. I’m putting out the love and someone’s loving it back…loving it so much that they actually want to live with it!

It’s kinda like the perfect relationship. Deep love without the domestic fights.

The artist, Cathy Nan Quinlan, writes:

When I placed this painting up for adoption, I asked three questions: Can you guess its name?, Can you tell me the 16th century artwork that it is pictured in? and Can you offer a speculation about why I painted it?
A friend suggested that I was making it too difficult for anyone to guess because I actually wanted to keep it. However, if that was true, I was disappointed because less than 24 hours later, someone came up with all the answers and I was forced to let it go.
The adopter offered a surprising and apt speculation about why I painted it--a better reason than my own. If anyone else would like to suggest a reason, there would be no prize, but I would be really interested to hear it.

The artist, amy sillman, writes:

he's from arkansas; i was looking for someone outside of nyc

The artist, joy garnett, writes:

I was incredibly moved by this adopter, from start to finish; here's a long excerpt from his first email:

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I want to adopt your painting mostly to teach my children that art is necessary. I want them not to fear art, or feel stupid in its presence. I want them to see brush strokes and know that a person much like them devoted time and thought to something that is really for others. I want them to see that it's possible to sit still for a while and lose yourself.

But I guess that's why I'd like to adopt any painting.

I think your painting is beautiful and haunting. If I understand what inspired the painting, I'm excited by the idea that attaching significance to random moments and a subject that is -- by one definition, at least -- insignificant.

I can't say that I entered the site looking for a painting of foraminfera. It was more like looking through a book of mug shots. I didn't get a real good look at the guy, an all the portraits seem to resonate on some level, but they aren't it. I stopped immediately when I saw yours. This was it. (I also like the other foraminfera painting. This one reminded me, I guess on some level, of a Scottish family crest I once saw: it was a bee on a thistle, and the motto was Dulcius ex Asperis, which translates as "Sweetness through struggle" or something like that. But the more I look at the picture, the less I see that.)

This painting would hang above the mantel in the living room above the fireplace. (The fireplace, alas, doesn't work anymore.) Also in the living room is an abstract picture by my first son and one by my grandfather (whom I never knew; he died of Alzheimer's when I was born). These pictures are both small, about six inches square. There are two other pieces of art in the house: a reproduction of a resource map of the United States by Miguel Covarrubias (a Mexican muralist, if you're not familiar) and a 5-foot-square Gerhard Richter poster of a seascape.

[snip!]
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