MANY years ago, when I was a struggling art student who couldn’t sell a painting for love nor money, I took on a variety of unglamourous jobs to pay the bills.
By nights I washed dishes at a Mexican restaurant in Perth, and on weekends I peeled potatoes in the kitchen of a Mt Lawley pub.
It never occurred to me to go door-to-door with a bunch of cheap knock-offs, claim them as my own, and charge hugely inflated prices for them.
In news this week, police swooped on a trio of ‘struggling art students’ doing just that.
And plenty of people fell for the scam.
It made me recall a time when I was much younger and my mum fell prey to the charms of a door-to-door salesman peddling hideous copper art.
Now she says she parted with her hard-earned cash because the seller was “handsome”.
But not even George Clooney could have made those copper monstrosities look any good.
You know what wins me over? Honesty.
A couple of weeks ago I was in the city and came across a homeless man begging for cash.
He had a sign which read something like: ‘Please donate. I will use this money to buy alcohol’.
What a breath of fresh air. The truth!
I’m a sucker for anyone putting their hand out for loose change, and I’m always good for at least a couple of coins, but something about this man’s honesty struck a chord, and not just with me.
His cup, quite literally, ranneth over.
His business plan may not be fool-proof.
In another ten years he could still be on that same doorstep, cup in hand.
But he just may have happened upon the one thing people want in a simple transaction – the truth.
So here goes…
I have a garage full of truly terrible paintings.
They are originals. And when I say they are bad, I mean it. They are really awful.
But you can buy them if you like.
I will use the money to join the homeless man at the bar.
