Roll Call VIII: Four Voices on What an Original Does in a Room
Last updated: 26 October 2026
In short: An original does what a purchase cannot: it keeps working in a room for years. Four voices make the case in turn, from a Vancouver art consultant who has watched clients spend on couches and hang prints, to a painter who says an original “elevates a home,” to a London art advisor on why the conversation around a work counts as much as the sale, and a poet on why the real thing matters.
What does an art consultant see when the couch comes first?
Deanna Geisheimer, art consultant and president of Art Works Gallery in Vancouver, spoke to Yahoo News Canada (Lise Boullard, updated 17 September 2026) about how people prioritize a room. “I’ve seen people spend $30,000 on a couch and then they put up a $500 print,” she said. Then she turned it around: “But the artwork, if it’s selected well, will last you a lifetime,” and she calls what it pays back over the years “joy dividends.”
The arithmetic is hers, and the point survives without the numbers. Furniture is bought for a season and replaced. A painting chosen with care stays on the wall through the next three arrangements of the room.
What does a painter say an original adds?
Heather Essian, a Fort Worth artist who also designs wallpaper, put it in one breath to PaperCity (Edward Brown, 23 January 2025; source age disclosed): “An original piece of art elevates a home. You can’t replicate original art with a print.”
A painter’s answer is worth reading next to a consultant’s. The consultant describes what the original does over time. The painter describes what it is: a single object made once, in a particular order, by a particular hand.
Why does the real thing matter to the eye?
Marianne Moore, in her poem “Poetry,” asked for “imaginary gardens with real toads in them.” The line is usually read as a rule for poems, and it reads as well for a wall. A reproduction is a very good garden. An original is the toad in it: the part with weight, a surface where the paint is thicker in one place than another, a mark you can follow with your eye to where it was made.
I paint in layers over weeks, in oil and mixed media, so that surface is where the days are kept. A photograph of it shows the picture. Standing in front of it shows the making.
Why does the conversation around a painting count as much as the sale?
Daniel Malarkey, a London-based art advisor, told Artsy after Frieze London (19 October 2026) that “at Frieze, what happens between the aisles is as important as the sales,” and that “new projects happen mid-conversation.” He also said, flatly, “Frieze is cool again.”
His subject was a fair, but the observation travels. Collectors rarely describe a painting alone. They describe who made it, what the room looked like when it arrived, and what was said while it was chosen. Buying direct from a painter keeps that conversation in the transaction instead of around it.
How does a collector begin with an original?
Start with the wall and the light, then look at finished work. About fifty ready-to-ship originals are on the studio’s available paintings page at any time, each shipped rolled to a framer near you, stretched on arrival and hand-delivered ready to hang. When no existing painting fits, a commission begins with a conversation, and I paint two options at the same time so the choice is between two finished paintings. Designers and consultants can start with the Trade Program, and the studio’s story shows where the work comes from.
I have painted for over twenty years, and the question I hear most is the simplest: will it still feel right in ten years? The consultant’s answer is the right one. Choose the one that speaks to you, and let the room come second.
Frequently asked questions
Why buy original art instead of a print?
An original is a single hand-made object with a physical surface a print cannot reproduce. Vancouver art consultant Deanna Geisheimer says artwork that is selected well “will last you a lifetime,” and painter Heather Essian says original art cannot be replicated with a print.
What is the difference between an original painting and a print?
An original is the painting itself, made once by the artist, with its layers and brushwork intact. A print is a reproduction of a painting or an image of it.
How do you choose an original painting for a living room?
Start with the wall, the light and the scale of the room, then look at finished work. Choose a piece that speaks to you, since it will stay on the wall longer than the furniture around it.
Can you buy original art directly from the artist?
Yes. Here, ready-to-ship originals are sold direct, and a commission begins with a conversation, with two options painted at the same time.