Sassy Sunflower, 36 x 50 inches, by O.V. Brantley, 2008. For sale at http://www.ovbrant.etsy.com.

I always attend an art auction while I am on a cruise. For one reason, they serve free champagne. The other reason isthat I am intensely curious about what makes one picture worth thousands and another worth almost nothing.

I have never purchased any art work during one of these auctions. To be perfectly honest, I have never wanted to. I am never moved or touched by the work exhibited and auctioned.

For a time, I thought I was just not knowledgeable enough about art to appreciate what was before me. Now I am old enough and wise enough to know that art like beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Thank God!!