Zakhar Sasim, the artist who painted the small piece in my living room had a booth at Art on the Avenue last week. I was in there looking at some of his smaller prints, and a woman asked him for the price of one of his large originals, which is about twice the size of the painting I own.

“Five hundred,” he replied.

“Five hundred DOLLARS?!”

He nodded. She shook her head in disgust and walked away. I was so disgusted by her disgust that I didn’t run after her to tell her he might be open to negotiation — he cut me a deal last year at Eastern Market.

It could be the influence of my yuppie neighborhood, but I don’t think $50o for a large original painting is exorbitant. I put a fairly high premium on simple things that delight me. I mean, I’m unlikely to empty my bank account because I’m in love with a piece, but most of the artists I’ve known have undervalued their work, not overvalued it. If it isn’t worth $500 to you, that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth $500…or more.

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Some artsy stuff I’ve been seeing and/or coveting:

I’ve etsystalked JMJStudio for a while — the use of color and the romance of the paintings just caught me. I don’t know when they started doing Braille paintings, but I’m a fan.

Autumn fire — all of my favorite colors in one 2′ x 2′ space…

Family trees are one thing, but how about a wedding guest tree that shows how you and your fiance are related to everyone at the party. No extra charge for snark: “Bride’s mother’s boss,” “B-list friend from junior college,” “Cousin and turnabout-is-fair-play bridesmaid.”