Prichard was his name. Prichard Frey. A man in his late thirties, married to Hannah Frey, together they have two kids; Ben who is 5 years old and Chloe who is heading to two years. Prichard worked as a sales rep in a real estate company while his wife was a chef in a well known restaurant. Prichard admired his wife because she followed her dreams, she pursued a career doing what she loves- cooking. Meanwhile he was a sales rep by day and an aspiring artist by night. He had sold a couple of his artwork but not for the money he wanted. He knew he could sell them for higher prices if he just put in enough effort.
There was an upcoming art showcase in a week, all the important people would be there especially those with more than enough money to spend on a piece of painting. Prichard knew he needed to be there with his own piece of painting in order to catch their eye. So apparently he had less than a week and time was running out. He was in the basement now, a place he considered his workshop and sanctuary when he heard his wife calling:
“Prichard Honey! Babe!”. She said as she finally poked her head inside his workshop.
“Hey baby”. He replied
“Dinner is ready, we’re all waiting for you”. She said while she looked around her husbands workshop.
“Mmhmm”. Prichard sighed.
Hannah looked at the canvas he had up on the stand, it was empty. He hadn’t started working on it yet, he just kept staring at it absent minded.
“Look babe, if you feel like you’re under a lot of pressure or you’re having “painters block” then maybe you should use one of your old paintings for the showcase, they’re still pretty great. If even if you decided they’re not good enough maybe you should allow this one slide. I’m sure they’ll be plenty of other opportunities for you to showcase your art”. Hannah worriedly said to her husband.
“I probably need inspiration that’s all and I feel like it’s going to come sooner or later, I just hope it’s before the showcase. Come let’s go have dinner”. He said giving his wife and kiss. He put off the lights and went to join his family.
Having a chef as a wife was a plus one. Hannah literally went out of her way everytime she made a meal. And if she didn’t have enough time she’d bring something back from the restaurant for her family.
Four of them were all sitted at the dining table, enjoying their meal. Chloe was spoon fed most of the time. While she giggled and kept saying “Dada! Dada!”, Prichard was making funny faces at her making her laugh even more. He then turned to his son to catch up on things.
“So Ben, how was football tryouts?”. He asked.
“Pretty great Dad, the list of those that made the team would come out later this week. Hopefully I’d get in”. Ben said happily.
“Of course you will! You’re a natural at football”.
“Thanks dad”. Ben said to his dad.
“And what about homework? Are you done? Do you need help?”. Prichard asked his son.
“I’m almost done, I’ll finish it up after dinner and no I don’t need help”. He said before taking his plate to the kitchen.
“Can you help me put Chloe to bed while I take care of the dishes?”. Hannah asked
“Yea sure”. Prichard said while he carried his daughter upstairs to read her a bedtime story.
The next few days at work for Prichard felt horrible, he didn’t get enough sleep so that made him feel drained during the day at work. To top it all off he still didn’t have any clue on what to paint, no inspiration whatsoever had come. He was beginning to loose hope as the showcase was next tomorrow which was in two days.
He got home very sad, had dinner with his wife and kids then went to bed like the had done the past few days. Hannah knew what was wrong with her husband but couldn’t help in anyway.
As they got dressed for work the following morning, Hannah came to meet him.
“Babe, did you later enter your name for the showcase?”
“No, what’s the use. It’s tomorrow and the deadline for entry is today and I still don’t have any idea about what I’m presenting”. He said sadly.
“Just enter your name before going to work. You never know what may happen. In the worst case scenario you could go with one of your old paintings. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder isn’t it?”. She said then kissed her husband lightly.
“Okay. If you say so”.
“Yea. Well I’m off to drop the kids at school then go to work. Have a great day”. She said then left.
Prichard went to the art center to enter his name and details for the contest before going to work. When he came back from work, he had dinner with his family then they all volunteered to help him clean up his workshop. They might find something good enough for the showcase tomorrow.
While they rummaged through the basement, Hannah dropped Chloe at a far end somewhere in the room, away from them and most equipments so she wouldn’t get hurt. So Prichard, Hannah and Ben ransacked the whole room, looked at all the drawings, paintings and pictures and kept a few they deemed ‘worthy’ aside. They were done two hours later.
“So honey, we can select from that pile over there. Then you can make a few adjustments to whichever one you pick”. Hannah said.
“Yea sure, but now which one would we pick. We’re running out of time”. Prichard said.
“We’ll take it one step at a time. Ben could you bring the pile we kept aside!”. Hannah called out.
“Okay mum, I’m on my way”. He said.
“Oh my God! Chloe!”. Ben screamed while Prichard and Hannah turned to search for Chloe. Their faces looked horrified.
Chloe was where they left her. But they had forgotten there were open buckets of paint and paintbrushes lying around there and a canvas was nearby as well. Chloe had splashed different colors of paint all over the canvas. She was covered in most of the paint too. To top it off, she acted so oblivious to the crime she just committed. While everyone looked at her with horrified faces, she giggled and said “Dada! Dada! Dada!”.
They all went closer to the ‘crime scene’.
“My God, I need to give her a bath to get this paint off”. Hannah said while laughing.
“On the bright side, what she did looks pretty nice”. Ben said while inspecting the canvas Chloe supposedly destroyed.
That was when Hannah and Prichard took an actual look at what their daughter had done.
“Wow this is really beautiful, abstract but beautiful”. Prichard said
“Beautiful enough to enter the showcase?”. Hannah asked
“Maybe. Just maybe. Beauty doesn’t have to perfect, art doesn’t have to be perfect either. I just need to make a few adjustments and add a few things. This might be it after all, the inspiration I’ve been looking for”. He was happy at this point.
“Alright then, we’ll give you space to work. I’ll give Chloe a bath then put them both to sleep. Goodnight”. She said to her husband knowing fully well he’d spent the night down there.
“Goodnight dad”. Ben called out.
“Goodnight honey, Goodnight Ben, Goodnight Chloe”. He said to each of them while placing a kiss on their cheeks.
THE D-DAY. THE DAY OF THE SHOWCASE
10:00 Am
Prichard was done with his masterpiece. He put it in his car then went inside to shower and get dressed. He went downstairs to meet his family.
“Okay guys I’m leaving now, I need to get there early enough. I’ll see you guys when it starts which should be around 12:00pm”. He said while adjusting his shirt. With that he gave each of them a kiss on the forehead and drove off.
12:30 pm
Everyone was already sitted in the room. Prichards family were sitted as well. The showcase was more like an auction where the highest bidder would go home with the work of art being presented and displayed. Prichard was right, these people did have a lot of money to spend. Artist after artist came up to showcase their work and people kept buying.
Finally it was his turn. The Auctioneer announced his name.
“Last but not the least, we have Mr Prichard Frey”. He announced.
Prichard came up to the stage while his work of art was placed by his side. He was given the microphone.
“This piece of art was inspired by the daughter Chloe. The inspiration came in a funny way too. But I’ve decided to name it after her. I presented to you ‘The Chloe Frey’!!!”. Prichard spoke.
The cover of the painting was taken off. There was a bit of confusion at first but then slowly, people started clapping.
“Let the auction begin!!”. The auctioneer announced.
Nunber 34 raised their card up. “10,000 dollars!”
“We have $10,000! Anyone going for $20,000?”. The auctioneer announced.
Number 50 raised their card up. “$ 25,000!”
Number 3 raised their card up. “$ 100,000!”
Number 15 countered. “$ 200,000!”
“$ 200,000! Going once! Going twi....”. The auctioneer was cut off by another bidder.
“$ 500,000!”. Number 10 said.
Number 15 was back again. “$ 700,000!!!”
Number 10 was determined. “$ 850,000!!”
Number 15 was not ready to back down. “A million dollars!”
The crowd gasped.
“Going once! Going twice! Going the thrice! Soldddddd! To the woman with the card number 15!”. The auctioneer bellowed out.
Prichard couldn’t hide his joy. He was smiling from cheek to cheek. He looked over to his family. They were both suprised and excited.Chloe was just giggling and saying “Dada” as usual.
The auctioneer proceeded to address the crowd. “Wow even I was suprised. We really saved the best for last. Mr Prichard Frey’s piece was our best seller for today. Who knew an artwork that was just different colors of paint splashed around on a canvas would sell out. Truly, You really can’t put a price tag on art!”.