“I do. The colors really jump out at you. It’s very vivid and… alive.” Tina took a final look at it and resumed her seat on the sofa.

Bette sat near her and noticed Tina’s eyes straying to the painting once more. She tilted her head and studied it. Bette hid a smile behind her hand as she watched Tina.

Tina looked at Bette again a little guiltily, as if she remembered where she was and caught Bette smiling.

“Are you laughing at me?” Tina raised an eyebrow and Bette worried she may have been offended, but she saw that Tina’s eyes were sparkling.

“No, not at all. Not in the way you think. I’m just… amused. At least one person who knows a lot about art didn’t like that painting at all. It was called, let me remember the exact phrase, ‘juvenile mediocrity without a point of view’, among other things.”

“Really? I think it’s great. I mean… it’s interesting without being all pretentious, you know? Who painted it?”

“Well,” Bette said. “This particular artist was so discouraged by the feedback she got from her professor – she idolized the guy – that she stopped painting altogether.”

“That’s a shame,” Tina said, turning her gaze to the painting once more. “Didn’t she consider that one opinion wasn’t the be all and end all?”

“She did, yes. But then she realized that she agreed with her professor. She didn’t think it was very good after all. Her classmates were a lot more talented than she was, anyway. She abandoned the art school thing in her freshman year, and much to the delight of her father, who was funding everything, she shifted her focus after that to art history and ended up working in an art gallery where she could help young artists who actually had something to say find an audience.”

Tina caught on and looked at Bette. “You painted that?”

Bette laughed. “I did.”

“And you just gave up painting?” Tina looked dismayed.

“Yes. But it was for the best. I love my job. I mean, really, really love it. Since I wasn’t that great at creating, I figured that at least I can appreciate art and help others to do the same. Trust me, it’s better that way.”