Once, when excitedly showing a Hockney sketch to a macho mate, I rashly confided to him that some of my best friends were pictures. He arched an eyebrow and suggested that I really should get out more. Telling someone who wears his Aston Villa shirt to bed that collecting pictures is compelling, narcotic and exciting was like explaining my hobbies to a pillar-box. He couldn't understand why an otherwise normal, red-blooded male, could possibly be a card-carrying, 22 carat, Ronsealed, art junkie. And that's why, when The Discerning Eye kindly asked if I'd be prepared to choose my favourites from 1300 works of art, I hesitated for an entire nanosecond. The experience was like being hand-fed with warm chocolate eclairs. I spent a blissful day enjoying, admiring and considering hundreds upon hundreds of oils, watercolours, sketches and sculptures.

A compulsive collector, my walls strobe with strident Warhols, Lichtensteins, Hepworths, Rileys and Rauschenbergs, and that's probably why so much of my selection is abstract. Challenging or obscure images are more fun because they ask more of you. But before I end up in pseuds corner, I must admit I'm no expert, far from it.

What little I know about art, I've gleaned from galleries, auctions, books and talking to dealers. And that's the great thing about art, its much more accessible than most people think.

We're all art critics it's just that only a few of us write our thoughts down. Everybody has the innate ability to judge a work of art, but most people don't because they're afraid of getting it wrong. But there's no wrong or right to judging art, it's entirely personal and subjective. It's the act of simply looking that's important. Which is why The Discerning Eye is such a good thing. Most of the artists are total unknowns, so you won't have to worry about any baggage from art critics. Just look at the image and see if it moves you.

I hope you enjoy my selection and take a little time to think about the less conventional works. Better still why not buy one, or even two? I'm certain a few of the gems I've chosen will, in time, double, triple and even quadruple in value. And that's another bounty of being able to appreciate and collect art. Pictures can make great pensions. My macho friend may have sniggered at my fascination for art, but ten years on he's no longer laughing. You see, my little Hockney sketch is now worth the price of a shiny new Jag.

 

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