Five steps, and none of them involve being asked what you do for a living.

1. You look at the price

   It is on the label. Nobody will come over and ask if you need help unless you look like you want somebody to.

2. You ask what the artist gets

   Or you do not, because it is already printed: sixty percent on originals, fifty on editions. It is your money and it seems reasonable to know where it lands.

3. You take it home for a week

   Within Chicago, on anything under about three thousand dollars. We bring it and hang it. About half come back and nobody minds — a painting that does not work in your hallway does not work in your hallway.

4. You pay over six months if you want

   Interest free, a third up front. The work can go home with you at the halfway point, which most people choose.

5. It gets to you

   Collected, delivered within the city, or shipped anywhere in the US at cost. Large canvases travel rolled and we will say so before you buy rather than after.

One thing we will not tell you: that a piece is a good investment. We have no idea and neither does anybody else. Buy it because you want to look at it for twenty years.