You don’t have to go to a high-brow art gallery to buy a nice painting for your wall. Supalert Peanjitlertkojorn (Jew), 23 is one of many artists you can find selling their original paintings in tiny “galleries” at open-air markets. Helping to bring fine art closer to the masses, artists like Jew make decorative paintings for homes and sell them at affordable prices to regular people. He has his own shop called Q Gallery at Suan Lum Night Bazaar (Lopburi, Soi 2, Lot D25).

Why did you choose to sell your paintings here?
The rent here is not too high. I looked for a place in Chatuchak but it’s hard to find a space there. When we contacted this place there was a space available so we chose to have it here. I feel that Suan Lum is appropriate as well because come here to eat and come to choose home décor items.

Why did you decide to sell paintings for a living?
Before I sold my work here, I worked at a place called Red Gallery in Chatuchak where I was a painter. I worked for them since my third year of university and they would sell my paintings there. When I finished my thesis and graduated they invited me to come work for them full time. After gaining some experience and understanding their way of thinking I decided to step out and do my own thing.

What type of people buy your work?
Primarily it’s interior designers that come and look at my work. They look at the styles or colors that are going to match with the homes or rooms they are going to decorate. Other people who aren’t interior designers will buy stuff to decorate their own homes with.

Are there any pieces that you regret selling?
There was only one piece that I regretted back when I had just opened my old shop. We had just opened and we didn’t have any work on display because we acquired the space so quickly. It was a piece that I was meaning to keep for myself and place at home because I really liked it. But my friend told me to put it on display at the shop first. One day when I wasn’t at the shop, my friend called to tell me that someone wanted to purchase it. I set the price at B15,000 but he wanted it for B9,000. I didn’t want to sell it but my friend convinced me to so I did. Looking back now, I would have chosen not to.

If you were to see that painting again would you want to buy it back?
I might if the price isn’t too high! I’ve always thought of painting in that same style again but at this point I can’t paint the same way as I did before. The feeling is different. The piece I did was a result of my emotions more than just making a decorative painting for someone’s home.

What do you think of other artists at Suan Lum?
I feel good that there is a group of us who come out to sell our work here. It lessens the gap between art and regular people. Before if you wanted to psee some art you had to walk into a gallery and could only buy pieces at really high prices. Regular people just want something nice to put up in their homes but it shouldn’t be beyond their means.