Remember the Pink Lady at the art fair? You know, that stunning work by Dutch artist Isabelle van Zeijl which caught my eye and imagination but was out of my comfort zone in both subject matter (no architecture!) and price (gulp) and therefore was not among my purchases that weekend?

Well, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. So I kept reading about her. Turns out the artist is a bit of a rising star in the art world. She’s won some awards and had her first major solo show last year, and was featured on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar. The Pink Lady is part of a series of self portraits, where the artist is both the model and photographer, subject and object, playing with concepts of beauty and fashion and how they can both camouflage and make visible.

I was fast realising that I would regret passing up the opportunity to have the Pink Lady in my life when I discovered (1) the value of moral support among friends who also liked her (Taryn! Amanda!), and (2) that if I gave a US address and promised to leave the UK in the next three months I wouldn’t have to pay VAT (which means it’s practically on sale).

So I called the gallery and closed the deal — she’s coming home to Seattle! And I have to admit, the notion that a move to Seattle is also a move toward art (and family and friends, of course, but also art) is making it a lot easier to get ready to say goodbye to a London in a few weeks.