We need food, drink, and shelter to survive, but we can thrive through having beautiful art and crafts around us. Whether it is an original painting, a print, a photo, or a lovely item of craft work, we enter into a relationship with the piece, and indeed the maker. Art and crafts have had a deep meaning to the human being since the beginning of time; think back to the early cave painters who were not only creating drawings to signify an important event like a hunt, but also leaving behind an image for those who came along afterwards. I love running the Otautau Gallery in South Island, New Zealand for many reasons, but two of the most important have to be the fact that I know all my artists and craftspeople, and the emotional connection I see customers have with the paintings etc.