Blake Lively`s passion - collecting art

Blake Lively says she has been a huge fan of paintings ever since her brother Eric encouraged her to start her own collection.

London: Actress Blake Lively says she has been obsessed with collecting art and says she has been a huge fan of paintings ever since her brother Eric encouraged her to start her own collection.

"My brother Eric thought it was important for me to collect art and have an awareness of it at a young age. He took me to an exhibition by Sage Vaughn at a warehouse in downtown Los Angeles and bought me my first piece. That experience ignited a hunger to see more art and collect it, however, I could," femalefirst.co.uk quoted Lively, 24, as saying. "I always try to buy things when I travel as a reminder of the trip and time spent in a city. When I was working in New Orleans for four months, I bought a chair and a painting of Audrey Hepburn by local artist Sarah Ashley Longshore," she added. IANS