The broke art collector: Where to buy art...on the cheap

This is the second in a series of posts about why and how to collect art -- even when you don't have a lot of extra money

We've all heard the stories: Guy finds a painting in his attic, has it appraised, learns it's a long-lost Picasso, sells it to a collector for zillions.

Hope springs eternal. But these stories aren't all urban legends. There's enough stuff out there that you just never know. My colleague Zac Bissonnette wrote recently about the German woman who pulled a million dollar painting out of the trash.

The chances of finding a lost master at a garage sale are slim, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of high-quality art out there. And I'm not talking in the galleries, either. In one sense, art is where you look for it. In another sense, everyone's an artist. Find what you love, and go from there.

Here are a few places I've hit pay-dirt when trolling for art.