I love to buy art in December. Every year, I attend a holiday auction and look for a small, inexpensive piece to add to my walls or give as a gift.

Last year, I fell in love with a paper sculpture by Mary O'Brien, an artist from Fairfax, that reminds me of a delicately simmering cauldron. The $35 starting bid was nice and low, and, even after others bid up the price, I still managed to buy the work for only $85.

This weekend, four galleries in the Bay Area will hold their annual art auctions. In addition to being important fundraisers, these popular and festive events are a good way to begin an art collection even with limited means.

Even the auction organizers often bid on items in their shows. ``We start drooling when the pieces come in,'' says Nancy Mizunot Elliott, exhibition director at the Richmond Art Center, which is hosting auctions Saturday and Sunday. ``All the staff buys work because we know it's a great deal.''

Works/San Jose, a non-profit gallery, will hold its 18th annual live and silent auction Saturday night, featuring about 180 works created mostly by artists in the South Bay. The Works auction includes pieces by emerging and established artists, with minimum bids ranging from $5 to $900. There will be paintings, prints, sculpture and installations in a wide range of styles. The group expects to raise $15,000-$20,000 at the auction, almost 20 percent of its annual budget.

Artists who donate a piece to Works/San Jose are asked to specify a retail value for the item. The Works staff then sets a minimum bid at 10 to 20 percent of the item's value -- which means that some pieces sell for a song.

``Stonehenge,'' a Polaroid transfer print by Shelby Graham, a curator in Santa Cruz, carries a minimum bid of only $25 and will be sold at Works' silent auction, while former San Jose State professor San Richardson's ``Push Broom,'' a collage, will be offered at the live auction for a $400 minimum bid.

Live and silent auctions tend to appeal to slightly different audiences, although there are no hard and fast rules. Silent auctions usually feature more work by emerging artists at lower prices. Typically, buyers write down their bids on pieces of paper placed next to the works, and when the auction closes, the highest bids win.

Live auctions, usually run by professional auctioneers, tend to spotlight a smaller number of costlier pieces by established artists. Buyers are often knowledgeable and may be collecting with investment potential in mind.

Since auctions can get frenetic, many galleries allow audiences to preview the art a few days before the event so they can make decisions on what to bid for and the maximum they want to pay. Some galleries, such as SF Camerawork, prepare auction catalogs for potential buyers to peruse in advance. SF Camerawork will be hosting a live auction of more than 200 photographs on Saturday afternoon at the Hosfelt Gallery, 430 Clementina St., San Francisco, with minimum bids ranging from about $40 to $1,500.

Buyers also can place absentee bids through Camerawork's Web site (www.sfcamerawork.org). Artists represented this year include Michael Kenna, Ann Hamilton and Catherine Wagner.

Executive director Marnie Gillett advises newer buyers to bid on pieces they like rather than worrying about investment value. ``It's all in the spirit of giving,'' she says.

Most auctions focus on work you can put on the wall. But this year, in addition to offering about 170 pieces with minimum bids ranging from $40 to $2,000, San Francisco's New Langton Arts will be auctioning Internet art -- as well as vacation packages.

San Jose State University lecturer Lisa Jevbratt has donated a work called ``1:1'' that will be auctioned on ebay at a $50 minimum bid starting Saturday. The winning bidder will own the work's Internet address, says New Langton auction coordinator Sharon Maidenberg, noting that there's some debate about whether it's possible to ``own'' something as intangible as net art.

Auctions are always an exciting way to buy art, because you never know for sure what will happen. ``It's the most adrenaline you're ever going to get during Christmas shopping,'' says Alayne Yellum, an artist from San Jose who donated an oil painting to the Works show and who bids on art every year.

Holiday auctions also are a great excuse to party. Galeria de la Raza's event on Saturday night, for example, will feature DJs spinning vintage Latin grooves, an open bar offering a holiday drink called the RumBa and costumed appearances by Los Freakoids -- not to mention a live and silent auction of work by more than 25 Latino artists.

AUCTION INFORMATION

Works/San Jose's 2002 Benefit Art Auction will be held Saturday at 30 N. Third St. (near Santa Clara). Doors open at 5 p.m., live and silent bidding start at 7 p.m. Admission is free; bidding cards are $10. Previews noon-7 p.m. today and noon-4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. (408) 295-8378, http://www.workssanjose.org

SF Camerawork's 2002 Auction of Fine Photographic Prints will be held Saturday at the Hosfelt Gallery, 430 Clementina St., San Francisco (between Fifth and Sixth streets and Howard and Folsom). Doors open at 11 a.m., live auction begins at 1 p.m. Admission is $15 (includes auction catalog). Previews 11 a.m.-8 p.m. today and 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Friday; reception 5-8 p.m. today. (415) 863-1001; www.sfcamerawork.org

Richmond Art Center's Holiday Arts Festival 2002. A live auction will be held 4:30-7:30 p.m. Saturday at 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond. Admission is $40 by advance registration. A silent art auction and art fair will take place noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free; bidding cards are $5. (510) 620-6772; www.

therichmondartcenter.org

Galera de la Raza's Hi-Glam Pachanga, the Second Annual Art Sale and Auction, will be held 7-10 p.m. Saturday at 2857 24th St. (at Bryant), San Francisco. This event includes a live and silent auction of works by more than 25 Latino artists, plus a sale of historic posters. Admission is $15-$30. (415) 826-8009; www.galeriadelaraza.org

New Langton Arts' A Night to Remember: 18th Annual Auction will be held at 6 p.m. Dec. 12 at 1246 Folsom St. (between Eighth and Ninth streets), San Francisco. The silent auction will feature more than 150 works. A live auction of about 15 works begins at 8:30 p.m., followed at 10 p.m. by a dance party. $30 in advance; $40 at the door (includes catalog). Previews noon-6 p.m. Saturday. (415) 626-5416; www.newlangtonarts.org