Sidebar problem

Hello,
my problem is how can i add a picture to my sidebar i really need a help by doing it because i just started blogging the 1st time.
How can i add a picture on my sidebar. At the widgets there are no media utility where i can put a picture and the only what they have is TEXT where i can put a html. I want to put not a ordinary pic i want a animated GIF pic on the sidebar. There was a media hosting company(imageshack.com) were they support animated pictures(GIF) but its costly. Anyone has useful suggestions for me??? thanks for future reference!