A CHAT AFTER MARKET, click to bid

After much deliberation this week I decided to go to the Spruill Art Center Faculty Christmas Party last night; I have been teaching Wednesday morning and evening classes there in north Atlanta for the past year. Because I don't know 99% of the teachers there and because I never remember the names of the ones I should know, and because I am terrified of walking into a crowded party alone, the evening could have been difficult. I called an artist friend, Nancy Honea, who has taught portrait painting at Spruill for 30 something years. She agreed to sit with me and I looked forward to catching up with things in her life; it had been 2 years since I had last seen her.

I got there before she did and did what I always do in these situations...went straight to the bar. A brief superficial smiley chat with people I encountered as I wrangled my way across the room, got my wine, found a table and saved a place for Nancy. I'm OK once I have the wine. I know. Red flag. But it works. Nancy eventually arrived and so did Pat Fiorello, another artist I've never met but have had near misses many times. It usually went like this: "Was that Pat Fiorello who just left? I've been wanting to meet her!" Pat and I chatted with on the phone about a year ago; she was planning to conduct a class at La Bonne Etoile, Kippy's place in France, and wanted my thoughts about the place. So last night I finally met her. Nancy, Pat and I sat at our little table and had the most stimulating conversation about painting and blogs and goal-setting and marketing and teaching and working from your heart and writing books and exhibitions and it was non-stop creativity. I left the Art Center uplifted and encouraged, realizing how much I love the company of artists. Artists are good people, hard and earnest workers, deep thinkers, insightful, empathetic, lovers of beauty, soul-mates.

I'm so glad I went. Thank you, Nancy and Pat.

The 6"x6" pastel above is from a summer afternoon in France. Two ladies stopping to chat after market. It's up for auction on ebay. If interested, click on the title above, it'll take you to the auction. Bidding begins at $100.