I had a fabulous weekend exhibiting my new work at Crafts on Columbus. It is only the end of April, but the beating sun and 90 degree temps made it hot as Hades.
Usually we dress in layers at the opening of show season, with winter coats, boots, hats, gloves, and rain gear. You never know when a sudden gust of wind might flatten your display, so we hang several hundred pounds of weights on the display unit, and tie up to the fence. Then we tighten the roof in case of a sudden thunder storm. At this point we can put the paintings up, but today there is a garbage can, a gift to me from New York City, right in the center of my display. My husband and assistant Glenn constructed a black hexagonal cover for the top of the garbage can, to disguise it as a pedestal for my portfolio, but the scent of urine still reeks. No problem - we spill Clorox around the garbage can, a trick we learned from the horse and buggy drivers on Central Park South where we used to show our work. When the horses would urinate, the drivers would clean up the stink with Clorox. The only other obstacle was the "dead guy" asleep on an adjacent bench. Jim, the security guard, got a message on his walkie talkie to check out if this man, who had been still, slouched over, and in the same position for a seemingly long amount of time, was dead or alive. This wasn't the first time I've had to deal with a "corpse", and I expect it won't be the last, but in this case our sleeper was only sleeping.
Now that nothing unusual had happened, I had the joy of showing my new work. We sold our house in Southeastern Virginia, and my studio is now in my new home in the Pocono Mountains, overlooking the woods and a pond, with their accompanying changes in color, shadow, and sound. I can't say that country life influences my work which is about the New York City subway system, but I do have a new and beautiful and quiet place to contemplate urban rhythms. This has probably been the most eventful year of my life. Glenn retired from his position as a math professor at Christopher Newport University; our daughter, photographer Gabrielle Weber married Josh Flowerman in August; my mother-in-law suffered numerous illnesses before her death in December; and we had the task of moving 30 years of accumulated memories and possessions from Virginia to Pennsylvania. We also had a cruise trip to Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel thrown into the mix. Yet somehow I managed to do three paintings for the lobby of The Fashion Gallery Building; 20 paintings of "Wall Street" which were gifts for traders; and several other commissions for people interested in areas as diverse as Modern Art, Grey's Papaya, work, home, childhood, theater, sports and cheese cake. I also had the opportunity to complete a new body of work to satisfy my own interests and inspirations. I will talk about my new work tomorrow.
