Yesterday was show hanging day at the Union St. Grille in Courtenay. Bob had planned a lot of other things for us to get done while we were in town but I knew in my heart that there wouldn't be time for everything...and there wasn't. It took over five hours to hang the 25 drawings. Great, true, wonderful friend, Toni Thomas came to help and between the three of us we managed to get everything up on the walls. It is not an easy place to work in...customers were coming and going but everyone was in good spirits and no one complained that I was in the way with all my stuff laying around, in fact everyone was extremely accommodating. We had to use fishing line and "s" hooks to hang the work and the fishing line, being 40 lb (I hadn't wanted to mess around with line that wasn't strong enough) was very fussy to work with...rigid and difficult to make into knots. Then there was the problem of having everything line up properly...we finally gave up and let the pieces hang where they would after approximating the length each line needed to be. It actually works, though. There is a wavy line of colour painted about a third of the way up the wall so it just matches the feel of the wave. I was getting a lot of positive response to the drawings and that is the main thing. Toni also bought two of them on the spot, but is leaving them to hang with their prominent red dot on their labels as incentive for others to purchase! Real friends are so rare and Toni is the supreme friend. Since I have known him he has been there for me without question or complaint.
Bob and I managed to get the dog food (very important!), grocery shop, bank, take back library books, and pick up roofing material for a job at home and also for a paying job Bob has to do for a neighbor up the road. The other things, like my foot X-ray and turning in my pension application will wait until next week.
Actually I have had to start wearing that boot again today. After yesterday on my feet for so long and going up and down the ladder, etc. my foot was aching. I have been lulled into thinking it is back to normal and obviously it is not. I am once again clunking around like the Frankenstein monster.
Thursday and Friday of last week were stellar days! A workshop with six students and lots of enthusiasm. The first successful workshop I've had in over a year. Yay! My butterflies began to slowly leave as the first day progressed. This was a "gentle" group, eager to learn, and so warm towards me. By Friday I was enjoying the whole process and what a relief. I think I learned as much from them as they did from me. To add to the contentment of the experience my dear friend, Lyndia Terre, showed up to take the class! I have not seen her for quite some time as she has been motoring around the southwestern US and only recently returned. She does not need any lessons but was there to be supportive - is this a true friend or what? She worked on her own version of figurative portraiture and came up with a couple of soft, ephemeral canvases that speak of the models youth and vitality in a unique way. I did some quick demos and the final one is posted above. Rowan is a rare model - her first time - and so perfect. She has features reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance; Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, or Piero della Francesca come to mind.
