One week and counting

As I anticipate seeing friends, family, clients, new people
who I will meet for the first time, my heart beats fast but
my mind is calm and relaxed. This opportunity I have each
year to show my work at Sharon's gallery is a gift, a gift I
am so grateful for. I love the first week of April, for
a dozen years I have been able to have this spot.
I work vigorously for 6 months or longer
alone in my studio preparing for this exhibit, all for a three
hour reception. That is what i used to say. Now as i get a
little bit older and wiser, it's not just for three hours, it's
for a lifetime for some. People take the art i create home with
them, it's theirs to care for and enjoy. I get to meet and greet
as mentioned, but i also get to see my friends in Columbus
for 5 days. I run around in my rental car all week to meet up
with friends for coffee, dinner, a walk in the park.
I brilliantly picked the first week of April and selfishly keep
it (Sharon allows me to keep it) because I know from once
living in Columbus that the April Gallery Hop traditionally is like
the first Spring Hop. Usually this week/end is warm or spring-like
warm and residence of Cols are happy, they come out of
their homes that have windows taped with plastic to keep the
heat in, and the bill to a minimum. Maybe May is better? But
for me, i love the first week of April in Columbus. As i sit here
in my studio in Los Angeles, it was 80 degrees today and i
recall thinking how much i long for the 45 or 50 degree Spring
like weather i will play in next week. It makes sitting in my
chair painstakingly painting on detailed paintings for six months,
alone, worth every second. All for a month long show that i
will fly from the West, then into the Mid-West... to meet, greet,
shake the hand of new people. It's worth it, every year.

I hope you can attend the opening reception if you are in
Columbus on April 4th. I will love to share my new art with
each one of you, individually. Here is the invitation posted
again, click to enlarge.