Reunion after 35 years...

Tomorrow and Saturday I will be giving special gallery talks at the Art Works Gallery and my exhibit. Tomorrow Steve and Lisa will visit our home and head downtown to see the works and then have lunch. Steve and Lisa were in my first classroom at Edgefield Elementary back in 1975...for 35 years we have share our lives and they have grown into wonderful friends. It would take me too long to share all the "Life episodes" we have had over the decades but I do know how blessed I am to have them in my life today. We will have about three hours to catch up on the changes and anniversaries in our lives. Then we will have lunch at the Grill and say goodbye for now. I then have an appointment with a lawyer for some guidance and advice on the steps I need to take for next month. I am sure I will be very tired and ready to return to the cool quiet of my home. I am not sure how others are dealing with this heat....today is 98 and high humidity with dirty air to boot. We went out and found the perfect color for the couple of walls that will require painting...spiced pumpkin. It is a warm and sassy color that will warm the space when the winter months return and the snow covers the ground. The old brick walls and the vintage design elements will blend and I think create an inviting atmosphere and creative inspiration.

We visited my dear artist friend and mentor in his new studio ...Moundbuilders Studio" complete with his Ikea floor lamps and drawing table and an art cart on wheels. He has a whole wall of glass to look out onto a beautiful tree lined yard and the seasons will literally unfold right in front of his eyes. We already discussed the possibilities of trading places and techniques in each others sacred spaces. Small, intimate environments to stop, sit still, listen within and create the change in our days. Daily OM said " Since our lives are constantly in motion energetically, change is a constant element of our existence." I am looking forward to returning downtown in the center of art in our county...everything is in walking distance kind of like what I saw in Brevard,NC and fell in love with last year. I can work alone and still be with the generations that walk through the door...a connection that I have taken over a year to reconsider the importance of visibility. I have artists already for October and November and the beginning of the November -December "Soul of the Season" Holiday art exhibit. I know I have work ahead of me but I feel like I am on a roll. Have a sweet cool evening and sweet dreams. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart