Bon Voyage, "Good Day Sunshine"
Today I finally got to put a painting in the hands of its rightful owners. Dick and Carol first found me about 4 years ago. Every year they visit my Studio & Gallery once, twice, sometimes 4 or more times. They are educated art lovers and with every visit I learn something new about my art. I've met each of their 5 children (and spouses) who live in far flung places like Tasmania and the Congo. They all receive one of my calendars each Christmas and, as a family, turn over the page of each month on the first so they can enjoy together the surprise of seeing a new painting image.
Dick in particular has been smitten with my work. He finds a painting he loves and comes back two or three times (or more) to look at it. Sometimes he bring Carol, other times he comes alone, or with up to dozen friends from their hometown, Cleveland. But he's had his reasons not to own one of my paintings. A big one has been that he and his wife have collected art for years and don't have room left on their walls. But looming larger in Dick's mind is his belief that if he were to buy one of my paintings, all 5 of his kids would need to agree on which one. But, he lamented, it was pretty much impossible to get them all together to make such a decision.
This year on one of his early summer visits, he started apologizing for not having yet purchased a painting. "You must hate to see me coming," he said. "I must be the worst customer you've ever had—and I call myself a customer even though I've never even bought anything!" This made me laugh. I assured him no apologies were necessary. The paintings love to be seen and besides, over the years, I've fallen a bit in love with him and his smart, lively family. I knew the day would probably come when one of them would buy something other than a calendar, but if not, it was enough for me to be part of their lives.
Today was that day! This afternoon, Dick, Carol and Stephen, the son who runs a relief organization in the Congo, turned up on the steps to my Studio. I'm always glad to see Stephen, who sometimes sends me emails from Africa when he sees something on the calendar he has a question about. Teasingly, I told him how his dad was torturing himself about buying a painting—was there a way to relieve his dad of this particular misery? Well, lo and behold, it happened! In a "confab" with his son, Stephen had let Dick know it was okay to buy the painting without his children's consent. And so with all the excitement of a kid at Christmas, a beaming Dick announced that he was ready to take home a painting he been fawning over for weeks, one called "Good Day Sunshine." Everyone was happy!
Monday thru Thursday of this past week, I've been working with a group of women in my Open Studio Workshop, some of whom have embarked on a path of personal and spiritual growth via art. As part of the workshop I asked them to reflect on why they want to paint. I also spent a lot of time myself considering why I paint. What I realized is that, to me, making a painting connects me with a creative impulse much larger than myself; a painting I make becomes so much more than what it appears to be on the canvas. It seems to have a life of its own that involves me and others in an energetic and loving exchange that can be deeply meaningful. I cannot easily articulate what that meaning of a sold painting is but I believe it has to do with the completion of my part in the cycle of creation. It's so much more than money exchanging hands—it's really the Art Spirit making its presence felt full force. I feel that now and it's so wonderfully full of pleasure—the pleasure of being fully alive. To Dick, Carol and all of my collectors who do their part to serve Art, I am ever so grateful! And, so bon voyage, "Good Day Sunshine," may you be a blessing to your new family in your new home.
