I’m showing an older piece today, one from around 1996 , called Interloper, mainly because I have mentioned the Kada Gallery over the last few days and am reminded of how I came to show with them quite a few years back. There was a bit of serendipity involved.
It was in late summer of 1995 and I had been showing at the West End Gallery for several months which was my first experience exhibiting in public. I was still waiting tables at the local Perkins Family Restaurant full-time, working on building our house and painting every other available minute. Man, I had a lot more energy then! I still had no idea that I would or could have a real career as a painter. My work at that time was very small in size for the most part and was just starting to gain some notice locally but I really didn’t know if it would ever transfer outside our local area.
One Saturday morning, I was at my job waiting tables when a family with a daughter about 10 or 11 years old sat in my station. They were very nice, smiling and talkative. Typical chit-chat. I took their order and that was that. After a bit, as they were eating I was going through my station checking on each party and I stopped at their table.
The daughter, Hillary, asked, “Are you a painter?”
I was a little taken aback by the question. Nothing was said about painting or art, to them or any of my other tables and that was the last thing on my mind at the moment.
“Well, yeah. I am.”
“My mother said you were. She said that anyone that happy doing their job had to be a painter.”
I just stood there with nothing to say. How do you respond to that?
It turned out that the mother was a painter as well who lived, for the time being, in our area. Her name was Suzi Druley and she was on their way out to a gallery that sold a lot of her work in Erie, Pennsylvania. They had me run out to their vehicle to take a look at her work, which was very interesting, particularly for our area. It had a sort of Southwestern/Native American feel with with vivid, deep colors and a lot of symbology. Turns out she was from Texas originally and they had moved here for a job her husband had taken. She asked what my work was like, saying she would like to see it.
A few weeks passed and I decided to take her up on her offer and went out to their home. I took photos and some pieces and she really seemed excited by the work. She said I should show the work to Kathy at the Kada, that she would really like it.
Long story short, she called Kathy and a visit was arranged. I hauled my bits of paint and paper out there and I’ve been showing with them for going on 14 years.
I’m glad I was in a good mood that Saturday morning at Perkins- I most certainly would not have found made my way to the Kada Gallery without Suzi’s simple observation that I must be a painter.
Serendipity…
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I’m getting things around this morning for a gallery-type talk that I’m doing today for a group at a Christmas party at a local country club. It’s a little different from gallery talks I’ve done in the past where the people in attendance are there specifically to hear me speak and I’m surrounded by examples of my work . These folks are there to celebrate the holidays so I’m just a bit nervous about how well I will be able to grab their attention.
Redtree Times 