January 27, 2009

9:40 p.m.

Art

Oh, I'm just itchin' to tell you about my visit to the art gallery. I've got to hand it to myself, I walked in there and put my finger on the pulse of the cottage industry...

You got all that subtext so that'll save me some time.

It was, in fact, a very nice visit. Claudia is doing this whole business on her own, while raising kids and nurturing her husband, who runs a restaurant around the corner. She's still looking for things to display and sell, but meanwhile the things she does have are outstanding. My books will be in high class company. And she did love the books, and wants them there.

I have some paperwork to fill out, a few more books to make for a proper display, and I must think of how to price them. The gallery takes a whopping 40%, which actually is not so unusual. But it's a high falutin' venue, so I won't feel bad about adding a chunk onto what I normally get for a book.

I probably won't be able to play the art opening for February. I'm supposed to be driving to Maryland that day. I could drive the next day and play the moment I get there, but I know my body won't like that schedule. I can play in March at the next opening. It'll give me more time to practice that set anyway.

Claudia talked about how she's been having some heart issues (medical, not romantic) for the last year and it's been a real challenge to deal with that while trying to launch a business and raise a family. We commiserated about pesky health problems, the plight of artists, business head vs. creative head. She's mainly an administrator right now, all her time taken up by paperwork and computer stuff and tending to her kids. Inspiration comes, fizzles out as everything is demanded of her. She wants to hold a lot of classes and workshops at the gallery so that she can participate in them. Right now there are steel restaurant tables at the front where a class was recently held. She wants to create a cozier area there, with inviting cushy chairs and coffee mugs. There is still a lot of room for this place to blossom. And I get in on it, in the early stages!

Putnam is a pretty little town, too, and I'd have walked around more if it had been above freezing. Way too cold to tarry.

And that is all I have the patience to type right now. My hands are screaming. I wonder, if I eat ice cream, if they'll settle down.