Thursday, January 3, 2008

"There are places I remember..."



2008, January 2

I spent most of my time off from work traveling and visiting people. First up to the U.P. (Upper Peninsula of Michigan Eh!) for Christmas and then to West MI to visit my family and some friends. I wasn’t able to get to everyone I wanted to see. By the end of all the traveling (with two rambunctious boys), eating and sleeping in other people’s houses, and overloads of both good and bad food (sometimes it’s hard being a veggie in a carnivorous world)…I was glad to be home. And I thought I was going to get some studio time somewhere in there…riiiiiiight.

One very cool thing I did was visit with my longtime friend, Sue. Sue and I go way back. She was not only my middle school art teacher she was also my art teacher for the last two years of high school. What cemented our friendship was a mutual love for all things Beatles (and art of course!) Sue has been one of the influential persons in my life that kept me on the art-making track through the weird teenage years and beyond.

A bonus to meeting up with Sue again was seeing and spending time in her Beatles shrine (my description). She and her late husband have been big collectors of Beatles music and memorabilia since they were quite young. Sue has been busy over the last months since her retirement organizing the huge collection. I could spend days in that room – hundreds of books, buttons, figurines, pictures, and music! Along with her own Beatles inspired artwork there’s hundreds of vinyl records, cds, tapes, you name it – a Beatlemaniac’s delite.

I loved to draw and I loved Beatles music before my 11-year old self ever walked into her classroom but Sue’s enthusiasm, passion, and encouragement were contagious forces that led me to pursue an art career. Thanks Sue.

No comments: