Sunday, July 7, 2013

FOURTH OF JULY CONTINUING ADVENTURES

It was late last night after I posted my much overdue blog.  I watched half of a movie before sleeping the longest I have slept in many years, not waking until 11:00 ~ a virtual record in my life!   It was great!!  I had a couple of hours to myself to wake up before my son arose.

It is now Sunday afternoon.  I just had the pleasure of hanging out with two of my sons and one of my best friends, still feeling run over physically from all of the activity.  Taking some time now to catch up a bit since I was also blessed with it being First Friday Artwalk the day after the Fourth of July ~ which I was looking forward to.

It was so hot that day!  The only thing I did all day was write in my head and take two showers and not much else before heading out to check out the array of new artists this month.  I like to see as much as I can within reasonable walking distance and sometimes two hours is not enough time to appreciate the multitude of amazing paints and photographs alike in various styles, design and topics.

I had put off doing my chores, so I went to the pharmacy before I checked out any Art ~ note to self, do not wait until 5:00 on a Friday to do anything routine.  I was pleasantly surprised with the fact that the prescription coverage had changed and without a new card and information it would cost almost $50.00 for one weeks worth of medication, which I needed for the next day.

Loving the way life sneaks up and bites me in the ass ~ I left the pharmacy ~ called my son and asked me if he had gotten any mail relating to said event, as I was doing him a favour by getting his meds.  He doesn't leave the house except for doctor's appointments since 2008, which gets frustrating as a parent who is sociable ~ but I do understand mental health issues and know that people who suffer from it have a better chance with family support rather than without it.

I walked down the street deciding to check the bank to make sure there were no other surprises to sneak up and bite me while he was looking for the information.  Thankfully, there were no further surprises and he found what I needed, in between a phone call back to the pharmacy to see if they had more information for me and finding out when they closed.

By the time I got back up North Street again from the bank, I was almost in an Art Appreciation mood, so I stopped into the Marketplace Cafe to find the works of Brian Colbert, who also disguises himself at various times as a drummer in the park.  His work was very colorful and appealing to me.

After a conversation with a man outside the Cafe with whom I had met previously at a Word X Word event, who was waiting for the rest of his party ~ we chatted ~ or rather I vented and then I thanked him for letting me ~ then I was really ready to rock and roll!

I headed to Downtown Pittsfield, Inc, to check out the works of another artist previously unknown to me, but who is very good.  His paintings were very good.  I loved his use of color in his landscapes and florals.  His still lifes were good as well!

I headed over to the very crowded Lichtenstein Center for the Arts for the Lift Ev'ry Voice Festival ~ recognizing many of the subjects as they have all been around most of my life or the families were familiar to me.  I learned later that Susan Geller was one of the photographers, although I missed the opportunity to speak with her at the Gallery.

I made my way over to The Shops at Crawford Square to find some of the best photography I have seen in a while by Bud Deyo.  A must see if you are in the area.  Nicolette Enhorning-Picton's show blew me away as well, and her prices were very reasonable as well.  Drew Finn was in the Kinderhook ~ all three of these photographers are worth the drive down to North Street during business hours over the course of the month so be sure to see for yourself.

Rick Costello was at Bisque, Beads and Beyond with some amazing astronomy paintings with each painting so realistic with the placements of the stars.  I spoke with him later on the street after the Artwalk and he also does talks on Astronomy to groups and at parties bringing his telescope ~ so he takes his love of astronomy and puts it into his painting!

I had to go to Steven Valenti's Clothing ~ one of my regular stops anyway ~ my cousin's relative Gerard Natale was showcasing his landscapes "Berkshire Impressions: Visions of New England", which I found lovely indeed.  It was very nice also to make the acquaintance of my newly found relative, Marguerite's relative as well and we had a nice talk as we figured out the connection.

I hit the NU Arts Studios and Gallery and checked out "On Shaky Ground" by Daniel Brody and spent some time chatting with Dan and one of the other artists while enjoying his air conditioning.  I stopped into a couple of more artist galleries while I was there and everyone seems to have been playing musical studios!

I headed downstairs to Gallery 25 where Diane Firtell was taking a much needed breather after her mad dash finishing up and setting up her show "Fantasy Landscapes" with one of my favourite pieces on the right wall as you come in the door.

Michael Boroniec's exhibit DeBarro was on display at the Y Bar.  I loved his vases and the paintings on the wall behind them.  They were exceptional!  I am not sure which one I liked best, but I do know that I loved the way the paintings complimented the pottery and would really enhance any mantel!

I was on a deadline to pick up the script before the pharmacy closed at 8:00, so around 7:00 I ran home and picked up everything I could lay my hands on for the pharmacy, not wanting to not have the correct information and I power walked back up to the pharmacy finishing up what I needed to finish up.

I ran into my friend Cindy and she accompanied me down the street to go find my other friend who was heading up around 7:00, since it was after that and there were only a few people about I figured it would not be too difficult to find him.

After a few minutes we did run into him, he had arrived later than he expected and we chatted on the street for a bit, it being closer to 8 and nearing the end of the exhibit times we walked him down towards the direction of his car when I saw the heat lightning.  At the same time, my friend Diane was across the street waving me over to check the view of the sky from over there and it was amazing pink with the lightning flashing.

Cindy and I joined Diane for the walk down the street toward her house ~ she had to take her dog Sheyna out, so we parted company and went over to the store before heading back through the park.  To my delight, as we were walking through, Diane was calling me ~ she brought the dog over for me to see ~ which was almost the best part of the whole holiday!

Cindy came over and she helped me persuade my son out of the house ~ it was about 20 minutes before the ice cream place closed, so we hustled up the street to get some ice cream to break the heat ~ and to get me out of cooking dinner.

After we had our ice cream the three of us were swinging on the swings in the park ~ something I love to do, but have not done in forever.  My son and I ran through playing on everything in the playground ~ sliding on the slides, climbing up the wall, over the monkey bars and even talking through the tube and listening to the other person from far away ~ something we both want to install in our house it was so cool!

We left Cindy at her house and headed back down the road.  A very eventful and memorable Friday evening all in all.  I have been so saturated with art and activity ~ which no doubt has helped to increase my pain levels to yet another day of recovery.  I do not think the "No pain, no gain" really applies to this situation, but for me it is all worth it!






1 comment:

  1. I was so looking forward to reading your words about ArtWalk ~

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