Still Alive and Very Well

I'm calling these Raw Materials

I took the picture in the only quiet corner my new studio. They look a little lonely, but not for long.

Just to catch you up with a little that has been going on with me--at the end of September, I left my beloved LibertyTown studio to step out in a new venture with my friends Susan and Lynette. We have opened a new business which will have a dual focus, writing and art. It is still in downtown Fredericksburg. We named it Water Street Studio because it is on a street that has been named that in the past and because we sit right on the banks of the Rappahannock River.

Last Friday, we had our grand Grand Opening with lots of friends, old and new. We've already scheduled a reading with Steve Watkins, whose new book Juvie just landed in stores yesterday. It will be held October 26th at Water Street Studio. Refreshments and read-aloud from a wonderful author. What could be better?

Back to art. I have been looking for wooden folding chairs since January when I painted one of a set of three auditorium chairs for a fund raiser. I had so much fun painting Chester, that I immediately wanted another project like it. I looked through antique shops, sent my yard sale spies out to look, asked and asked, but couldn't find any more chairs that suited my purpose.

Then last month I traveled to Texas to see family. Along our way on a birdwatching trip north of Corpus Christi, we passed through the little town of Sinton, Texas.

"My chairs!" I shouted from the back seat. "Stop! There are my chairs!" Sure enough, on the side walk outside an antique store, there sat the perfect raw materials.

Exhibiting fabulous driving skill, my sister did not lay a scratch in the road, but pretty quickly we were piling out of the tiny white mazda and into Kountry Kaboodles. It turned out the folding chairs came from the old theater down the street from the antique store.

What nice folks we met! We stayed and chatted a long time, forgetting about the birds waiting for us at Choke Canyon. In the conversation, Gary offered to mail them to me, as they would be an awkward carry-on back to Virginia.

The chairs blew in just this past Monday along with tropical storm Karen, safe and just as wonderful as I had remembered.

I like the original surface and plan to keep it. (Extra bonus: I found decades old gum on the bottom of the seats, likely put there by movie-goers so they could eat their popcorn.)