Now that the excitement of the new year and the opening of our show is waning as the days of January slide by....my thoughts are turning towards bright colors, sunlight, and a break from the 10 degree chill outside. It's been such a great start to 2009, despite the shitty economy and my boring day job. D and I rang in the new year at Dish, the lovely little authentic Italian restaurant on the Southside. Our meal started with a pomegranate martini at the bar. We watched as the bartender, a young woman in an adorable cocktail dress with ribbon straps, black bodice and patterned slightly poufy skirt-- concocted our cocktail and then made a twist of lemon rind to decorate the glass. I am a total lightweight where drinking is concerned-- and because neither of us had eaten in awhile in preparation for our glorious meal-- we both had a bit of a buzz after just a few minutes
We were seated at our table and started the feast with a delicious chilled carpaccio appeteazer atop a bed of arugula and fresh shavings of parmigiana. Delish. Next came braised sea scallops with pesto risotto circled by golden and red beets, very good. But the true star of the meal-- was the Osso Buco and luckily, I was the one who ordered it! It was Fantastic, succulent, tendah! It fell off the bone with the lightest touch....it was served with broccolini and risotto and a tomato-y sauce. It was absolutely divine. After dessert, we went home to watch the ball drop on the tube-- but we were both so pleasantly stuffed that we drifted off to a satiated slumber.
2 days later was the opening night reception for the show at Garfield Artworks. It was a super terrific evening and just made me want to make art and show it all the time! I was so happy that so many friends came out and said hello and that my Mom and Jim drove to the Burgh for the weekend. I was truly on high. And I got some interesting and much needed feedback about the pieces I showed.
I went to the studio to do work but it is so freezing there-- the kind of cold that gets into your bones and stays-- that I had to bring a huge bag full of materials home. I am becoming a nomadic artist-- shifting from the dining room table, to the spare bedroom and back again and every where I go, I leave a trail of books, kneaded eraser, exacto knife, paper and little shards of cut papers. Which is ironic because I feel like I'm always cleaning up and straightening up- and it's always my stuff that's all over the house and not my partner in crime whose main mess is in his office.
I am lately thinking into the future and hoping, wishing, wanting to focus more on the art part of my life-- I keep saying that and yet-- the art part seems to be the difficult part because it requires a lot of brain power and dedication and focus, and self-confidence. As in, I am right now making something- but I have to suspend judgement about it because it may be just a little nothing that leads me to the thing that leads me to the really cool thing that becomes something. It requires a certain type of unique patience that must be cultivated and that I'm not sure I have quite yet. But, I'm working on it.
