Pearls

I've been wanting to record some of the unusual things that have happened to me in the last couple of years and this is the perfect place.

To me, living a creative life is being open to whatever comes my way. I try to view adversity as a way of guiding me on a path I wouldn't have chosen otherwise. Success can be the same way. This contains both. Success and failure (aka opportunity) are often close bedfellows.

Patty Van Dyke, Kristy Vantrease, Me, Diane Hanley

I had a show about a year and a half ago with some friends in a group I co-founded called The Ojai Group. It included the major works all of us had created in the year or so prior to the show which was hosted by Herzog Winery.  It was a very big deal for us.  They were planning our opening in conjunction with one of their wine club tasting events.  We would have amazing food and wine and a wonderful group of potential collectors.
Of course once the art was ready and the invitations sent I only had one thing to worry about...the clothes.  This may seem rather silly but dressing well makes me feel more comfortable whether it's well loved blue jeans for outdoor painting or a formal dress for a New Year's Eve party. It allows me to focus on other people because once I'm ready I don't worry about myself.


I started with my classic black base.  Could be boring, but I always come back to it.  I had palazzo pants and a tank top and only needed a jacket of some kind and some accessories.  I was jazzed about the show but didn't want to go broke on the much needed clothes so I ended up at the sale rack at Chico's.  I found the beautiful gold brocade jacket you see here. I bought a belt that I thought would look silly with an involved necklace so I decided to wear my grandmother's pearls. They would look elegant and I would feel as if Gramma was sharing my success.  The only problem was that I had broken them at a Mardi Gras party a few months before.  Don't ask.  It wasn't as bad as it sounds!

I needed to get them re-strung so I took them to a great local jeweler, Van Gundy's. I only had a week to get them back but they assured me they could put a rush on them so I'd have them in time for my opening.  You guessed it they weren't ready.  I was disappointed and told them I had planned on wearing them to my opening.  I didn't rant or rave; I've learned that rarely does anything but make a bad situation worse.  Sooo

These wonderful people loaned me some pearls!  Tom Van Gundy took a beautiful box out and asked me if I thought the strand of pearls he had was a good length for me.  (Believe it or not I wasn't even thinking about what he might be doing.)  Short story long, we decided the pearls were the perfect length and he quickly wrote up a receipt for me.  I signed (no money exchanged here) and was on my way.  I felt like a movie star all night.

Isn't that fun?  It's one of my favorite memories!