It's a small world

Tonight we met up with my friend Barbara Bourne and her husband Larry at Lucas Park Grille.
http://www.bbourne.com/

It's a funny story about Barbara and Larry.
They used to live in St. Louis, up until around 1998 I believe, which is when they moved to northern CA. Of course we also lived in St. Louis until 1998, which is when we relocated to northern CA. And in 2000 I happened to quit my day job to "pursue my art." (In retrospect I didn't really know what that meant but it sounded cool).

Then in 2001 I was invited to share studio space in this marvelous, incredible warehouse in Sausalito.
http://www.icbbuilding.com/
Which is where I met Barbara. How odd that we had moved from the same city to live in the same area to actually share a studio in the same 1800 square foot space.

I haven't seen her since we left the Bay area 2 years ago. She called last week and said they would be in town and would like to meet for drinks, plus she wanted me to meet a good woman friend of hers who she thought I would like.

It was great to catch up. She and Larry look exactly the same and are just as fun as ever. We talked "studio" talk, about that magical spot in Sausalito where Barbara bore witness to all my early attempts at art, some successful, some.........well, let's just say they were early attempts. We reminisced about how I progressed from a 6ft x 6ft. space (I swear it was really that small) to the "middle" spot (a slightly larger space with walkway in the middle of it!) to (finally!) a prime window location overlooking the water. It was so glorious, idyllic really, the studio of a lifetime. I can't think of it without getting a little weepy. Larry told of my first open studio, how I barely even knew what I was doing, hardly had adequate work to cover my walls but then, in some insanely freakish moment, sold more than I ever would have imagined. What a total rush to realize that perhaps, just maybe, I was making stuff that people LIKED???????

Then finally, tonight, Barbara introduced me to her friend, the person she wanted me to meet. I felt an instant affinity to Cindy, she had such kind eyes. She reached for her purse to get a business card and I did the same. We made the exchange. She looked at my card, then smiled and said, "I have this card." I must have looked puzzled but she recalled that she had signed up for my mailing list and had received my holiday flyer.