Important Studio Business

 I went up to my Studio this morning, but not to draw, print, or color.  Today was to meet with a potential purchaser, something we artists need to do once in a while.  She picked the time and day, and she has been to my space before, so she knows how to find the building.  

I had the print ready to go, but wanted to cut it loose from the board I had it stretched on and sign and number it before she got there, but I was able to do all that.  I also took out the alternate version (on okawara) to give her a choice.  Prepared an appropriate size piece of glassine to pack it in.  Then I took out all the saint blocks I had, a mix of some from Carbondale, and some that have been done since.  Most of my saint blocks were destroyed in Hurricane Sandy, but I removed what was not damaged from the basement where they had been stored and relocated them to the Studio.  I have a complete set of the colored prints as well, which were in my apartment, but those are currently in storage, and I don't know when I get to see those again.

My guest had come to pick up a copy of St Dwynwen,  the only saint that didn't come from my Butler's source, but rather from a piece I saw on television, as this popular Welsh saint is not acknowledged by either the Catholic church or the Episcopalian either.  All we have is the remains of an old church in Wales, and a popular local custom that involves carved wood shapes (especially spoons) given as a sign of affection.  To separate it from the rest of the series (maybe 80 or so prints now) I went with a different format, making it in the form of a playing card.  Ann and her husband had seen the print during an open studio back in 2024, I reminded them of this year's.  They didn't come, but she wanted the print, so I created and colored a few recently, and when I had something ready, I sent an email.  Today was the day she picked to come get it.  I had warned her that the door may be locked, but I would be there to open it if I needed to. 

Ann arrived just a few minutes after the planned time, and I led her downstairs to my space, hard for even experience people to find sometimes.   First we took care of the Dwynwen exchange (she chose the  version of Lightweight paper, which is what I had intended), gave me the agreed upon price.  Then she wanted to look at all the saint blocks I had.

Eventually she chose two saints that she liked, and we agreed on a price.  I figured I could find an image of the more recent one online, and hoped I could remember enough of the older one to pick some colors.    I may have to buy another tube or two of watercolor, but we have no deadline for this.  

After that we stopped by the office.  Ann was very excited to see the art on the first floor, and she is always looking for places to host a group exhibition.  So I showed her where that was, introduced her to Jeanne, and they exchanged information.  From here it's their thing to work out.  Ann had put me into a show once before, but I am not part of this one. 

On the way home, I stopped at the Wall public library.  I don't go there as often as I used to (when I lived in that town and didn't have internet yet), but I still have a Monmouth county library card. and in the past they had a copy of the full set of Butler's Lives of the Saints on the shelves in the reference section, and I wanted to give Ann the correct information about the saints she chose.  One of those saints was from Carbondale, and the other pretty old as well, and I couldn't remember the details of the stories.  The reference shelves were empty, but with some help I found what I needed, took care of business, and headed home.