The most amazing thing happened last week in Savannah. I was sitting having lunch with a dear friend at a restaurant sidewalk table. We were discussing “chasing joy” and choosing to be happy in this precariously balanced life, and this painting walked by! Literally it had legs!
Eyes shocked wide open I asked Tanya, “Did you see that too?”
She giggled and said, “Yes, how odd was that?” and we both began laughing.
I paused and said, “Excuse me for just a minute….” and I stood to run after the painting! Literally chasing love & joy down the street!
I traveled a block pretty quickly in my bright yellow Birkenstocks and shouted, “Excuse me! Woman with the painting?” (because at this point I could see that of course that the painting didn’t actually have legs, but that a petite woman was struggling to carry it.)
“This is so amazing! Where did you get it?” I exclaimed.
Kathleen Vasta went on to explain that she was the artist and that she was returning from the printer where the piece had been scanned to create a life-sized print for a customer. This both baffled and intrigued me. I have many prints and not much original artwork, much because one can have many prints adorning their walls for the price of just one original. I have a few originals, many done by my son in his younger years using a variety of mediums and several are similar to this vibrant piece, which is probably one of the reasons it captivates my adoration.
She told me it was named “The Art of Love” and the medium was paper. Hundreds of pieces of tiny bits of colorful paper and words. It’s truly amazing.
I helped her balance the massive painting, which is maybe 5 x8 feet and dwarfed her, while we exchanged contact details. I assured her I’d follow up to request information about prints, as she had shared the price of the original and it was a bit too steep for me right now. Plus, the space I have left to adorn in my home is only that above our king-sized bed, so a half size print will be perfect there.
Strangers. Joy. Color. Art. Creativity. Guts. Joy. Bliss. Love.
Our lives are made up of so many pieces, just like this artwork. Some vibrant & colorful, some black as night, some bright as the heavens, but they all pull together to make up our lives. Just like these bits of paper making up one amazing work of art.
This piece will forever remind me of The moment. The friendship. The amazing solo getaway I was just beginning in an effort to finalize the rebuilding of myself. After a long year of slowly assembling my colorful bits & puzzle pieces with some familiarity it was and is time for me to stand on solid ground again. My feet rooted in the Earth, my Heart filled with love and my mind forever churning and buzzing with “what can be?” What a perfect reminder for me to see every day and every night. A suggestion that I am an artist creating this life. Daily. Crafting it from an assembly of emotions and experiences, thoughts and beliefs, sights, sounds and smells.
A perfect life. My life. Always unfinished. Always evolving as I go along right up until the end. My masterpiece.
Kibby Jardine 