On separate occasions, I ran into two women I had met in the last few months with whom I felt an instant and genuine connection. You know, animated conversations, similar interests. I was excited and happy to see them again, thinking we would build on what we had started. In both cases, I was greeted with a subdued, almost cold reaction. No happy chatter. Not sure what happened there, by now, I’m not even surprised anymore.
So when I went to the Atlanta Art Fair, I didn’t expect much in terms of meeting anyone new, especially since Melissa was not there on Friday. And it was difficult to maneuver the noisy crowds. The artwork was crammed in small booths, with not enough room to step back and view them properly. It felt disrespectful. I returned on Saturday with one of three friends I had asked to join me. The other two bailed at the last minute. I went to hear a panel discussion led by Melissa and afterwards spoke with one of the three panelists as we shared a weird and unwelcome connection to a certain notorious Atlantan. Caught up with Mark Karelson and his health issues and met his daughter, Katie, who is following in his footsteps. Saw the sculptor, Curtis Patterson, and told him how Charlie & I had gone to Savannah for his opening at the Laney Gallery in 2022. He was so touched that he invited me to visit his studio. Yes, that’s what I am talking about.
Afterwards, Alan and I did the East Atlanta Strut and popped in the ABV Gallery basically to kill time until Melissa’s party at the Dita. I expected to stay a few minutes as Alan (my ride) needed to get back to LaGrange at a reasonable hour. We stayed a lot longer, I met two women, whom I had met previously through Melissa but based on the aforementioned interactions, was prepared for a cursory exchange. It. Was. Amazing. The first woman is a lawyer who is getting a PhD from Harvard on African American Studies, a very lovely and serious person who approached ME (!) She told me that she and her mother looked at my website (OMG) and how much they loved my work (double OMG) We will get together soon, she promised me. I actually believe it will happen. The second woman I approached because Melissa’s Christmas gift to me was something she had made. I simply wanted her to know how special it was to me and that, though it was meant as a tree ormament, it hangs in the kitchen year round. We talked quite a while and at some point she asked me what I was working on. Wow, no one ever asks me that. I told her about Charlie’s portrait and her eyes filled with tears. I showed her the photo of it on my phone. Yes, I think she will drop by at some point, too. So they’re out there somewhere, my people, some hiding in plain sight.