my lovelies

this post is for the handmade division team's "talk about blog" for may! (see the links at the end to follow the discussion)

this month's topic is "what item do you most treasure made by another artist"

i have a lot of things made by other artists, but i have to pick this one...

quite a few years back, i worked at an art supply shop/gallery.
i worked there for a pretty long time, and i got to know a lot of artists in my area.
there was a couple that used to come in often...jacques fabert and bonnie maclean.
i really got on well with them, and loved to talk about art and stuff with them when they came in. (i would tell people that they were my "art parents" ;) )

somehow, bonnie and i decided that i would sit for her. she would paint me for however many sessions, in return for one of her paintings.

she is an amazing painter.

bonnie maclean used to be married to bill graham, the manager for the fillmore in california.
she was one of the "poster makers" back then. she's sort of a big deal :)

here's one of her posters...






















i would go to bonnie and jacques' studio on a regular basis...
she would paint me, and we would chat.
we became pretty close.
i would sometimes bring cakes or something over and we'd have coffee and cake with jacques (who loves his sweets!)

here's one of jacques' paintings...























he's an amazing painter too!

i learned so much from going there,
and they are so inspiring and encouraging!

anyway, time went on, and i sort of stopped sitting for bonnie.
she had moved on to some interior type of paintings and she didn't need me there...

she told me to choose a painting of hers that i wanted.

this wasn't so easy.

i wasn't really sure that i would want a painting of myself....
but in the end, i decided to pick my favorite one that she did of me.
i remember that day, and sitting and chatting with her...
and she had jimi hendrix or something on the stereo, rockin out while she painted ;)

so, this one was my choice. i have it hanging in my living room, and every day i look at it and think how lucky i am to have it! and how lucky i am to have bonnie and jacques for friends! and how glad that i am that i picked that one...
just to remind me of those times.





i don't get to see bonnie and jacques as much as i would like now, but i do make a point to go and see them when i can. they mean a whole lot to me. i hope they know that.


be sure to click on the links below to follow the other team members' posts on this topic!
Andes Cruz
Jewelry by Natsuko
Tosca
WATTO
Ceeb Wassermann
Beth Cyr
Rickson
Tamra Gentry
Purified Art
SandFibers
ArtJewel Designs
kerin rose
Abhaya Fibers