Thank you, and a Recipe
Thank you to each and every person who braved the frigid Cleveland winter on Saturday to visit us in the studio. We were blown away by your graciousness, your words of encouragement, your kindness and your support. Steve and I had anticipated that the cold temperatures would have reduced the number of people coming out, but you are a hearty stock, enthusiastic and so very supportive. Thank you.
When we took the plunge to move into a studio, and took on a rent payment we had those quiet concerns about whether or not this was the right direction for our business, and for us personally. Yes, we were eager to move the studio out of our home, but any jump like this must be measured with caution. Clearly for us it is a wonderful thing, but your presence, and your support of our journey clarified that we are on track.
Amid the galleries, and music and food the most precious thing about the day was seeing each of you. In my mind you must all know each other because i know you…. and clearly sometimes that was true. But i watched as each of you visited, got to know each other, and joined in the celebration. One of the realizations I came to was that while some parts of my life are far in the rear view mirror, there are strands of connection, friendships, shared memories, impressions/impact we have made on each other that has held us together. And there are new connections made in the most recent parts of my life. Each of you are special, and have a place in our hearts. Fellow artists, coworkers of jobs of the past and present, childhood connections, and present day adult friendships, precious sisters (although not blood relatives), and sweet family. You are really something. You taught us that the connections we make are valuable, and we are not alone.
Some of you were right there, and just jumped in to make coffee, help with serving soup and salad, or wrap soap, greet people, and rescue me from the frazzles of too many things to accomplish and no time to do so. Sharon, Marge, Gail… Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
All of you brought your grace, and words of encouragement.
There were times I wanted to take a break and just cry for joy. It was one of those moments of feeling like George Bailey in “Its a Wonderful Life”, with a peek at the network of community that we live in. How often life wants to make use feel isolated, yet on saturday we realized that we are not alone.
And several of our visitors stretched out beyond anything we had expected. One of the artists came to the studio Saturday morning moderately stressed, having had car problems and an accident. As she rolled into the ArtCraft lot two of her tires went flat. Gosh, stress upon stress, upon stress. Poor thing. But we were moments from the doors opening, and solving this issue would have to wait. But one of our musicians, Gumby, and another friend, Aaron teamed up and got her tires re inflated, and the car drive-able. Wow, that blew us away. Thank you gentlemen for stepping into this place, and rescuing her.
That said, i promised the Asian Fusion Salad recipe…. here goes.
Click this link: