The Great Art Crash

"Off Duty"

           On June 26th, I was doing an Arts in the Plaza show in Long Beach, NY. It was a great beach day and we did not have a lot of traffic. I was at another artist's booth joking around and then heard a terrible noise. It was like the sound of a car crash---however it was not a car accident---it was the sound of two of my grid walls hitting the ground. ( The grid wall display my framed and canvas work.)

         All the artists ran over immediately  and helping me pick up the pieces. I was in total shock, but need we needed to pick up the glass, frames, etc. off the ground as quickly as possible. Then, the second set of walls crashed to the ground. It was like having a tsunami and then an after-shock wave.

         Now all my work was shatter and in tiny pieces on the ground.

       

        I was so pleasantly surprised how many artists helped me: someone got a broom from Starbucks, another got me a trash can, and the rest started picking up the frames, and photos from the ground. Everyone was so helpful and offered wonderful words of advice and encouragement They  packed me up and helped me get all my stuff home. I am so grateful to everyone of my friends. Friends that I now consider family---a family that meets every Sunday for a few laughs and to support one another.

       When I arrived home, Kevin and I set up a trauma center. We review that damaged and then I mourned a few pieces. The following week we repaired the frames, replaced and glasses and printed new work. I was still very upset but new the work had to be done.

        The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. -----Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Dancing Plovers"   (birds that are always working)

         I really pushed myself to get the repairs completed by the following week.
The "Great Art Crash" made me even more determined to make this photography career a success.

"Phoenix Rising"