Reminder of Golden Moments

On my not-so-daily walk, (lately, it seems to be a weekly walk!) I was looking for a way to get a better photograph of a gold-rimmed church dome in the afternoon sunlight. As I turned to go around the block, I discovered that the entire street behind me was bathed in a golden glow. . . . No, that is too gentle. This was as if everything had been gilded. It took my breath away!

And in that brilliant glow, everything seemed to frame the tallest building in our town and it uncovered some forgotten memories. For more than three years I maintained a studio there -- first on the 15th floor with balconies opening to the east and west and then in a larger space overlooking the River.

There. . . I was able to bring my art history students for a tour of the building with both up-close balcony views of the early 20th C. architecture and interior views of the I. M. Pei modern addition. The juxtaposition of the two parts is stunning.

There. . . I was able to host a show of works from around the US which were sent to me by members of an Internet art group. Some of them traveled from Tex, NY and FL to meet for a weekend of face-to-face sharing.

There. . . I was able to work much larger and show my work in a variety of large and small gallery spaces. It was a blissful creative time for me and I was sorry when I knew the time for me to leave had come.

But in the image of the building that afternoon, I was reminded that there have been many times in my forty years as a painter which were filled with delightful, delicious, and golden moments and I was assured that there will be others.

@AAB

NOTE: Sixty seven years ago, my parents met in a golden moment on the ground floor of that tall building. They were married three months later on January 17th and had 56 years together.

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