you look young! is that your art?
first off, let me just say this has been an excellent if not jam-packed weekend. i'll fill in some details later but for now, let's talk art. in the city i live in, all the art galleries downtown have open exhibits every first friday at 5pm. i'd never been before, but a co-worker suggested it, and a group of us went.
i've long been a fan of good art. when i was little, my parents used to take me to DC to see the Smithsonian on weekends, and we frequented the Metropolitan the summer we lived in NYC. i loved to draw as a child and elementary school art class was fun. i was pretty good at it and actually won some drawing contests, but it was more a fun hobby than anything i took seriously (i.e. i am not an artist. i prefer enjoying other people's art).
sadly, i never got around to taking any art classes in college. i sorely regret that as i had wanted to take art history or drawing as a pass-fail elective. it's a shame because the art department was strong at my school. my roommate was an art history minor, and another friend majored in it. that's how i got into the habit of going to art gallery exhibits where there was wine & cheese. on many friday afternoons, i would hop onto the bus and head over to amherst, because UMASS often had friday evening art gallery exhibits. they served wine and they never carded. only 18? no problem! the chardonnay flowed freely at these events. oh, wait... you wanted the shiraz? they had that too!
so now fast-forward 10+ years: i'm just days away from turning 30. it's hard to believe, eh? apparently so! as i said: on friday eve i went to an art exhibit. of course, there was wine and cheese. so i walk up to the table and say "chardonnay please". a guy about my age pours the glass and hands it over. meanwhile out of the corner of my eye, i see an older man staring at me but i ignore it and proceed to walk away to enjoy the art. but as i turn from the table, he taps me on the shoulder: "ID, miss?". so i pull out my driver's license. usually they give it a cursory scan, give it back and send you on your merry way. not this guy--he squints, holds it at arms distance, holds it up to the light, then holds it close to his eyes and studies every last detail of that little plastic card. 60 seconds seems like an eternity. he finally sees my birthdate, his eyes pop out, and exclaims "1974!?". (whew! he knows i'm legit, he knows it ain't no fake ID, and i'm off the hook!) it was kind of amusing. but i'm used to it--i guess my asian heritage coupled with my petite 5'2 frame make me look young.
but the best part of the evening: i'm looking at the phenomenal art done by local high school students. (wow, what talent--nothing short of amazing!). as i'm standing there in awe, a woman not much older than i am comes up beside me. she clears her throat, and then she adjusts her voice to a tone one uses when speaking to a child, not an equal. she leans over and asks "so are you one of the high school students exhbiting tonight?". (this, despite the huge glass of chardonnay in my hand).
hahaha! i should have exclaimed "why, yes! yes, that is my painting!".
