Buddha (still) Abides

Well, as you can see from this happy photo of me, our featured artist, Kim Adelman, and Thomas, we had a lot of fun Saturday. Quite an unexpectedly large turn out of artists submitted work, in fact, more than usual and wondeful art to boot! We had no idea how it would go due to all the craziness that the fire created. But we put up as many NEW posters and flyers as possible (thank you Kim and Ted), blog, emails, word of mouth, phone calls, notes on The Frameworks window and so forth.

Patti Look Lewis graciously allowed us to use her beautiful, high-ceilinged space at 25 East De la Guerra. You'll have the opportunity to see her gorgeous pastels on the First Thursday, too.

Altogether 72 works of art were presented, including drawings, prints, photographs, jewelry, ceramics, sculpture and a fabulous work made of melted glass. Thomas, Christi and I choose over two thirds. The ones not accepted usually was to do with not fitting the theme in any way we could decifer other than, 'all beings are buddha', which is true, yet in this show we have to narrow it to something a little more precise otherwise everything everywhere would be in it and it wouldn't make any sense to most people...how Zen.

Anyway, a big THANK YOU goes out to all of you who participated, because it made a huge difference to us, especially Christi. In fact, she told me that the day after the fire, she broke down and just wanted to throw in the towel and close the doors forever. Then word got out and she began receiving HUNDREDS of emails and calls and offers of help. Because of that she forged ahead. AMAZING what a little community spirit can do to give you strength, courage and joy. In the end, it's all about relationships.

Speaking of help, I also want to mention Fatima at Haggle (just behind Starbucks). She has not only allowed us to store a lot of the artwork, but also is having a Silent Auction to benefit The Frameworks. It's a great little shop filled with original art and ethnic crafts which you can, yes that's right, 'haggle' for, to come up with an agreed upon price. Check it out.

And then there's Sullivan Goss, a wide open, spacious gallery at 7 E. Anapamu. For the month of May all the Buddha Abides artwork will be displayed there. Many of the usual suspects will be shown, including: Neal Crosby, Bonnie Rapkin, Marcelino Jimenez, Lila Trachtenberg, Anne Luther, Chris Messner, Kim Adelman, Susan Seabury, Judith Geiger, Beth Amine, and more.

So, yes, Buddha (still) Abides, and we are delighted. Actually, Pema Chodron, the American Tibetan nun says that enlightenment comes when the rug is pulled out from under you...

It's gotten really bright!

Lark