The Starving Artist

I just had a delightful evening out and about in my original hometown. Keene has developed a lively night experience that includes Christmas lights, candle lights at the outdoor dining tables and music drifting from a number of venues. On this night, my boss and I went out to enjoy The Starving Artist (www.thestarvingartistcollective.com) where a handful of clever, creative people piled into a space and joined in the listening and enjoyment of music. There were a select number of guitarists, the owner Lana on a pump organ, a boy with a harmonica and later, the "main star" a girl with a rather quirky voice that at first had me hesitating to smile in praise, only to slowly get drawn into her quirky rhythms and voice variations. (I did think it was strange that she sang with her eyes closed, one slited open and cross-eyed though). She came with a guitar, keyboard and mandolin and definitely rocked out some cool tunes as the evening wore on (I'll post her name later as I left her demo cd in the car). As I sat there by two girls with their cooler of beer, pink streaked crazy hair, and friendly plaid-wearing artsy boys, I had to smile, even as my boss left early to return to her farther away home, at how fun it was to be back among artists. I felt a longing for my sketchbook, admonishing myself that while I purposely bought this new purse so it could fit my sketchbook, I have left it on the stairs of my house for days, with it's cover cock-eyed and falling off. All the same, it inspired me to paint, so arm ready or not, I'm painting tomorrow. And, luckily for me, figure drawing on Tuesday--an event I've happened to miss for two weeks at The Starving Artist, but one I'm freaking thrilled they have. I guess even as I look to move on from Keene, this is some tiny way of saying, "Hey, appreciate the life you're living, in the space you're living in while you're here... it may surprise you with what it has yet to offer your artistic self."