Asheville, Olivia, Her Show
From my journal, April 5, 2008:
It was fabulous! The whole trip was a dream! Loved every minute of it! Being with her, watching how she’s blossoming, helping her, having Jug there, all the people that came because they think so much of her, my pride in her, ---------it was all just ecstatically thrilling!! Can’t say enough!
Man, oh, man! From the beginning: We spent all Thursday afternoon hanging her pieces. There were three of Ali, three of Phillip, four of Amanda and six of Olivia. I hope to never lose the image of the gallery in my mind. We hung the first one of Ali first. How thrilled Olivia was to see her work hanging up on the bare wall! She just about jumped up and down with her happiness! She hadn’t ever seen her pieces hanging all alone on a white bare wall like that with the spot lights on them casting fabulous shadows everywhere. Each piece then one by one was hung with great care, measuring distances from the floor to the next piece making sure they were level. Then she pushed and pulled the huge ladder to each piece and adjusted the spotlights making the shawdows just right. It was all painstakingly accomplished! Each piece was evaluated as to how did the piece make your eyes flow? Did each piece flow to the next? If in one the subject was looking to the right, say, then she made sure that that did not make you look then to a door or window!! If the subject was looking to the right, then that piece had to be on the right! Whew! It was a chore but a very fun and satisfying chore. So VERY GLAD and APPRECIATIVE that Jug was with us!!!!!!! Can’t imagine his missing this and oh, God, if he had, he would have just been so depressed about it—seriously—he would have. He made hanging the pieces so easy! I just basically sat and critiqued them as to spacing and levelness—didn’t have to do much! Olivia mostly directed us and worked on the lighting. She was so excited and also so tired!
In spite of the condition of her apartment, and once I’d vacuumed and we’d straightened just a bit, we just enjoyed being together and talking and sharing and planning. I just tried to put the “surroundings” out of my mind. And just see her! And God, is she a beauty to behold! How she is growing up and becoming a woman of SUBSTANCE!!!!! She had a psychology workbook on her coffee table that she’s had to enter thoughts about things and of course, I read it while I waited on her and Jug to wake. She’s just amazing!! What she thinks about and very well grounded she is! Reading her thoughts on things, I realized I have absolutely nothing to worry about concerning her. She is going to be just fine in this life! And happy too. She knows so well how to prioritize and focus on what is truly important! She is very insightful into others AND herself. God, can you not just hear how proud I am of her? How did Jug and I produce such a beautiful person? She is such a gift! Such a blessing in my life!
She had everything planned but did not overplan it either. She was just anxious enough to have given it plenty of forethought but then was relaxed about certain things. She’d already done a good bit of the shopping after she’d decided what food to have. And we started preparing the food early Friday morning. The ONLY glitch was getting all the things baked that had to be baked and not having some things come out so early that it would not be fresh at 6:00—as her oven would only hold so much. She probably should have had her friends pitch in more. But both Ali and Amanda were sick yesterday and Ali had a paper or project of some sort due. I think Olivia may have a little trouble asking for help. But we got it done. Jug and Olivia went on over to the gallery to set up what was ready while I stayed behind and finished the baking and did my hair and make up and brought the rest over. We got it done and on time.
It was so thrilling and heart-warming to have so many come such a long way and just because of their admiration for Olivia!!!!!! Lisa, Pug, Shasta, Marisa, Mel, John, Sandy, Tony, Jim, Michelle, Joan, Grant, Marina, Don and Pam Curley, Nathan, Suzy, Carol —can you believe it? All came all that way just for her! It really and truly swelled my heart! Just thinking about it makes me want to cry! We are so blessed. So very truly blessed!
I don’t know if I’m just biased and prejudiced or what but I think her work is absolutely fabulous!! And I don’t think it just my bias. We heard so many say how very impressed they were! The pieces are large and my God, seeing them across the large gallery was just so impressive and just breath-taking! And close up you’re not disappointed either! Such emotion in each piece. And her artist statement—got to get her to send me a copy of it. How very well she expressed herself! How caring she is about people and how different and wonderful we each are. One of her psychology professors commented to me initially about the great food and I said how Olivia and I had prepared it all and he said, are you her mother? And I affirmed I was and then he commented on how very glad he was that he’d come because he had no idea how very talented she was and how in touch (or something to that effect) she was into human psychology and I said, and don’t you see how right on her choice in her career has been? He then asked me what her choice was and I said, art therapy and he had an ah-hah! moment!! Oh, yes, he says! I’m sure she’ll be hearing comments from her teachers and peers for weeks to come! And how good this will be for her confidence! She has worked so very, very, hard and the pay-off will be great! She’ll swell with confidence and know now she is a GREAT artist!!!!!!!!!! I’m so happy for her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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