I love art. Well, not all art. When the piece touches my heart, I inevitably find myself falling in love. There is some predictability to my response. I willingly admit that I am biased towards certain artists. I also tend to become infatuated with sculptures created by unknown artists. There are interesting exceptions. One is a limited edition, signed, contemporary block print linked to carnival by an unknown Latino artist.
I have no idea who the artist is. I do not know the origins, background, or year it was made. Exaggerated by the lack of knowledge, it is a piece that I treasure.
I roughly know when and where I first met the painting. I left it in its cheap frame with fragile glass for years. It has traveled to England, back to New York, and now to California. In the last shipment, the shipper broke the glass and damaged the paper. Once I began to look at the painting, I could see that it had faded with time. It vibrancy only existed in my mind. The power I felt was mine alone. While it was interesting, it did not reach out and grab you like it did originally.
I faced two problematic questions. Should I give up on the piece and abandon it? If not, who could I trust to restore it. I quickly answered the first question. I would stick with it for yet awhile! The second question was challenging. I only know a few in the art restoration business. Only two live on the west coast.
I took the piece to Gustavo, carefully watching his reaction to the block print. I could see a familiar reaction emerging! He was responding the same way I did to the introduction.
When Paul and Silas introduced new ideas to a group of people, not everyone was convinced. “Some of them were won over and joined ranks with Paul and Silas, among them a great many God-fearing Greeks and a considerable number of women from the aristocracy.” (Acts 17.4)
I reconnected today. I fell in love, again.
