Since 2002 my GF and I have been spending Memorial Day weekend in Rockport, MA. It’s a community rich with artists, though we usually went for the shopping and the beaches. It’s sort of our pre-season version of Martha’s Vineyard, our favorite vacation spot.
A few years ago we walked into a small gallery, run by a mature-ish lady named Virginia Hill. When she retired, she took up watercolor, and got so good she could open her own gallery, and I guess she makes a living wage of it.
Around the same time, at work, I started participating in the Secret Santa thing. The first time I took part, I drew Heather’s name. I felt uncomfortable buying something for such a Barbie Doll of a chick, but I got her some smelly bath stuff. She seemed to like it. The next year, I randomly pulled the name of… Heather. What are the odds? At that time I was tinkering with jewelry making, so I made her a necklace and matching earrings. She liked them. She even asked me to make her a matching bracelet.
A year ago, we took a trip back to Rockport. After visiting Virginia Hill once more, we were totally intrigued by the process of watercolor. How could those little yellow and purple cakes and crappy pink brushes we used as kids produce such wonderful images? So we bought some of those yellow and purple cakes for $1.50 and set to learning. Little did I guess that within 5 months, I would sell my first piece.
So anyway, in July, we went on our MV vacation. The day before, we had the drawing for the next Secret Santa thing. Why in July, I don’t know. So the name I drew this time was… Heather. Spooky. I decided that this year she was getting pearls.
As December drew near, I felt that that was not quite enough. I’d grown quite fond of giving this babe nice stuff. So I decided that I’d also give her a painting. But what of? I knew next to nothing about her except that she was from Maine. Ah, Maine – land of stunning coastlines. I googled on “maine coastline photo” to see what I could find. Before long I found pictures of Nubble Light, a lighthouse next to a house and a couple of smaller buildings. That would be my subject.
I studied and studied and studied that photo. I had memorized every angle of the roofs, every window, every relationship. A few weeks later, I had my masterpiece. It was brilliant. It should be hanging in the Loover. Instead, I gave it to Heather. She loved it. And she immediately recognized the subject.
On Christmas day, GF and I set off to MV for a short Winter vacation. As we sat in the hotel room, I called my family in Florida. There was a sort of ugly picture on the wall. I think the medium was bird shit on burlap. As I spoke to my niece, I stared mindlessly at this thing. Hmm, I thought. A pyramid. Funky. Next to a house. Hey, nice work on the roof. Very much like a painting I once worked on. And a low wall. Familiar. If this were my painting, next to the wall would be a… yep, there it is. The lighthouse. But where is the…? Ah, right there, where it should be. I was looking a Nubble Light. With a pyramid next to it.
Kind of cool. And kind of creepy.
When I got off the phone, we headed out to dinner. A fine dining French place called Le Grenier. The duck was delicious. As we dined, we talked about painting, and how far we’d come in such a short time. And how weird that picture was. We were so obsessed with the subject that I saw a lady in the restaurant that I thought looked very much like Virginia Hill. Of course, it wasn’t her.
Fast forward to last weekend. Back in Rockport. We stopped in to say hello to Virginia. I told her how she’d inspired me, and how far I’d come in so short a time. She seemed pleased with that. I told her the story of Secret Santa. I told her the story of Nubble. I explained how on Christmas Day, we went to the Vineyard and…
“Oh, really?” she said. “I went there on Christmas too! My husband and I had dinner at Le Grenier that night!”
And the circle is complete.