travelogues : monologues

December 1998

Serendipity is not to be taken lightly. When an opportunity presents itself, take it! If not for a pizza dinner one night after work, I would never have had my first (maybe my only) gallery show.

Tod & I had a long day at work. We craved something familiar for dinner so we went to our favorite pizza place, Pizzakaya, in Nishi-Azabu. We ate there regularly last time we were in Japan but we hadn't been there since 1996. We remembered that Brendan, the crazy proprietor, always managed to make us laugh and the pizza was fantastic.

But I got more than a good pizza and a laugh. When we arrived, Brendan was sitting at a table with another man and they were drinking wine and talking. Completely ripped, they were, and enjoying every minute. Tod & I were the only other people in the place. Shortly after we sat down and ordered our beer & pizza, they asked us if we'd like a glass of their wine. They were being nice, but were very drunk, so we declined.

But our quiet dinner didn't last long. They started to talk to us and eventually, as we were finishing up our pizza, came over and sat with us. We did drink wine, too much of it, as we introduced ourselves and chatted.

The man who was supplying the wine, Scott Tucker, owned a new art gallery down the street. He was looking for his first show. "You're an artist, aren't you?" he asked me. I had no idea what to say--am I an artist? I ended up saying "Sort of..." Tod added a chorus of "Yes!" and that's how I got an invitation to be the first show in Scott's new gallery space.

How do you put together a collection of artwork when everything you've done is packed away in storage in another country? Well, you make new art. And I did. For two months, I carved blocks, inked prints, and enlarged photographs. Framed, painted, and formatted. It was fun but lots of work and I think I used up the best, most beautiful days of autumn standing in front of a canvas or sitting at the computer.

But I don't regret it too much. The end product was a reasonable number of works that ranged from pretty good to not very impressive. I compiled all of the travel essays I'd written in the previous nine months into a handbound book illustrated with prints; on the walls of the galelry there were photographs, prints and paintings, a silly sculpture and a playing in the background was recording of "the artist reading selections from her work."

There was a pair of paintings that I loved which sold. And another painting and some of the prints. About 35 people came in to look around. Not exactly a gateway to fame and fortune, but it was really fun and I learned a lot. Biggest lesson: don't show in a gallery that doesn't have its own staff. I was so very, very tired of seeing the prints & paintings after having been with them every day for a week!