I was doing an interview the other day with Tyler from BikerNet.com when he asked me what the most special moment we’ve had during the whole Art Gallery thing has been this year. Ya’ see, for a change the interview was about a few of us at the magazine and the traveling art show we put on at several stops this year. Now there have been many, many great moments during these live art shows, the celebrities and all the people hat we meet, but one thing stuck out in my head immediately: it happened during the Indian Larry Block Party this month (September 2013) and I didn’t even realize how incredible it was at the time. As we sat painting, Darren McKeag, Seth Leibowitz, Richie Pan and myself, in the epicenter of the New York City Chopper Scene, a little voice came up behind me. “Can you paint me a princess” the voice said and then another commented back “C’mon honey, leave these men alone, they are busy and aren’t going to stop and paint a princess for you.” I spun around and saw this adorable little girl who was in awe of all the art so I grabbed a little canvas from Seth and gave her some brushes and a paint pallet so we could paint together.
It wasn’t until later that I found out this was the Daughter of my buddy Mark’s Girl and that she has a sort of learning disability where she has a hard time staying focused…. While we painted she had no problem working the brushes and the crowd of people around us seemed to disappear. For that few minutes she was fully focused and into what we were doing. Well, it wasn’t a princess but about 15 minutes later I sent her off with some flowers like the kind from Dr. Seuss’ Lorax story.
So why am I mentioning it here, do I want some glory for this small act? No, absolutely not. I tell you this story today to further illustrate the point I often make that WE are not as cool as the THINGS WE DO. This was a special moment where art therapy ruled and I was just a tool for a greater purpose. Maybe, the whole reason I have found my way back to art lately was to get ready for the day I met this little girl and could pass things on to her that were given to me. Either way you look at it, I was not the headline in this story, it was that beautiful moment that you realize how fantastic life can be.
