You Never Know..
For those who question my sanity in painting original work for little return with Artomat
(see my past archives) Here is a letter that I received that makes it worth it!
Dear Helen,
What a serendipitous magical world this is.!!I purchased one of your art-o-mat pieces at the Doylestown Public Library in Pennsylvania.
This is a long story, but I have to tell it.
It begins at Christmas, or rather after Christmas, sometime in January.I went to visit my parents post holiday because my dad was in the hospital over Christmas.So I went down to see them and spend some time with them. My mom gave me a pair of slippers with butterflies on them, because I raise Monarch butterflies. Unfortunately they were a size small, so I had to return them. The shipping was $5.00. My mom sent me two five dollar bills in the mail, to reimburse me for the postage. Since it only cost$5.00 to ship the slippers back, I had an extra $5.00. I was on my way out to the library when her letter came. I stuck the bills in my pocket and off I went.I returned a few DVD's, got a couple more. As I was waiting in line to check out, I spied the art-o-mat. I am a fan and long familiar with it. The thought popped into my head, with that extra $5. I will buy a token and choose a piece and send it to a friend of mine who is in Iraq. He is an artist also, as I, and has been blue about not being able to make art. We talked about collaborating on a piece and sending it back and forth between us, but alas, the idea never left the ground.So what a better way to bouy his spirits than to send him an Art-O-Mat piece !! Small, portable and lightweight.I got my token and stood like a little kid in front on the machine. I used to buy smokes from these machines back in the day. Loved that ka-thunk sound !Looking over the selections, I let my intuition guide me. I looked left and right, saw a few things, then spied a lovely tree. My friend in Iraq loves trees and I gave him a small silver charm that was a tree that I had gotten at an artist swap. He wears it around his neck on a necklace of protection that I made for him. The tree was to remind him that he has roots and that he is strong and he will safely return to his own beloved trees and his family. It was your tree that I was looking at. Though I knew that I may not get that tree, I decided to pull the level. Out came this beautiful piece that reminded me of the shore with gulls flying over a beach. It evoked a few memories. I put it in my bag and headed for home.Later that evening I looked at the back of your piece and decided to look up your web site. I almost fell over when I saw that you paint the Jersey Shore. Then when I saw that your studio is in Toms River, I knew I had to tell you this story.I am a Jersey girl, now living in Pennsylvania. I used to go "down the shore" all the time.My friend in Iraq lives in Howell and my parents live in Toms River and I have family strewn like flotsam and jetsam up and down the Jersey coast. Isn't it magical how a $5.00 bill from Toms River has translated itself into a painting from Toms River that is going across the world to a guy who loves the Jersey shore and has spent time with this Jersey girl on the dunes in Island Beach State Park, which is the memory your piece evokes for me.Wow.... this world is an amazing place and all kind of magical things happen. Another just did !Thanks for your work. Jim is going to love it and this story !
Best Regards,Loretta Shigo
(see my past archives) Here is a letter that I received that makes it worth it!
Dear Helen,
What a serendipitous magical world this is.!!I purchased one of your art-o-mat pieces at the Doylestown Public Library in Pennsylvania.
This is a long story, but I have to tell it.
It begins at Christmas, or rather after Christmas, sometime in January.I went to visit my parents post holiday because my dad was in the hospital over Christmas.So I went down to see them and spend some time with them. My mom gave me a pair of slippers with butterflies on them, because I raise Monarch butterflies. Unfortunately they were a size small, so I had to return them. The shipping was $5.00. My mom sent me two five dollar bills in the mail, to reimburse me for the postage. Since it only cost$5.00 to ship the slippers back, I had an extra $5.00. I was on my way out to the library when her letter came. I stuck the bills in my pocket and off I went.I returned a few DVD's, got a couple more. As I was waiting in line to check out, I spied the art-o-mat. I am a fan and long familiar with it. The thought popped into my head, with that extra $5. I will buy a token and choose a piece and send it to a friend of mine who is in Iraq. He is an artist also, as I, and has been blue about not being able to make art. We talked about collaborating on a piece and sending it back and forth between us, but alas, the idea never left the ground.So what a better way to bouy his spirits than to send him an Art-O-Mat piece !! Small, portable and lightweight.I got my token and stood like a little kid in front on the machine. I used to buy smokes from these machines back in the day. Loved that ka-thunk sound !Looking over the selections, I let my intuition guide me. I looked left and right, saw a few things, then spied a lovely tree. My friend in Iraq loves trees and I gave him a small silver charm that was a tree that I had gotten at an artist swap. He wears it around his neck on a necklace of protection that I made for him. The tree was to remind him that he has roots and that he is strong and he will safely return to his own beloved trees and his family. It was your tree that I was looking at. Though I knew that I may not get that tree, I decided to pull the level. Out came this beautiful piece that reminded me of the shore with gulls flying over a beach. It evoked a few memories. I put it in my bag and headed for home.Later that evening I looked at the back of your piece and decided to look up your web site. I almost fell over when I saw that you paint the Jersey Shore. Then when I saw that your studio is in Toms River, I knew I had to tell you this story.I am a Jersey girl, now living in Pennsylvania. I used to go "down the shore" all the time.My friend in Iraq lives in Howell and my parents live in Toms River and I have family strewn like flotsam and jetsam up and down the Jersey coast. Isn't it magical how a $5.00 bill from Toms River has translated itself into a painting from Toms River that is going across the world to a guy who loves the Jersey shore and has spent time with this Jersey girl on the dunes in Island Beach State Park, which is the memory your piece evokes for me.Wow.... this world is an amazing place and all kind of magical things happen. Another just did !Thanks for your work. Jim is going to love it and this story !
Best Regards,Loretta Shigo
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