Logo

Every organization needs a visual hook to identify itself. Our tiny law firm has one. It's even more important for small arts organizations to gain recognition. Artica's logo celebrates the immolation of the iconic Our Lady of Artica, which I get because I went to Catholic schools. Fortunately, the Jesuits were stimulating enough to get me to think my own way out of it.

But I digress. When I go to the February pot luck I have to bring a little notebook just to record names. I'm bad at that. I'm going for images.

Running thin on material. I may have enough from this event to last me until Thursday, when we get to someplace very unlike St. Louis.            

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik

There was an unopened violin case sitting around during the Creative's Pot Luck. As I was getting ready to leave I heard the unmistakable sound across the room and headed back over. I took five years of violin lessons when I was young. Good ear, poor coordination, general failure.

Heather Bell, who we have already met, was playing beautifully. (Some mystic connection to Joshua Bell?) You can't see it in this picture, which I chose for the best overall pose, but her left hand position is perfect, arched fingers hammering straight down on the strings. She's had some serious training.

Her companion,whose name I did not note, also played. His was more of a free-form, improvisatory style. I'm glad I got to hear them both.            

International Relations

Still circulating. This was an interesting couple sitting in a corner. She is a bit exotic. Turns out she is Hungarian. (Which makes me unable to get this out of my mind.) Note the small flag pin on her hat. Simply charming. 

There was some brief time to talk to her companion, below, but I didn't quite get what was going on. The double glasses get your attention and I have a guess about the reason. Eyeglasses are expensive in the US. Mine, complex trifocals, are horrifying. Only a limited number of people in this country have vision insurance. Almost all the many brands of optical shops are owned by the Italian parent company, Luxotica, which can charge what it wants. My theory is that the gentleman has monovision glasses, needs bifocals, and they just cost too much. If I'm right, it's another statement about healthcare in America.       

Happy Happy Joy Joy

I miss Ren and Stimpy and their Happy Happy Joy Joy dance. You can have fun without a cartoon show, of course, and Artica leader D. Lohr Barkley sure is. I don't know the woman on the left but she's with the program, too. So is the slogan on her hoodie. I hope it says something about Artica.       

Caravaggio-ish? Maybe?

I'm an art lover. Of course - I hang out with Artica. One of my favorite masters is Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, the brilliant and mentally ill Italian who worked in the late 16th and early 17th Centuries. His career lasted only ten years. He murdered someone in a dispute over a tennis match and died young in unknown circumstances. 

His dramatic style is known for brightly illuminated faces and dark backgrounds. Since I do candid rather than studio photography I take the subjects and light as I find them. This photo may have found a bit of that style. Or perhaps I am being vain.