Wednesday, November 12, 2008

A Visit with Jan and Vi Medusky







I was in Honolulu last week to celebrate Hallowe'en at the Cirque du Soleil with a posse of friends, but also to hobnob with gallery owners and designers and gently remind folks that I exist and am doing good artworks for their projects.

One of the highlights of the week was an invitation up to the residential summit of Roundtop above Honolulu, where I enjoyed a nice breakfast prepared by Jan Medusky. He and his wife Vi Jones-Medusky furnished their house with my paintings back in the mid 90's, so it was kind of a treat to revisit these pieces in their context. Gratifyingly enough they held up well and still look good even though I'd like to think I've improved in my work.

Jan and Vi are both super people, and Vi is especially memorable for her wonderfully positive, even radiant outlook. This is all the more remarkable given that she has Lou Gehrig's disease and is getting around in a wheelchair these days, after years of being a star surfer, runner, and all around athlete. She verbally pounced on me when I typically came out with some bit of negativity having to do with current economics (mine in particular). "Your life is a garden," she says, "and you have to plant what you want to grow!"

This is worthy advice, and I will seek to tend my life garden with greater care, weeding out the negativity when I notice it....

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