Kindness from a Stranger Spring 2000
As I have said many times my ability to draw came as rather a shock and was absolutely unexpected. I am always amazed at what I accomplish on the art table and am fascinated at the progress I have made over the years.
When we started the art as a business I had a difficult time imagining people would be interested in buying the prints, this coming from a lack of confidence in myself. I began to feel hope when our Account Manager at Sundog Printing bought one of the first Hand Detailed, Limited Edition Grizzly prints.
Over the years he had seen a great deal of art and I can only imagine the amazing images which must have crossed his desk. So this was a huge compliment in my mind that he wanted to purchase a print, because he did not often wish to buy what came off their press. He was so complimentary on our first visit with him and I remember walking out of his office and into the stairwell with my portfolio in hand and Patrick behind me, having to stop on the stairs because I was crying for the generosity of his comments of my work.
The challenge in making a living selling limited edition prints was about to become a great deal more difficult. The owner of Rocky Mountain Art Gallery in Calgary, made the recommendation I never sell my originals, only the prints. He also gave me a very great compliment, saying that I drew the best wildlife eyes he had ever seen. This coming from a man who had images from many well known artists hanging in his gallery. It was a beautiful thing for him to say, encouraging me despite his inability to help me by purchasing the prints. He also explained the limited edition print market had effectively been destroyed through the recent avalanche runs of 20,000+ from a few well known wildlife artists (in my opinion more like a poster run).
To make matters worse, if he wished to continue carrying prints from these artists he was having to purchase preset minimum quantities, not just one or two. This effectively drained his budget, making it tough to buy from small independent artists like me. This of course was a bit disheartening as we had borrowed $15K to print our limited edition runs of 1,000 for each of The Coyote and The Grizzly. In the space of a few months the limited edition print market crashed, thus making it difficult for him to carry a new line. This news seemed a harbinger of what was to come.
We never stopped trying however. Patrick was excellent at marketing and made every effort to keep the door open. As I was so completely afraid of rejection, especially with the art with which I was still not comfortable, I could not be of help in that area.
One of the situations we found ourselves in during the process of attempting to be noticed took place at a trade show in Vancouver, BC. It was a large three day show and well attended. It was a significant and difficult decision to commit because of our precarious financial position at the time, living in the small logging community of Slocan, BC with no outside income.*
We were home schooling Lucas which made bringing him with us easier, but the cost of the show plus travel and hotel was a bit beyond our reach. Still, the old saying you have to spend money to make money would prove accurate for us – always we believed this.
To save money I cooked several meals we could eat for the first two days, leaving on Wednesday with a Thursday setup to be ready for opening day Friday. We stayed in a hostel for the first two nights, not the most comfortable situation as a family, but still it was fine. We had counted on making some sales on the Friday that would provide a hotel room so Lucas could stay in the room while we were at the show.
All of this was a big risk for us, as one can imagine, but the unexpected always seems to catch up particularly when we could least afford the surprise. Arriving to set up our booth we were informed our underage son was not allowed inside the venue, something we had not been told upon registering. This meant he would spend three long days in the parking lot in the cab of our small truck on his own, as we were both expected to be present in the booth at all times.
We could not leave him at the hostel so we were in a bind, forced to make the best of a difficult situation. I was completely stressed by this uncomfortable turn of events. For me it was difficult to stay focused and positive, worrying about Lucas sitting alone out in the parking lot in this big city where people disappear daily, at least in my mind. He was allowed to stay with us as we set up but they would not let him in the building the next day. Our situation was dire: we couldn’t afford to stay and we couldn’t afford to leave.
Friday and Saturday night we slept in the small cab of our Chevy S10 pick-up, hand bathing in gas station bathrooms and showering at the YMCA (which despite its low cost was still more than we could afford). There was not enough food for us to have supper, so we used our subway tickets to get Lucas free subs for his lunch and dinner Saturday and Sunday. Patrick and I did not eat for those three meals. As it turned out we didn’t make any sales on any of the three days, so the sacrifice to attend provided no level of comfort. Still, we did our best to stay positive and hope for a sale that would allow us to make the drive home.
The best part of the journey was meeting a couple with a booth next to us. She was an amazing artist who painted on the white rocks she collected on the shores of the Frazer River. She was Chinese and her talent was painting miniature scenes depicting Chinese culture. Working with a magnifying glass she even painted her Chop on each piece.
Cynthia’s work is truly amazing and we spent much time studying each detailed piece and talking to this very gracious couple who paid more attention to our situation than we anticipated. I felt mildly consoled by the fact they had not made any sales either, so it was not that our work was of poor quality, it was simply not what the wholesale buyers were buying.
We had to find a way to get home and by Sunday morning, after a cramped and very uncomfortable night in the cab of the truck I was overcome with worry. We arrived at the venue, got settled and then Cynthia asked me to come with her. She led me into the cloak room and with her broken English she tried to explain her gift as she handed me a small red packet with a Chinese symbol on it. She made me take it as she gently pushed it into my hand. I was confused and uncomfortable, given my history accepting gifts of any kind from anyone, but she would not let me say no.
When I opened her gift I saw a one hundred dollar bill which made me cry. As I hugged and thanked her I had great difficulty stopping myself from completely breaking down. Suddenly our world had changed from desperate to hopeful again. This smallest speck of light provided enough resolve to carry us through our present difficulty. We have been blessed with repeated experiences like this many times over the years. I still marvel at the kindness I have been fortunate to receive from perfect strangers.
And so we were able to buy gas for the return trip, and as a bonus we stopped at a diner near the town of Hope, sharing a meal together while talking about these amazing people. I remember how good that meal tasted after not having anything to eat for almost two days, and how much I appreciated the simple pleasure of a family meal. It was truly marvelous.
When we returned home we discovered our dog Hawk, who we had to leave behind for the first time in our life together, had been seriously stressed and became quite ill. I could only imagine his despair at being left behind, not knowing if we would return to him and Tiffany.
We had asked a neighbour to look in on them, feed and water them, and let Hawk out for bathroom breaks. We had also left specific instructions to make sure Hawk was not allowed to roam the house, but to be kept in a smaller room attached to the garage where he was used to staying when we left him at home for short trips away.
Unfortunately the neighbour left the door to the kitchen open, thus allowing Hawk to get in the house and in his frightened state he vomited and had diarrhea all over the living room carpet. This poor woman who was looking after him discovered the mess, feeling terrible over the stress she caused Hawk. She did her best to clean up, but there were many stains in the carpet that would not come out. We would never leave him alone again.
So the trip was hard on everyone concerned, one that will live in our memories as a very difficult, but still rewarding experience. The kindness of a stranger can indeed change much in your world, I try to always remember this in my approach to life.
*see Family Attack, Chapter IV, page 126
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