Notes From The City: An Abundant Life - A Vision For The Future

Last year for Valentine's Day I wrote about Milène Jardine, a beautiful Chocolatier who I met at an event at City Opera Thrift Shop, a wonderful store that I was writing about at the time I met her. Before the holidays in December, Milène invited me to a chocolate and cheese pairing, a truly delightful evening for all of the senses, and as the evening began I met a very handsome and interesting young man who introduced himself as Shane Anderson. He had met Milène at another event, and as I know that Milène only connects with people as wonderful as she is, I continued the conversation and found out that he is an Art Director and a Photographer, and that in his relatively young life he has traveled to some very interesting places and experienced some very interesting things. I gave him my card and said I'd love to talk more for a blog post, and so one afternoon last week we met for coffee and a lovely treat of cake before heading over to a fashion show I had been invited to by the lovely Make-Up Artist Angie Valentino, a beautiful and talented woman in the fashion industry who I have written about in these pages before. Shane had originally suggested Stump Town Coffee Roasters, an excellent choice but there were no seats available when we met, so we decided to take a stroll across town to the area where the fashion show was to be held to see if we could find a place to sit and talk for a while. We decided on Cafe Mocha, a place where I'd never been, but one that had the charm of some of my favorite places from years gone by in New York City. Though there was a steady stream of happy customers, it was peaceful and comfortable and cozy on a cold January late afternoon, and our server didn't mind our not knowing what exactly we wanted and helped us make the choices by letting us take our time and ask lots of questions.

It's a very rare thing to find that kind of patience these days, and it was not only the waiter who was patient. Shane was patient with me in a way that only my best friends are - those people who know me well enough to know that I like to ask questions and talk and get to know a place and people through conversation and talking and listening and taking the information in piece by piece. I felt comfortable with Shane in a way that is hard to describe because though he is younger than I am he has the sensibility of someone who has lived a very full and varied life. On the way over to the restaurant we were talking about our experiences of New York City, and when I mentioned the year I moved to Manhattan I realized that he may have been too young to have known anything about the life and culture of the city at that time. He is so mature and so well spoken and well versed that he really can hold his own with anyone, and his work shows that depth of understanding of a much older soul while also having the exuberant life of youth. Shane is extremely forward thinking and visionary, able to create images and envision scenes that are radically charged and exciting. His conversation is interesting and he is fun too, so when I say an old soul I mean something that extends to the depth of his consciousness. He is interested in learning about people and places and in having new experiences, and he is interesting to talk to because he has his own experiences to share. He's one of those people who I could talk to for hours and people watch with and never get tired of it. Sharing the afternoon into evening with Shane was one of those experiences that I love in life - it reminded me of some of the best of times that I've had in New York City, a city I still think of as the best in the world, and brought back wonderful memories while reminding me that there is still alot of life yet to live. In a lovely way I felt inspired to keep moving forward, to not rest on my memories as in a way it would be easier to do. With my birthday approaching I'm moving toward a new year of life, and I felt renewed, with a sense that though I may not be as young as I was when I first moved to New York City, there's still alot of life to live.

Shane has an extensive background, with experiences as a Photographer and Art Director in Europe, London, New York City and other areas throughout the United States. He has classically trained as a double bassist and has studied mathematics, adding a foundation of logic to his creative life. The images and influences of suburban Midwestern America where he was raised add a dimension to the variety of cultural influences that combine in his visionary outlook. He's worked with established and newer emerging and cutting edge Designers and Artists, and he's always seeking ways to learn and enhance his already excellent skills. Supermodel Vanessa Brown has said, "He's like the Andy Warhol of the 21st Century, the next Meisel!" And though I agree that these icons are truly amazing and that there are some essences in Shane that could bring them to mind, he is his own very special, distinctive and extremely creative vital force. It's exciting to see his work at this stage of his life, and to begin to get to know him as a person, because he's a person of quality and integrity in the way he views the day to day of his personal life and his business life, and his work itself is extraordinary. He's an artist in the truest sense of the word, expressing himself beautifully in his photographs, styling, and art direction while being open to working in other mediums of expression to experiment and see what best fits which moment or statement he's trying to make. His is a vision that is unique and exemplary, one that will help us all to be inspired for the days and months and years that are ahead of us, and one that will keep us moving forward into the future.

Shane Anderson

In Washington Square Park

New York City

Photograph Courtesy Of Shane Anderson

https://www.thatstylishnerd.com/