An Abundant Life - Art Celebration

This weekend was the celebration of Garden State Art Weekend, an annual event that began last year. When I first was told about it a year ago, an Artist who has work in YES Gallery had sent me information about how to sign up to be listed, but it arrived after the time for signing up and I wasn't able to officially be a part of it. This year, a few people kept in touch with me to make sure that I was included, and even though my schedule has been so busy, because of all the well wishing people who kept helping me be a part of it, I found myself setting up events for the celebration. 

A few weeks before the Garden State Art Weekend was to begin, Kevin Kemper who had performed with his trio Plunk at YES Gallery last fall during the Hoboken Artists' Studio Tour stopped by, and when I told him about Garden State Art Weekend and invited him to perform again with Plunk, he agreed and also asked if he could perform a solo set. I was more than delighted to have him perform solo and with Plunk, and even more delighted when I heard him perform solo on Saturday. This weekend is such a full one, and I won't write much now, but here's a little listen to the gorgeousness we were treated to with Kevin playing solo as we celebrated art of all kinds at YES Gallery.

 

The Marvelous Kevin Kemper

Performs A Solo Set

At YES Gallery

408 6th Street

Hoboken, New Jersey

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Lovely Meetings

When I was on my way to meet with the marvelous Artist Jason Brian Fox when he had his booth at the New York Art Expo, a gorgeous experience and blessing that I wrote about last week, I saw someone I hadn't seen in quite a while on one of the days when I was walking through my old neighborhood in SoHo. The marvelous Artist and Photographer Benjamin Oliver lives right around the corner from where I lived for a number of years, but I didn't meet him when I was living there. I met him after I'd moved away, one evening when I attended an opening launch of a design space in SoHo during an evening celebration that was filled with all kinds of glamorous and exciting creative people, and Benjamin was one of the most captivating in the room. We got to talking in a room that was overflowing with people and music and design and art of all kinds, and he invited me to join him at a party he was planning as the beginning of a series called "Love Will Save The Day". 

Benjamin is one of those wonderful New York Artists who knows everyone and who has photographed some of the most iconic people and places and events, and he himself looks like a rock star. He's a great deal of fun, too, and I've written about him and the parties I attended when I first me him because they were experiences so full of inspiration and good cheer that they made me feel like the New York I had always loved was back again in full swing.

On the day that I saw him in SoHo while I was walking through on my way to Art Expo New York, he was talking with a friend of his and I interrupted because it had been so long since I'd seen him and it was so wonderful to see him there. He invited me to a party he was having that coming Sunday week as he would say in his English way, and he sent me an invitation right then and there. When I opened his message I saw that it was his birthday party, and I was so excited to be invited to be a part of it that I fairly skipped all my way over to the Pier where the Art Expo is held.

The day of Benjamin's party was Palm Sunday, always a favorite day for me that holds a special feeling of joy and celebration, and when I arrived the streets of SoHo were filled with so many people enjoying the beautiful weather that we've begun to have after what has seemed like a very long winter. Making my way up the stairs to his loft, I remembered the excitement of the first times I'd been there, and when I walked in the door the fun began immediately because that's the kind of person Benjamin is. He and all of his friends are so wonderful and fun, joyful and creative, and they love to laugh and also to talk about really important things, so the conversation and ideas and jokes kept flowing along with good food and cheer and a lovely cup of very British tea that I was offered when I arrived and that started the afternoon tea party in a truly lovely way.

There were so many memorable moments and people I met there, and so many wonderful and inspiring conversations along with many wonderful joyful laughs. It felt so good to be there and as if I'd been given a gift myself to be invited to this wonderful birthday celebration and to meet so many lovely people who all know the wonderful Benjamin Oliver who I was blessed to meet a few years ago and to meet again on a wonderful recent afternoon walk through SoHo. From the beginning of the time when I first met him and attended his "Love Will Save The Day" series of parties, to meeting him again as I walked through SoHo on my way to Art Expo, I find myself so full of gratitude for the times he's invited me into his wonderful world. The joy filled honor and blessing of being invited to the celebration of his birthday on Palm Sunday, a time of new beginnings, joy, hope and love, took me through this week filled with all the wonderful feelings of infinite possibilities, leading up to the beautiful celebration of Easter. 

A Beautiful Afternoon

And A Beautiful Blessing

Celebrating Benjamin Oliver's Birthday

At His Loft In SoHo

With So Much Gratitude

To Benjamin For The Invitation

And To All Of His Wonderful Friends

For Such A Lovely And Inspiring Experience!

Photograph With So Much Gratitude

To The Marvelous Chris Horsfield

With The Marvelous Benjamin Oliver

And The Marvelous Chris Horsfield

Photograph With So Much Gratitude

To The Gorgeous Stacy Benjamin

Wishing The Marvelous Benjamin Oliver

A Very Happy Birthday!

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - A World Of Art

A few weeks ago the Artist Jason Brian Fox, one of the Artists who has work at YES Gallery who I have written about in these pages before, sent me a message that he had been accepted by Art Expo New York to show his work in a solo booth. He invited me to join him there, and because I always love to celebrate the Artists I know I was happy to be there with him during the Expo as much as possible. My schedule has been so busy with several projects, but I told him I'd try my best to make the time to be there for at least a part of each day.

I always enjoy the Art festivals and Expos in New York City, but usually I go for the VIP openings when I'm invited, or to one of the regular days if my schedule is too full for the opening. It's always so wonderful to be at these inspiring events, with so many old and new friends and so many different types of  art to explore and discover.

This time around, being at Art Expo New York with Jason was a different experience for me because I was there for so many days and so much time that I had a chance to really get to see so many people I know who attended and to meet so many new people who stopped by the booth or who were in the VIP Lounge when I was there. The VIP opening night was of course an adventure all of its own because of the glitter that surrounds nights like that, but each day brought its own surprises and wonderful experiences.

When I was first at Jason's booth for the opening night, I saw someone in the booth across the aisle who I was thinking I might have met before. I was pretty sure it was Eddy Bogaert who I've written about in these pages before, and though I'd seen him at different events in the past that I'd written about, including one very memorable one in Chelsea that was an art party he had curated that was absolutely packed with wonderful art and wonderful people and remains one of the highlights of art parties I've experienced, I hadn't seen him in some time. I have a very strong memory for people I've met and had memorable experiences with, but as it had been some time I wasn't a hundred percent sure, and so I kept looking at him and wondering if he might recognize me but he was so busy with friends and art collectors and exciting people who were stopping by that it took some time until we finally had the chance to say hello.

As the evening continued, and friends stopped by to say hello to me, I heard a few people say hello to him and say the name Eddy, and one of them who knew us both said to me, "You know Eddy, right?" and I knew then that he was the Eddy I had been thinking he was. When we were finally introduced, I said that we had met before, and he said he'd kept looking across the aisle and thinking he knew me too. I reminded him about the art party I'd attended and the blog post I'd written about him after we'd met, and about one of the gallery openings where I'd seen him afterward and photographed him for another post. It was so wonderful to be reconnected, and he introduced me to Maryam Zadeh who he was sharing a booth with as part of a group of Artists who had different booths from Mazlish Gallery along the aisle we were on. Each day Eddy made its own adventure, and having him and Maryam across the aisle was like having the best neighbors, bringing their joy and life to make every moment a glittering party.

Art Art Expo New York

With So Much Gratitude To Jason Brian Fox

For The VIP Invitation To Join Him

And To Eddy Bogaert And Maryam Zadeh

For Making Every Moment A Joyful Glittering Party

Jason Brian Fox

Shares About His Work

With A Collector, Artist And Visitor

To His Booth 

John Mazlish

Adding His Art Of Music

To The Art From His Gallery

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - A Beautiful Surprise And Blessing

A few years ago I was introduced to one of the Founders of SoHo Muse, and he invited me to join. It was an honor at the time, and being a part of that wonderful group of Creative people continues to be an honor whenever I meet or hear about a member and the wonderful things they are doing.

One of the lovely things that SoHo Muse does is that the concierge will choose different Creatives to celebrate in the newsletter and online in social media, and I always enjoy seeing the really beautiful Art and Design and hearing about the incredibly talented people who are being highlighted.

This past week, when I opened up my newsletter, I saw a photograph of me. It was one of those moments that I can't really describe, when you feel like Cinderella who has been invited to the ball and then been given all of the beautiful things to wear that her heart has ever desired.

The photograph they chose was one that was taken by a photographer, Erika Kuciw, who was working on a project titled "Beautiful, Confident, Vulnerable Women" and she was part of a group I belonged to at the time that was started by a wonderful creative woman I know. She had sent out a description of her project and invited women to contact her, and I did, and one day she came to the apartment where I was living in Inwood and took a series of photographs that she shared with me.

The apartment where I was living at the time was fairly new to me, and if I remember rightly I had just moved in not long before. I had started attending a church, and it was a few months after I had gone through a dark night of the soul and been born again, a story that I've shared in these pages and in others before in different ways and at different times over the years. At the time the photograph was taken, I had been reading a book given to me by the Pastor of the church I had begun to attend, a book of testimonials he had compiled that he thought I'd enjoy after he and I met and I'd shared my story with him. In the photograph the book is in my hand, and it is such a beautiful thing to me that for this feature in SoHo Muse that they chose that photograph.

God has a way of reminding us of the love and grace that is poured out on us, of encouraging us in every way that we need, and in ways that mean so much to us personally. As I've been walking through this current time in my life, there have been some experiences that have been growing my faith in ways that I could have never imagined, and at times it has seemed as if I was on a path that I had no idea where it was leading. Seeing this photograph again and having this beautiful surprise and beautiful blessing of this feature and post brought to mind so many things that have happened over the years and how God has continued to guide and help and hold and bless me through it all. I may not know where the path is leading sometimes, or even what the step is after the next one I take, but if I hold on fast and keep my focus on God, I will find myself walking into something beautiful and blessed.

A Surprise and Blessing

Appearing As A Featured Artist

Selected By The Marvelous Concierge

In The Marvelous SoHo Muse

Photograph With So Much Gratitude

To The Gorgeous Erika Kuciw

Blessings,

Jannie Susan