 |
| 8"x10" Acrylic Painting |
I haven't been doing very much in the way of artwork lately but a friend of mine named Gary dropped in about a week ago and asked if I was up to lettering signs and painting. Since it's not physically exhausting, I told him I'd be happy to letter a couple of signs and paint a picture for him. I'm a person, having worked in television, freelanced for ad agencies and then ran my own business when I was younger, I actually enjoy working under a deadline. When he said, "No hurry. Whenever you get it done is fine," I replied, "I've already got one painting to do without a rush and if you leave it up to me, you won't get it until you want it the next day, so you better give me a deadline." Of course he said tomorrow, which was impossible, and we had a good laugh.
Since I'm unable to lift anything very heavy and tire easily, Gary moved a lot of lumber for me and then set up a 4'x8' sign board on saw-horses so I could cut it to size and then coat it out for the signs. But what was so amazing this autumn, was when I ordered 4 cords of firewood for the winter and had it dumped in the yard - he drove in one day and stacked it all in the woodshed for me - now how great was that - and he's not a young man either.
While the two 32"x48" sign boards were drying, I painted a picture of his cabin in the woods, which he had built several years ago. We had agreed on a price but while I was painting his picture, I remembered all the things he had done for me. I also recalled painting my sailboat Dreamer II, while she lay at anchor in Desolation Sound and realizing that one day, that's all I would have, a painting. So, when Gary came to pick up his painting this afternoon, I told him it was a gift. He insisted on paying but I said, "No. You've done a lot for me and besides, it's a cabin-warming-gift - a little late but a gift just the same." The smile on his face and how much he liked the painting was worth more than the money.
I have a very good friend, Winston Bushnell, who gave me something useful on our move to Fosterville, NB from Nanaimo, BC and I told him I wouldn't be able to give it back. He told me that's OK and that someone had given it to him. Just give it to someone else who can use it. I believe just because you can make some money off of something, it's often better to give it away - what goes around, comes around. That's my philosophy and it's always worked well for me.
I've painted a shit load of signs over the years and I remember this fellow coming into my shop that wanted a dark green van lettered all around, including the back doors. When I told him it would cost about 5-700 bucks, he told me that he couldn't afford it, the mental health organization he donated much of his time to, didn't have that kind of money and then he asked what I could do for a couple of hundred bucks. So, knowing lettering the van would take a couple of days, if I did it myself, I told him to bring the van over on Saturday and two cases of beer, one for me and one for my helper. Besides his smile that lit up my whole shop and the great time me and my friend had lettering the van was all worth it - let's face it - on a hot summer day and cold beers, life just doesn't get much better than that...cheers, eh!
No comments:
Post a Comment