I thank the many who reached out last week to help me honor the birthday of my late husband, Rich. I won’t reveal his age because he will haunt me.
When I met Rich he was just turning 50. He and I participated in a large and very popular art event and fundraiser each year held on, or around, his big day each year. It was always a much-anticipated and very profitable and well-attended occasion beginning on Friday evening when Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, NJ would host an artists’ dinner and Opening Night for patrons.
That was my life then. Weekends exhibiting my latest work at art venues, weekdays completing commissions and creating new pieces for the next show or exhibit. I was truly a Working Artist for 30 years.
Rich would often stop by my art booth and we’d chat a few times a month. At the end of one particular show, Rich came by as I hung out with some mutual friends. Everyone was wishing him a happy 50th birthday, including me as he left to meet a date and enjoy a celebratory dinner with friends.
At that point Rich was just this nice lively guy I liked to talk with at art shows. Rich in his own right was a very talented decoy and wood carver, but after his divorce, he spent his time assisting an older fine artist who was the person that eventually brought us together.
Later Rich would tell me that he had wished I was going to dinner with him that night to celebrate his big “Five-O”! That art show, like so many other venerable events, is no longer being held. Brother Andrew, the heart of the show, and that academy, passed years ago and the fundraiser was never the same. He always reminded me of Spencer Tracy in the 1938 Classic, “Boys Town”, always concerned that I was still single in my 30s and trying to “fix” that. I recall chatting with Rich at my art display and Brother Andrew coming by and asking to be introduced to my husband long before we even went on our first date!
Rich and I would go on to spend decades participating in fine art and craft shows throughout New Jersey and beyond. It wasn’t an easy life, but I was making a decent living as a Fine Artist and business was good and rewarding. Times changed, and the art market slowed. I remained active for a while, but when the schedule and demands of that lifestyle became too much, I took a break back in 2020 when we moved to Georgia.
I hope to return to the art market at some point, in some form. It was a good life, filled with so many great memories and accomplishments and of course people. These days my life is focused on my new surroundings, my loveable pack and my writing as I find myself completing a memoir project. I am very happy to say it is being read by some incredible folks in the publishing industry, but this is another “crazy” and fickle business and all we can do is create our best work and hope it finds its audience. Writing about widowhood in a way to be understood by the wider world is no easy task. Wordwork is truly art without the paint brush.
These days I love being in the middle of what some call “nowhere”. I have truly come to appreciate the natural and diverse beauty of this region and unique character. I hope I can capture some of it on canvas at some point.
On another note, the Dog Writer’s Association of America Writing Competition is taking place in NYC this evening as the Westminster Dog Show returns LIVE to Madison Square Garden this weekend. I’m honored to still serve on their board and that a post I wrote for the Widow’s Voice last May is a Finalist for the DWAA’s Second Chance Special Award presented at tonight’s gathering at the Hotel New Yorker.
Wishing all a great weekend and best of luck to all competitors in and out of the ring. Bark on!
