Home Sweet Home

My work at Madison Gallery in La Jolla

I am finally home after a 5 day visit to Southern California to see my family for Thanksgiving. It was a memorable trip that included saving a little old lady's life, a visit to La Jolla to see the new gallery that now represents me, way too much food, and a normally 7 hour drive, in the middle of the night, that took 9 hours. Curious? Here's what happened:

"Saving" a Life:
My husband and I were leaving my grandmother's house to head to the grocery store. We had just turned the corner and were driving in our car when Ben says "Oh my god! Is she okay?" He slows down and I look to find a elderly lady lying in the middle of the street. He stopped the car and I ran out to see what had happened. Her head was covered in blood and I told my husband to call 911. I ran back to the car to grab the box of tissues to stop the bleeding. As I put pressure to her head and tried to talk to her to find out what happened, another guy drove up and said the lady lived in the nursing home right in front of us (she hadn't gotten far from where she lived). He ran inside to get the nurses. Apparently the woman had dementia but still insisted on taking walks around the block by herself twice a day. My grandmother and brothers confirmed that they often saw her walking and waving "hi" as she walked by. She had snuck out and fell in the street. Her head was pretty banged up and there was blood everywhere, including some on my hands. Her leg and hand were also hurt and she was in shock. I kept pressure on her head and talked to her while the ambulance came to take her to the hospital. I realize that we actually didn't save her life and that she was probably going to be fine, but it was still traumatic for us and it was hard to get the image of her in the middle of the street bleeding, every time we drove by the scene of the accident.

A different view of my work at Madison Gallery

Madison Gallery:
My husband and I decided to drive from Calimesa (which is between Redlands and Palm Springs) to La Jolla to check out the new gallery now showing my work. It was "Black Friday" and since neither of us were big into shopping, we decided it was a good day for a drive. The weather was beautiful (we managed to sit at the beach in jeans and t-shirts) and the drive was surprisingly short. There was no traffic at all, which is weird for that area. The gallery was beautiful and on a very populated street, overlooking the ocean. Lorna, owner of the gallery, and Tawny, one of the women working there, were extremely nice and showed me around the place. They answered any questions I had, gushed about my work, and were as excited as I was to have my work there. It was great to actually see the gallery and meet Lorna in person since we had exchanged many emails and phone calls.

Tons of Food:
It was Thanksgiving week, so what can I say? We ate our weight in food! There was a fabulous turkey dinner (although no stuffing, which I found weird. It's my favorite side dish so I was a bit disappointed). There was also a very romantic dinner at the Marine Room with my husband, and a Korean feast at a Korean BBQ restaurant that left us having to unbutton the top button of our pants. I am pretty sure the gym is now in order...

The Drive Home:
What normally takes us less than 7 hours to drive from Calimesa to San Francisco took 9 hours. What can I say, traffic sucks. End of story.

Painting by Laura Schiff Bean, also showing at Madison Gallery. I love her work!

Another Laura Schiff Bean painting. This one is in the front window of the gallery.