The art class convened on Saturday despite an unseasonable blizzard. Artists are not wimps. Even though it was necessary to hack the way out of the driveway with an ice pick, the ladies showed up. Fortunately, Dear A, ever the gentleman, donned his Wellingtons and did the manly thing while I finished my toast and tea.
I showed them Leonard Cohen’s drawings in his book of poetry, The Book of Longing. I’d tried to draw myself one day inspired by Leonard’s drawings of himself. It’s something I never do and I set up a small mirror and drew away. Flattery had to be abandoned; we must face facts. The drawing is a little off…but not that far.
All the ladies love Leonard and we often listen to him when we draw. I wanted to show them the way the arts intersect and feed each other. And also that we can do whatever we feel like doing.
Sally was the only member of our esteemed group who didn’t make it, save for Mimi who was on vacation. Sally left for a business trip to New Orleans last week when it was nearly seventy . Her apparel, a dress, sandals and shawl was doubtless a fine example of her usual fine style. She was wearing the same when she flew back Friday night into the blizzard in Boston. When the plane was just about to run out of gas it was diverted to Bangor, Maine. She and her boss stayed overnight in a hotel; the next morning he rented a car and they began an icy drive to Boston. Sally, whose visual perception has doubtless been improved by years of drawing practice, noticed that said boss’s driving skills were making the drive a perilous and possibly final one. The intrepid Sal, still in sandals and shawl, asked to be let off at the train station and arrived home just as our class ended.
But she called, which means all members of the class were accounted for even in this most inclement weather.
One last thing, when the subject of hacking the car out of ice banks came up, I said. ‘Thank God for the chaps.’
My ladies rolled their eyes. They’d dug their cars out themselves. True warriors, which is what you need to be if you are an artist.
