Something Wonderful Happened Last Night

My friend Langky-Poo came to visit Friday and when the sun set we were on the hunt for something to do.  We decided to attend the Annual Kevin Powell Holiday Party & Clothing Drive at Tribeca Cinema.  It was such a wonderful a time with great music, a fashion show and the highlight of my night - the Art Battle.

The Art Battle is a competition where emerging artists create a piece of work in the middle of a live event.  It is such a great premise and I simply stood there among the crowd, watching these artists create something from a blank canvas.  After about 15 minutes one of the artists started to create this outline of a female face.  There were so many women watching these artists, and we were all thinking "is that me? Who is that? Oh, it's her. No, it's her."

Then he answered our inquiring minds and pointed squarely at me. :) 

I really couldn't and still can't believe it.  It was something out of a movie and for a moment, I thought oh this is my FAIRYTALE.  There were all these beautiful women, with there great haircuts and cute outfits and banging winter boots and he picked me.  The girl with the toothpaste stain on her t-shirt (I really thought you couldn't until I checked out the pictures - sigh).  In any event, it was one of those moments I will never forget.

Someone saw me.  Someone saw something in me.  Isn't that what we all want?  For someone to look at us and see us - not just the external but the inner as well - to see us completely?  When the artist first started to paint me, my eyes looked so sad.  I felt so exposed and vulnerable, especially when I saw him capturing those parts of me I try so hard to hide.

I know that look intimately.  I try to hide it from the rest of the world as often as possible, but sometimes it seeps through and he saw it.  After a while, it felt nice.  It also didn't hurt that he is fine!  Every lady watching him paint was thinking the same thing - yummy, yummy, yummy!  Creative, good with his hands, humble with an amazing smile.  We were puddy in his hands.

After the artists received a break, I had to introduce myself and here is what I found out.  His name is Andre and he is a classical trained artist from the Bronx.  After spending years learning technique he is now finding his own voice through his art.

There were three other artists as well who are extremely talented.  I wish I was able to get some pictures from the very beginning, because this piece evolved so much! 

There were two other artists with very distinct styles that were highly impressive.   If you are hosting a function, you should definitely give the folks over at Art Battles a call because it was a definite hit!

Here are a few more pictures of the painting by Andre.  It is going to be auctioned off in January - please donate to my funds so I can purchase this painting :)  Every dollar helps :)