West 57th Heaven

Going Up

Have you ever walked in to a new place only to feel perfectly at home?  Perfectly happy and excited to be there?  Warmly welcomed by interesting people who were interested in you and why you had come? Have you ever had the sensation after walking in to a place like that, that you were at the very place you were meant to be? That you had made the right decision in taking the chance of changing your surroundings, your place on the planet, away from the people you know, to the unknown and unfamiliar?

That very thing happened to me and Em Steel today. 

Perfect?

 A few weeks ago Em heard of a place called the Art Students League of New York.  A friend of hers is moving to the City to attend classes there.  He was able to just “get in” with no review or portfolio.  What is this place we wondered, how can this be?   

This place is wonderful, magical, robust in the very idea that an artist can arrive and grow with an organic vitality.  The light, the space, the friendliness of its inhabitants were as though a great force of creative energy arose and enveloped us with an extraordinary power which seemed to be the very essence of love. Love of the Creative Spirit that artists thirst for and thrive on. 

Honestly, we did not want to leave and Em’s hands were itching to begin.  I have to admit, I was envious of her talent.  I want to hold a paint brush and join them.