Amazing Day!

Yesterday Gary had his first art show, in front of Cole's Shoes in Houlton. It has been a very busy couple of weeks getting ready for it. Matthew and Gary built 7 foot folding walls, covered in green felt. They are really ingenious as they fold up to be transported. Then Matt built two tables to fit in front of the walls for display, also covered in felt. This is a photo of the walls in the garage with some of the paintings on them.

Twenty-four of Gary's watercolor prints were framed and mounted on the walls for display. For several days Louise ran off prints to sell while Andy and Gary mounted them on foam board that Matthew had cut for the purpose. We made at least one trip a day to Staples for paper, ink, or foam board.

Here you see Gary and Andy at work.
Yesterday morning it was all transported to Houlton and assembled in front of the shoe store.

Here you see Gary hanging the prints.

Here we see the cashier, also known as Louise, trying to knit a mitten. She made a mistake on it, had to tear it out, and never had a chance to knit another stitch all day.

The people came! Friends, relatives, and Gary's classmates from the Houlton class of 1962 all came by. It was wonderful to see so many people and get a chance to talk and visit with them. Most important to Gary, they liked his work and they told him so. It was a day that lifted his spirits and gave him new desire to keep painting. We never stopped until after 2:30 when we tried to begin taking it down. Even then people came at the last minute.

Finally we closed after 3, and Andy took the displays home while Gary and Louise went to the class reunion. Gary had a wonderful day!