1.11.03 clearing

Last year I hid myself away in the Colorado mountain cabin where Gabriel's parents homesteaded; an A-frame with no electricity, rudimentary plumbing consisting mainly of drains, cats mousing, a piano and woodstove and bunkbeds. The family horses stood in the soft snowfall outside, staring mournfully down the valley. I went over the drafts of the travel stories with Gabriel and on New Year's Eve his friends from childhood arrived for a celebration. The most interesting thing about this group of people, who grew up working or middle class next to Aspen, is the astonishing level of happiness and serenity they maintain, while also working as artists and traveling the world.

Annapurna was not part of this particular social scene because she was younger by a decade and had spent her childhood elsewhere. We were the outsiders and watched the others, best friends as teenagers, an aesthetic and artistic circle scattered across the globe who come back together over and over in different cities. I met some of these people in Rome; I see others when I visit New York. It was interesting and improbable to me because I grew up working class and desperate in a poor town and those of us who survived are suspicious of each other. But Glenwood Springs nurtured and tended the artistic and sensitive youth in its care, and they are good adults, strong and true.

At midnight most of the party cast off clothing and ran out on the deck and jumped into the snow drifts, screaming and laughing. Dawn showed up with her boyfriend and son and told us crazy funny stories about the emergency call center. We toasted each other with wine.

I didn't go to Colorado this year but Gabriel is there teaching and setting up a show:

from Gabriel:

My show at the Woody Creek Store and Gallery opens this Friday the 17th of January. They will be feeding us and keeping the doors open from five to eight. The work will be up through February 12.

Some Clearing is/are mostly domestic scenes of picking and clearing painted on small books or on wood panels covered in loose cloth.

The Woody Creek Store is next door to the Tavern. The number is 970 922-2342.

Love, Gabriel

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