The Artist Reception- Looking Back

Last night, I attended an artist reception at the Hattiesburg Cultural Center, held in honor of four African-American artist- me, Al Branch, George Fairley and Tamara Hinton. It was a new experience for me, but special.I met each artist for the first time, with the exception of Al Branch, who was on vacation. I learned a little about each one: George Fairley is a pastor, and of the same church denomination as I- Church of God in Christ. Tamara (name rhymes with camera) was a very outgoing young lady, who seemed very comfortable conversing with others. I could use a few tips from her! Al does very detailed art work and has time for vacations. Each artist had very nice work on display, including at least one portrait or figurative painting/drawing (my favorite art subject!).I met Anita Price, the president of the Arts Council- seems like a nice lady. We took a  photo together (see above).One thing I learned is that an artist reception is a social event- you must be prepared to socialize. It's not like Facebook, where you can reply with a quick initialized response, such as LOL! No, you have to laugh, for real. And you can't just click "like." You have to use a full sentence to say what you like and why you like it. Personally, I was a little tense. But the nice people I met made talking a little easier. Of course, there were those awkward moments, when I decided to be bold and step out to "meet new people." Well, some of those "new people" seemed to look at me, as if to say, "Who are you? And what do you want?!" Embarrassing is all I can say.

But, overall, the artist reception was lovely and I look forward to attending another one- in MY honor, of course!