Serendipity

I moved to my current home in November of 2018… well, not quite. We lived in a camper for a few months while the house was being renovated into a Bed and Breakfast. The move to the country and plan of opening a B&B was meant for me to have time to get back to my first love, painting, which had been interrupted for many years. During the remodeling process, my partner in business and life, and I, spent a lot of time on the road, going to buy materials, furnishings and getting to know the area. While Edward drove, I took pictures of the scenes that called my attention.

In February of 2019 we started furnishing and decorating the house and I was finally able to set up my studio space. That same week I decided to start a new painting. I chose to work from a picture of a small, old house not far from our place. This little house, abandoned for a long time, waved at me every time we drove by, telling me I needed to pay close attention to it, and by the grace of the magic of Maxeys, it became my favorite amongst all the other structures I had taken pictures of. I had only spent an hour or so on this oil painting and with everything else needing my attention to open the B and B in April, this little piece was soon forgotten on an easel. 

In May, the City of Maxeys, where we reside, was celebrating the grand opening of The Veterans Park. The B and B got a reservation from a couple from Birmingham, AL to stay, attend the event and visit the area, family and friends. Polly, who had left Maxeys when she was 17 years old, and her husband Bob, received a visit from Polly’s sister the day after their arrival. As I was giving her the tour of the house, Polly’s sister saw the unfinished painting of the small house and immediately recognized it as the house her and her siblings were born and raised in. I showed her the picture I was using for reference and she showed me the picture she had taken of it as they came into town, and sure enough, it was the same house!  

The excitement of this discovery led Polly to commission me three small paintings of their childhood home, one for each of the siblings, and later she commissioned me a painting of her current home. She also bought a small painting I had done a while back of a ceramic sculpture I own, that was hung in the room they stayed in.

That evening, after The Veteran’s Park Opening event, we arranged to have dinner with Polly and her husband, her sister and brother in law, and their cousin, who is still a Maxeys’ resident.  The reunion of these three ladies was an absolutely unique experience for me. I was able to witness the love they have for each other, combined with a distinctive southern sense of humor. It felt to me like I was in a movie!

The weekend Polly and Bob visited us, just shy of two months after opening the Bed and Breakfast, solidified the validity of our plan and truly showed me that serendipity happens in real life, not just in the movies.

I truly love the connections and coincidences of life!