trying to draw full circle

Three years ago, I was sitting at my desk in a big advertising agency, feeling uninspired, stagnant and entirely loathesome of an industry that clutters america's streets and minds with pesky consumer messages. I'd made up my mind to quit my job and move to San Francisco in search of bigger, better things--less stressful more meaningful work, likeminded individuals and more sex. In my remaining days at work, I passed the time by researching art classes, since I was expecting to be unemployed once I arrived in town.

I found this really cool place called CellSpace that offered classes (or learning labs) amongst a collection of art studios in the giant collective space in the Mission District. They offer an array of interesting classes from fire spinning and metal work to yoga and painting. The class that caught my eye was Mixed Media Drawing & Painting. I've never taken an art class, not even in high school, so I emailed the instructor to ensure that all skill levels would be welcome in class. He responded to my email saying that the class was already closed, but to come check out one of his art shows. He added me to his mailing list, and months later when I was living in San Francisco, having few social options at the time, I decided to go check out his art at a regular Monday night event at the the Red Devil Lounge called Viv & a movie.

My signif-other and I decided to smoke something natural before checking out the show, as to unwind the mind for better absorption of animation, short films, art and rock music all in one fell swoop. As we strolled the artists stations and admired the work, we found the CellSpace Instructor Todd's booth, filled with kooky marker & white-out drawings. We were trying to be slick, pull an in-n-out art-purchasing drive by: stay anonymous, stay buzzed, no small talk. Just then... WHAM!! he suddenly shifted his mailing list sign-up sheet in my face, recognized my name and started in with the friendly chit chat. We giggled, I stumbled over my words, handed him a wad of cash and bolted outta there. It was one of those moments where I felt like the hottest boy in school caught me off guard shopping for maxi pads at the grocery store.

Weeks later, an evite for a birthday party lands in my inbox from Artist Todd. I thought, how funny and random would it be to show up at a party knowing no one, floating in solely on a random courtesy invite? So my Sig-nif Other and our good friend Outgoing Kevin slip into the party. With hundreds of names on the evite, we figured we'd surely blend into the crowd. Until, of course, we showed up and found a room full of maybe 10 people. Woops! With the help of Kevin's gregarious spirit and conversational wit and a few stiff glasses of mojito, the night passed by quite comfortably. We met a handful of cool people and stayed well into the night. After the party, I emailed a few of the folks I met, and started hanging out with them. I returned to another art sale at Instructor Todd's house a month or so later, and before you know it we find ourselves comfortablly meshed into his social circle.

Fast forward past 2 years of many birthday parties, beach trips, Sunday afternoon bloody mary happy hours, tipsy evenings of drawing and drinking in each other's living rooms, camping trips, concerts and so on.

It's October now and that means Open Studios in San Francisco. I picked up the Open Studios guide at the corner coffee shop and was immediately awestruck and inspired at the array of gorgeous work and the enormous amount of talented artists in the city. Again, my wheels start spinning and I start looking around for beginner art classes. What's the first thing I find? Mixed Media Drawing & Painting at CellSpace with Todd. That's it! It's a sign!

Last night I showed up for the first class, proving the true depths of my stalking. Two years in the making, this art class. In the words of my classmates looking at my drawing, "It will be really interesting to watch your work progress over the next 6 weeks."