I had an interesting time this weekend and I didn’t even leave my local areas or try to make it interesting. On Saturday I met an artist at the bus stop. A quiet small town area where most people have settled into family life or are in retirement. Usually I walk up to the next bus stop as it’s handy but irregular, though if there is someone there and I’m not on a time schedule I hold faith that a bus will eventually come.
There at the bus stop stood a man in jeans with paint marks, deep brown eyes and a big white beard, probably in his 60’s. He asked if I was from Romania, then Lithuania and seeing my confusion explained he liked the style of my jacket and cowboy boots. He could tell I was an artist, sort of. He chatted about the art he was making, that he was going to display some at a pub nearby and some mentioned some exhibitions and artist residency’s. He also gave me a card of a good printers in town. I continued to listen and look at articles and his art
a few stops while on the bus. He then gave me a print off business card and waved bye. His name was Itamar Martinez, a contemporary abstract expression painter in oils who has travelled, studied and shown works across Barcelona, London and New York. He recently moved his studio to Reading and showed his works at Reading Contemporary Art Fair.
What’s interesting about that encounter is that I left the house feeling a bit off, my cousin had a wedding the night before and she apologised more people couldn’t come due to already high numbers. Though I understood and was fine with it I also felt a bit disappointed and sad that I have no memory of her wedding day, seeing pictures just isn’t the same. I had also spent the morning inside drawing at my new desk. I was making great progress and felt annoyed I wanted to go out and buy a few things before Simrin, at the same time I wanted to get out of my family house. The weather was a mixture of sun, cloud, rain, wind, so you see it’s enough to make anyone feel off, having all these things going on in my mind.
Meeting Itamar was not by chance, there are no coincidences. Our brief chat restored my faith in making art more and gave me conformation that the Universe is kind, how much more obvious can it be – putting an artist at the bus stop the same time as me!
More conformation came later in the day, I shopped along side many people, I felt rushed, crowded and trapped, having come from a quiet place to a busy mall, I wanted to break free! Usually I go to a cafe if everything feels to overwhelming but this time I bought water as my eyes felt heavy and sat outside in the tiniest bit of sun coming from a dark grey cloud. I was still tempted to get a vegan gluten free cupcake from a cafe nearby, that opportunity doesn’t come up often. Thinking it was closed I waited and drank, seeing it was open I thought to myself sugar was not going to help me anyway.
I sat, drank my water and people watched. I heard some singing coming from around the corner that I recognised, I wasn’t sure if it was live or coming from a shop. It was live, as ”Hari Krishna Hari Krishna, Hari Krishna’ was sung out by a man and group of people, who gave me a leaflet for a monthly Kirtan singing night. I’d known about it for ages though just hadn’t gone to as it’s the same night as Kundalini Yoga class. Mantra Vibes host a monthly evening of Kirtan music and mantra meditation in Reading at RISC cafe.
Being there at that exact time that Mantra Vibes chanted down the street came as more conformation, that devotional singing which I bring into my experience a lot at home, in the car, walking around is a really great thing to bring to life. It also prompted me to get the bus to Gurdwara and go to Simrin, there I chatted to more people. On the bus home I reflected on how incredible my day had been and appreciative of the divine timing/magic of God moments.
Those moments, conversations and especially sitting outside for 15 minutes had been the most memorable best parts of my day, shopping seemed insignificant.