• About

The Perks of Being an Artist

~ Because demented people need love, too.

The Perks of Being an Artist

Tag Archives: wedding

Well, That Was…Different

08 Saturday Oct 2016

Posted by emilypageart in art, culture, humor, painting, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

event painting, hurricane, hurricane Matthew, live wedding painting, wedding

Just finished live painting at a wedding. In a room with no power. In a hurricane. White-knuckled it all the way to the ceremony 45 minutes away, passing numerous cars in the ditches on either side of the road. Pulled up to discover that the building where the event was being held (it was supposed to be outdoors, but that wasn’t obviously going to happen), had no power. Turned on the flashlight on my phone and climbed the 6 flights of stairs to the top floor 4 times to cart all my gear in, and set up by a window. Asked anyone and everyone who worked there if the lighting would be the same during the ceremony, i.e., nonexistent. They all said yes. So I painted in the background as best as I could see it. Two minutes before the ceremony, they brought our purple battery-powered floor lights and illuminated every visible surface in magenta, thus negating my entire painting. Thank fuck I’m a fast painter! Whipped up a new background just in time for the bride to walk down the aisle. A stroke of paint here, a stroke of paint there, and viola! A painting of the happy couple saying their vows.

Sorry for the crappy photo, but I was anxious to get out of there because one of the photographers said that they were going to shut down the road I needed to be on to get back home, so I hightailed it out of there before the painting was even dry.

wedding 10-8-16.jpg

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Things I Learned This Weekend

29 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by emilypageart in gratitude, humor

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

NYC, wedding

I’ve been reflecting on my weekend in NYC, and wanted to share a few thoughts. I have to admit that I was slightly dreading it because I was headed there on my own without the safety net of the hubs by my side. Small town girl in the big city talking to strangers at a wedding. It’s a little like my fear at gallery openings when I’m expected to talk to people but I’m more inclined to find a nice rug to hide under while I hyperventilate. My fears, though, were unfounded. I should have trusted that, since I like the bride and her family, I would like the guests. Thank god, I did. Here are some more random thoughts from the trip:

1) Walking in NYC on Broadway isn’t nearly as satisfying as walking in Raleigh, because there are no pine cones to stomp as you walk. It does help you get there faster, though, since you’re not stopping every few feet to jump on a pine cone. Also, if you walk quickly, tourists will think you’re from there and ask directions. Feel free to make those directions up.

2) If you go into a liquor store to buy champagne and sparkling cider, expect the person working there to shoot you withering looks at the mention of the cider.

3) I am exceptionally lucky to have grown up in Charlottesville, VA. I know this because the wedding was at the Morris-Jumel Mansion, which George Washington took possession of for about a month during the Revolutionary War. At one point, Washington, Hamilton, Adams, and someone else who I can’t remember (maybe Burr?) all had dinner there. This is, apparently a big deal, but in Charlottesville, we refer to a night like that as “Tuesday.” We have Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe’s homes all within an hour’s drive. I used to spend the night at Ash Lawn, Monroe’s house because my friend’s mom was the curator and lived upstairs. It’s Monroe’s fault that I became a vegetarian because we kept horses in the pastures with the cows there and I couldn’t eat them after I’d named them all. Also, Bodo’s bagels, in Charlottesville, remain the best bagels in all the land. Just sayin’.

4) I was told by multiple people that the trees around NYC smell like semen. I did not sniff any trees, so I can’t verify that for you, but you’ve been warned.

5) If you want to be the maid of honor at a wedding, your best bet is to be the shortest one so that you will walk down the aisle with the best man, who is also the shortest one. A proclivity toward bossiness helps, too.

6) If you take on the role of bossing everyone around of being at the bride’s disposal for all things wedding related, you should probably plan to give a toast. You should not wait until 5 minutes before toasts are about to begin to realize this. Also, you might want to drug the best man so that his toast doesn’t make sense and isn’t so damn funny and his Christopher Walkin impression will suck and he won’t hand the mic to you even after you’ve said you weren’t planning on giving a toast (<shakes fists> Damn you, Ginsberg!).

7) A little self deprecation at the beginning of an unplanned speech goes a long way toward making people be forgiving that your toast sucks. And keep it short, like you, since that’s what got you into this mess in the first place.

8) You will not be able to escape the sound of a wheezing cat by going to NY. There’s this fluffy black stray cat in my apartment complex that doesn’t breathe, it wheezes. It’s been here for 4 years and I can’t figure out how it’s still alive. Well, I woke up Sunday morning, and I swear to god, I heard that damn cat outside my 4th floor window. I don’t know how it got there, and I was too scared to open the curtains and see it’s glowing yellow eyes staring at me to verify its existence, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

9) The Finnish flag makes for an excellent wedding dress. Seriously.

10) You can live without a pancreas. There’s no joke here. I just was seated next to a guy at the wedding who doesn’t have one any more. He was awesome. I think he might use the extra space in his abdomen now to store booze, like a built in flask. I’m jealous.

11) While all Iowa may have is corn, it has ALL the corn.

12) I am capable of wandering a large city alone and being perfectly content. I am capable of making friends with strangers at a wedding. I do, sincerely, love the friends with whom I was reunited there and I was, truly, honored to be a part of it all.

Things I did not learn at the wedding:

How many penises does a man need to have to be referred to as “the guy with all the dicks?” Groomsmen, I’m talking to you. I want answers.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

The Wedding

27 Monday Apr 2015

Posted by emilypageart in culture, gratitude, humor

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Aaron Burr, Eliza Jumel, Jumel-Morris Mansion, wedding

Yes, I know it’s supposed to be Mondays with Muddy. I promise I’ll post that when I get home and have her writings in front of me. For now, though, I present a photo from the wedding this weekend at the Morris-Jumel Mansion:

Emmie and I with captions

To the bride and groom: may your marriage last longer than Eliza Jumel and Aaron Burr’s marriage by, like, a lot.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

La Petite Danseuse

23 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by emilypageart in art, dance, painting

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

La Petite Danseuse, wedding

Emmie as La Petite Danseuse

Emilie as La Petite Danseuse, oil on canvas

Tomorrow I’m headed to NYC for this girl’s wedding. She posed for me many moons ago, and on Saturday I get to be in her wedding. I’m guessing she probably won’t be wearing this for the wedding, or she if is, it’ll be underneath a wedding dress. The only downside to going to NYC for the weekend is that the song “NYC” from the play Annie (they cut it for the movie) will be repeating in my head over and over and over. And over. And probably over. And it’s NOT a good song.

Regardless, I may not be able to post much over the next couple days what with the whole wedding festivities and all, so don’t worry if you don’t hear from me. Hope you, dear internet, have a fabulous weekend and I’ll see you on the flip side!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

A Kenyan Wedding

03 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by emilypageart in blog, music, singing

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Kenya, Kenyan wedding, wedding

On Sunday, I had the pleasure of going to the wedding of one of the CNAs who cares for my dad. And when I say cares, I really mean cares. This man is a gem. He works 2 full time jobs and is in nursing school, and if anybody in all the world deserves happiness, it’s him. He was getting married in Raleigh, so he invited me to the wedding, and I, along with several of the staff from Dad’s facility, attended. Luckily, it was the staff that I adore, so there was no awkwardness.

He and his new bride are Kenyan, so it was a really interesting mix of an American and Kenyan wedding. There was a Mistress of Ceremonies who kept trying to corral everyone, admonishing them like school children not to talk or hug until the appointed time, and you can hear her at the end of the video below trying to wind the singing down, but, luckily, they would have none of it. They kept singing and singing and dancing and dancing and no one could suppress that joy. I bravely tried and ended up loving the food that was served, I sat with a couple young Kenyans who translated the songs for me, and I got to share in the celebration of someone who treats my dad like his own.

I wish I’d known about this tradition before I got married, because hell yeah. Instead, I’m giving everyone advanced notice that I want a chorus line like this at my funeral some day.

UPDATE: A friend pointed out that I really needn’t wait until my funeral. From now on, I want a procession like this every time I go grocery shopping. Wouldn’t that make grocery shopping way more fun? That plus bourbon, of course.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...
Follow The Perks of Being an Artist on WordPress.com

Emily Page

Emily Page

Check Out the Art

You can view my artwork on Facebook or on my website at http://www.emilypageart.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Archives

Buy Fractured Memories!

Buy the book!

Goodreads – Fractured Memories

Follow The Perks of Being an Artist on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,252 other followers

Buy Fractured Memories!

Buy Fractured Memories!

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • The Perks of Being an Artist
    • Join 2,252 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Perks of Being an Artist
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: