Strolling by the river on Saturday afternoon, enjoying the somewhat milder weather and lovely breeze, my friend who does amazing water-colours, spotted a fellow artist who had set up at a picnic table to paint the scene before her.
We had not seen an artist at work on the Avon before, although paintings of the river and our swans are quite common. What really intrigued my friend was the portable easel/paintbox combination that the artist was using.
We stopped to admire her work and to find out more about the easel. Laughing, she told us about the two white geese that frequent the river who had come up to her and stood there as if posing. She didn't really want to paint them, but they “insisted” and wouldn't leave until she had captured them for posterity. I know our wild fowl often act as if they think they are human, but this seemed to be taking vanity a little too far!
As we chatted further I discovered that Tamara was a singer as well as a painter and studies singing with Anita Ruthig, who was my vocal teacher when my children were young. What a small world! She told us she would be performing Mozart's 'Ave Verum' at the evening mass at Holy Name of Mary Catholic Church in St. Mary's. I decided to drive over to listen. It was quite lovely and brought back memories of singing it myself.Yes, my Stratford is brimming with unique opportunities to meet interesting people. And sometimes, like on Saturday, our lives just happen to intersect in the most unexpected ways.
