Best part of the trip

I know.  This picture doesn't do it justice; my laptop can't give you the fidelity I can get from my desktop.  But I saw this picture in a gallery in New Orleans and just fell in love with it.  I don't know why -- I never quite know why things sing to me the way they do sometimes; they just do.

So I asked the young man if I could photograph it (since it's sold) and he said yes.  I took a picture, then asked who the artist was, and it was him!  His name is Kalle Siekkinen, and he'd been studying for six years under another artist named Bill Hemmerling (for whom the gallery was named); he'd mostly just been making frames; never had the courage to paint.

But then Bill died two years ago, so he started painting and VOILA!  Amazing work -- perhaps not yet as consistent as Hemmerling's work (which I also love, though I've never seen it before), but I just adore it.  He was a lovely young man, sweet and shy, and his spirit totally suffuses his work.

So if you're ever in New Orleans, pay a visit to Hemmerling Gallery on Royal Street to see Kalle and his beautiful work -- it's DEFINITELY worth a visit!  And if you happen to find yourself in San Diego December 2, 3, or 4, stop by the Holiday Art Festival at the Del Mar Fairgrounds to see more of Kalle's work... SO GREAT!