My friend Mimi

Last Friday I went over to Mimi's house for a cup of tea and a lovely time of conversation. There are so many interesting people we meet in life and I am thankful to have met Mimi! We met at the Hermitage Fall Fest where she was selling her amazing enamel art and I my oil paintings. Several health challenges have changed Mimi's life the past couple of years, limiting her mobility and even leading to her moving into an independent living facility. She has a very sweet cottage and totally converted her unneeded garage into the most organized studio I've ever seen!

I love listening to Mimi's story in her thick Belgium accent and I love visiting her in her home filled with so many treasures of art and beauty. Everywhere you look in her cottage there is loveliness! You can tell she has the artist eye. Even with her physical limits, she is still motivated to keep creating art in her studio.

Below is a little taste of her life's story that she wrote to preface an art piece she had made:

Her story continues with a move to the US a few years later and the challenges she faced with language and education. Art became her language and life and she developed master skills in enameling that allowed her to travel extensively. Doesn't this give you a glimpse of the interesting artist and woman Mimi is and why it is so nice to visit over a cup of tea? The sweet deal is that she lives only a few blocks from my son & daughter in law and very-soon-to-be-born first grandchild! I feel certain that we will have many cups of tea together.

You can see her website here:   http://www.enamelsbymimi.com     Most of her work was sold at a recent show, but she is starting a series of jewelry pieces and small enameled shapes. She wants me to learn her art, but I told her I need to learn oil painting first!