After a very enjoyable visit last fall to my first EAST, East Austin Studio Tour, I recently visited WEST. The West Austin Studio Tour is run by the same organization and it happens in the spring. After going to their information center at ACC Highland, I picked the closest and largest gallery, the Blue Genie Art Bazaar a few blocks away.
An artist looked familiar and before I could speak up, he greeted me enthusiastically. It was Marty Lewis who I met at EAST. In fact, I created a black and white portrait of him which I posted last year. “You’ve been traveling a lot”, he remarked. Confused, I found out he was following my blog and even subscribed to my monthly newsletter. I was honored. Blogging is a rather solitary pursuit and meeting an actual follower and getting positive feedback is remarkably rewarding.
I’ve thought a lot about creative endeavors lately and talking about it with Marty was a treat. I don’t consider myself an artist, but he disagreed, which made me happy. I needed to make another portrait. Marty and his over-the-top personality and outfit make such a wonderful subject. I think this photo captures him very well. People in the know, seem to agree.
Marty Lewis’ work can be found on his Instagram.
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Love ya man. And you are indeed an artist! Thank you for your kindness and enthusiasm.
Hi Marty, a big thank you to you too. We’ll have to meet at EAST, unless we run into each other in a restaurant.