My new BFF in Fairhope, AL

Julie and I dropped artwork of at Quincy Art and Toys in Seaside this morning and after chatting with Jared, the manager, he suggested I check out Fairhope, AL for possible galleries as some of their other artists have gallery representation there. Ironically, Julie and I had just seen an article in Southern Living (the same on featuring the Idea Home I am in) about a couple who moved an old house to the lake and get their mail by boat... my kinda house.

Fairhope was only 2 hours away from Seagrove, so we skipped on over to "check out the scene". We drove around a bit and gawked at the houses on the bay. Next, we drove around downtown to scope out where the galleries were. They definitely have some great shopping there but most of the galleries I found were for local artists; not my flavor for several reasons... the strongest of which is that I am not local. So, I am guessing I may not have been in the right area... but it sure looked like it.

However, on our last stop we found a gem... or two. The gallery/studio is owned by Christine Linson who is also the only artist in the gallery. To me, she was living the dream. Working and selling out of one space in a great area. I never tell anyone in a gallery that I am an artist, Julie usually does that. They either stop talking to me, or just stop the sales pitch. Quite the opposite with Christine and her partner in crime (whose name escapes me as I write this, I never forget a face, but I can forget a name as soon as I hear it). She and her friend were so cute and too funny. They spent a great deal of time with us talking about my future as an artist and getting our stories. Her cats had the run of the place and the space itself was large.

We hit it off great, and due to her lack of computer savviness, I agreed to blog about her. Christine can do it all and is a master marketer. She had great plein air watercolor work, beautiful water and wind inspired abstracts, note cards of the city landmarks she had done, pulls of her work and a couple of books that she has written and illustrated. It was so great to see someone doing what they love and making it work. It was truly inspirational. We bought some note cards that she signed for us, and then we chatted some more.

My dream has always been to have a live/ work space in an artsy downtown area where I can paint day and night and show my work. Christine has showed me once again that it can be done!

Thanks, Christine!