I’m not sure if my amazing husband Nate realized exactly how many times he’d help pack art, put up/take down signs and how many weekends and nights he’d be giving up for art shows and openings when we first got married. Afterall, I don’t help him with his job, nor does his job infringe on our weekend plans, but I guess this is what happens when you marry an artist. For better or worse, Nate has helped me put on a show at our home studio space every 6 months for the past 11 years, not to mention the countless off site exhibits we’ve installed and de-installed. In the studio, he’s used his carpentry skills to build nearly every shelf, table and fixture as well as the pedestals for shows. And he’s my biggest cheerleader when it comes to supporting my art career.
While Nate is a proficient potter, he would not concider himself an artist. Yet, he often jokes that he is the Jeanne-Claude to my Christo referring to the husband and wife art team Christo & Jeanne-Claude. Jeanne-Claude once told art critic Calvin Tomkins, “I was not an artist when I married Christo, but I became one. If Christo had been a dentist, I would have become a dentist.”
Perhaps Nate is an artist-in-training??
Last weekend at our annual Spring Studio Sale, I watched him engage kids in an art activity, direct patrons to make sure they saw all the art, pack up sold work, replenish snacks and help solve technical glitches amongst a million other things. Artists spend so much time working alone that I often feel like my art business is a one-woman-show but after nearly 16 years of being together, I couldn’t imagine putting together an event or exhibit without him.
A very grateful thank you to all the spouses, partners and friends that make it possible for all of us artists to thrive!