For all you pro artists out there, what’s the oldest slide packet you ever got back in the mail? For all the rest of you, understand that so-called “emerging artists” spend way too much time & energy assembling packets (neatly labelled expensive slide dupes, obsessively edited resumes, copies of reviews, annoying “statements”, the all-important SASE) & sending them out to places where we’d like to show our work. Sometimes you get a studio visit &/or a show out of it. Other times, packets end up sitting in enormous piles in the back corner of some gallery, never to be seen again. Most often, though, you get your packet back a year or two later with a note saying thanks but no thanks.

But my fellow artists, have you ever gotten a packet back after SEVEN years?! We’re talking 1999. They had to put extra postage on it. I was flabbergasted at this blast from the past. This has got to be some kind of record, don’t you think?

There’s no better time to blog than right after you said you weren’t going to.

Just some tips for early-summer enjoyment:

1. Little gems have re-appeared at the farmer’s markets! I just cut them in quarters, artfully arrange slices of avocado & mango or peach amongst the lettuce, drizzle on dressing (olive oil, sherry vinegar & dab o’ dijon) & sprinkle with sea salt. Effortless! You can also include on the plate: a couple of oil-cured olives, a young carrot sliced in half lengthwise, some paper-thin radish circles, manchego shavings… whatever you’ve got. Maybe a hardboiled egg?

2. So it’s a nice hot day & you’re bewildered by the vast array of choices facing you at the Sweetheart Cafe. Fear not, because my standard there is standard for a reason: shave ice with lychees & coconut jelly is a refreshing, soothing, white-on-white festival of textures & sweetness that can’t be beat. If you want to avoid styrofoam by bringing your own bowl, I recommend a white bowl, just to stay with the theme.