Serendipity

Serendipity = it's a small world...after all.

Sorry couldn't resist throwing in the after all bit. Flashes of the It's a Small World ride at Disney World flitted through my mind as I typed the line. Yes, I've been on the ride and must admit to being quite amused by it. My husband, however, cringes at the merest hint of it. I digress. Back to how serendipity = it's a small world.

After a rather art-less week, due to my daughters' preschool being closed until after the 4th, I left the little urchins at home with dad on Saturday, picked up two friends and set off for Chester, CT. We were going to see an exhibit entitled NEST at the Lori Warner Studio/Gallery. I'd learned of the exhibit on one of my favorite blogs, Daily Art Muse, authored by Susan Lomuto.

As with any good road trip, we were famished upon arrival and stopped to ask a woman outside Dina Varano's gallery if she could recommend a good place to eat. Ends up that the woman was Dina. I recognized her from the Daily Art Muse's posts about her apprenticeship with Dina.

So...after explaining what brought us to town, we took Dina's advice and lunched at River Tavern. The atmosphere and food were wonderful. Our hunger fully sated, we set off to explore the town and find NEST.

The three of us outside Lori Warner Studio/Gallery previewing NEST.

I did take a few photos of the exhibit, but those on Lori's web site show the art far better than mine. The work comprising NEST - encaustics by Lori, metal sculptures by Dina and porcelain by Pat Smith - is fascinating and was well worth the road trip.

Chester is jewel of an artist enclave and we ventured into each art gallery/studio that was open including Dina's where we chatted and I purchased a wonderful pair of her silver earrings.

It was while my friends and I were in EO Art Lab, salivating over Jaehyo Lee's amazing sculptures (above) that the serendipity = it's a small world thing happened. A woman walked into the gallery, looked at my friends and I, and asked if we'd just been over at Dina Varano's. I did a double take or three before answering yes...and saying "Susan?"

Susan Lomuto, DAMUSE herself, had just walked through the door. Seems she'd stopped by Dina's right after we'd left and Dina had related the story of how/why my friends and I came to be in town. The meeting was sheer serendipity and the highlight of my day. It also shows just how small the world can be at times, especially the blogging world.