Chapter 1
Eddie
As the sound of coffee percolates, customers bustle, and the hustle of the city outside seeps into the café, I take a brief moment to myself.
I was up late last night, and only just got up and out of bed before I hit the snooze for a fourth time this morning.
But, hey, at least I didn’t sleep in this time…
I know people might think that being an artist in the big city is a life of fancy gallery openings, big money, and lots and lots of free drinks and socializing, but I can say with total confidence that this is very muchnotthe case.
Damn, ain’t that the truth.
I might only be twenty-two years old but these last three years have seen me go for days without enough money for food, couch surfing for somewhere to stay, and barely with a single possession to my name.
But through it all I have managed to keep my art going.
Materials cost money and I’ve sacrificed so much to make sure that when the sun rises, I’m able to do my thing from sunrise tosunset. I’m lucky that I’ve got a supportive network of buddies in the city art world. Without them, I would have sunk without a trace within weeks of arriving in the city and ended up going back home to live—and probably from there ended up giving up on my dreams entirely.
You’re probably wondering what kind of stuff I paint, right? Am I an expressionist? An abstract artist? Or do I go more for portraits?
Well, kinda none of the above.
You see, while I do love to paint from time to time, my real passion is working with my hands and sculpting from clay. And this has been the case going all the way back to art class and Mr. Tan who sat me down in front of a potter’s wheel and gave my license to have fun, get creative, and let my hands do the talking… as opposed to my mouth.
Sitting still and listening at school was never exactly my strong point. Far from it, in fact. But Mr. Tan was the kind of teacher who would only shout and bawl as a last resort. He would always look for a solution first. And in my case, it was the pottery wheel—and this was a stroke of genius on his part.
Before I knew it, I was coming into school early to make sure that I got my daily turn on the wheel and then as I developed my interests I moved more into sculpting. It could be animals, people, or some crazy shapes and designs that were simply figments of my imagination. Sometimes I sculpted things that were so abstract that even I couldn’t explain what they were.
Either way, I was hooked.
My grades were always kinda average, but when it came to art class, I was a star student. And Mr. Tan always made sure thathe was there for me when I needed someone to lean on and ask for advice. Home life was never exactly stable, so it felt super-cool to have a person in authority I could rely on and trust when it came to issues both inside and outside of school.
Losing Mr. Tan was tough though. He was taken too soon, and the fact he passed away just before I graduated high school probably explains why my life went kind of wild for a hot minute.
Leave home for the city with no plan?Check.
Fall in with crazy party friends?Check.
Rack up debts and find myself homeless?Check and check again.
Since then though I’ve managed to climb up off the floor a little bit. I’ve got a part time job working in a café, and I’ve managed to move into a tiny little studio apartment in a co-op building for artists. I’ve even managed to save up a teeny-tiny amount of money that means I don’t have to panic quite so hard if I lose a couple of shifts at the café or an unexpected cost comes up.
The biggest thing though is that my work is actually starting to get recognized a little now. It’s not like my sculptures are selling for millions of dollars or anything, but there’s starting to be a little bit of a buzz around my name.
I’ve had agents making enquiries, and galleries too.
In fact, my debut show is coming up very soon.
I’m not kidding myself. I know that my whole world won’t change after one show in a small gallery downtown. But to see my name on posters and online in promo material for the gallery opening is one hell of a buzz!
LUCY LUCK: WELCOME TO SUNSET
—a debut show from the city’s brightest new sculptor?—
Honestly, the first time I saw the poster, complete with an image from the show, I nearly burst out into tears. It was probably a good thing I didn’t though, as I don’t think the paying customer at the café would have been overly appreciative of his oat flat white being submerged in my salty tears.
Speaking of oat flat whites…
