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Gabby makes a cameo at Winterthur, needles a few folks at the Festival of Trees in Dover and brushes up on local artists at the Children’s Beach House in Lewes.
(page 3 of 3)
Beauty and the Beach
As if Gabby wasn’t already swooning from holiday cheer after the Festival of Trees, she headed to the Children’s Beach House Holiday Art Show Opening Gala on the first Saturday in December in Lewes.
Walking into the Children’s Beach House was like being invited into a delicious, glowing gingerbread house filled with the merriest of people and decor. On the bottom floor, the Keynotes, a chorus of young women, sang beautiful holiday songs with piano accompaniment. Upstairs, Karen Murdoch jazzified the classics with her sultry voice.
Nage restaurant was tapped to cater the event, and if, dear reader, you take only one piece of advice that Gabby ever gives, let it be this: Get thyself to Nage and partake in the wasabi mashed potatoes. They are an absolute delight to the palate.
Rehoboth photographer Cindy Johnston sure was a fan. Standing in front of her display of photographs—as she describes them, “antiquey-looking…I tend toward older subject matter”—she praised the food. “It’s just so good, isn’t it? I love coming to this event. It’s such a good thing to do. The art is just fabulous this year.”
And so were the artists. Gabby fell head over heels for the hilarious and sweet Diane Bennett, a Millville-area photographer. Sporting much bling—on her neck, on her shirt and on her loosely knotted black scarf—Gabby caught her squinting at fellow photographer Steven Billups’ photo of two naked figures doing, well, Gabby still isn’t sure what, exactly. “It’s interesting, isn’t it?” Diane said. “I really love it. But I have no idea what it is. You either? Good.” Diane suggested Gabby check out her art, but not before a warning: “I have no naked people. Sorry.”
Gabby trailed a feisty gaggle of artists headlined by Ruth Valva, who was looking vintage-chic in a high-waisted, long striped skirt and elegant black blouse, as they gave painter Arthur Brosius a hard time about his primo exhibit spot. “We can’t all get special treatment, I suppose,” Ruth teased as they gazed at his “Dolles and the Boardwalk” painting.
While giving in to a second (perhaps it was the third, Gabby stopped counting) helping of wasabi mashed potatoes, a beautiful flurry of white passed by. It turned out to be Kathleen Schell, the event chairwoman, simply glowing in a white brocade cocktail dress with row upon row of rhinestones around the collar, diamond bracelets stacked on her wrists and sparkling gems on her fingers. She stopped for a photo op with featured artist Richard Clifton and chatted about his so-detailed-they-look-like-still-photos wildlife paintings.
Before Gabby could leave she was lured by Philip Livingston, equal parts by his fabulous fitted purple shirt and Elvis Costello-like glasses and his Elegant Slumming cache of jewels for sale. “Everyone cleaned up nice tonight, don’t you think?” he said.
Although the delicious fare from Nage did everyone good, one simply cannot be in Lewes and not pop into Agave on Second Street for a pom margarita and fish tacos. So Gabby and guest did, and were pleased to see that quite a few guests from the party were there, toasting with a bottle of white to a beautiful evening.
