We ended up at Gallery on Greene in an interesting way, not usually art gallery folks.
Buddy is building a new facility for the folks at Keys Federal Credit Union. Their maintenance man is a good contact person, he knows everyone here, knows who to call, and has been a big help. His name is Andy Thurber, he grew up here in Key West, and is also a fisherman, he has shared some of his catch several times, bringing it to the jobsite - lobster, jew fish, and on last Friday some stone crab claws - yum!
While at the jobsite on Friday, he gave Buddy a flyer about this art show and said to stop by on Saturday if we could, he had some pieces of art there at Gallery on Greene. We were downtown on Friday evening so went by the gallery just to see where it was located. We wandered through and found a couple of Andy's watercolors, then were approached by the proprietor. She asked if we were there to see the Andy Thurber collection?
We were directed up the stairs where all the art displayed was by this one artist, Andy Thurber, all ready for the show the next day. Wow! Some awesome watercolors depicting Key West and its history, some going for $1600 each. There were also some wood carvings (like the one above). Buddy was flabbergasted, this maintenance guy/fisherman is an artist! And a very good one.
The nice art gallery lady told us that his art has grown in popularity quickly over the last several years, popular with collectors, and that we should hurry and pick one out before the reception on Saturday because they would go fast (explaining that the ones with a red dot were already sold). We were asked if we had collected any art, what was hanging on our walls? I mentally pictured our walls covered with framed posters from the Grand Canyon and Banff ($10 each?) but didn't bring that up, luckily Buddy told her of his wood work/art that we have displayed. Whew! Good save, Buddy!
We were the only folks in the store so were given the tour, a brief bio of the artist, and sales pitch, until we mentioned we just came downtown to see the big boat take off. "You mean the cruise ship?" It obviously hit home to her then that we were not in fact potential art collectors and with a roll of the eyes she left us to be 'just looking'.
We went back on Saturday to see Andy and all the guests at the artist reception. Since we don't have a small fortune to spend on an original Thurber, I wanted to take the flyer for at least an original signature... but no.
Another new experience for this country bumpkin, rubbing elbows with artists - who knew!
Andy Thurber website HERE
