Those of you who have been good enough to read “The Second Chance Dog” know the show-your-art-guru, he is becoming quite well-known. For the others, I want to share the story today.  In the long and cold winter of 2009, a winter of recession, personal pain and challenge, Maria and I began our relationship, she moved into Bedlam Farm, took a job at a home for the emotionally disabled, left every morning at 5 a.m., began to make her art again, and for the first time in some years.

We were both struggling, we were both working to shore up the other.

Maria was deathly afraid to show her work to anyone, she did not think it was worth anything, she did not believe anyone would like it. Maria is an artist in every gene, her paralysis about her art was suffocating her, it was soul-killing. In the mornings, I would get up to make her breakfast, something hot to get her going on those cold and snowy days. One morning, I decided to encourage her to show  art to the world, I told her I was the show-your-art guru and wrote poems and sang songs exhorting her to show her art to the world. Maria has a powerful sense of humor, it is never hard to get her to smile, and laughing pulls her out of herself when she needs to be pulled out of herself.

One morning, I had an inspiration, I put on the wizard hat I got at Disney World, waited until she was outside in her car waiting for the ice to defrost on her windshield. I could hear the engine running.

I remember the day, it was bitter cold and snowing, dark as pitch. When she was in the car and the windshield was beginning to defrost, I ran outside naked, with only my wizard hat and danced the show-your-art-guru danced, Maria just lit up, and then she cracked up, clapping and cheering, I danced outside for as long as I could handle it – it was well below zero – and Maria headed off to work. Something about the show-your-art guru seemed to open her up, she just couldn’t quite believe it.

Many mornings that winter, the show-your-art guru appeared naked in the driveway, and he had magical powers. Bit by bit, Maria’s fear was overtaken by her great creativity and now, she can’t wait to show her art to the world, which can’t wait to see it.

This morning, as one of my Christmas gifts, Maria gave me a potholder she made for me, the Show-Your-Art-Guru potholder, she said she thought she captured me dancing in the driveway pretty well. I imagine she did. What a wonderful present, and the best part of it was that Maria said she doesn’t think of the show-your-art guru much any more, she can’t imagine being afraid to show her work to the world. I love this present, it is the only one she is making, and that’s good, as I can’t imagine anyone else wanting to buy it. The show-your-art guru was such an important moment in our relationship, I am grateful to hang this potholder in my office, where i can see it every time I write. A perfect Christmas gift, it’s great being  married to an artist, she can capture the moments in our lives that matter.