Saturday marks our fifth year of hosting Open Houses and sharing our lives. I thank Maria for it.

I’ve been posting portraits of the Open House artists and this wouldn’t be nearly complete without a portrait of Maria, and I got her radiant smile, which I wanted in my portrait of her. It can light up a lot of space.

I can’t be objective about her because I love her, but she is founder of our Open Houses, a kind of patron saint of artists seeking strength and guidance to share their work with the world and follow their bliss.

The Open House was her idea, and it came out of our new relationship eight years ago. Maria had started making her art again, after a long and painful hiatus, she drew from the encouragement she received from people and wanted to do the same for others.  It also offered her a chance to show her own art, that was a great way to do it.

I thought it was a wonderful idea. It began with Mary Kellogg, our dear friend, who published her first volume of poetry when she was 81 (she will be reading at the Open House on Saturday).  Maria, who had never edited a book in her life, edited Mary’s first volume, “My Place On Earth.” It is a beautiful book.

Maria decided the best forum for her idea of support and our ideas of celebrating and encouraging creativity was an art show, the first Bedlam Farm was ideally suited for such a show with its four restored and beautiful barns. The first art show drew more than 1,500 people. We were shocked, the only publicity we have ever undertaken was our blogs.

But we had to move on.

Our new farm is not quite so grand as the first but very beautiful in its own way,  but our Open Houses are even more successful in a number of ways. We have learned about what people want to see and how we can best present it.  We have even learned it’s okay to put out a voluntary donation box.

The Spring Open Houses usually draw between five-and eight hundred people, the October Open Houses more. They are essentially Maria’s vision, she chooses the artists, works with them, curates and hangs the show, sells the art. People come from all over the country, it has become a tradition for many.

I stay out of the Schoolhouse Studio except to bring Maria some food, she would never otherwise bother to eat. I do sheep herding demos, talk to people, sign books, give donkey and other talks about my books, introduce poets and speakers. As always, we work together, and respect the space and boundaries of one another.

Maria has no desire to give talks, I have no desire to choose the art for her shows. It is a beautiful partnership.

Her openness, warmth and radiant spirit set the tone for the Open Houses, and her passion for art suffuses the weekend. She loves to curate shows, and she loves to sell art.  She works just as hard – harder – to sell art for the other artists as she does her own. She is overjoyed when any artist sells any piece of work.

She used to forego her own commission because she doesn’t want to take any money away from the artists. She was persuaded not to do it.

That is who she is. The Open Houses have come to define us in some ways, and help us focus on our purpose for being around.

But Maria and her story and her art are the heart of it, and I am, as always, proud of her and admiring of her. I am perhaps one of the very few people who understand what she went through to get from there to here, and it is wonderful to see just how far she has come.

Maria keeps me focused on the purpose and mission of the Open House, and I am lucky to have found her.