Giving in to My Heart's Desire

If you're going to hang a man's print on your bedroom wall, the least you can do is go to his festival.

So, for the fifth year in a row, I was at the Jonny Z. Festival on the closed block in front of Joe's Inn.

I know that three things are likely to happen every year at this particular street fest.

Inevitably, I will see all kinds of people I know.

Today, that included a rocker buying a Dave Edmunds album, a former co-worker and friend who informs me I was incapable of being unhappy or bitter, and the only other person I know who goes to (almost, according to her) as many shows as I do.

And that's not even counting the photographer friend who bought a dozen mini-cupcakes and shared one with me.

Secondly, I will hear local music.

Today, that was a performance by Gull, he of the  octopus-like arms playing guitar and drums simultaneously (not to mention singing), which surprisingly included several songs done bare-faced.

Gull! Unmasked at the Jonny Z Fest!

Lastly, I will likely return home with a piece of local art to add to my collection.

The first year, it was that print (number 17 of 150) by the reason for the festival, Jonny Zanin himself.

Today it occupies a place of honor above my bed.

One year, it was a Travis Robertson mixed media piece of an old man's face, still one of my favorites today.

And this year it was a Natalie Kay piece discovered in her 50% off collection.

"More than This," was the mixed screen print and intaglio that caught my eye and wouldn't let me go.

An anatomically correct and delicately drawn red heart sits surrounded on three sides by a curving arc of intertwining designs.

Underneath, a black, flat map of the globe drips toward the bottom of the paper.

"The heart desires" is written in pencil at the bottom opposite Natalie's signature and the letters "AP" for artist's print.

After much hand-wringing (I really am too poor to be buying art right now), my companion and I split the difference and bought the print.

So instead of just eating cupcakes and hearing music, I was celebrating Jonny Z's spirit.

By supporting artists in memory of a guy I never knew, but whose legacy will always be a part of the local art scene, I was dong exactly what the buttons say.

"Live your life like Jonny Z."

I am doing my best.

And what better reminder than another piece of local art to do so.

More than this? There's nothing.