I have always needed someone to collaborate or communicate with about creativity. I never knew where or how that person would show up. When I lived in the Spring St. building and became president of the Co-op I oversaw the legalization of the building which meant changing the zoning from light industrial to artist live-work. It is a particularly difficult challenge to deal with the New York City Department of Buildings so we hired a consultant – an “expediter” – to get us through the complex and confusing process. After about 9 years (8 of them before I came on the scene) the expediter succeeded. Once we were legal we could finally get cable TV and other services which were only available to residential buildings. One resident of each loft had to be a certified artist. I was legal!

But I was single and wanted a relationship. The expediter and I dated a few times but it never clicked and she got engaged to another guy. Five years later I asked Lisa out on a date and she accepted. She had just broken up with her fiancé that very day. Five months later we were married and I had a resident muse. Lisa studied ceramics with Mikhail Zakin at Sarah Lawrence College but set aside her art while making a living as an expediter. I encouraged her to resume making art along with making money. She encouraged my art, too. We would visit museums and galleries and talk about art.

After we moved to NJ in 2019 Lisa sold her business and resumed making ceramics, studying with the brilliant potter William McCreath at Montclair State University to earn her Masters in Ceramics. Now she was a real artist too. We built side by side studios so we could work separately but still be there for feedback and encouragement. Hopefully our marriage will survive being together all the time. Her ceramics are inspiring too.