Back in 2002 when I moved to Los Angeles, I secretly hoped I would make friends with movie stars, writers, directors - you know, the movie folk, - thinking they were the most interesting people in the world. LA taught me many, many things and one of the most important was that movie stars (generally speaking) aren't necessarily very, well, interesting or kind or .... you name it. I learned soon enough that some of the most fabulous people you'll ever meet are right under your nose. I say this about my colleague and friend Eric. We worked together for a shoe company for several years. I really liked my job, but I think so much of that had to do with him. Be it a sales meeting, a buyer meeting, training or traveling together to work the shoe floors, working with Eric was a BLAST. And yes, we got our work done and done well. And, people in his Northern California shoe world love him. He had and still has an excellent reputation with all his accounts and he makes people glow. Yep, I've seen many a person glow when he was around.

All this to say, I was pleased as punch when he asked me to paint his garden for him. He loves gardening probably more than I do. And this painting is just a small tiny corner of his masterpiece garden. Makes you want to go on the ERIC GARDEN TOUR. I hope to someday get to see it in person myself.