More Tura Memories as we take the Wayback Machine to just after the "Tura! Tura! Tura!" gallery show of 2008…
Kieran has shown her great illustrations at my last gallery show (see earlier blog) and ended up selling 5 Bettie Page pieces raking in $100 (that's a million dollars in kid money), so I for sure had to have her to be part of the Tura Satana show. She did 6 fantastic 8.5 by 11" portraits, so good in fact that I raised her price up $5 to $25 smackers apiece (I feel that the application of glitter automatically bumps the price 20%). When the opening was coming up. Kieran, showing she's as much into the art of salesmanship as I am, made it a point of telling me that she had to be there because folks will only buy them if they can see the actual cute 10 year old that did 'em. Unfortunately, it was a school night (a rare Thursday opening), so the wee miss had to stay home. Yesterday, sitting in the dining room, she wanted to know how many she sold. Just waking up from a too short nap, it looked like she better be getting great news, or else. I took a step back, made sure the table was between us, and said none were sold. She screamed, "What, not even one?!! I told you I should have been there! All that time wasted!" Little fists started to pound on the table. I then remembered that I had promised to buy one of them. "Oh wait, one did sell!" I quickly added. Forgetting I had raised the price I handed her a $20. But I was the only one that made that lapse, "They were $25!!" the mini commercial artist loudly corrected. A few minutes of stomping and grousing followed about what should have been. Telling her that she made more money at the show than I did didn't help (and oddly didn't make me feel any better either). Then, with hands on hips she scowled, "Who bought the one drawing?!" I fessed up. "YOU BOUGHT IT?! THAT'S EVEN WORSE!!!" She raised her arms in the air so the god's could see her pain then collapsed on the floor in a wail.
A happy ending. The money was used for a new pair of jeans so only smiles were seen after she returned from shopping. I find the squeezable Taurus adorable even when she's enraged, but future art directors and gallery owners might want to prepare themselves for another temperamental artist on the horizon.
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