Franc Palaia's Debut A Success

Once again trying something new I introduced Franc Palaia to my audience. I met Franc at a group show at the Beacon NY venue, The Daniel Aubrey Gallery a show curated by Carl Van Brunt, Director of the Woodstock Artist Association Museum in town. Never having shared the stage with such an illustrious artist I was naturally a bit apprehensive, but very excited as Franc and I had already "hit it off" with our mutual passion for Italy. Although I had dozens of images ready, following my usual penchant of having too much, we only got through about 10, accompanied by a wonderfully relaxed and informative discussion between us. Franc is a wonderful guy, and I thoroughly enjoyed the talk. Introducing the show as a "down home" local broadcast, which it is and should be for my neighbors in Woodstock, I began with a thank you to my friend at my local YMCA, Dan, whose expertise as a swimmer helped me to hone my back stroke skills during that morning's three times a week exercise session. Also I corrected a slight error I made the week earlier when I suggested that a friend of mine skied to safely during the Cold War, when in fact he simply took a freedom producing skiing vacation. I like to start the show with some personal notes that sets a relaxed tone and also settles me down for the show. This time around I felt good sharing the stage with an expert, as another technique to get me going. Ellen, my engineer, did a flawless and fabulous job of putting the show on the air and on DVD for all to see on Youtube, and people even told me the show streamed live on the internet, so this is about as good as it gets. Franc has agreed to return about once a month with me, so between him and Ric, I have some regulars appearing to break things up. Franc's lovely wife, Eve, even volunteered to do a couple of shows on Rome for me during the summer, one on The Roman Forum and another on Female Portrait Busts with a specialty on Ancient Roman Hairstyles of Women, a topic that always fascinated me. Eve D'Ambra teaches Art History at Vasser College, and is an acknowledged expert in her field. With those three helping out I have a significant amount of flexibility to now intersperse traveling and location shows with specialty shows as well. This week I may make yet another such contact when I dine with another well known Italiaphile who lives in town. I am also exploring one of my pet ideas of actually planning a trip on the air using the same techniques I use. I would require that the studio version of the internet be up and running that particular night, which by all accounts is hit or miss at best, so subscribing to the 4G network night be in my future. I have also been informed that 5 people have signed up to participate in my lecture on Venice at my local YMCA for Monday evening, so yet another fun option has materialized. And so, I off and running and feeling very harried, yet healthfully busy. I'll keep you abreast as always. Next week I begin a two part exploration of Central Tuscany. Thanks for taking the time to join me in this venture. Incidentally for further exploration of Franc's work, please feel free to explore his website at www.francpalaia.com