Client Comments



Stories and comments like this make it all worthwhile.


Brydon and her grandmother, Joanie, were always very close.  Joanie was a concert pianist and loved theatre, art, music and dance.  When Brydon was born, Joan remained involved in our life much like she had always been.  She and I were always very close.  Joan took a close interest in her grandchildren but she was always particularly drawn to Brydon.  Around the time Brydon was two, Joan was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer.  Brydon and I visited Joanie at least 2x’s a week from that point forward.  They often played piano together and every week after Brydon’s dance class, we would stop for a visit when Brydon would dance and Joanie would play the piano – sometimes for over an hour.  They had a connection in music that was unmatched. Joanie could play a song if you just hummed the tune a little and sometimes Brydon would sing a song for Joanie and Joanie would play it on the piano without ever seeing the music – this always made Brydon excited.  
 
In November 2006, after battling cancer for over a year, Joanie wanted to take Brydon to see the Nutcracker being performed by the Youth and Performing Arts school with Ballet Petite where Brydon was taking classes since she was 15 months old.  She took Brydon, Ellie and myself.  Brydon watched the entire performance from start to finish sitting next to Joanie without a word or disruption. She was engrossed in it.  After the performance, Joanie told Brydon she would watch her on stage next year performing in the show herself.  Brydon was excited that she’d be on stage the next year.  I told Joan and Brydon that Brydon would be to young the following year as you had to be 6 to be onstage.  Joanie dismissed this notion and told Brydon she’d see her on stage the next year.  
 
In April 2007, Joanie lost her fight with cancer and she died at home. Brydon knew almost immediately and though she had seen Joanie just a couple days before, she was very upset for a long time.  She wouldn’t go to Joanie’s house or visit there with me for some time.  Soon things got back to normal and Brydon continued with her dancing. She often comments that Joanie loved to dance like her.  As 2007 started to come to a close we worried about how Brydon would feel that she didn’t get to be on stage and would it be hard for her.  We decided to wait it out and just see if she brought it up.  
 
In November of 2007, Brydon’s dance teacher called me to ask if we would allow Brydon to be on stage for the Nutcracker that year.  For the first time, they opened up the performance to 10 little ballerina’s and they selected Brydon to be one of those little girls.  We were so overwhelmed and stunned we just couldn’t believe it was happening.  We were saddened that Joanie couldn’t be there to see what you had foreseen.  We invited about 20 people to the performance and all of them came to watch her.  I had told everyone to not bring cameras because they weren’t allowed and I would have mine for when it was allowed.  I couldn’t believe I forgot to bring my camera and so we had no pictures of Brydon’s performance after all of this.  I was devastated but resolved to the fact that we would have the DVD that the school gave out of the performance and that the memories in my mind were much better than any picture.  
 
Months later I heard rumors that an artist had painted a picture of Brydon but I wasn’t able to get to the dance studio to see it.  I could not imagine what the painting looked like or that it was really of just Brydon.  I finally saw the painting online and was so moved by it, I could not help but think that Joanie was masterminding this entire situation from somewhere else. You know the rest of the story…  Ellie and I truly believe that this painting is no coincidence but that you were meant to cross paths with Brydon on that particular day and that you, unknowingly, captured in a painting this entire story, because you were drawn to Brydon in an unexplainable way.  She is a powerful little girl and she captured your heart much like she captured Joanie’s – she is a gift to all who come in contact with her and I will definitely figure out how to have you meet her sometime.  I remain in awe of how you captured her without even knowing her.  You are unbelievably talented.    
 
Jennifer Fairfax - Maryland


Mark,
 
Ellie and I choose art we love and we don’t buy it to sell later.  We love art by Steve Hanks, Behrens, Michael Florh,  Romero Britto and Viktor Shvaiko.  Our recent find which is prominently hung in the formal dining room where it can be seen as you enter the house, round the staircase or come from the living room area is an oil on canvas called “little reindeer.”   It shares a room with Steve Hank’s works.  Among all the art we have, the portrait of my daughter titled "Little Reindeer" by Mark Lovett, is the one we love the most.    
 
Jennifer Fairfax - Maryland