We had some fun at the Society of York Region Artists 2015 Exhibit at Aurora Cultural Centre. Perhaps I underestimated him that day. “Why are you smiling?” I often ask. “What are you thinking about?” I curiously ask again if he does not respond. He is six years old but there is a lot going on in that little head of his. He won’t tell me. “Nothing,” is his usual reply. At that moment his head is probably experiencing a fusion of scattered thoughts that form an image to make him smile.

I can only speak of my child. He is unpredictable. But then I think perhaps he is supposed to be. He is growing every day. He is learning new things every day. He should be different every day.

“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

Last weekend we took him to the Society of York Region Artists (SOYRA) exhibit. After a long week of hard work in school, and “his countdown to the weekend”, Saturdays are usually chill out days at home. I did underestimate him though. I have a confession, a little bribe came out of me. “You can have some treats at the art show after our lunch,” I told him while explaining that we are going to see the art and meet my friends at the exhibit. He liked that. To be fair we also had a plan after the exhibit to go to the cinema to see The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.

Upon arrival at the exhibit he met a few of my artist friends. While his beautiful eyes were being admired those same eyes were eyeing the cheese and crackers platter.

The Society of York Region Artists 2015 exhibit at the Aurora Cultural Centre features artwork by many York Region artists.  The exhibit is on display for almost the whole month of February (4th-22nd, 2015). Every piece of artwork hanging throughout the cultural centre is intriguing and different yet unique to the artist. In some cases a twist can throw me off balance, but I am usually able to identify the artist from their particular piece of art. The list is getting longer.

At one point I found myself having a very pleasant conversation with a woman admiring some of the art on the wall.

“What interests him?” she asked.
“Is this your son?” she added.
“Yes, he is. I don’t know,” I replied.
“He is about six years old?” she asked.
“Yes, almost seven,” I replied.
“I saw him looking at the pictures over there. What did he see there? What interested him?” she kept asking.
“You know last time I talked with him, he was looking at the prices.” I replied.
“Oh isn’t that interesting,” she laughed.

We both laughed. We talked for a while. We parted. It was later that I found out how I underestimated him.

“So did Matthew see the green frog in the other room?” Linda Welch asked me.
“Yes he did,” I replied.
“Did he like it?” she asked.
“Yes, but tell you the truth, I am surprised. He picked up a ballot card for the People’s Choice Award and he voted for the Colour Fusion abstract,” I replied.

Who knows why, maybe the colours, maybe the unknown hidden in the abstract, or perhaps he could relate the colour fusion to his own fusion of scattered thoughts he often has.

Anna Lozyk Romeo
Aurora, ON