It’s Saturday afternoon. I’ve got a good head-start on 365 today, having run into Myly at the local farmers’ market gone art-wild.
At 51 days, my family has been patient. Sacrificing seeing me, even throwing me out of the house to work on 365. For the sake of wife and daughter, today I think I’m going to get right to the point. There is a window of opportunity opening to spend some meaningful afternoon time with them, so in collapsing my writing time, I’ll simply summarize how I meet Myly.
7:00am – Alarm sounds
7:01am – Hit 10 minute snooze (or so I think)
8:15am – Awake (Holy Heck! Crazy late for day)
8:30am – Out door with family
8:32am – Embark on drive to teach spinning
8:55am – Arrive at gym (class starting at 9:00am)
9:00am – Class grimaces at site of me dressed as Little Miss Muffet (its Halloween after all)
9:05am – Realize chicks dig a man in a tutu and men are inspired by my courage
9:10am – Kick into high gear for one hour of pedaling euphoria
10:00am – Class over. Hang out in front of gym waiting for wife and daughter to pick me up
10:30am – Approach cool deaf dude. He rejects me and leaves area
[10:30] to 11:30am – Lick my wound as I chat with gym friends
11:50am – Family arrives to rescue me from 365 denial.
12:30pm – Meet Myly at the Canoga Park Farmers’ Market – On Ownensmouth, between Sherman Way and Wyandotte.
Part artistic dreamer, part entrepreneur and master of community outreach, Myly is full of energy. For an hour we speak of the past and future of the Canoga Park art and culture scene. There is no loss of enthusiasm in her council to all, “Don’t settle. Find what you are passionate about and go for it!” A thought that I’m sure we have all entertained from time to time.
Myly lives what she preaches. She tells me of her recent layoff of employment, “I was freaked at first, but them I realized it was a gift.” She has not looked back.
She tells me, “As a child I always collected things.” Things that became treasures to her. Things that she reused to feed her artistic self. She tells me, “I’ve never thought of myself as an artist, but more of a business person.” We talk of her childhood and her remembrance of, at a very young age, selling necklaces that she made for other people’s discards. I’m told, “I never dreamed that I would one day be supporting myself with the stuff I make. It’s totally rad.”
Yet Myly is more that an emerging artisan; she is a community activist. She shares with me her role in organizing a very successful art walk; one that takes place every year in Canoga Park. As we hit this point in our conversation the topic turns away from herself and toward the local businesses. “Before we started the Canoga Park Art Walk there were many vacant buildings on Sherman Way (the street that hosted the art walk), but the event is reshaping the visibility of the area and now many of the empty spaces are slowly filling with new businesses: several thrift shops, art galleries, restaurants, boutiques and performance venues. “We are only just starting the outreach and the community is responding to it.”
I give her a title, “Leader of the Community Brigade.” She smiles and expands on the title. “My goal is to turn this farmers market into an artistic destination.” Right now, and with the support of the farmers market vendor, she is in the infancy of her initiatives. So here is my part in supporting her cause.
CALL TO ACTION:
Readers, if you are, or know of an emerging artist who is in need of exposure, tell them about this Farmers’ / Art Market. And if you are looking for a different place to explore on any given Saturday, visit and support this fledgling market. There is food, produce and culture. It’s free to walk and only $10 for artists to set up a booth.
For information email Myly at vintagegrime@gmail.com.
I ask her of her dreams?
“One day I want to have a storefront loft space. Upstairs will by my place to dwell. Downstairs will be for you, with gallery, shopping, coffee/tea bar and cool place to hang out at night.”
For now she is content in her current business, Vintage Grime, an offshoot of her childhood passion, taking one person’s old items and turning them into marketable treasures. Visit her at facebook.com/vintagegrime
She is only just beginning. Let’s hep her grow.
Myly, looking forward to one day visiting you at the loft. Your Rad!
Later Gator!
Myly’s signature coin pouch, no two are the same