Tina was excited. Going to galleries had always been fun for her, but since she started to paint, her excitement had stepped up a notch.  In the first shop, there were many water colors, some acrylics and some oils. The first shop carried a lot of abstracts and what Tina called cartoon type paintings which exaggerated features of people or animals. There was a painting of Micky Mouse with his hand held up shooting a bird.  Bette laughed at it, but was not interested in having it in her home. In the next shop there were lots of pictures of animals – lions, leopards, zebras and a few dogs. And there were abstract landscapes and cityscapes in various colors. Scattered were some paintings of people such as a ballet dancer putting on her toe shoes, some nudes at a beach, a reclining nude woman, and partially nude male which was lifting weights. Bette commented that these artists had good talent, but she had not seen anything she thought she could live with for the rest of her life. So, they proceeded to the next shop. This shop had several sculptures of various subjects.  Some of dogs, some small nude women which Bette was impressed with. There were some nude males and couples kissing and children playing.  Tina saw a statue of a female form lounging on a chaise lounge. She had her hair up in a bun and her face had a classic look. Her body was perfectly proportioned and appeared to be toned but not too thin. Tina like it immediately and thought that if Bette did not want it in the study, that she would take it to her office in her studio. I was about 9 inches high, 18 inches long and about 6 inches deep. It was made in a terracotta medium and was well built and balanced.

Bette:  You really like her, don’t you?

Tina:  I do. She seems so relaxed and calm.  Not a care in the world. It’s like she has gone for a long run and has showered and now is going to lounge around for a few minutes before she dresses and goes on with her day.

Bette: Well, then allow me to buy it for you as an anniversary gift? And since it is yours, you get to decide where she resides. I like her too. Reminds me of you. Nice breast, perfect hands, great looking legs.