by Jeannette Berndsen
SINDS several years we have been living in West Palm Beach in an apartment where we are having a great time. There’s a meeting room where we do regular socials with snacks and drinks. A great way to meet people. My husband and I can be found there often. On one of those evenings we met nice new folks, and we went out to dinner together several times, followed naturally by us being invited to their place. Obviously, we invited them back.
I had told them I was painting and apparently they had visited my website, because when they came in, they said: where is he, where is he now?
What?
The penguin!
Oh, but I sold that painting several years ago. No, she said, I don’t mean that at all.
Then you mean a giclée, which is a print on canvas.
No, ohh, there he is. She pointed to the penguins that for years have been in my room and also on my website. She walked over and started kissing the sculpture, made of epoxy and painted by me. Now I have seen a lot in all these years, but never that. I barely moved, this was all so unexpected.
The evening was pleasant, but constantly she went back to look at the penguin, until he finally stood next to her on the couch.
What is it Jeannette, hm? A male or a female?
Well, um, what do you think?
I don’t know, you made him. Alright, it’s a male.
That night the penguin was sold and later I got a call that he was named Benjamin, Benji for short.
Never will I forget all this. Because of them my website went around the world.
* Jeannette Berndsen is an artist in West Palm Beach, Florida
