Art Salon

In the episode “Art Salon,” on “The Positive Fantastic” podcast, I interviewed my friend Gaetan Caron about his life as an artist, an art collector, and founder of the Lost Art Salon in San Francisco, California. 

For me, having this podcast has been fascinating as the tapestry of connections intertwines and weaves itself over the course of the years. In Season 1, episode 10, I interviewed Gaetan’s co-parenting partner Mario about their orchard of several hundred fruit trees that they tend to on their property. And then in this episode I share about how I met Gaetan at our mutual friend Sarah’s birthday party; that’s Sarah Ryan of The Real Sarahs musical duet who I interviewed in Season 2 episode 27. 

Living in Mendocino County for most of my life, it’s fairly easy to play the 7 degrees of separation game, or maybe even the 1 or 2 degrees of separation rural edition. There’s something deeply satisfying about knowing the people in my community, and getting to dive into deeper and deeper connections over time. 

Several times I have been able to visit Gaetan’s Lost Art Salon, and it’s also truly satisfying to situate my kindred humans in their own worlds. I remember the first time I went to an exhibit at his gallery, I invited some of my friends from college who live in San Francisco. And thus the web of relatedness grows, connecting friends. 

Maybe part of why I love being a podcaster is the networking of old and new friends. In the first season, I interviewed people that I know at least as acquaintances. Then in the second season, I started to branch out to interview people that I had a desire to meet too. There’s something magical about this kind of extroversion for me; an art of peopling that I enjoy completely. 

When I drove up to Gaetan’s place, he showed me his new, open air art studio. We made a little video about his studio that you can check out on my YouTube channel. 

As we hiked to and from the site, over California’s rolling hills, a herd of wild ponies came and hung out with us. One pony in particular even offered it’s forehead up for pets. They had been resting in the shade of madrone trees when we converged. Every time I go up to this land, I hope that I will get a chance to see these wild friends, and every time so far, they have appeared. Often they do come and greet me, but occasionally I only catch glimpses of them as they go about their pony adventures from afar. 

Seeing Gaetan in his finished studio brought me great joy. He has been working on this project for some time, and it was a delight to feel how happy he was to have his own, autonomous art space. Surrounded by beautiful oaks, the studio is a wonderful addition to this artist’s life. 

In this episode, Gaetan comes alive talking about art and sharing his artist’s journey. I hope that listening will help inspire your own inner artist to come out and play. Oh yes, and by the way, you may hear an occasional chicken serenade in the background of this episode from the free range flock that also lives at Gaetan’s home.