ATC surprise!

I went over to the art supply store earlier today and "bumped" into a former student of mine, which was fun. I was happy to be able to share with someone who would know why I was excited about it, that I'd met the person who started Artist Trading Cards. I normally don't put my picture (or at least not a close up) or pictures of other people, unless random street stuff, but Vanci Stirnemann had said to take a picture to show people that we'd met. So here I am, thrilled to have met him. How it happened...one day, I was in the reception area of the Cite and decided to look at the directory hanging on the wall. Look, look, look, people listed by discipline not country or last name, composeur, musicien, peinteure, sculpteure, video artiste, etc. Then I just started looking at names, there it was, Vanci Stirnemann, I did a double, triple take, oh mi god, and he was in the atelier two doors down from us on the very same etage. I couldn't believe it. I went upstairs and walked down the hall, stood in front of the door labeled: Zurich, and there was his name on a piece of paper taped above the sign. He and his companion came to the open studio, where I gushed at him for a bit, apologized, explained how I'd been saying his name for several years while introducing students to ATCs, told him about the show I coordinated for the Art supply store windows, and all the trading going on. He was surprised by how it had all turned out, so much bigger than he'd ever imagined. We had a nice calm chat, after I calmed down. He came by for an evening, some wine and cheese and chat, before we left the Cite. It was one of the highlights, for me, of our trip.