How Now, Brown Cow? (a Spam story)
2. Apprentice
The next few months were the best in Sam's life. Every day Spencer would work with her on her techniques and introduce her to various media. Some days she would work with him in his studio, completing a sculpture. But what she loved best were the trips to the Seattle Art Museum. Here Spencer introduced here to the world of visual art.
She had never been in an art museum in her life. Her home life was not one that encouraged intellectual or cultural pursuits. In response she had always put down the artsy geeks in school, lumping them with Fredwierd and his nerd friends. Her only knowledge of art was the quirky pop-art sculptures Spencer did. So when she saw so much variety and history she was overwhelmed.
"Sorry, Sam. Didn't mean to freak you out. I just wanted you to get a taste of what types of art are out there. I think we'll make our trips here more focused in the future."
Sam looked at him with amazement and great affection. "Thank you, Spencer. I never would have known all this was here for me. I would have been a waitress in a bagel store my whole life."
"I don't think so" he replied. "You're too special for that. Now let's go make obnoxious criticisms so people can overhear us."
Sam laughed at his smirking face. "You're on."
That first visit had opened Sam's eyes and she began to appreciate what Spencer had really done for her. Working in his studio became more than just work. Now she began to see Spencer as a creative and imaginative artist. True, he was no van Gogh, but he was an artist. And now she would be too.
Carly came home on break and spent the holidays with Sam and Spencer. She had never seen either of them so happy. She could never have imagined that Sam would be the artist type, but always knew she was special.
They sat down to dinner one evening when Spencer made an announcement. "Ladies, the Traver gallery is going to have an exhibition of our work!"
"That's fantastic" cried Sam. "You've been working so hard on those pieces. Your sculptures are fantastic."
Carly however heard the one word Sam had not: 'our'. She realized Sam still saw herself as Spencer's apprentice, but Spencer saw her as a partner. And if she wasn't too far off, as something more.
"That's really great." Carly beamed. Her faith in her brother had never wavered, but now she became a little worried about him.
After dinner Sam turned in. It was a little weird sleeping in Carly's bed when Carly was here, but Carly insisted it was Sam's apartment too now. She would sleep in Spenser's room, while he took the couch. She sat down next to her brother and gave him a hug.
"How ya doin'?"
"Carly, I have never felt better in my life. But I miss having you around."
"Aww, that's sweet, but Sam's here."
"Yeah, she's great. We just hang and work on the sculptures and talk about art. She's amazing. Who knew she'd be a great artist?"
"You did" Carly answered.
The break passed quickly and on the final day of her visit, Spencer took Sam and Carly to the exhibition. There were the sculptures he and Sam had worked on. Carly could see Sam's influence on them right away. They were still quirky and playful like Spencer, but the skill and artistry that came out had to be Sam's influence.
Sam looked at the pieces, then turned suddenly to Spencer.
"My name's on this!" she cried.
"Off course" Spencer said off-handedly. "You did most of the work on it, you deserve credit for it."
"But Spencer, it was your sculpture. I'm just your assistant. I don't deserve to have my name on it."
"Sam, you are as much an artist as I am and it wouldn't be half as good if you hadn't made it better. You deserve more credit than even I give you. If you'll look over there, you may see something familiar."
Sam turned and instantly recognized a piece she had been working on as a side project, with Spencer's encouragement. She turned to him, puzzled.
"Why did you show that? It's no good. I didn't really know what I was doing. Everyone is going to hate it."
"Are you kidding" he replied. "It's incredible. Probably the best piece in the show."
"I don't know much about art" Carly reassured her friend "But that is amazing. No way they don't like it."
Sam seemed somewhat placated, but still showed uncertainty and her natural sense of insecurity, a feeling previously masked by toughness. But this wasn't high school anymore. She was clearly very nervous. Spencer threw his arm around her.
"Listen to me" he said seriously "you are a great artist. Better than me actually. And now everyone else will get a chance to see that."
Carly noted the flush in her brother's face and the look of doubt which remained on Sam's.
The next morning they sat at breakfast, waiting to take Carly to the airport. Spencer suddenly jumped up.
"Here it is!" he shouted.
Sam and Carly were both startled.
"Here's what?" asked Carly.
"The review of our show in the Arts section. That guy always hated me but I bet he's changed his mind. Here read it." He handed the paper to Sam.
"Blah, blah, here we go. The exhibit showed an array of works by the young Seattle artist Spencer Shay. Shay's previous works have been somewhat wistful and childlike, but without exhibiting any great skill. Now however comes a sea change and the name of it is Samantha Puckett, Spencer's new partner. While the new pieces still reflect the immature themes Shay has displayed previously, there is now a new edginess to the pieces and much greater skill shown. This can only be due to Puckett, whose solo piece clearly showed her to be the source of the vast improvement. Readers should be expectant of great things from the hitherto unknown Puckett, who appears to have achieved marvels so early in her career."
"Huh, that doesn't sound too bad I guess. What does it mean?" Sam asked. She was still learning the ways of the art world.
Spencer beamed at her. "It means what I said before. You are great."
Carly could see the slight hurt behind his eyes, however. The critics still didn't like him and thought he wasn't very good. And reading between the lines they were saying Sam would be better off without him.