PAFA with Ashlee

Last Saturday night, Ashlee and I went to Philly for an evening with Catherine Coulson at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Ms. Coulson played Margaret, The Log Lady, in Twin Peaks and was there to screen her three favourite episodes as well as speak about her experiences with filmmaker David Lynch. Yeah, and I totally hugged her. At first, Ashlee and I sat in the very back of the room and just watched her interact with the fans. She was so genuine and warm with each person, that once the line to meet Catherine dwindled, I snuck in so as to score a hug.

It was such a fabulous night out with Ashlee, a lady that I cherish so dearly. We arrived in plenty of time, scored free popcorn and Sprite (woohoo!), took pictures in the bathroom, stood outside at intermission for a smoke and chatted with a couple fellas passing by (Philly is seriously The City of Brotherly Love), listened to Catherine give us a little info on the continuation of the series (David Lynch is to direct all new episodes of the Showtime revival of Twin Peaks, all eps to be written by David Lynch and Mark Frost, Catherine will be back as The Log Lady, Kyle MacLachlan is attached to the project and possibly Sheryl Lee and Mädchen Amick - although she couldn't really say 100%. The series is being written now, to be released in 2016 and will be shot entirely on film. Oh, and David said to tell everyone not to play in the street.), and then we were all allowed to go upstairs and see David's incredible art - The Unified Field. I even managed to sneak some photos.

Truthfully, I think we both liked the gallery part best of all. I warned Ashlee that David Lynch is not gonna have paintings of pretty maids in a field or graffiti dogs barking. I told her that this is the sort of art that you look at and take in how it makes you feel. Keep an open mind. Even if you don't like it, at least try to appreciate it. Ashlee was riveted and kept getting super super close to each painting so as to see just what was used to create the artwork. Before we left, we went through each room again and chose our favourite piece and then explained what it was that we liked about it. I left feeling incredibly blessed (and I do not throw that word around lightly) that I am a Philly girl and that my favourite filmmaker of all time loves my city and allowed PAFA to display his work and share it with me and my lovely niece.