Tita Recometa-Brady

TITA: See, I’m always obedient so I witnessed it, but that was just it! Now, here’s the beauty of the story, Myra, and here’s the most unusual, amazing synchronicity in any given life of any person – 50 YEARS LATER, RYCHALSKI AND TITA BRADY WOULD MEET!

MYRA: [mind blown] WHAT? 

TITA:  And become friends! But he died two years ago. 

MYRA: Oh, sorry to hear that. 

TITA: He wrote a book, I wrote my book, so we exchanged books. Then one afternoon, the widow, Mrs. Rychalski asked me to sit down with them, and at the end of that meeting – Mrs. Rychalski gave me the blueprints for the sculpture of Pablo Picasso. 

MYRA: WHAT? WOW! 

TITA: That’s the Wow part! I said to myself ‘Whoops! What just happened?’ [laughs] 

MYRA: The prints didn’t even stay in the family! I guess your friendship meant a lot to him. 

TITA: Well, they didn’t have any children, but she had a brother, and the brother had children, but instead of giving it to them, Mrs. Rychalski told me it was Anatol’s wish – an artist’s wish – that all these things about Picasso be given to Tita Brady.

MYRA: Un-real, it’s like Picasso’s invisible hand brought you two together.  

TITA: That part will be included at the SoNa Gallery show, but in the Annex part of the gallery.  

MYRA: That’s a GREAT story!  

TITA: It’s one of the greatest stories I have in my life!

MYRA: Yeah, the universe you know, it’s like, one day you were just an art student waiting impatiently with thousands of people to see this sculpture unveiled, and over there was the man who deciphered how to turn it into this huge sculpture, and then years later, you go to the same church, and THEN – 

TITA: We meet! [both laugh] By the way, [shows me her phone screen] Can you read this? 

MYRA: Um… the words are too small to read. But what do they say?

TITA: That’s the reverse writing that I put in my painting in More than Lumpia. It’s by Michelangelo and it says:

“Refuse to allow yourself to have low expectations about what you are capable of creating. The greater danger is not that your hopes are too high, and you fail to reach them; it is that they are too low, and you do.” ~Michelangelo Buonarroti

MYRA: Oh, that’s beautiful! Sounds like something the Alchemist in Paolo Coelho’s book would say. Do you know that book? 

TITA: No, that quote is from Michelangelo. And he gave me permission to copy it [both laugh] I said to him: “Hey, Miki, can I borrow your famous quote?” And he said, “Of course, you can!” 

MYRA: Like in a dream! 

TITA: Exactly! A really nice dream!

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