How gladly surprised I was to see my first hanging, “Abide with Me,” at Avalon today. The Alpha Arts Guild exhibit will be showing through January 15, 2016, at Avalon. It’s not cheap stuff; it’s selling for $250! Twenty percent of the sell is reserved for and benefited towards “Art with a Mission,” and soon, orphanages will fill the reservation with education.

Mixed feelings about my secured, climate controlled painting and the marginalized have not slipped my mind. This is what I learned about Avalon today. Avalon is an 86 acre, mixed use development in Alpharetta, GA. The owner of Avalon promises “resort-level hospitality,” and “an experience in the timeless art of living well.” Avalon is projected to generate approximately $21 million annually in sales tax revenue, and $4.5 million annually in new property taxes.

Avalon is also Georgia’s first Gigabit community, a futureproof fiberhood with internet connection speeds 100x faster than what’s currently available. And finally, during the holiday season, the Plaza at Avalon turns into an ice-skating rink the size of Rockefeller Center.

Ice skating was considered proper for all classes of people, as sometimes shown skating during the night by torchlights in many paintings by the Old Masters. The earliest ice skating happened in southern Finland more than 3,000 years ago. My hope is that my nice framed painting, “Abide with Me,” will move on the ice like a first century sleigh ride.