hang fifteen

I'm happy to say that I was able to hang my wall of paintings at The Gallery At 11 Pleasant this past Sunday morning! For some reason, I was under the impression that I was supposed to be hanging my work this coming Sunday, May 4th, instead...whoops! Thankfully, I saw a Facebook post on Saturday by Janet Glatz (artist and owner of The Gallery At 11 Pleasant) that tipped me off to my mix-up. I called Janet around 10:30 on Sunday morning to clarify, and she confirmed that the post was correct. I was able to pack up my paintings, my hammer/nails/picture hangers, and my business cards quickly, and I arrived at the gallery around 11:15. It had been a drizzly morning, but Mother Nature was smiling down on me that day: the rain stopped when I was packing up my car, and it was downright sunny when I unpacked at the gallery! I had already plotted out on a little piece of note paper where I roughly wanted the paintings to be, and because of this, I was able to hang everything in less than an hour. Whew! I even remembered to bring a bottle of wine for the opening reception. Not bad, huh? 

Fifteen feet of fun!

how much is that chair-y in the window?

YAY!!! My "Chair-ity Auction" submission has been chosen to be displayed in the old storefront of Agren's on Maine Street in Brunswick! Many chairs were painted, but only a handful were chosen to be displayed, so I feel really honored by this selection. I am in good company, too: Catherine Worthington, Jane Page-Conway and ArtVan will all have chairs there, and Elizabeth Mattos Cheever will have her chair down the street at Starz! Stop by, take a peek, and think about bidding: the UU Church of Brunswick Maine will be holding the auction on Saturday, May 3rd!

They tilted it forward so the quote would be visible! Nice touch...

i want you to want me

WOO-HOO! It's official: I am one of the artists in the group show for the GRAND OPENING of The Gallery at 11 Pleasant! Thank you, Janet Glatz, for the opportunity, for your interest, and for your belief in my work! 

Here's the story: I follow Janet on both Twitter and Facebook, and I'd been seeing her posts about opening a new and different gallery in Brunswick for a while. Janet said she is modeling The Gallery at 11 Pleasant after galleries in Europe: all artists are juried in, but there is no commission taken by the gallery; accepted artists can choose from a variety of space/price options and "rent" their area for a three-week period. Janet posted a "call for artists" on her page, and when I didn't contact her right away (I was swamped with other obligations at the time), she posted the call on my page. I looked at the application and noticed that attendance during Second Friday Art Walk was mandatory. "Shoot," I thought. I was already obligated as a pop-up artist down the street at Saint Paul's: the brochure had already gone to print, the space had been set aside for me, and I knew how much work had been put in to obtaining and planning the pop-up artist location. Plus, I know what it's like when you are a pop-up artist and other artists in the show don't attend when you are expecting them to do so, and I didn't want to do that to my fellow pop-ups. "Oh, well…maybe I can get into a show there after the art walk season is over," I thought. I called Janet to explain my situation, and she was amazing…she said, "Well, since we've had this discussion, I will make an exception for you." WOW! I was knocked out. I thanked her and told her that I would review the price options and get back to her.

I was looking at the calendar, and I thought that September would be a good month to have my work at The Gallery at 11 Pleasant: I am scheduled to be an "adopt-an-artist" for the month of September, so instead of having my work at Saint Paul's, I will be at Cool As A Moose. This means my display will be considerably smaller, so from an inventory standpoint, I will have more work to choose from, and I will feel like I'm not spreading myself too thin. Because of this, I didn't send my paperwork back to Janet right away (three months' notice is required for all display requests, with the exception of the opening show in May). This past Friday morning, I received an email from Janet asking if I was planning on being a part of the grand opening show in May because space was filling up. Before running out to get my taxes done (which is a long story I won't bore you with), I sent her back a quick email explaining my thinking regarding September, and figured that would be that. Well, late that afternoon, I checked my email again, and there was a message from Janet, saying that she understood my choice but that she had been looking forward to having my paintings in the grand opening show. What a wonderful compliment! I was totally knocked out, and I emailed her back as soon as I could, saying, "Well, when you put it that way, I really want to be a part of it if you still have room!" She replied in the affirmative, and we agreed to meet the next day to sign all the papers and so I could put down a deposit.

I had a work appointment on Saturday afternoon, so I met with Janet at the gallery on Saturday morning before I had to head out of town. I am happy to say that the space is absolutely beautiful, and I have a really good feeling about having my work on display there. After we chatted and signed all the papers (I put a deposit down for both May and September), I thanked Janet for the vote of confidence. I said, "You know, as an artist, you feel like you're scratching and clawing and desperately trying to get people to pay attention to your work, so when someone says, 'hey, we want you,' it feels really good." She smiled and said she hadn't been reaching out to too many people in that manner. Well, that put a major spring in my step! I gave her a hug and went on my way…with a very big smile on my face.

face it

Do you have a face? Would you like it to be painted? Well, I've been asked once again to do face painting at the Gelato Fiasco in Brunswick on Wednesday, April 16th as part of their annual "Scoop-A-Thon" to benefit the Teen Center at People Plus! I will be there from 11 am to 1 pm, which is the preschool time slot...but I'm sure if an adult wanted their face painted at that time, that would be okay! There will be all kinds of entertainment for the kiddies, including live music by Matt Loosigian, balloon animal-making by Dan Smith, and appearances by Sparky the Fire Dog, McGruff the Crime Dog, and Otto the Moose. Stop by for fun and the opportunity to contribute to a worthwhile cause!

lights, magnets, action!

What a crazy couple of weeks it has been! My head is spinning trying to figure out how to properly update everyone with what's been going on in my neck of the woods. I'll do my best…

My dear friend (and collector!) Tim bought a painting from me! It is called "Kuroda Lights," and it's my interpretation of the lighting at a Phish show. The photograph I used as my jumping-off point was one I took when Terry and I saw Phish perform in Worcester, MA, this past fall. "Kuroda Lights" was the first painting I finished this calendar year, and Tim snapped it up before I even had a chance to show it anywhere! He was planning on buying "Kuroda Lights" while he and Rick were visiting in late February/early March, but with all the confusion and running around typical of a visit, it slipped his mind until they were somewhere in New Hampshire on their way home. Well, I shipped it off to him, and, as always, I'm thrilled that another painting has found a good home…plus, I get to visit it!

Selling "Kuroda Lights" so quickly made me think that perhaps I ought to make a magnet of it, so that's exactly what I did! I've been feeling like I wanted to add some new magnet options to my Etsy page (and, of course, in anticipation of the approaching Second Friday Art Walk season), and the swift purchase of that particular painting made it an easy choice. I wanted to add another option as well, so I went with another new painting, entitled "Polar Bear, Bowdoin College." I thought this would be a good choice because "Polar Bear, Bowdoin College" will be featured on my Second Friday Art Walk poster for the month of July (yes, I was originally going to use "Old Fat Boy Sign" for the poster as well as the brochure, but I was encouraged to mix it up a little bit). I've already sold one of each, so I'll take that as a good sign! In case you're wondering what these two magnets look like, wonder no more:

    
"Kuroda Lights" 

                                                    
                                                   "Polar Bear, Bowdoin College"

Speaking of polar bears, a very interesting email found its way into my inbox, and all I can say is WOWIE-KAZOWIE!!! A man who survived a polar bear attack wants me to design a polar bear tattoo for him! He bought one of my "Weathervane, Bowdoin College" magnets from She Doesn't Like Guthrie's in Lewiston, and felt a connection to my work! I feel so honored! We spoke on the phone and he seems like an amazing guy. We are working on a time when we can meet in person, but I am really excited about this opportunity, and I will certainly keep you posted.

Here's another wildly unexpected thing that happened: I had just gotten home from a Five Rivers Arts Alliance members' meeting on Tuesday night (April Fool's Day!) and I was standing in my kitchen, re-heating leftovers for a late dinner and checking my Facebook page on my phone at the same time, when a post came up on my page from the very talented and energetic Christine DeTroy: "OKAY...SO WE NEED A MODEL TO MODEL A MECA STUDENT'S DRESS.....WOULD YA/COULD YA??? The venue is set for this Thursday 6-8ish...models and designers show up at 5pm...any chance???" Christine was referring to the Altered Couture fashion show (to benefit ArtVan), happening at Coleman Burke Gallery inside Fort Andross, which was taking place in less than 48 hours. I thought, "ME? A model? On a runway???" It was so crazy and surreal that I had to say "yes!" We got on the phone, and Christine thanked me for being so "spur of the moment". She gave me the MECA student's information (Jules Flores), so I sent him a text. Christine told me that there would be a rehearsal on Wednesday so I could practice walking to the song that Jules had chosen: "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins. I groaned. I had never been a fan of that song, and besides that, how was I supposed to walk down a runway to something so slow and with such an unusual tempo? I figured I would take the "just go with it" approach and I'd worry about it during the rehearsal the next day. Anyway, I'm so glad I went to the rehearsal: all of the other participants who I spoke to were kind and supportive, and they really helped me to find my groove…but, holy cow, what a LONG runway it was! Thursday afternoon was the first time I met Jules, and he was a hoot: totally calm, completely confident, and very talented. Jules put together my dress in a matter of moments, and he only used one square of fabric to do so. I was blown away...not only by him, but by the amazing outfits being sported by the other models! Before too long, showtime was upon us. I was nervous, but I knew the crowd would be filled with friendly faces, so I just went for it…and, in spite of my nerves, I had fun. At the end of the night, I was struck by how fantastic the entire event was. Christine did an incredible job putting Altered Couture together, and it reinforced what a wonderfully vibrant and creative community Brunswick is. I am happy to have been a part of the whole experience...and I can now say that I've changed the way I feel about "In The Air Tonight!"  

Altering more than just couture!

Me with Jules Flores