still recovering....

Hey Beautiful People! Had a fantastic opening with tons of friends and art world denizens come to say hi. Thanks to everyone who made it out to support my project. Special thanks to Calvin Ross Carl who took these really nice images at the opening. The shot of the entire structure is especially nice for me because it reminded me of how thankful I was to see people walking around the perimeter as well as entering the inside. Of course that was my intent for this piece, but you still never know how people will respond. It's exactly why this piece needs room to breathe around it. Anyhow, you can see more of Calvin's shots of September's First Thursday shows by clicking here.

I am really excited to see more of the shows this month because it's a great lineup. I managed to sneak over to see Linda Hutchins' new work in a group show at Pulliam Deffenbaugh during her preview reception Weds. night. It's a strong show with four equally strong artists. Linda's pieces are so lovely in their translucency, especially the piece that gently flows with the air movement in the gallery. The shadows cast are equally incredible as the light passes through her translucent organza.

We were also quite taken with the work of Diem Chau who stitched very illustrative images onto organza and plastic, and then stretched them over pieces of china tableware. The craftsmanship was of course up to the standards of Pulliam Deffenbaugh, but they really moved quite nicely between craft and concept in the use of the visible space behind the surface of the "canvas." The drawings reminded me a lot of Edward Gorey's use of line and shading.

After my opening, we went to the TBA festival for a bit. I must say, although I was happy to see one of my favorite Northwest Artists, Jeffry Mitchell, I felt that the rest of the work wasn't my cup of tea. I think back on last year's stunning pieces by Hap Tivey or Larry Bamburg and missed the breathtaking beauty I felt when I saw those pieces. There's a great collection of video on site though, and I absolutely loved Ryan Trecartin's video piece at TBA Central and hope to catch one of his performances. There was more to love and not love that night, but overall, it was nice to be back in my old stomping grounds again in the former home of a plastic company that I used quite a bit when I was in art school. They had a great bargain basement full of rejected projects at great prices.
Now we're off to Maryhill Museum--my reward for finishing my project. See ya!