Making up for lost time

So the whole month of November passed me by before I managed to write a blog post. It's truly shameful! During my time away, there was a lot going on - I had to take some time out to complete a teaching proposal, then things got pretty busy, then after they slowed down a bit I went through a period of depression and panic that I might have to take on the kind of work that makes me very stressed and unhappy - the culmination of all those factors being that I couldn't get my head in the right place for blogging. My state of mind is better right now, but I have lots of catching up to do.

Woot! There's my artwork.

So where to start? I guess I'll go back to some of the art events I've participated in lately. The opening for the Pawtucket Arts Collaborative 10x10x10 Show was in mid-November, and featured over 60 artists and 144 works of art. Before I even got there I was thrilled to see one of my paintings featured on the PAC flyer and website (!).

My artwork in the top row

The PAC shows its works at the Blackstone Valley Visitors' Center in downtown Pawtucket, RI. The entire front entryway is dedicated to their shows, which makes it a great and accessible venue. The art was hung in grids of nine apiece. Each artist was allowed up to three works, allowing for many to be displayed as a complete row.

Looking really close...

Living statue from Ten31 productions. Very appropriate!

There was a pretty good crowd there too! And because later in the evening there was a talk from Ten31 productions , they had a living statue in attendance. This is the same company that is behind the gargoyles and human statues you see at the Providence Waterfire and other events in the area. This is the first time I've seen a "bronze" statue from them. The ones I've seen are normally "stone".

I love, love love the art in this block.

I also took some time to check out how other artists handle challenges like presentation and framing, what supports they use, how they create an emotional tone with their work, or create a more technical piece. If I had the budget I would have taken home several of the paintings here - the three oil landscapes painted on wood (or MDF) by Timothy Ohliger above were just gorgeous. They looked great hung as a series, and by the end of the opening nigh they were already sold. I'm sure they went as a set. The sunflowers above them by Marjorie Ball caught my attention as well.

The three pencil drawings in the top row are technically amazing.

The pencil drawings at the top of this group also caught my eye. While I am normally all about color, these drawings by David J Delay were so perfectly rendered that I would have loved to snatch one off the wall (I managed to hold back!).

My husband Brian (left) and friend Max were kind enough to attend the opening.
My other friends managed to evade the camera.

My husband is not an art buff himself, but being supportive he escorted me to the event (along with some other friends I suckered into going - Thanks guys!) It was wonderful to see so many pieces of artwork, and the group of us decided to head to Doherty's East Side Irish Pub for dinner and beer after the event. They have an extensive menu of beers (biggest I've ever seen) on draft, and if you are feeling adventurous, you can try a beer flight (4 or 6 samples). I tried the flight of four, with a couple of the beer fusions (bruised pear - Guinness and pear cider) and also a pumpkin ale. Very nice.

All in all a very good night. I'll continue the time warp in my next post.

Enjoy!