getting ready for the First Thursday art shenanigans in the city tonight! yay! always a wonderful time and it's so good to get out of the house, away from my work, and look at the work of others. plus there's wine and cheese and all sorts of things that are bad for my waist-line but, thanks to The Jog, i no longer have to worry too much about stuff like that. not that i ever really did. :) life's too short to worry about vanity pounds.
anybody who's out and about tonight in san francisco, i'll be rounding out my evening at my gallery. swing on by and say hi! especially art-school friends. it's been too long since i've seen your happy, beautiful faces.
Showing posts with label first thursday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label first thursday. Show all posts
Jul 2, 2009
Apr 3, 2009
work, work, work...
good morning everybody- it's friday! yay! and the thing that's greatest about fridays is that i know i'll be able to sleep in a bit tomorrow morning.
i made it to bed much later than i usually do last night due to the First Thursday openings in the city. i took my neighbor julie with me (she's never been) and it was the last First Thursday celebration that one of the two venues my gallery occupies is participating in. the doors will close at the 556 Sutter Street space at the end of the month. :( the economy has hit the art-world hard and so, rolling with the hit, we are consolidating in to one gallery space. it is sad, sad, sad but we are so much better off than a lot of other SF galleries. we are very, very lucky. better to beat it to the punch and close one set of doors than risk closing both.
but i still got up on time this morning and will spend my day painting. LOOKING at art always puts me in the mood to MAKE art. it's always been a top priority to do what i can to ensure that the work i give my gallery is the best i can do. it's become even more important to offer my best to the art-loving public in light of what has come to pass during the last year. and it doesn't hurt that i've been on quite the painting kick lately anyway.
so on that note and without further ado, here's your poem for today- work with eager discipline and pleasure today, guys: it's your last opportunity before the languid pull of the weekend.
Afternoon on a Hill
I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one!
I will look at cliffs and clouds
With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow the grass,
And the grass rise.
And when lights begin to show
Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
And then start down!
- edna st. vincent millay
i made it to bed much later than i usually do last night due to the First Thursday openings in the city. i took my neighbor julie with me (she's never been) and it was the last First Thursday celebration that one of the two venues my gallery occupies is participating in. the doors will close at the 556 Sutter Street space at the end of the month. :( the economy has hit the art-world hard and so, rolling with the hit, we are consolidating in to one gallery space. it is sad, sad, sad but we are so much better off than a lot of other SF galleries. we are very, very lucky. better to beat it to the punch and close one set of doors than risk closing both.
but i still got up on time this morning and will spend my day painting. LOOKING at art always puts me in the mood to MAKE art. it's always been a top priority to do what i can to ensure that the work i give my gallery is the best i can do. it's become even more important to offer my best to the art-loving public in light of what has come to pass during the last year. and it doesn't hurt that i've been on quite the painting kick lately anyway.
so on that note and without further ado, here's your poem for today- work with eager discipline and pleasure today, guys: it's your last opportunity before the languid pull of the weekend.
Afternoon on a Hill
I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one!
I will look at cliffs and clouds
With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow the grass,
And the grass rise.
And when lights begin to show
Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
And then start down!
- edna st. vincent millay
Jan 9, 2009
Here you go, Alanna...
i had such a wonderful time yesterday! eddie and i spent the majority of our time laughing like crazy and talking trash (as usual) and made some art of our own at his studio before taking off to go to the 1st Thursday Receptions.
The jewel of the evening was undoubtedly Jamie Vasta's new work at Patricia Sweetow Gallery. amazing! stunning! i've been following her work since i first found out about her last year. she instantly made the top 5 in my list of all-time favorite artists and her new show not only held her spot, it reinforced it, underlined it, highlighted it, shoot... carved it in stone! her work is not only breath-takingly beautiful, but so damn smart that when i'm in the same room as her work i really do feel like i am in the presence of greatness. do i sound like a groupie yet? ha! which is funny seeing as how last night i actually got to meet Jamie (turns out we've got a mutual friend), and the first thing that comes tumbling out of my mouth is... "so i'm such a big, horrible groupie when it comes to your art!" AHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT A NERD! SHIT!!!! i am totally kicking myself today for not maintaining my cool around her or at least being a little more smooth than THAT! geez. hopefully, she took it as the compliment it was intended to be and i'll remind myself to never, ever, under ANY circumstance, EVER refer to myself as a groupie to ANYONE, EVER! i swear, i get geekier by the minute. haha!
a lot of the other galleries seemed to have the same stuff up that they did a month ago so there's not much else to talk about in terms of this particular reception night. besides, who really cares when we can talk about Jamie Vasta some more instead? :) ha!
anyway, all this to say that we had a wonderful night. we even ran in to some friendly CCA faces that i haven't seen since graduation. we had the whole High Distinction Club there for a minute (minus, of course Mrs. Alanna! BOO!). we drank too much wine, or at least i did, and we talked with almost everyone we happened to be in the same room with. a very cool night, very cool indeed. i hope everyone else who made it had as great a time as i did and if you haven't made it out yet, GO! it is definitely worth it, i promise!
The jewel of the evening was undoubtedly Jamie Vasta's new work at Patricia Sweetow Gallery. amazing! stunning! i've been following her work since i first found out about her last year. she instantly made the top 5 in my list of all-time favorite artists and her new show not only held her spot, it reinforced it, underlined it, highlighted it, shoot... carved it in stone! her work is not only breath-takingly beautiful, but so damn smart that when i'm in the same room as her work i really do feel like i am in the presence of greatness. do i sound like a groupie yet? ha! which is funny seeing as how last night i actually got to meet Jamie (turns out we've got a mutual friend), and the first thing that comes tumbling out of my mouth is... "so i'm such a big, horrible groupie when it comes to your art!" AHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT A NERD! SHIT!!!! i am totally kicking myself today for not maintaining my cool around her or at least being a little more smooth than THAT! geez. hopefully, she took it as the compliment it was intended to be and i'll remind myself to never, ever, under ANY circumstance, EVER refer to myself as a groupie to ANYONE, EVER! i swear, i get geekier by the minute. haha!
a lot of the other galleries seemed to have the same stuff up that they did a month ago so there's not much else to talk about in terms of this particular reception night. besides, who really cares when we can talk about Jamie Vasta some more instead? :) ha!
anyway, all this to say that we had a wonderful night. we even ran in to some friendly CCA faces that i haven't seen since graduation. we had the whole High Distinction Club there for a minute (minus, of course Mrs. Alanna! BOO!). we drank too much wine, or at least i did, and we talked with almost everyone we happened to be in the same room with. a very cool night, very cool indeed. i hope everyone else who made it had as great a time as i did and if you haven't made it out yet, GO! it is definitely worth it, i promise!
Jan 7, 2009
bookish and hopeful...
heather left a few hours ago. she came up for a quick little holiday. we had our coffee fueled slumber party and talked about poetry. i read her one of the poems i've been working on for the last few weeks and i was so happy she liked it. she also helped me identify that i'm getting really ahead of myself by even wondering what "the public" would think of them. i shouldn't be thinking about that end of things at all, at least not at the stage i'm at.
all i need to be concerned with at this point is doing the work itself, learning this craft, and trying my hardest to give the poems the patience and time they require. so that's what i'm gonna do. i'm so interested in poetry and in utilizing it somehow in my larger art practice that i really do need to just calm down and do the work. it's such a wonderful art form and i'd love to be good at it. sometimes, my impatience runs away with me because i want to be good at it RIGHT NOW; but then i remember the long years i spent making paintings i could hardly stand to look at and i realize that it's gonna take time and it's gonna take a diligent, focused, concern on my part to get the work to a place that i can feel proud of. i only started making paintings that i actually liked about 3 years ago. until that point, i honestly couldn't stand my own work. but you guys have already heard that story. anyway, the point is i need to relax and just enjoy the learning process and, to an extent, be a romantic about it: write for myself alone. and i like that idea.
heather helped a lot and i so enjoy our visits together. she's the only friend i've got that has a larger than average appreciation for poetry and it's wonderful to have someone to talk with about poetry-related concerns. plus, she writes too and our visits have a definite workshop component that is so helpful to both of us. it's good to have this with another person.
we also went on a drive to explore the city and found a new used bookstore. i spend way more money than i intended to but i got some great stuff. the book i'm most excited about diving in to is Angela Carter's The Magic Toyshop. i've been in the mood for something more macabre these days and haven't been able to find a book that satisfies that desire. heather said this book should do the trick and smiled wide: a very good sign. :)
she also spent more money than she wanted to but at least it went to books. it's always been pretty hard for me to feel bad about spending money on them (sorry sweetie). i've long since outgrown my two huge bookcases and don't have the space right now for a third. i have small piles of books cropping up around my bed and in my studio but i can't say that i really mind. just being around books make me one happy girl. i was born with a hopelessly romantic fascination with books and words and records and writing. i can't help it. i love all things literary. not the worst attraction one could have, right?
and in art news, tomorrow is 'reception night' in San Francisco. i will definitely be making the rounds, looking at all the new work and drinking wine. my buddy eddie is my date so i'm sure once we get to our second glass, we'll be fluent in art speak and snobbing it up for all the eavesdroppers. i'll apologize now for all the jargon you may in fact be subjected too if you stumble across us. ha! but i hope everyone will be making the rounds tomorrow night as well. it's just such an important and thoughtful thing to do to show some support for your local art community... and we artists really appreciate it too.
all i need to be concerned with at this point is doing the work itself, learning this craft, and trying my hardest to give the poems the patience and time they require. so that's what i'm gonna do. i'm so interested in poetry and in utilizing it somehow in my larger art practice that i really do need to just calm down and do the work. it's such a wonderful art form and i'd love to be good at it. sometimes, my impatience runs away with me because i want to be good at it RIGHT NOW; but then i remember the long years i spent making paintings i could hardly stand to look at and i realize that it's gonna take time and it's gonna take a diligent, focused, concern on my part to get the work to a place that i can feel proud of. i only started making paintings that i actually liked about 3 years ago. until that point, i honestly couldn't stand my own work. but you guys have already heard that story. anyway, the point is i need to relax and just enjoy the learning process and, to an extent, be a romantic about it: write for myself alone. and i like that idea.
heather helped a lot and i so enjoy our visits together. she's the only friend i've got that has a larger than average appreciation for poetry and it's wonderful to have someone to talk with about poetry-related concerns. plus, she writes too and our visits have a definite workshop component that is so helpful to both of us. it's good to have this with another person.
we also went on a drive to explore the city and found a new used bookstore. i spend way more money than i intended to but i got some great stuff. the book i'm most excited about diving in to is Angela Carter's The Magic Toyshop. i've been in the mood for something more macabre these days and haven't been able to find a book that satisfies that desire. heather said this book should do the trick and smiled wide: a very good sign. :)
she also spent more money than she wanted to but at least it went to books. it's always been pretty hard for me to feel bad about spending money on them (sorry sweetie). i've long since outgrown my two huge bookcases and don't have the space right now for a third. i have small piles of books cropping up around my bed and in my studio but i can't say that i really mind. just being around books make me one happy girl. i was born with a hopelessly romantic fascination with books and words and records and writing. i can't help it. i love all things literary. not the worst attraction one could have, right?
and in art news, tomorrow is 'reception night' in San Francisco. i will definitely be making the rounds, looking at all the new work and drinking wine. my buddy eddie is my date so i'm sure once we get to our second glass, we'll be fluent in art speak and snobbing it up for all the eavesdroppers. i'll apologize now for all the jargon you may in fact be subjected too if you stumble across us. ha! but i hope everyone will be making the rounds tomorrow night as well. it's just such an important and thoughtful thing to do to show some support for your local art community... and we artists really appreciate it too.
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