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!

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.

technical difficulties...

well, it's been a rough last couple of days. our computer finally died... thankfully, i backed up all my files but i've yet to test to see whether or not it worked. we got a new computer last night (YAY!) and i hope i can get my images uploaded on to it. we'll see. it'll definitely suck to lose all my documentation but sometimes starting over from scratch can be a blessing: no baggage, nothing to compare yourself to, fresh start. it's not the worst thing that can happen. guess it's kinda good i was so lazy about photographing the huge pile of works on paper i've been adding to or i would've potentially lost all that documentation too. :) i'll get to that tomorrow. today we're heading out to the city for the private SFTLA reception for Who's the Fairest of Them All? and i am sooooo looking forward to it! it's a new group of people that i probably wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet if not for being able to participate in this show. i'll bring my camera with me (something i usually do not do at receptions) so i can share the excitement with you.


p.s.

still jogging! :)

no rest for the wicked! i mean, for the fairest...

maybe it was the excitement of the reception itself, and the unbridled good cheer and inspiration that lives in moments like those, but i just couldn't sleep. in spite of enthusiastically swilling my fair share of wine last night and getting home kinda late, i am up early, drinking coffee and ready to go to work in the studio.

the show looked amazing! i was so impressed with how well all the work (which is very different)fit together. KC Rosenberg and DJ Harmon did an amazing job curating this exhibition, they really did. and i felt so honored to be included in the show! my favorite piece in the exhibition is a gorgeous work on paper by KC herself:



believe it or not, that's actually acrylic paint! i swore i was looking at gouache but no! i don't know how she did it, but being able to make acrylic appear so matte and velvety is an amazing feat that i am wholly jealous of. and KC was so wonderful to talk to. she is such a friendly, good-humoured, and enthusiastic painter! i loved talking with her and felt sad that receptions are so short.

really, i had a wonderful time. a bunch of art-buddies showed up that i haven't seen much of in the passed 6 months since graduation and it was so great! i love them! and i miss them like crazy!!! in fact, it sort of reawakened my desire to go get my master's degree sooner than later. being in a tight-knit community of artists is such a wonderful experience and way to live your daily life! i miss it terribly... but i guess this is just the next phase of learning... making your own way and getting out there in a way that has more to do with sincerity and understanding than academic efficiency.

anyhow, i feel great! still high from the Obama victory too, i suppose: inspired, enthusiastic, full of faith and hope, and looking forward to undertaking the work that lays ahead.