The crawl draws to a close

The nicer weather made for a good art crawl day. Visitors were happy to see a bit of sun and so were the artists. I enjoyed visiting today and the entire crawl with those who came into my studio. In many ways, creating art is a solo practice--at least I like to work when I'm by myself. But it is also necessary to mingle with others, hear their feedback and take that energy and pour it into more work.

It was sort of sad at 5 pm to start taking down some of the set up for the art crawl. I am planning to leave my paintings hanging in the entryway, but the inner studio will be converted back into working space. Feels sort of like Cinderella's coach turning back into a pumpkin.

My body is winding down from a busy weekend. My mind though is still busy with thoughts for new work. I'll probably take a few days to wind down, but I hope not to let too much time lapse before I'm back working in the studio.

Again, thank you for visiting my studio. And a special thank you to my husband for helping me make my participation in the art crawl possible.

(Oh ya, mark your calendar...the fall art crawl is the second weekend in October--October 10th, 11th, and 12th)

The crawl winds down

In an hour, the final day of the crawl begins. I think I saw the sun earlier, but I don't think it plans on sticking around. The weather has been the biggest disappointment of the crawl...but what can you do? Just deal. I'm sure the cold, almost winter-like weather has discouraged some crawl attendees, but it hasn't been that bad. We haven't had a downpour yet (snowflakes yes) and so it's been salvageable.

I've been thrilled with the visitors to the studio. It's been very nice to share my studio with family and friends and I SO appreciate them coming out! THANK YOU!!! Many visitors commented on the lovely colors we've painted the studio...I think the colors were even more appealing with the glooming drab colors outside. Several people shared positive comments regarding my art. I've been happy about selling a fair number of cards that I made featuring prints of some of my work.

Both my kids visited the studio. Cyrus came on Friday night with his girlfriend. He looked at the paintings I was showing and when he came to the older paintings (that I had painted in the early 90's) he was relieved to see that they were not for sale. When he turned around and saw one with a pricetag, he said, "You can't sell that one mom!" Saturday Ana came with her friends and basically had the same reaction. In fact, she convinced me to put a "Not for sale" tag on that one painting. I guess those paintings will be their inheritance one day.

So, I'm off to open the studio for the day! I'll report back at the conclusion of the crawl.

St Paul Art Crawl Tips

The art crawl officially begins in less than 3 hours. Final preparations are wrapping up and I'm feeling reasonably sane. The weather outside is crappy...cold and rainy. The cooler weather can actually be a plus--the studios stay cooler, but the rain is a pain. I'm not thrilled with the forecast for the rest of the weekend either.

Hopefully folks will still turn out for the crawl. Here are a few last minute crawl tips:

• Buy a crawl catalogue for a $1 donation. It contains a nifty map of the crawl, artist information, and a picture of one of my pieces (along with work of other artists).
• Wear comfortable clothes and walking shoes. You will be doing a lot of walking and after a while, comfort takes priority over fashion.
• Generally start on the top floor of a building and work your way down (except at our building--than start with Studio 300). It's easier and less tiring to go down steps. Don't count on elevators--some buildings don't even have public elevators.
• Select a few buildings to begin your crawl experience. I recommend starting with the Jax (again Studio 300) where I'm located. Seriously, the Jax has a high concentration of open studios. Also select at least one building that combines living space with art studios. The Northern Warehouse or Lowertown lofts (near the Jax) are great places to start.
• Although you won't find a meal, you will be offered plenty of treats. Some studios even serve wine. There will also be music and performers in some studios or outside buildings.
• Feel free to chat with the artists. They open up their studios so you can learn about their work and because they would like to hear what you think.
• And finally, have a good time.

See you there!

Art Crawl prep continues

Preparations for the Art Crawl continue to move along. (For more details about the crawl, check this out.) Sunday and Monday I painted the walls of the entryway to the studio. I definitely prefer painting canvases over walls. Painting walls is so much harder on your body and definitely not as good for this soul. Still it was nice to finish that project. Since Joel & I live in an apartment, our daily living space is all white or off-white walls. I hate that. Painting the studio was my opportunity to put some vivid color up on the walls. And since it was the studio, I picked more intense, get-my-creative juices-flowing colors...shades of bluish-purple and fuchsia. I love spending time in my artist-cave (my version of the "man-cave").

Now that the walls are all painted, I can focus on getting the artwork up on the walls and making everything neat and tidy. I have some organizing (o.k. lots of organizing) to do to make the studio less of a work space for a few days and give it more of a "gallery-feel."

I still have daydreams of getting another canvas finished...so don't be surprised if you walk in the door and I'm still painting!

A week out

It's a week out to the Art Crawl (less actually...it starts on Friday!) ... and I have a ton to do. As much as I would just like to keep painting, it's time now to get the studio ready to show off my work. Since this is my first real crawl, there's lots of prep to do. For starters, I have the walls of the entryway to paint. Yup, I'll be painting walls not canvases! But once that is done I'll be ready to hang my paintings.

There's a mix of nervousness and excitement as I prepare to open my studio to the public. I'm curious what sort of feedback I will receive, what paintings will grab the most interest... While I wish I had even more work done, I think I will feel good once the work I have finished is up and hanging on the walls. I've done more painting in the past 6 months than I've done in the past 10 years.

And when the art crawl is over, I'll get back to more painting. There's another crawl in October.

Preview

Gotta get busy over at the studio, but I just wanted to load a few images for a quick preview of what I'll be showing during the Art Crawl next weekend. Hope to see you there!