Temporality: Opening Reception

B3 in front of T's encaustic piece

I had a great time Friday evening at the opening reception for the Temporality exhibit. The best part was celebrating the evening with my fellow protegees: here we are above trying to compose ourselves for a group shot!

 

The exhibit space (at the Grain Belt Bottling House which is now home to artist studios) is huge! There was art up on the second floor as well!

 

 

And after the reception, hubby and I were off to a screening of MCAD student senior film's projects. My hubby had the most screen time--appearing in three (or was it four?) films. More great fun seeing my hubby on the big screen. 

Definitely a night we both got to enjoy  "living the dream" for a bit.

 

 

Temporality

Time is On Her Side / Debra Roisnestad

I'll be taking a bit of a break from grant writing this evening to attend the opening reception for the WARM member show. This is a great opportunity to enjoy the work of 65 talented Minnesota women artists. Here are the details:

Temporality Opening Reception

Friday, March 4th

5 - 8 p.m.

Grain Belt Bottling House

79 13th Ave NE

Mpls, MN

I will be at the reception on the early side of things, because then I'll be off to join my husband in a preview of one of the film projects he appeared in! 

If you are unable to take in the show tonight, you can still catch throughout the month of March. The show will be up till March 31st. The exhibit can be viewed during building hours: Monday-Friday, 8-6 p.m.

  

My piece that will be in the show

Surviving the deep freeze

I've been trying to survive the deep freeze here in Minnesota. It's hard to find the desire to leave your warm, cozy home when you wake up to temps well below zero (-16 degrees Thursday morning). While I've enjoyed some days within the shelter of our home, settling in our new place, I've also been brave and ventured out. 

Thursday I had my first meeting with my WARM mentor, Brenna. I got to show her my new working space and share with her more of my artwork and my life story behind the work. 

The past few days have included more WARM-related activities...Friday I met with my small group that includes two other protegees that are working with Brenna. The three of us (still trying to come up with a name for our group) will be meeting on a regular basis, offering each other feedback and support. 

And then today I attended the Protegee Tea for all the protegees participating in this two-year cycle. There are 19 of us. Some of us have met at different events leading up to this kickoff to the program, but this was our first formal event as a group. It was nice to meet and get to know a little better the artists that I will share this whole experience with.

This week the weather is supposed to warm up a bit. After this past week, temps in the 20's will feel like a heatwave! It's funny how we psyche ourselves into believing it's "not that bad". We even try to convince ourselves that with January coming to a close, winter is almost over. Ha! There's still a good few months of cold and snow...but it's at least the half-way point, right?

   

pictures taken following our December blizzard

WARM coffee

a picture of my Jax studio

I broke away from the whole moving ordeal this morning to attend my first WARM "coffee" event. These monthly "coffees" are an opportunity to gather with other WARM members at a studio, gallery...to socialize & network, take in some art, share resources, to socialize & network... Yes, I know I repeated "to socialize & network", but as this was the first time I've been out of the house in a few weeks to enjoy such an activity it made quite an impression. It's amazing how sometimes you don't realize how closed in you're feeling until you get a whiff of fresh air (and let me tell you with temps just over zero degrees this morning, a whiff of fresh air was quite invigorating!)

This month's coffee was held at the Dow building, which houses several WARM artists. About 20 of us visited the studios of five different WARM artists. As we stopped in each studio, the artist we were visiting showed some of their work, talked about their process, answered questions... I have been to the Dow Building before when they have sponsored open studio events (which they do each November), but it was lovely to get a "behind the scenes" look and to hear each artist talk about their work. It was equally delightful to hear and participate in the conversation among all the artists there. I want this group to visit my studio; it was such a lovely, warm, friendly bunch!

Perhaps my favorite stop was at the studio of painter Bettye Olson. I remember my previous stops in Bettye's studio well--she always makes you feel welcome and shares a bit of her history. Today was no exception. Bettye has been an artist for over 65 years...and is still painting vibrant pieces. Bettye has been without question a pioneer for woman artists; both locally and nationally. She was doing it even before WARM existed. And she did it as an artist doing what she loved to do. She participated in a local gallery representing women artists as early in the 60's. She read to us snippets from some of the newspaper articles reviewing her earlier shows. One referred to a show of women artists as filled with "charm". It wasn't until the 80's that she wasn't referred to as "Bettye, Mrs. Howard E., Olson.  (You can find out a little more about Bettye and her artwork here, here, and here.)

(I felt a very strong reaction to these stories. First, gratitude to Bettye and other women like her who passed before me and paved the way. And also still a ripple of indignation. Really, I said to my friend next to me "this is why women started painting vaginas and putting them in your face."...but that's a discussion for another day) 

Following the "coffee", a small group of us met up at a real coffee shop and enjoyed more coffee and conversation--the perfect ending to this outing! I left feeling recharged and refocused on my artisitic endeavors. It even renewed my determination to enter a piece in the upcoming WARM member show. Yikes, the entry is due this coming Friday!

So, still much to finish on the moving front, but I am optimistic that I will manage to work in some studio time, in my new studio space, this coming week. I'll let you know how that goes and maybe have pictures!

Until then, stay warm everyone!