Howdy!
A little Wedding Present for the senses today as I blog on the heels of two whirlwind trips to NYC over the past 3 days. Throw in a Scholarship Benefit Auction for my daughter's school in between - and it's a wonder I'm still coherent enough to put together a sentence. Well, maybe I'm not - but let's find out, shall we?
Many of you know that I do not hold NYC up to the standard that most of the creative world does. However, I do enjoy visiting - and it is nice to live close enough to do a day trip every now and again. It makes for a long day (4 hours round trip), but I've been trying to get there about once a month or so - mainly for networking, job interviews, gallery scoping and tasty eats/drinks. One of my favorite things about NYC is that it thrives on the unexpected; the nooks and crannies. While I was there, I went to a secret bar (address and phone number not listed and it has a secret entrance), where I had one of the best mixed drinks of my life. But I also happened upon a gallery/frame shop - it happened to be across the street from where my friend and I were having lunch, and she was late, so I popped in. Gorgeous space and just the right size for a small, quality solo show - which is exactly what they had up on the wall. It doubles as a frame shop, but the framing area is downstairs and the space does a good job of juggling both, compared to many I have seen.
The owner was also very approachable - in fact, he engaged me in conversation. My feedback on the show must have raised a flag because he then asked if I was an artist. I don't usually profess this when I walk into a gallery, at least not right away. I always want to look at the work first, scope out the space and then, if my work happens to be a good match in my mind, I might bring it up. But, I think it is really important to look at the work first, and to be genuine about it. In other words, if you have to try, you probably shouldn't stick around - any more than you would stick around a museum room you didn't like. The last thing you want to do is approach a gallery with an incompatible creative sensibility to yours; and the last thing a gallery director wants is an ignorant or uninterested solicitor. And in many cases, you might love the work that is being shown, but it makes sense to just leave it at that for whatever reason.
Anyway, after he asked me, I talked about my work briefly, gave him a card and we'll see if he offers any feedback. It's a space I can really see myself showing in - bright, clean, unassuming yet professional. The stereotypical NYC gallery snootiness was nowhere to be found...
Otherwise, I'm still holding true to my word and developing this body of work more fully before hardcore promoting it. I have one more piece to work on from the last scanning batch, and 3 more rolls of film just came back that I need to edit. I hope to be filling up the website soon, and once that happens, some of the older work will start to come down. Also, of the two new pieces I recently posted, one of the prints has already sold, so get 'em now, while you still can!
Finally, next door to this gallery was a store/gallery called More North, which focuses on art and design by Nordic artists. The show in their gallery space right now is works on paper by a Swedish artist named Harald Lyth. The exhibition is outstanding - I found his work to be very emotive, and this piece was one of my favorites from the show.
Though I would love to own one of these, they were a little too much for my unemployed blood. But I did walk out with a wonderful little piece by Leena Axelsson - she makes these awesome ceramic garlics, and I just had to have one (I have a glass fruit collection, but this is my first vegetable). She makes them in 3 sizes and in 3 colors - yellowish/brown, purple and white -
but I chose the white - it just felt very elegant and understated.
Happy weekend everyone!
-Marc
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