"Colorful Friends"
12 x 12in oil on museum quality panel
$550.
You never know where a single idea will lead too. On the heels of my return from the "grand tour" a couple of weeks ago, I did something I have never done before. I had read about it and had actually written about it in my book, The Artist's Toolbox, sharing the idea that had come from artist friend down south, Kelley Sanford, but that was as far as I had gotten. After receiving my book, friend Terri Thompson, whom I met last year when she took one of my workshops, emailed me and said--"I would love to do this! Are you game??"
That was back in August I think. Terri, being the organized gal that she is, pinned me down to a date and we started laying our plans for......
"Girls Night Out in Paris!!"
and billed it as an evening with the artist--- Girls only..:))!
Terri's home provided a beautiful setting to showcase some of my newest pieces. We hung larger works and the smaller ones were scattered around--on the dining room sideboards, around the centerpiece, end tables, coffee tables, just wherever the girls would be gathering to munch, visit and
watch me demo! We sat a specific time for the demo so guests could plan their time accordingly.
Well, it turned out to be such a fun, relaxed event! We ate (Terri had an amazing spread out!), laughed, shared ideas.....
and not all of the paintings came home with me:)
Always the sign of me having a great time....I forget to take pictures 'til it's over! So the one photo below is of the gal's that were lingering while I was packing up and were nice enough to "pose" for me..Terri is the beautiful blonde:) (Thanks Girls!)
Actually, one of them forgot to take the left over lemon cupcakes that Terri was giving away...of which I became the happy recipient and am both embarrassed and proud to say lasted...
ahem...not very long at my house.
So this is a good story with a happy ending (and a painting to show for it, Colorful Friends!). I wanted to share it because I think it's a fun way to spend an evening, meet new people, and let them enjoy the creative process (I did try to get some of the audience to paint on my painting, just to try it out, but had no takers....CHICKEN!!:) Art should be enjoyed and accessible by all, just like good music.
Galleries aren't for everybody (see note below)
But everyone loves a "Girls Night Out"!
Thanks Terri for being so open to new ideas--I had a great time!
Note: To my fellow artists who may be interested in experimenting with this idea, here's a link to an article by Keith Bond that I found helpful in planning. And a quote on people and galleries: Kesha Bruce writes an interesting blog post and mentions an article on Marc Jacobs, the world famous/fabulous fashion designer, that even he at one point, was too intimidated to go shopping for art. Although he is talking about up-market city galleries, the same intimidation is felt by more ordinary people in more humble galleries.
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