first second saturday

We had our first Second Saturday Artwalk at the Kennedy Gallery & Art Center last night & it was a great party!

Here you can see my studio mate, Angela Ridgway behind a crowd in our space - with track lighting we JUST got in earlier in the day.

This shot shows more people across the space - Brenda Boles' artwork to the left, Pat Orner & Keith Hopkins' space to the right -

Then another shot across the space, some of Phil Meyer's wood in the foreground, Pat & Keith's studio space in the back center - Lori Wylie to the left, Michelle MacKenzie & Kristen Hoard's space to the right - a great time was had by all -

sunny new studio

So - here's the new studio downstairs at the SAC building - all painted shades of sunshine, because Angela & I both like how our artwork looks on yellow walls at home.

It's our first Second Saturday together in our new studio, time for a shot of the girls together - me on the left, Angela taller than me even with my tall heels on - such is my life. ;)

Celebrating Angela's big step into the world of art studios - here flanked by friends, Gail to the left, then Angela, Jesse & Kristen Hoard, her metal sculpting mentor (and one of my best buds, too.)

(The night progresses & we all get a little blurry, or at least the photos do! That's me to the far right, not taking the photo...)

We hope you get to come down & see it all in person soon - Studio 5B at the Sacramento Art Complex, 2110 K Street, Sacramento CA 95816. (Call for an appointment or to make sure we're there, first!)

2nd sat at the sac

A few weeks ago I mentioned the new color that I painted the studio doors on my email newsletter, and that I would post it on my blog, but then I got a little sidetracked with trees and art fairs and fun stuff like that...

By now the truly curious have actually come to my studio to see the doors, but I know there are some for whom that would be a mighty long drive, and I managed to remember to photograph my door on Saturday night, which was 2nd Saturday, and thereby my studio was invaded by hordes of art lovers - but I love it, too, so I didn't complain.

In fact, I actually invited people in and talked art and trees and we all had a generally good time - if you do live close, it's plenty of fun getting to midtown for a Second Saturday. But you can come down to the SAC (Sacramento Art Complex) pretty much anytime - okay, there are regular 10 to 5 Monday through Friday hours, which are catch as catch can for some of us and then Open Studio Saturdays noon to 5 p.m. when there should be alot more of us around - come on by this week, I'll actually be there!

So how do you like that green? And are you really surprised?



And finally, fellow Viewpoint member Truman Holtzclaw came by and caught me on film, so to speak...

2nd Sat @ SAC

Last night was Second Saturday and in Midtown Sac that means art openings and major party time.

Here in the SAC Building it means artists like Allison Carlos getting ready, putting labels on at the last minute...

Artists like Kristen Hoard bringing flowers in to show off cool metal art vases...

And artists like Michelle MacKenzie just generally pulling themselves together to greet the crowds of art lovers on their way.

Other artists like Misha, have made cool canvas signs to help art lovers find the way through the halls...

Some, like Brenda Boles, greet early guests who know how to beat the crowd and come early.

Others, like Steve Memering, show their attitude for the camera, though Steve is probably one of the least dramatic artists I have ever met...

And finally, my studio mate, Wendell Minshew, uses my little snapshot camera to create a little art at the end of the night.

sac building soft opening

The Sacramento Art Complex is officially open and running with it's "soft" opening Second Saturday reception this past weekend. (That would be the weekend I'm just now recovering from.)

Though the reception didn't officially begin until 6 p.m., there was a trickle of people beginning to come through around 5 p.m., as I was darting out the door to go get a bite to eat, then come back, get changed & freshen up from being at the East Sac Garden Tour Boutique all day. It was nearly 6 o'clock by the time I made it back to my studio and opened it all up.

Wendell had been in the studio all day getting his work up on the walls - which at one point meant knocking mine down on the other side - and had left to shower & change at around 4 o'clock, then he got back right around the time I did. (By the way, no artwork was harmed, so all was well!)

More and more people were coming through by six, and by six-thirty, there was a steady stream of humanity until about nine-thirty, when the crowd started to get thinner. We sometimes had alternating crowds in our spaces, and I managed to think of taking a couple photos during a brief pause in my studio.

The whole building was hopping with art lovers and artists, catching all that they could take in and getting a chance to talk with each other in an intimate setting. There were still people coming through at 10 o'clock, when I finally had to call it quits and shut the studio doors - next time won't be so rough, since I won't be working a weekend show at the same time.

I didn't realize it at the time, but I actually caught another artist friend, Kristen Hoard chatting at the top of this image - it's great how the whole complex is becoming a community of artists - and we've already got a few ideas about inviting the rest of the world into our community for more than just Second Saturdays. I'll be posting more on all that later, I'm sure.

second saturday reception

Yes, this was last week and it is the digital age, so I should have posted this at least six days ago but I can be old school slow sometimes.

I took some shots at the "For the Love of Trees" opening reception at the Artisan Gallery last week. Unfortunately, looking at these photos now, I realize I missed shots of some great art by people I love dearly, so please forgive me...

Great sculptural works in metal by Angela Ridgway.

One of my "Open Oak Woods" handpainted photos and metal sculpture by Wayne Kern.

A great centerpiece for the show: metal sculpture by Robin Wellwood.

Joseph Finkleman's hand colored black & white photographs. I've known Joe for over twenty years now; we've worked together on occasion (I was his assistant once upon a time) and have influenced each other's work just a bit.


My favorite fire tree sculpture by my close friend, Kristen Hoard; the two of us coordinated this show - she says it's all my "fault" so I guess I'll take the credit!

I took a little walk down the street - it is called an art walk - and couldn't help but catch this plein air painter at work.

Joe with "Portrait of a Tree on Her Day Off" which was also at one point known as "Tree All Dressed Up for Saturday Night," so there they are together on a Saturday night.

Another one of my closest friends, Michelle MacKenzie, painted these great acrylic works. And if you look real close, you can see work by Jared Konopitski back through the doorway - sorry I didn't do better by you, Jared!

On the left a photograph by my soon to be studio mate, Wendell Minshew, and on the right a metal tree sculpture by Wayne Kern.

Another Minshew and Kern pairing; I really like how the tree sculptures echo the two dimensional pieces. And as a photographer, I love the shadows on the wall, too.

In another photo/sculpture pairing, my photo based work on the left and a fire tree on the right by Kristen Hoard.

Here are the Oakleaf sisters - no lie! - Susan and Sarah, (not sure who is who.) They have other siblings, too, who weren't at the reception, but I was tickled to meet them and they were tickled by my oak themed work.

Full view of my "Quercus Woodland" panels flanking "Spring Oak #6".

blur

So the days fly by - but I take little snapshots of time so you can see what I've been doing -



As you can see, it's all a blur for me, at least that's what I looked like Saturday night attending Sacramento's Second Saturday art receptions, where all the galleries in town open their new shows.



Often I can be found in the company of my longtime friend & fellow artist, Joe Finkleman.

But today I was more focused, I've collected myself some real acrylic paints and glazing medium and set out to practice on an old canvas that I had collaged some Polaroid transfers onto some time ago. I had never really liked it, had stopped half-done, and had propped it on a hanger on the studio wall, waiting for something else to do with it. Playing with the paints and stamping on it was fun & I figured out how I want to finish up my forest canvases...



it even looks pretty cool close up



Tomorrow will be even more fun.