Cleaned the bathroom, showered, ate something and went to the studio. There was a lot of commotion with Agnes, who was either video-taping a studio walk (I am not sure why or for whom, both in French and in English, sounded very repetitive in both languages), or she had someone looking at her work (still no sales). The tension in the air between her, Ellen and Cobi was palpable, and of course, being famous for sticking my foot in my mouth, the first thing I said as I walked into the space, as a joke, was "could you please keep the noise down? I'm trying to make some art over here." I do not think she got it and later I heard of some runs they had with the others. It was funny how much she was bothered by any little noise we made because a) she's really loud, and so were her guests, and b) she's never there (since her return she's not made one single piece of art) so she does not know how quiet we are. We all are quiet, we all wear headphones.
Eventually she left and I began two new drawings (actually Katie and Agnes hovered a bit, and looked at what I have been up to for the last four weeks for the very first time). I started shading the drawing I began the day before and it went very slow actually, it took over an hour for one very small section, and my arm started hurting. I then switched to another drawing, a new one, and worked on a different section there as well. For the first time in a while I missed painting, not my side project, tiny square paintings, but my large work, waiting for me in the studio. I need to finish those two pieces and begin at least one more, if not two, for my show in October. Being back at the Balloon Factory will be strange, specially now that I found out my adjacent room has been rented. I hope she is not too loud, and will write that off as a sign it was not meant to happen right now, for me to expand the operation. Really bummed though because I need to get a flat file cabinet there, and there is just no room (maybe the couch will have to go after all).
After consulting Cobi and Katie I decided to hang my work on the walls for the open house, and set up the projector for the monster piece. I think its bulb is dying, as the projection got dimmer as time went by. After much probing, trying varied furniture for the right height, finding new outlets, etc all was settled. By then it was almost 5 pm, and the food and chairs were already set up in the dining room, facing the projection wall. At lunch some of us had made a bet on how many people would show up, I believe Chris bet 5, Aimee 6, Carmie 7, Ellen 8, Cobi 12 and I 15. We knew at least four people would show up (besides the staff): Mike, Phil (Ellen's partner), and two board members. At the end over 30 people showed up, including at least two people from the pixelation workshop. It was a great event actually, Diane (the photographer, not the Executive Director) documented the whole thing, and once every one did their number (most did a powerpoint presentation, Marisa sang, Aimee and I did a studio talk), people lingered for quite a while, many actually asking questions and being really engaging. But the best part was seeing each other's work, it was so nice, because everybody had new stuff since our Salon in week one. Soon the whole thing was over and we had a big collective dinner with some of the board members (all actually very nice, asking all kinds of question, just very engaging in a genuine way). The food was yummy too, and I totally overate.
After the eating part was done people moved to the large sectional, but by the time I got there, the group was thinning down (and the new visiting artist, who had already arrived, soon left, so I barely interacted with him, which was a shame, he seemed like a very nice guy). We all stuck around for a while, finishing a very bad bottle of "holiday" wine, and decided to watch the last Alien movie, the one featuring Winona Ryder. At that point Ellen and Phil got up (he is very tall and handsome, seems to be a very nice guy, they looked really good together, she looked very rested and happy, almost beaming), and we had to say our first set of good byes. So sad =-(
This is something we will all have to get used to in the next coming days. I just hope we all keep in touch, though who knows, really? It is a sad reality. Most people left when they found out we were once again watching a bad movie. I ran to get my projector while Chris got his laptop, we all sat at our usual spots (except that Mike took Marisa's, and she laid down by my legs) and off we went. I am not even sure what to say about the movie; it was visually stunning at times, but some stuff was down right funny or just plain bad. At this point we were not even scared of the monsters anymore, and not too shy to have entire conversations and snide commentaries throughout the whole movie, which made the whole thing more fun and palatable. By the time it ended, only Chris, Carmie, Colbi and I were left, along with a messy kitchen. We actually had to unload the dishwasher and reload it with dirty glasses and other random dishes left around, throw away food, etc. I returned my projector to the studio and went to bed, to find Mike soundly asleep. Was really glad to see my friend here, and even happier to realize he took the side of the bed I rarely sleep in.
- posted via iPad
Location:Cerrillos Rd,Santa Fe,United States
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