Day 3 Chicago - preview reception

We had 8 am to noon to finish setting up before we had to leave so a final clean up by the building people could be done.  We didn't get to our space until 11 am so it was a panic to get things organized.  Some one took my friend's hammer so we were out of a hammer and had (again) to borrow a tool.  We finished what we could and then returned home to get ready for the evening's reception.

It was already quite a happening when we arrived a little after 5 pm. I've never seen so many people dressed in such beautiful clothes and finished so impecably with exquisite accesories and coiffed hair. There was a special reception on the 12th floor where the Internationally known galleries were presenting their wares and hosting a fancy reception. I had to venture up there to bring my press kit to the press office (hope springs eternal)and could glance at how the other 0.0005% live.
There was a steady stream of attendees and from what i could tell, the Chicago artists had by far the most traffic due to their collectors and friends dropping by. I was feeling pretty rejected and couldn't bear staying in my space all alone so i wandered the aisles to check out how the other artists were doing. I noticed which ones had inviting layouts and which ones were awkward. There was one woman alone in her space sitting in the middle behind a desk, staring out - so that was an example of an uncomfortable one. Definitely being greeted by a smiling face is always nice. I decided that i would sit in my space, reading something and greet people if they actually stepped in to my booth. I met 4 people two of whom seemed genuinely interested in my work. However, one in particularly asked my if i knew about nihonga painting because the work looks similar to that style. I had never heard of it until last night so of course, i had to do a search. She is a contemporary nihonga painter named Judith Kruger and she will be teaching a nihonga painting class at School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the fall. She explained that nihonga painting uses pure pigment which immediately excited me. Colors are never mixed but layered on top of each other. Since i also layer my paints to create for example a certain green when i mix a certain blue with a certain yellow, i thought nihonga painting is worth an investigation. Friends of William Hunter came by often to give moral support which was much appreciated.