Open Studios Visits
When October comes rolling around, my life seems to go into high gear with all the open studios, dance performances, and parties (best time to have parties in SF when we have about one month of great weather). I try to fit in what I can on Friday nights when many of the larger art complexes host a reception. It is also a great time to go just because the artists are still fresh and in a good mood as it is the beginning of their long weekend. First stop was to see the work of Leigh Wells at Ampersand International. I've never been to Ampersand so i wanted to check both out. (note: everytime i tried to go to the Ampersand website, Avast blocks it as a harmful site)
The show titled "Deception" immediately caught my interest. It seemed very personal and emotional, charged, angry, and beautiful. Her collages mix hard and soft shapes creating tension. The gallery space is beautiful with good light, perfect for showing my paintings (hello Ampersand?).
Next stop was to visit Arc Studios, a relatively new space that once was New Langton Arts. Soad Kader had a wonderful, private space off of the main gallery. Her work was inspired by the salt ponds of the SF Bay - they were bright, cheerful, like the very essence of Soad. In fact, Soad was instrumental in selling my piece at the ArtSpan event by using her charms and influence to make the sale.
The main gallery was filled with artists who were renting space. Upstairs were more studios and i must say, i was very impressed with the quality of the work there. I have been in art complexes where most of the work looked amateurish or like young art student work (not mentioning any names here) but at Arc, there was a level of professionalism that i appreciate. Another good place to go to see good work is 1890 Bryant which i briefly visited a couple of weekends ago. More about that later.
It is the kind of painting i could look at for years - very calming and the colors are tremendous.
Edge 33
And then i found myself in a photography studio which at first i must admit, i wasn't too captivated by the images. That is until the photographer Jack Androvich introduced himself and explained his process. He explained that he doesn't use Photoshop but photographs reflections on windows with whatever object is in the window, juxtaposing interesting and funny images together. I became very interested in the work after that.
I love that it is a very funny image and i love that he explained his work to me. That made me realize how important it is for the artist to connect to the viewers.
And if you haven't done so, all the artists mentioned still have their work up for public viewing (and buying) at SOMarts until October 29th. All the work is under 20 in X 20 in, perfect for the SF Bay Area home.
934 Brannan Street, San Francisco.
- Tuesday-Friday, 12:00-7:00pm
- Saturday, 11:00am-5:00pm
- Sunday, 11:00am-3:00pm
I have been getting reports from fellow ArtSpan artists who have had disappointing sales during their Open Studios. One artist relies on the sales from this one weekend to cover all her costs for the year (rent, utilities, supplies, advertisement, membership to ArtSpan, food for Open Studios). I've never experienced that amount of sales but i must say, i feel quite fortunate to have sold 5 paintings considering i only had 75 visitors for the whole weekend.
The show titled "Deception" immediately caught my interest. It seemed very personal and emotional, charged, angry, and beautiful. Her collages mix hard and soft shapes creating tension. The gallery space is beautiful with good light, perfect for showing my paintings (hello Ampersand?).
Next stop was to visit Arc Studios, a relatively new space that once was New Langton Arts. Soad Kader had a wonderful, private space off of the main gallery. Her work was inspired by the salt ponds of the SF Bay - they were bright, cheerful, like the very essence of Soad. In fact, Soad was instrumental in selling my piece at the ArtSpan event by using her charms and influence to make the sale.
The main gallery was filled with artists who were renting space. Upstairs were more studios and i must say, i was very impressed with the quality of the work there. I have been in art complexes where most of the work looked amateurish or like young art student work (not mentioning any names here) but at Arc, there was a level of professionalism that i appreciate. Another good place to go to see good work is 1890 Bryant which i briefly visited a couple of weekends ago. More about that later.
I absolutely fell in love with Saundra McPherson's work
It is the kind of painting i could look at for years - very calming and the colors are tremendous.Edge 33
And then i found myself in a photography studio which at first i must admit, i wasn't too captivated by the images. That is until the photographer Jack Androvich introduced himself and explained his process. He explained that he doesn't use Photoshop but photographs reflections on windows with whatever object is in the window, juxtaposing interesting and funny images together. I became very interested in the work after that.
I love that it is a very funny image and i love that he explained his work to me. That made me realize how important it is for the artist to connect to the viewers.And if you haven't done so, all the artists mentioned still have their work up for public viewing (and buying) at SOMarts until October 29th. All the work is under 20 in X 20 in, perfect for the SF Bay Area home.
934 Brannan Street, San Francisco.
- Tuesday-Friday, 12:00-7:00pm
- Saturday, 11:00am-5:00pm
- Sunday, 11:00am-3:00pm
I have been getting reports from fellow ArtSpan artists who have had disappointing sales during their Open Studios. One artist relies on the sales from this one weekend to cover all her costs for the year (rent, utilities, supplies, advertisement, membership to ArtSpan, food for Open Studios). I've never experienced that amount of sales but i must say, i feel quite fortunate to have sold 5 paintings considering i only had 75 visitors for the whole weekend.
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