out & about weekend

My allergies have been kicking my butt this week, so I spent most of yesterday sleeping. Today I decided I had to get up, so I promised myself if I got through all my “chores” I would head out to see the opening of a new show in Olean. Boy am I glad I buckled down and got stuff done, this is an incredible show. David Higgins makes images of houses, filled with such personality and atmosphere, and the light – just stunning, really if you live near enough, take a trip to see the work in person. It is some of the most quirky photo realism I have seen in a long while, these are images that will linger. Higgins was the winner of the last Southern Tier Biennial, sponsored in part and run by the CCAC. (Yes, the same biennial I didn’t get into… sob!)

So while I am having a Cattaraugus County Arts Council moment here I am going to do some shameless plugs – first I am teaching a class there in November – a fun, art journal meets smash journal, super relaxed, anyone can do it, sort of class, interested? You can register here (scroll down and you will see my class listing).

Second – a fundraising plug – last year CCAC held their first ever 6×6  sale – and it was a blast! It was a great party, the rush for the wall of art was fun and everyone went home with affordable art! This year they have changed the format to 5×7 or 7×5 but the event will be essentially the same, all work is displayed anonymously and everything sells for the same low price ($25) – so it is very democratic, which is really what I love most about it! You just buy what you like, it’s cheap, so there’s no art snobbery or pressure to buy the “right” thing! If you would like to contribute a work to the sale, the entry form is here. They welcome international entries but everything must be at the CCAC by November 2nd. I hope some of you will join in on the fun too.  (The other thing I like is that once a year I can make all kinds of stuff – painting, drawings etc. because there’s no pressure on the artists either!)

This is the “copy” of Seth’s book I made to keep!

On a completely different note – some of you may remember the piece I made for Seth Apter’s 5×5 call for work. Seth emailed this week to let all the entrants know that Somerset Studio will be featuring the 5×5’x in an article in the November issue, unfortunately he didn’t see a preview, so he doesn’t know exactly which works were chosen to be included. So maybe my work is in, or maybe not. As I really created that piece as a gift to thank Seth for all the wonderful community building work he does in the mixed media world, it will be icing on the cake if my work is shown, and I certainly won’t take it personally if my work is not included (as it was all black it may not be a great editorial choice anyway!). The reason I mention this is that a really nice little email conversation sprung up around his email notification, and it was wonderful to feel included by this community. All of the entries will be showcased on Seth’s blog – The Altered Page in the coming months, so everyone will get their moment in the spotlight. I’ll be sure to remind you to take a look. Actually just go take a look anyway – it is a wonderful blog!

Have an art-ful weekend. I have a couple of extra days off from class as it is fall break at the college where I teach, so I am looking forward to digging in and getting some work done in the studio, along with catching up on my marking ready for mid-term grades!