Printmakers Invitational Reception

Today was the reception for the Printmakers Invitational exhibition at the Ocean County Artist's Guild in Island Heights. Very light traffic this afternoon, so I got there plenty early, getting a parking spot close by. The OCAG is located in the large Victorian shown in the top photo. Most of the 1st floor is still set up according to the original floor plan, though there is a large annex on the back. The front room looks probably as it originally did, but after that visitors pass through two small rooms set up as galleries. The print show was located in the second such room. My two smaller contributions were in this room, side by side, as seen in the 2nd photo. The next 4 photos show the rest of that room, with such print media as intaglio, linocut, reduction woodcut, monotype, and digital represented. The last photo shows my 3rd contribution, the boardwalk print, which was on a wall in the annex gallery, along with the other overflow pieces from the print show.

People started arriving shortly after 1 pm, and within a half hour, the place was getting crowded. I would estimate that about 75-80 people came through at some point, including several of the artists in the print show. My Solitary Man print got a lot of attention, at least a little of that due its being used on the postcard. Talked to a lot of people today, explaining my process (especially the hand coloring) and discussing the narrative sources (supermarket and boardwalk mostly). For most people there, my work is like nothing they've ever seen before. The exhibition remains open through February 25, the gallery open Tuesday to Sunday, 1 to 4 pm. Admission is free.