Big Crowds in a Small Rooms

Like a lot of days, it seems I spent this one running around from one place to another. I got up to the Studio around 6:15 pm, a little later than I had hoped. Normally this would be very early, but I was planning to drop by a new arts group meeting a block away in Asbury, as well as to do a little more work on my block before our critique group at 7:00. Molly was already there in the building, working on something down the hall. Since she would be there for any early arrivals, I did take that quick walk over to Lake Avenue to check out the new group. There was a pretty good crowd in their small space- no organized activities, just a bunch of artists noisily chatting, including a few people I know. Eventually they would get a formal meeting going, but I had to get back to work.

Before the crit I wanted to fill in some ink in the window area of the block, based on the paper ink sketch I did a few days ago. I only had about 20 minutes, so I could only do one layer of ink wash. I did my best to follow the pencil sketch, at least as far as not going too dark in any of the areas. What I did can be seen above. I'll go back into it again before it's done.

Gradually the people started arriving- mostly veterans, but also a few new faces who were invited by regulars. A few more came just to watch, and by the end we had almost 20 people crowded into our space. Molly's occasional collaborator Kristin was in attendance, so she requested to go first, and showed us the start of something in the hallway- using the transparency of her monocle bear image to paint a blown up version on a large sheet. It is intended for use in one of Kristin's dance pieces.

We returned to the Studio for the rest of the crit. Some of the work we looked at included (above) Tim's mixed media splatter drawing, two of Michelle's carnival influenced objects, a new painting (for an album cover) by Jill, three dimensional paintings (with bits of plastic) from Edy, and a graphite drawing from Katie. Below are more of Molly's pieces, cast plaster sculptures by Adam, and figure paintings from Vince.

Toward the end of the evening Lisa showed a star shaped hanging sculpture made of straws and the pieces below, shoes used as planters for a variety of dirt, rocks and small succulents. (ants and a stink bug were also present, but I wasn't sure if they were intended to be part of the piece)

My piece was reviewed toward the end of the evening. Some loved it as it is, some people wanting changes. Of those suggestions, I do intend to include some textural variety in the backing wall (not every brick will be the same) and I will likely experiment with some of the proofs that come off it after it's done (adding color, mixed media elements, etc). The figure itself and the basic composition should remain as is. As always, everyone seemed to have a good time, including some first time visitors who seem likely to come again in the future.