The Lost Critique Group

Tonight's critique group got off to a kind of confusing start. As I drove up route 71 I looked over at the back of our building and saw no lights on in the basement, meaning Molly hadn't arrived yet to open up. As I reached the corner of Main and Main, I could see a lot of cars in the parking lot. Entering the parking lot itself, I saw it was as crowded with cars as I have ever seen, but with no sign of anyone leaving. I managed to pull up by the front door, where I saw Jane and a friend of hers. With no parking available, Jane said she'd hold down the fort and I drove a few blocks up Main Street to look for parking. As I was walking back toward our building, Molly called to say she was on the way and to start without her. I found my way to the basement, opened up the Studio, and dropped off my stuff. No sign of Jane or her friend waiting outside our door in the basement or on the 1st floor. Went to check the parking lot, and saw a few cars finally leaving. Decided to go get my car and move it back to our lot. With that done, went back downstairs and found the Studio still empty of people, but with a few of Guido's paintings there. Where was everybody? Checked the first floor again, used the restroom while I was up there, went back down. Finally some people- Molly had arrived and was talking to one of the regulars. It turned out everyone else was in the cafeteria, where they had decided to start without us. (I was later told that Jane was worried about me because our door was open and she had no idea where I had disappeared to as I was running around everywhere.) I retrieved the group and we set up in our usual way.

Molly didn't have anything to show, and Lisa was also present just as an observer, but several other brought art. In the above photo, we have a large painting from Jen (Jane's friend), three medium small works from Harriet (just returned to our group after a few years living out west), a colorful painting in progress from Jill, two landscapes from Guido, and my little St Benno block. The photo below shows two pieces from Jane, a painting and a clay sculpture destined for a wood firing, both in progress. Not shown- Katie's drawings (viewed earlier in the cafeteria), an early state of a new painting from Edy, and Tim's sketchbook.

The St Benno print isn't nearly as complicated as most of my work over the past few years, but I did pass the block around, tell the frog story, and explain the idea behind the whole Everyman series for those who were unfamiliar with it. People generally liked the image, though a few thought the frog sketch could use more refining. That part was rushed to get it ready in time for my demo in Westfield, so they may have a point.