Getting Ready

More than a third of the way into February, and still not a whole lot of art getting done.  But I'm almost past the process of getting a big show up and open, and after that I'll have more of my time back.  It seems like I have received or sent about 40 e-mails over the last week that were about the upcoming Judge's Choice show in Belmar.  Even minor details like figuring out who is bringing what food and drink to the reception takes a lot of time.  I don't recall volunteering for it, but somehow I ended up as chair of the show, so I have had to coordinate not just the food, but the postcards, the press release, the installation of the show, wall labels, and handouts.  (some stuff I did myself, some was me chasing after people to get stuff done, and some was just keeping track of what everyone was doing)  And then there's the efforts to get ready for my part of the show.  The last major task was to track down enough steel/aluminum push pins to attach all the Fourth of July prints to the wall.  (no one around here seems to sell them, but I uncovered a fourth box today in my printmaking cabinet in the Studio, which should be enough)  Tonight I worked on various alternative layout plans for hanging the prints on my assigned wall, working around all the items that are permanently attached to that wall.  (I've dealt with this kind of obstacle two of the other three times I have displayed this piece)  I'll just take a few last measurements there tomorrow morning, and then get it all up on the wall by the end of the day.  After that, it's just doing my shopping for the reception.

But I took a break from all that for Mardi Gras.  As I've stated many time before, here at Studio Arrabbiata  we celebrate all things spicy, and that means I always make a big pot of jambalaya.  Actually I made it on Sunday this year, and have been eating the leftovers for the past two days.  It's one of those dishes that can be better the next day; even the photo above is a leftover from last year's feast.  So tonight I finished it off, along with a cold beer and some favorite New Orleans based music in the background.  Back to work tomorrow.