More Tales of Birds

When I got to the Boatworks for today's reception, I found that parts of the show had been hung in a new way.  For example, the very large painting that had been next to my piece (which turned out to be a pelican, by the way) was replaced with a new equally large piece, the above portrait.  Similar switches also occurred in other parts of the gallery, all since my visit yesterday, which did play havoc with some of the things I had shot for the BAC blog.  No official explanation was given, but it seems that most of the moved pieces were prize winners, and with our juror up from Florida for the occasion, I guess they decided to move them to better locations in the gallery.

Knowing how Belmar can be on summer weekends, I went extra early and felt lucky to get a space in our parking lot, the last one at the point when I arrived, which was before 4:30 for the 5:00 event.  So the gallery was still fairly empty.  One of the early arrivers was Linda Jensen, who was one of my Belmar woodcut students last year, and the one to hip me to the giant tree sculpture in Manasquan this year, woodcarving always being relevant.  She had been a possible participant in this spring's big traditional print show in Ocean Grove, but couldn't get her piece finished in time, though she did come to our opening.  We talked about relief printmaking, wood carving, landscaping her large back yard to benefit the deer (her topic) and the show there in Belmar.

Eventually the crowds did start to arrive.  As people walked in the door many were complaining about how far away they had to park.  The town did seem extra crowded.  Started with a nice weather weekend, and there was some big sports event going on over on 16th Avenue- big crowds on foot, and cars filling all the lots and street parking over there. Someone in attendance mentioned that there may have been something going on in the marina, but I can't verify that. Some people came into the Boatworks looking for a sailing outfit that has been a scourge on the BAC for years; since they exist only on the boat slips down the road, they have regularly tried to have us receive their mail, use our place as a street address for directions, have their customers use our restroom, have their food delivered there, etc. Still, we had over 60 works in the show, and as a rule, the more artworks in the show, the more artists and friends/family will show up to the opening, and within an hour the place was packed.

Most people clear out after the awards are announced, but one who arrived later was Jeanine, local artist who used to work with one of my far away college friends, and when that friend came up to see a show a few years ago, we all went out for pizza.  So now I know her, too, and we end up in a lot of the same group shows.  So we talked about the current show, and the latest news regarding our mutual friends, which I knew more of than she did.  She arrived just as someone was leaving and also felt lucky to get a parking space.  The show remains up through July 13th.  Not a bad show, but if you do go I recommend a weekday if your schedule allows it.  Picked a good path out of town, since escaping Belmar on a summer weekend can also be a struggle, delayed by a train, but that was all.