Big Paintings in Belmar

Tonight was the opening reception for the new Big Painting exhibition in Belmar.  As advertised, these are big paintings. had to be a minimum of 36" square, but may go well beyond that.   Would people show up?  On summer weekends in Belmar, crowds are common and available parking can be scarce.  This weekend we are experiencing the hottest days of the year, coupled with some extreme humidity, with both conditions expected to continue for a while- no relief at night.  And yet we got a good crowd, and parking was adequate- at least when I arrived and through the beginning of he reception.

Had a bunch of people asking me about print related things.  Two different people were very curious about the mini-saints in the display case, had a lot of questions- technical stuff, how I did the text, etc.  Also wondered if I was teaching any classes. Told them I had one scheduled earlier in the summer,  but it was cancelled when no one signed up.  (Where were these people last month?)  Said that I am always interested in doing it, and when the trustees approved it, it would be back.  I was also asked about doing another t-shirt.  I had produced a t-shirt design years ago, as part of a promotion we were doing along with a youth sailing club, selling it at their regatta.  I am the one member of the BAC who is a legitimate graphic artist (I don't consider computers to be real graphic arts), so I came up with a design, had it approved, cut it as a woodcut block, and turned in the print to the BAC.  It was scanned and used to create a screen printed shirt, which all eventually sold out.  I was told that the organization wanted the next one to be one designed by a kid, but I guess that never happened.  What I said tonight was that when someone was ready to talk t-shirt designs, I was willing to listen.  A job is a job.

With all the heat and humidity, I decided to go with a Carbondale theme, since (as I have mentioned recently) it was often hot and humid there. One of my fond memories of those years was in 1994 the United States hosted the World Cup, which gave us automatic placement in the opening round and games played during hours we were awake.  Unfortunately, most of these games were telecast on cable, and we art students generally lacked that.  But Carbondale has bars. lots of them, and most have televisions.  The soccer crowd that I was a part of developed a routine.  For the mid-day game, if it was one we wanted to see, we went to the On The Island Pub, which was a Chinese restaurant upstairs and a bar downstairs (one of the bars favored by the art crowd), where we might enjoy the day's special (which was rarely special) and a beer.  Late day games were usually watched at The Cellar, a dive bar with many televisions, a few pool tables, and no Chinese food.  Popular there was something called "Italian Beef", which everyone in Chicago loved, but has never been found in New Jersey, a state with more Italians than any other ethnicity.  All the Chicago people were astonished I had never tried it, and after seeing what was sold in Carbondale, I still haven't tried it.  But beer and Chinese food, I can do that, and since my favorite takeout Chinese place is in Belmar, picked up some  tonight to enjoy with a cold beer. Unfortunately, no soccer right now.