Art on the Porch

 Today there was another art event in the town where I make mine.  Ocean Grove held an event called "Art on the Porch", which is pretty much what it was.  Local artists showed work on porches around town.  Over 50 of them, as the website said.  Leading up to it we weren't sure how this was going to go.  Being an outdoor event, there is always a concern with weather, but today was a beautiful day.  Not to hot, not to cool, sunny- perfect for an outdoor art event.  This week we also had concern over smoke- wildfires in Canada produced huge amounts of smoke that drifted to this part of the United States.  Skies had turned gray or brown, air quality alerts were issued, and we went back to wearing masks.  However, the low pressure finally moved on, and with it the smoky air, and it was safe to walk around today.   Nothing on the internet about it being cancelled or postponed, so I went up to town today.  Parked at my building, as I knew I had a right to be in that lot, and on a sunny summer weekend, no guarantee I'd find any near the houses.  Had with me a hand drawn map of the town, with places marked for porches I wanted to visit.  Made a few stops along the way, got up there around 11:00 am, about the time the event started.  Parked at the art building on the corner of Main and Main, went inside briefly, then began my walk around town.  

Ocean Grove is a very walkable town, one I have walked through many times, but I didn't want to walk the entire town, searching for people.  I decided I should go see the presentations by people who had been to my Open Studio back in April, since they had come to see me.  Also on my list were people from the Studio building, at least those I have dealt with.  After that, it would depend on how much energy I had.  I did visit a few places along the way.  For example, I stopped in at the Artisan Gallery, since Jackie had put me in a solo show there a few years ago.  But the wall I had occupied was empty of art, and she wasn't there (just her partner I guess) so I didn't stay long.  Based on my map, and the route I had selected, my first stop was Harriet's porch (not her home) where I instantly recognized one piece, as she had shown in in a critique in our basement studio.

There was also an artist at the house next door, but there was a crowd when I first arrived and decided not to go there.  You can see a little of that in the background of the top photo.

Next I headed south to see some people I knew in that area of the town.  That included Joe Borzotta, the organizer of the Open Studio events (and tenant in out building) and Michelle Bernard, who I knew from the area and had been a regular for years at the critique group that met in our Studio.  She always had some interest in classic amusements (including knock-down dolls she made), but such imagery is even more present in the latest work, which she said was all done since the crits, and also since she "finally learned how to paint", as she said.   For my photo of her set up, she wanted to pose next to one of her larger works, which she did point out included a large image of cotton candy.  

Not only did she make such things in the past, and have it tattooed on her arm, I once had her come to my Studio to pose with one of her sculptures for a boardwalk print, an ideal cotton candy model.  She was also someone who had come to my Studio for the April event.  Later, in front of her house I ran into Andrew and his wife.  He works there in the Studio building, in charge of all things physical. 

Eventually I circled around and found Jeanne Power-Galli's porch.  She had been working in the office at the JSAC, in charge of classes and such.  I don't think she's doing that anymore, but she did buy two boardwalk prints from me last year, so I figured it would be good to stop by.  Luckily I didn't have to climb up to the porch, as the railings at that house (not hers) were completely overgrown and I couldn't get to them.  A lot of steps as well, an issue in overbuilt Ocean Grove. (not a lot of lawns or driveways there, just wooden houses built almost to the property lines)  

After that, I had considered checking out the display of another artist who made interesting black and white works, but I didn't want to walk over to the north side of town, and decided to go home.  As it was, today was the longest walk I had taken since before I was in the hospital.  I'm happy I didn't trip on the problematic sidewalks of the town, and it wasn't an emergency or anything, but I was happy to get back to my car.